“Alright,” I start, looking out the window again, calculating the distance. “We’re twenty feet from the ground. Donatello and Tristan might be unscathed, but the three of us would definitely break something. If we had some minutes to heal, that would be great, but we don’t. The second we hit the ground, they’ll be all over us.”
Ren arches an eyebrow. “But you can fly, Apollo.”
“I can. You can’t. And I can’t carry both you and your sister while in my dragon form.”
Ren clenches his jaw, his forehead creasing. Donatello sits on his haunches, his eyes slammed shut, anger on his face as he shoves his blond hair away. He gets to his feet, then stretches an arm, taking deep breaths as he walks closer to Cassandra. When he reaches the table, he touches her shoulders and her face. Relief washes over his features, but it’s only for a second.
“We have what we came for,” he says, his voice ragged in pain. “And we knew we could die here. Let’s get her body and jump out of the window. Whoever survives burns her.”
“I’m not letting anyone die,” roars Tristan. I snap my head to him, my brows shooting up. That’s the first time I’ve see him so mad at one of us. “No one stays behind.”
“Well, then, what’s the plan, big guy?” I try to put sarcasm in my voice, try to ease it up, but the throbbing pain makes me sound pathetic. “We’re all ears.”
He points to himself. “I carry Mei, Ren, and Oreo.” He then points at me. “You carry Donatello, and he carries Cass. Simple.”
I roll my eyes. “Of course you think that will work out.”
“It will.”
Mei rushes away from the window to where Donatello stands. She bends and picks something up from the floor. “I think I can fly,” she says, turning to us with the broom in her hand. “I’m a witch, after all.”
Ren shoots to his feet. “What? No, you tried that once and almost killed yourself.”
“That was years ago, and in a non-emergency. There’s no other option now.” She says this with an empty face, but she’s so pale, it’s undeniable that she’s not so sure about it.
And speaking of that… I turn to Tristan. “You said you’d carry three of us, but hitting the ground would still hurt. Can’t you make those wings work?”
One of said wings stretches in a trembling motion. The other stays put. He glares at this one with squinted eyes. “Mhm. It would be the first time, but I can try.”
“Amazing,” I breathe out, burying the heels of my hands into my eyes. This is perfection. I can’t believe the easiest part of the entire ordeal was fighting horde after horde of vampires. The hardest part is going to be escaping without being caught. Kayn is definitely on his way here once more, and he’ll be ready to lead his hellish children into an army to rip us to shreds.
Worse: he’ll have Cassandra’s body, and it will be all for naught.
The door releases a huge creaking sound, like a held-back sigh. It’s about to burst. Voices increase in the hallway. Someone hoots. Kayn must be on our heels. I turn to face the group, eying each of them. At least we’re together. If we go down, we go down doing what Cassandra wanted us to.
Mei rushes into the circle, holding the broom in her hand. Her eyes are big as saucepans, but she points to me. “Apollo, you grab Ren. Since you can fly for sure, you take the one who’s most likely to get hurt if he falls.” She whirls around to Tristan. “Tristan, you grab Cass and Donatello. Since Donatello’s hurt, he won’t manage to run far, and if your flight fails, none of you gets hurt.”
I shoot an amused glance at Ren. The girl is a genius. She must have gotten all the smarts in the family. He narrows his eyes with a smile. Definitely knows what I’m thinking.
“Wait,” says Tristan as Mei rushes to the window. “What about Oreo?”
Mei shoots the dog a glance. “He’s a hellhound.” She drops to her knees. “Disappear here and appear on the ground so you can follow us. Got it?”
The hellhound barks, wiggling his tail. Shit, that’s it. She has everything settled. I nod at her in approval, then whirl around to face Ren. “I’ll change and grab you with my talons. You better change, too.”
Ren nods and urges his wolf out. I call for my dragon, his wings bursting free with a single thought. The fire inside me burns the wounds, willing them to heal faster.
The door bursts open, the sound of footsteps flooding the place. It’s time. I take a deep breath and spit fire all over the bookshelves. The fire will not stop them, but it will slow them down. The vampires scream, curse me, and I hear Kayn’s voice above the others, giving instructions, urging his soldiers on.
Mei’s not in the room anymore. I hope she’s flying. Tristan picks Cassandra up with all the care in the world, putting her over his shoulder. With his other arm, he takes hold of Donatello, who looks the most uncomfortable he’s ever been in his life, even through the pain. I can’t help but grin internally. The image of him hating to be carried, even when he’s wounded, is fucking funny.
My dragon cries out in urgency. Tristan stretches his wings and runs to the window. He jumps out and—
He sinks like a freaking stone.
My heart jumps in my chest. Ren barks next to me, running to the window in surprise, but a moment later Tristan comes up, batting his wings at a weird angle, but keeping himself afloat. The first vampire jumps through the flames as I release a sigh.
I spit fire straight into his face, then bat my wings and grab Ren’s wolf with my talons. I try to be gentle, not squeezing him too hard so I won’t stab him, but he releases a whimper even so. No time now. I make my way to the window, bursting into the night air and flying as fast as I can, far away from this house. Once I’m over the trees, I glance behind me, over my wing.