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that, but at least I smelled old blood on the
vampire behind me before he attacked.
I mouthed a silent curse before standing and
spinning to face him. He was tall and muscular
with dark, curly hair and a chin that fell on the
wrong side of too square. There was blood at the
corner of his mouth, and I m proud to say I
didn t have the slightest interest in it.
And his eyes wholly silvered just like those
of the other vamps I d seen.
 Are you poaching, vampire?
 She s sick, I told him.  This isn t the place
for her. You want human blood, find it
somewhere else.
The vampires around us began to glance our
way, their gazes darting between me and him as
if they were trying to work out whose side they
should take. He looked around at them, a cajoling
smile on his face.
 Aw, do we have a human sympathizer on our
hands? Do you feel sorry for the little humans?
Not so much sorry for as empathetic. I knew
what it meant to be drunk without consent. With
some luck, I d made it through my attack, but I
wouldn t wish it on anyone else.
Unfortunately, the vampires around me
weren t yet convinced.
 I feel sorry for anyone who s not here by
choice.
He belly-laughed, one hand pressed to his
abdomen as he chortled.  You think any of these
humans don t want to be here? You think they
wouldn t pay to be here with us? Let the humans
call us names. Let the press call us monsters. We
are all that they aspire to be. Stronger. More
powerful. Eternal.
There were vague mumblings of agreement in
the crowd. I d apparently gone from anti-vampire
demonstration to pro-vamp rally in a matter of
hours.
You know what I thought? I thought people
needed to stop holding on to their blind
prejudices and do some rational thinking. Stop
forcing themselves into the mold of the lovers or
haters. Some vamps had issues, as this guy was
demonstrating, and there were plenty of humans
in Chicago some of them elected who
weren t exactly paragons.
 Enough, I said.  Enough talk. This girl isn t
in a state of mind to consent to anything. I m
taking her out of here. I squeezed my hands into
fists, preparing myself for battle, and rubbed my
calf against the inside of my boot, feeling for the
telltale bump of the dagger hidden there.
But the vamp wasn t buying my speech, and
clearly wasn t afraid of me.  You are not my
Master, child. Find something else to do. Some
pretty boy to bite.
 I m not leaving her.
He narrowed his gaze and I felt the head rush
of his glamour, the loosening of worry and fear,
and the urge to find a spot on the floor and offer
myself over to him, regardless of the
circumstances.
But I kept my eyes trained on his and fought
through the dizziness. I straightened my spine
and gave him a questioning glance.  Were you
trying to do something there?
He tilted his head at me, interest in his
expression. I fought the urge to slink back and
hide from his intrigued stare, but as long as I was
the target and the girl wasn t I figured I could
stand it.
 You are . . . interesting.
I almost rolled my eyes, but then I realized the
gift he d handed me. I glanced slyly at him.
 Would you like to find out how interesting?
Like a coquettish teenager, I twirled the end of
my ponytail, then threw it back over my
shoulder, revealing my neck.
As bait went, it might not have been much, but
it worked well enough. He dropped his
eyes staring at me beneath hooded lashes and
began stalking toward me like a hunting lion. I d
seen a vampire stalk before I d seen Ethan in
his prime, moving in my direction with lust in his
eyes. This wasn t that kind of lust. This wasn t
about love or connection but control. Ego.
Victory.
I stared right back, even as the intensity in his
expression made my skin crawl. He would
drink but he wouldn t stop, not until there was
nothing left of me or her. Maybe it was the magic
in the air that pushed him toward the brink;
maybe it was his own predatory instincts.
Whatever the reason, I wanted no part of it.
In a silky-smooth move that would have filled
Catcher with pride, I whipped a hand around and
slid the dagger from its sheath. And then it was
up and in my hand, light pouring down the blade,
the steel leaving a comfortable tingle in my palm.
I tightened my fingers around the handle.
The vamp finally seemed to realize I was
serious. His expression fell.
The dagger in hand, I looked down at the girl.
 Can you get up?
She nodded, tears slipping from her eyes.  I m
okay. But I want to go home.
I reached out my hand. When she grabbed it, I
tugged her to her feet. Unfortunately, getting her
to her feet didn t help us much. We were still
surrounded by one vamp pissed that I d
poached, and by a dozen more who didn t have a
specific interest in the girl but seemed bizarrely
eager for a fight.
Was this the violence Mr. Jackson had spoken
about?
I swallowed down fear that knotted in my
throat, and stood straight, gazing out at the crowd
with forced bravery.  I m taking her out of here
right now. Anyone got a problem with that?
I should have known better than to phrase it in
the form of a question.
 Try me, cupcake, said the vamp who wanted
me, and cold trickled down my spine. I was
strong and fast and immortal, but the girl was not.
Even if I fought my way through the crowd, I
couldn t fight full out and protect her at the same
time.
What I needed, I thought, was a distraction.
His timing couldn t have been better.
 Goddamn it! I heard across the room,
followed by the crash of glass that silenced the
rest of the crowd.
The metallic tang of blood filled the air, and all
the vamps in the vicinity turned toward the locus
of the smell. I saw Jonah through the crowd,
staring down a cowering vampire.
Blood had been spilled, maybe from a broken
glass or pitcher. Not a bad way to get the
attention of vampires and to give me a way to
get to the door.
I looked at the girl on my arm.  What s your
name?
 Sarah, she said.  Sarah.
 Well, Sarah, we re going to make a run for it.
You ready?
She nodded, and as soon as the brawler and
the rest of the vamps began to move toward the
waves of scent, we bolted.
I understood the draw of the blood. I was
beginning to get hungry. We were nearing the
end of the evening, and it had been hours since
I d eaten . . . or had blood. The smell was
becoming undeniably delicious, so I gnawed on
my lip to stay focused, the sharp sting of pain
pushing back the hunger. As was so often the
case, this wasn t the time or the place.
I guided Sarah through the vampires now
rushing toward the blood, her arm over my
shoulder, my arm around her waist. We weren t
exactly graceful, but we got closer to the door
and the edge of chaos.
And chaos had definitely erupted.
The room became a hurricane of violence as
vampires stepped and crawled over one another
to get to the blood. One angry vampire spurred a
brawl with another, and that brawl pushed its
way into someone else s conversation, which
angered those vampires, as well. The violence
traveled like a virus through the room, spreading
as it made contact. And as the violence
increased, so did the magic spilling into the air
and making the vampires even more predatory
than they already had been.
 I thought you might need the cavalry.
I looked to my right, relieved to find Jonah at
my side again.  Took you long enough. Thanks [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]