We were in a game where death was a possibility and they all looked like they were at summer camp. What was all this stuff for? Containment. In case one of them went off the rails. “I don’t know,” I lied.
Max scowled. “You should eat.”
“Thanks, Mum. I’ll get around to it.”
I could tell he wanted to say something else, but he bit his tongue and left me alone. Well after everyone else turned in, I was still circling the Lodge like a caged animal. I was wearing a hole in the grass when I turned a corner and spotted a figure leaning over the railing of the back balcony.
I see you, Captain Nephilim. And I didn’t appreciate it.
I’d thought being around him for a prolonged period would eventually desensitize me to his presence. But each time he showed up, it felt like a wound ripped open again. My toes curled inside my sneakers as I restrained myself for the hundredth time from running towards him. The only thing that saved my dignity was imagining Chanelle all snug in the bed next to his. My jaw clicked as I took the stairs two steps at a time.
“Why?” Kai asked before I retreated through the doors. He could be referring to a million things. But I knew he missed nothing. Given that I’d spent the last four hours finding reminders that I was a human amongst supernaturals, I took it to be a question about why I had entered the games when my powers were sealed.
“Because I don’t want to be trapped and helpless in another dimension,” I snapped back.
Then I slammed the door in his face.
It would have been the perfect opportunity to ask him why he’d entered given he no longer needed the Council pardon. But that way lay heartache.
I grabbed a shower and made myself a sandwich. When I finally retired to the room, Andrei was out cold. He too wore only pyjama bottoms to bed. He slept like the dead. The pale, grey pallor of his skin made him kinda look like a corpse. Freaky.
My insomnia decided this was the perfect opportunity to reappear. After an hour of tossing and turning, I didn’t feel a lick of fatigue. It had been the same when I lived on the streets. My sense of danger was dialled up so high I could go days without sleeping. Eventually I’d crash somewhere I deemed safe enough, but until I could find that place, I pushed my body to the limit. Right now, there were too many dangerous people around me and no Jacqueline to turn to if they decided to go feral.
Sighing, I tossed aside the covers and grabbed the hawthorn branch. It was pitch-dark outside except for the waterfall of moonlight that lit up the balcony. Routine got the better of me. I stole a paring knife and a salt shaker from the kitchen and settled myself just outside the front doors. Unscrewing the lid, I let salt fall into my palms before constructing a circle. It remained dull. All of my magic was still tightly sealed away. I still felt better in the circle than I had without it.
For the next hour, I watched the moon and whittled both sides of the hawthorn branch into sharp points. Any type of wood or sharp objects could be used to stake a vampire, but only rowan and hawthorn would actually kill them. That and a seraph-blessed sword. The rest would just stun them and usually they woke up pissed.
As I worked, my eyelids grew heavy. Well, what do you know? Blowing out a breath, I scattered the salt circle and dragged my weary body off to bed.
49
I would swear my eyes had just closed for a second when a strangled, gargling sound startled me awake. I turned my back to the window in a groggy stupor. Sandpaper felt like it was scraping across the back of my lids. Over on his bed, Andrei was doing his best to imitate a crappy yoga pose. He’d rolled over onto his stomach. His back arched into a concave that strained his wiry muscles. His clawed hands had ripped right through the mattress.
The sound coming from his throat was like someone struggling to breathe and scream at the same time. Moonlight made it possible to see in front of my face but that didn’t account for the glow of red that bounced off the wall.
“Andrei,” I called out hesitantly.
He turned his head towards me. His features were contorted, making his mouth appear like a gaping hole filled with sharp spines for teeth. They were clean of blood. He hadn’t drunk. So then why was he doing a really good impression of a vamp succumbing to bloodlust?
Angus’s deep, disembodied voice rang out in the night. “You are only as good as the strongest among you. How will you survive?”
This place was no longer a sanctuary.
“Andrei!” I screamed. Something banged in the hallway outside. Indiscriminate voices hissed. The doorknob creaked as it turned. Andrei defied gravity and somersaulted out of bed. He landed in front of the door, slamming it closed just as the outline of one of the necromancers appeared.
He pressed his back to the door, keeping it closed. All the while, he kept shaking his head as though he couldn’t get his vision clear. He smashed his fists into his temple a couple of times. The raspy sound that came out of his throat was reminiscent of a dying animal.
“Aless…”
He banged his head against the door. Something outside hit back. A light came on in the hallway. It lit up the crack under
