He didn’t say anything. He also didn’t move, breathe or even blink. I was grateful for the assist, but it was less than reassuring to find myself gripped by a Fred statue who was apparently having the vampire version of a panic attack.
“Fred?”
Nothing.
I licked my lips, trying not to give in to the real desire to join him and just zone out for a moment. Because I didn’t think we had one. I didn’t see the creature, which was, presumably, ahead of us somewhere. But a glance up showed that the back bumper of the SUV was now hanging half off the vehicle.
Which was a problem, since that’s what the fence had managed to tangle itself around.
It obviously wasn’t designed to take this kind of abuse and didn’t look like it was going to be doing it for much longer. I looked down at Pritkin, who, instead of climbing, was slinging spells at something I couldn’t see off in the smoke. I didn’t know what he was doing or why, but he wouldn’t be doing it in a minute if we didn’t move. Now.
“Okay, Fred? Fred, listen,” I said, trying to make eye contact. That would have been easier if his hadn’t looked kind of dead—set and glassy and not really focused on anything. “We need to climb back up, Fred.”
Nothing.
“And when we need to do that is now.”
Nada.
“Our weight is dragging the fence off the car,” I told him tightly, forcing my voice to stay composed, because screaming at an already panicked person didn’t help. And because if I started, I might not stop. “If we don’t get off, you and me and Pritkin are going to be in free fall in about a minute. Maybe less.”
That got a slight eye twitch, but nothing more.
“And while I’m pretty sure that Pritkin can save himself if that happens, I think you and me are fucked, Fred.”
“And we’re not now?” he asked hoarsely.
“Not if you do exactly what I tell you.”
He shook his head and then froze again, as a gust of wind caused the fence to shimmy like a showgirl. “I can’t.”
“Yes. Yes, you can.”
He looked down for the first time, and his face paled. Which was impressive, as it had been pretty pasty already. “Oh, God.”
“Fred,” I said, sharply enough to snap his wide gray eyes back to me. “Fred, listen. You’re going to get us out of this.”
“And if I can’t?”
“You can. I know you can.”
“But I’m not . . . I’m just an accountant. I don’t—”
“You’re not ‘just’ anything,” I said harshly. “You’re a master vampire, and we both know what that means.”
“Yeah, well, in my case, it doesn’t mean as much as you might—”
“And you’re my bodyguard. You’re the Pythia’s bodyguard. Which means you must be pretty damn badass.”
He licked his lips. “I’m . . . badass?”
“You wouldn’t have been assigned to me otherwise, would you?”
“Well, actually, they said they needed my room for the—”
“Fred!”
He nodded, swallowing. “I’m badass,” he whispered, looking up.