“Damnation.” The prisoner glanced around, grabbed a heavy cabinet, and dragged it in front of the door. “See if there’s a door or a window.”
They ran around the room, searching for an exit as screams sounded outside the door. Anna passed a shelf filled with every kind of emerald imaginable—emerald rings, emerald amulets, emerald daggers. She yanked aside a pair of heavy burgundy draperies and saw they were still at least three stories above the stone wolves guarding the front of the fortress. “We’re not getting out this way unless you know how to fly—” Anna glanced over and saw a woman, wantonly dressed, holding a broken bedpost.
“This is no time to be worrying about how bonny you look.” The prisoner appeared next to the woman, his handsome face—not quite as swollen now—wearing a frown.
It was only their reflection in a mirror. Anna felt a sense of weightlessness as she stared at the image. The mirror troubled her in spite of the fact that demons and vampires were fighting outside, and she and the prisoner would probably be killed by the victors.
The prisoner pulled her away. “Keep looking. There might be a secret door.”
Probably. The room reeked of secrets. But where? They didn’t have much time. Avoiding the mirror, she helped him search the room as screams continued outside. His kilt swirled around powerful legs as he pulled a bookshelf away from the wall.
“Here, I’ve found something.” He pointed to a hairline crack in the stone, the size of a small door.
A crash sounded behind them. The heavy cabinet blocking the door fell to the floor. The huge demon stood in the doorway. This close, there was no mistake. It was Voltar.
All warriors knew what the demons of old looked like. Photos and information about the demons were listed in the clan’s databases, even known human aliases. Anna had never expected to encounter Voltar. He was one of the most powerful demons in existence. Why was he in Tristol’s fortress killing vampires? Why were vampires even here? They hadn’t looked like intruders. They’d looked right at home.
The prisoner moved in front of Anna, gripping his stake.
“I’ve been waiting a long time for you,” the demon said to the prisoner as he advanced slowly toward them. He smiled, his teeth sharp in a thickset jaw.
“Don’t—” Anna warned the prisoner.
But he was already rushing at Voltar with a war cry that made the hair on Anna’s arms stand. He drove the pointed end of the stick at the demon’s head, but Voltar laughed and ducked clear.
“No,” she yelled. “You can’t fight him. He’s an ancient demon.” But the prisoner didn’t listen. He fought harder. Turning, he swung his makeshift stake at the demon’s head. This time, the demon miscalculated and didn’t move quickly enough. The wood smashed into the side of his head, and the giant demon staggered.
“Oh hell.” Anna raised her stake and rushed to join the fight. She kicked Voltar in the chest. He grinned, and his thick arm snaked out and grabbed her foot. Dancing for balance, she drove her stake at his chest, but it barely stuck. He growled and removed the stake while still holding her foot. The prisoner lunged at Voltar, breaking his hold on Anna. She fell to the floor, watching as the demon wrapped both massive arms around the prisoner, trapping him. The prisoner fought with his feet and forehead, butting Voltar in the chin. The demon opened his mouth wide and sank sharp teeth into the prisoner’s shoulder. Then he flung him away with a swipe of his claws.
There was a scraping sound behind her and a familiar roar. A man burst out of a small door in the wall. His clothes were tattered, and his hair and eyes wild. Most of his face was covered by a beard. The hybrid.
The next sequence happened as if she watched from outside her body. The hybrid rushed at Voltar, moving as fast as a vampire. The two sprang together in a clash of claws, fists, and teeth. Anna rushed to the prisoner. He lay on the floor, his shirt drenched in blood from his shoulder and his stomach. She pressed her hands to his wound. At this rate, he would bleed out. Just feet away, Voltar and the hybrid were locked in vicious combat. The hybrid picked Voltar up and threw him across the room. Then he approached Anna. She stood and faced him, ready to fight if she must. But the hybrid didn’t attack.
“Take him and go,” he said, shoving something cold into her hand. “Second door on the left.” Something flashed in his eyes. A memory tried to resurface in her mind. Then the hybrid bent over the prisoner. Before Anna could even move to defend him, the hybrid rose and hurried back to the demon, who had risen to his feet with a terrible roar.
Two talismans lay in her palm where the hybrid had placed them. Hers and another. It must be the prisoner’s. Why would the hybrid help them? The memory tried to resurface again, but there wasn’t time to sort it out. She bent down next to the prisoner and noticed blood at the corner of his mouth. Was he hemorrhaging? She put her talisman on and slipped the other talisman over his head. If it wasn’t his, she would have hell to pay from the Council. Talismans were sacred. And dangerous.
“You’ve got to get up,” she said, shaking him.
He roused, and she helped him to his feet as Voltar and the hybrid hissed and clawed at each other across the room. Panting, Anna dragged him toward the secret door. With one arm around her shoulder, the two of them scuffled through the passageway. It was black inside, and it took all Anna’s vision to make out the walls. She had no idea where the passage led, but if it didn’t lead somewhere fast, he would die.
Second door on the left. She dragged one hand along the wall at shoulder height, feeling for something that might indicate a door. Neither of them spoke. The prisoner’s breath was shallow. It was a wonder he was alive after taking on an ancient demon. That meant death unless the demon was assigned. What about her? She’d battled him too, though not as fiercely as the prisoner. She wasn’t at her best, but she didn’t feel like she was dying.
After several minutes, the mustiness of the passageway changed, and she got a whiff of fresher air. She felt a bump on the wall and found the first door. She continued, praying the hybrid hadn’t lied. “There’s the door. Hold on.” Don’t die on me. She found the catch. The stone grated as the door opened, and they stumbled into the dark night.
“This is the side of the fortress. We have to get to the front. My car is hidden outside the veil.” She needed to get him to a hospital, but they would ask questions she couldn’t answer. The Albany castle had an infirmary and warriors to help, but she couldn’t risk Voltar or Tristol following them to the castle. The clan hoped to keep its use secret. Then again, it was cloaked like Tristol’s fortress, so he probably knew its location already. He’d probably cloaked the bloody thing himself, unless cloaking was something all the ancient demons could do. That could help explain why the ancients were so adept at avoiding capture, or even being seen.
“Car?” His voice was thick.
They moved unchallenged to the front. No one tried to stop them, but the stench of demons was strong. Had they left anyone alive? The only sound came from the other side of the fortress. Snarls and howls. The guard dogs must have something cornered. She hadn’t seen them, but they sounded big and fierce. When they got within view of the gate, Anna saw the stone wolves were gone, and the growling sounds were moving this way.
“Oh my God. Run!” She hurried toward the fence, half dragging the prisoner. She glanced back and saw the massive creatures, not stone now, but flesh and blood, eyes red, long fangs snapping like hellhounds.
“They smell my blood,” the prisoner said, pulling free. “Go on without me.” The wolves were only a hundred yards away.