I roll my eyes. Sometimes, he acts like a teenager. “No. Besides, you’re the one who was cuddling Cassandra yesterday while I kept watch. The entire night.”
“You said you didn’t need sleep. It isn’t my fault if — ”
“Shh,” I hiss, approaching the front door. Apollo’s energy blooms behind me, and I half-expect him to pounce on me for making him shut up. I close the space between me and the front door and hear out. No heartbeats, but this means nothing when you’re in a vampire city. I wait for another moment. The scratch turns into a click. “Merda.”
“What?” Apollo calls out.
I throw him the bag of blood. “They’re unlocking the door. Get Cassandra and run.”
Apollo’s jaw drops for a moment, but he doesn’t have the time to ask or to doubt. The doorknob clicks open, and the soft sound makes me growl. A second passes, then another of pure tension, pulling like a tight string, about to...
The door bursts open. I wince, then snap my eyes back open. Three vampires stand in the doorway, no weapons because they know our bodies are weapons in themselves. And I know all of them.
The leading one, Elijah, smirks. “Hello, Donatello.”
“Elijah.”
“The boss thought you were hiding something. Guess he was right.” A tilt of his chin. “Get him.”
And the other two vampires spring on me. I dodge the first. My fist goes up to connect with the second’s chin. My eyes look for Apollo, who steps away with shock on his face. “Grab her and run! I’ll hold them back.”
He meets my eyes then looks at the vampires. His calculating gaze tells me he’s judging if I can take them on alone. With a nod in my direction, he runs out of the kitchen. I grip one’s hair and introduce his face to my knee.
Elijah smirks. Three vampires. I’ve had bad odds, but this one might be the worst.
CHAPTER17
CASSANDRA
Dreamland embraces me like the softest plush duvet, and I’m floating in comfortable sleep for the whole of five minutes when someone shakes me into consciousness. I wake up with a curse on my lips, my eyes widening, my hands raising for a punch. No one should wake me up like this. That will teach them to leave me sleeping.
My gaze meets Apollo’s, and his eyes flare with alarm. “What’s wrong?” I say, my arms still raised.
Apollo grabs my wrist and pulls me to my feet. I wobble to stand, sleep still gripping me tight. “Vampires. They found us.”
“Fuck,” I hiss, gaping at the softest bed I’ve ever seen, knowing we won’t have a moment of peace tonight. “Where’s Donatello?”
“Fighting them.” Apollo throws two bags over his shoulder and pulls his gun from its holster. “Come on. There’s only one way out, and it’s through them.”
I close my hands in fists. Good thing I didn’t take my pants off. “Shit. I wish I knew how to use my powers by now.”
“That makes two of us,” he replies as we make our way across the apartment. Something crashes in the living room. Someone curses. “Don’t worry, mate. I won’t let you get hurt.”
I reach out and fist the back of his shirt. “Let’s just make a run for it, Apollo. This gun won’t work against vampires, and I don’t want you getting hurt either.”
He nods in response, but something tells me he’d still fight to keep me safe. We make our way to the living room and burst into the scene to find Donatello fighting three vampires at the same time. My jaw drops. It’s something beautiful and brutal to watch. Every movement of his arm is sharp and elegant but ends in a massive hit to someone’s face or stomach. I’m taken, hypnotized by how elegantly he moves. He whirls around, and his gaze finds mine.
Donatello looks like someone else. His pupils are blown wide, veins popping around his eyes. He bares his teeth — his fangs — in warning, then his eyes soften for a moment once he recognizes me. “Get her out of here,” he roars at Apollo without taking his eyes from me.
A vampire dodges Donatello, and his eyes pinpoint on me. His lips tilt in a smirk, and he makes to attack us. I wince, drawing my shoulders together, cursing myself for not controlling whatever this power is.
The sound of the shot explodes in my ear and makes me gasp. The vampire stumbles back and drops, his shoulder missing the coffee table by an inch. Time slows down as I glance between the vampire and Apollo, his gun still pointing at the fighting men. I remember the guy he shot in my place. Apollo said a shot to the head slows them down. Is this going to give us an advantage?
As an answer to my question, the vampire sits up. The hole in his forehead diminishes as he gets to his feet, then the bullet plops down and clinks to the floor, like when you try to put change on your pocket and miss it. My throat constricts as I watch the scene unfold. Donatello fights the other two, and the third one focuses on us.
“Motherfucker must be old. To the elevator,” Apollo barks, readying to shoot again. “Now!” His voice roars in command, and I jerk into action. Thank fuck I got the boots. They hit the floor fast, and I rush around Apollo to the open door. My heart thunders in my chest, adrenaline shooting through my veins. I see movement with my peripheral vision, then another shot explodes. I wince, crossing the threshold with no one touching me.
I skid to a halt on the corridor, almost slamming into the opposite wall, then change my feet to run to the elevator. My palm slaps the button so hard it stings. Every freaking second the doors don’t open makes my heart climb my throat until it’s beating in my mouth.