His eyelids fluttered open. Dark, hollow eyes greeted me. His hands reached for me feebly, and I gave a relieved grin.
“You’re here,” he whispered hoarsely.
He yanked me down and kissed me. It was wonderful and terrifying. His lips were hot against mine, with a hunger that made my knees faint. The air around us seemed to disappear. I resisted at first from sheer surprise, but he quickly released me and slumped back onto the wall. I froze, my fingers at my lips as I stared down at him. He just… he just…
And yet there was no pain. I believed in the curse—I’d watched Lyra nearly pass out from the pain, knew that she’d gone into a coma twice. How could he have kissed me like that and felt nothing for me? My heart twisted.
“Roxy, the Ghost’s trying to move!” Colin shouted from outside. I cursed under my breath. Of course it would try to move right after a delirious Kane gave me the most memorable kiss of my life. “We have to go.”
“When you wake up, we’re talking about this,” I growled to Kane, who mumbled nonsensical things as his eyes stayed shut. I pulled him onto my shoulder and did my best to drag him back to the Ghost in one piece. “Stay awake.”
His eyes cracked open. “So tired.”
“I know,” I said, still feeling the burn of his kiss on my lips. “Stay awake for me.”
Colin struggled with the Ghost, which kept trying to leap over him and drag him forward. We tied the reins to a pole which might have once been a streetlight, and Colin scrambled onto the Ghost’s back. He helped me hoist Kane up, and I hurried to join them, sandwiching Kane between us so his limp body could stay upright. I’d almost forgotten how tall he was.
“It’s running itself ragged. It won’t stop.” Colin ran his hands over the Ghost, trying to soothe it, but the only thing that soothed it was when I untied the reins.
Where would it bring us next? Only time would tell. We held on for dear life as the creature lurched forward. The only solution, for the moment, was to let the beast run.
Kane was alive. He was safe. I let my heart rejoice over that as the Ghost ran back down the tunnel, leaving the awful abandoned building behind us.
33
Dorian
If there was one thing I hated, it was mixed signals. A vampire depended on his senses, and right now, I had zero clarity about this mysterious gang. The figures prepared themselves, dropping into defensive positions and drawing weapons, ready to fight us. Some were skilled warriors, judging from their stances. This made me even more curious… and concerned.
I decided to target the large hooded man, mainly because the waves coming off him were the most cloudy and confusing. My body buzzed with an uncomfortable sensation—like a limb falling asleep and just waking up. I hated it.
The guy made no attempt to pull away from me as I went for him. A heavy weight settled in me before I could register what was happening. Something was… off. I charged him anyway, planning to take him down with a rough tackle to knock him off his high horse. He stepped to the side as I pulled back, realizing what was happening.
“Vampires should be more careful,” he drawled. “You think you’re so sly, and yet I could smell your stench coming for miles.”
The hooded figure had powers. He wasn’t a vampire, but he wasn’t human either.
“Something’s wrong,” Lyra cried out. Her knife met the blade of the scarred woman, who smirked. Though she seemed human, there was something extra in her blows with Lyra, like she had super strength. And my wife is no weakling.
The towering figure in front of me chuckled darkly, and I could make out a hooked nose in the shadows of his hood. "Looks like you're finally figuring it out. You must understand that you're not special anymore."
His arrogance was infuriating. "And Jessica is?" I countered. The man paused for a moment, as if unsure whether to speak. What was going on with these people? I lunged for him again. He raised his arms to grab my shoulders, but I buffeted him easily with a punch.
Despite his size, he was fast. He countered my punch with a roundhouse kick, and I threw myself back. His leg was longer than I was used to seeing on a human, and I misjudged his range. So, this guy is something else.
"I've got a vampire," Arlonne announced, snarling. “And they’re making me hungry. Nice to know we have some traitors.” She’d knocked the hood off one of the figures, showing dark skin and shadows dancing beneath. The sight of a dark vampire like Vonn made me sick and ravenous at the same time.
Could they all be vampires who had turned dark? The large man in front of me dove to the side and swung his fist at me, landing a strike on my ribs. No, he didn't fight like a vampire… but the Leftovers might have done something strange to our kind—along with humans, if we were to actually believe Jessica had powers. They weren't feeding on one another, which clearly meant something odd was going on. Vonn had made every vampire hungry after he’d gone past the point of no return.
Lyra let out a grunt as the woman came down on her with a heavy sword, wielding it with incredible strength. I can't get a read on these guys. They're all over the place.
Arlonne managed to sink her teeth into the dark vampire, who wailed in pain. The towering hooded man in front of me stepped to the side, his head turning in Arlonne’s direction. I smashed into
