Nell? The word was soft in my head, filled with surprise and, strangely, anger. What are you doing?
Rescuing you, I answered grimly, my eyes snapping open as I marched off in the direction I suddenly knew Adrian to be.
His derisive snort filled my thoughts. I am a Dark One. I am immortal, one of the most powerful beings of the ages. I do not need the help of a mortal, and certainly not a female mortal.
Yeah? Well this female mortal isn't buying the macho act, so you can just—behind you!
I ran down the sidewalk, spinning around a corner and slipping on a patch of black ice as I raced toward the alley where I knew I'd find Adrian. Behind him I could sense another person, someone as powerful as he was.
Driven by heedless fear, I dashed across a street, right in front of a car that careened around the corner, its brakes squealing as I made an abortive attempt to avoid colliding with it. Pain burst across my left side as I bounced off the hood, hitting the frozen pavement with enough force to leave me breathless and stunned.
"Ow," I gasped, doing an inventory of my arms and legs to see if anything was seriously injured. I had just determined that I had nothing worse than a few bruises when a big shape loomed overhead for a second as it jerked me upright, slamming me backward into the car that sat running a few feet away.
"Where is he?" a man snarled into my face.
I blinked quickly to try to clear my vision. "What?"
The blond man holding me up by the collar of my coat twisted the material until I was choking. His face was filled with anger, lips drawn back to expose wicked-looking fangs. "The Betrayer. You reek of him. Where is he? Tell me or you die."
"I don't know," I said honestly, sure that Adrian must have left the alley I'd "seen" him in.
It wasn't an answer the man liked. He snarled something rude in French that I pretended I didn't understand, his eyes gleaming with fury as he tightened his grip on my coat. I choked, black spots starting to swim before my eyes.
"You lie!"
"I swear to you, I don't know where he is," I wheezed, trying desperately to get some air past the stranglehold he had on my neck.
"I will not leave you alive to help betray others," he hissed. Jerking me forward, he ripped my coat until my neck was bared. I gasped in pain when I sucked in much-needed air, the blackness that had been threatening to overwhelm me, blinding me to the fact that his head was descending toward my neck until I felt his breath on my skin.
Every atom in my body was repulsed by the thought of him touching me in such an intimate way. I tried to summon enough strength to fight off the vampire who intended on taking my life, but my arms and legs were strangely slow to respond.
Adrian! my mind screamed. I struggled feebly against the blond man as he jerked me closer, his breath hot on my skin, when suddenly he froze. He began to swear, leaving me positive I was going to die at that moment.
A rush of air, a familiar scent, and a deep, sexy voice snarling some inventive curses in German saved me. I sagged against the car, one hand massaging my aching throat as I gasped for air, my eyes on the two men who fought in the road. Adrian and the blond man were of the same size, but where the blond was wiry, Adrian was all solid strength. It wasn't limitless strength, I knew, and I could feel an echo from Adrian's mind that there was another Dark One nearby.
A train's warning horn sounded twice in the distance.
The blond threw a punch that would have decapitated a mortal man. Adrian's head snapped backed as he staggered sideways, and I knew I had to help him. He was too hungry, too tired from watching over me during the daylight hours, to beat two determined vampires. I looked around the empty road for something I could use as a weapon to disable the blond, but there was nothing.
Adrian lashed out at the vamp with his foot, slamming into the other man with enough force to send him flying.
Obviously, somewhere down the centuries Adrian had found time to study martial arts. I yanked open the car door in search of a gun, or stake, or whatever vamps used to kill each other with, but found nothing. Snatching the keys from the ignition, I jumped aside when the blond lunged past me, yelling something anatomically impossible as a knife suddenly appeared in his hand, glinting brightly in the light from a nearby building. A flick from his wrist and the knife was flying through the air. Adrian leaped to the side, but not quickly enough. The knife imbedded itself to the hilt in his chest.
"No!" I screamed, running toward him.
"Now you die, Betrayer," the blond man said, swaggering forward.
Adrian faced the vamp, his chest rising and falling quickly as he pulled out the knife. The black of his shirt grew even darker as a wet stain spread across it. I knew without touching his mind that he was quickly running out of strength, the wound coming perilously close to nicking his heart.
"You will die and our people will be safe at last," the blond vamp snarled.
Adrian raised his head, but it wasn't to glare at the vamp. His gaze touched mine, and I blinked in surprise to see in it regret mingled with sorrow. Within seconds those emotions were gone, and his eyes were brilliant ice-blue chips of determination.
"You have tried to destroy me before, Sebastian, and you failed. You will not succeed this time either."
Adrian was gathering himself for an attack, an action that I knew in my heart would leave him dead. Without thinking, I threw my hands out and drew the pattern that had been burned into my brain so many years ago, piercing with relative ease the shadow that had lain over part of my psyche.
Sebastian's eyes widened as my hands, remembering something my brain had long forgotten, sketched ancient symbols into the night air. The symbols twisted and curled upon themselves, glowing silver in the air for a moment before fading.
Immediately, pain sharp and deep slashed through my head. I clutched my temples, desperately trying to stay on my feet as Adrian stared in surprise for a moment at the glowing symbols. Sebastian cursed and swore as he tried to move, only then realizing what I had done.
The stab of pain melted into my brain, leaving me faintly dizzy and weak. Adrian grabbed my hand and jerked me past the impotent, snarling Sebastian.
"I will destroy you, Betrayer! You and your Beloved both will die for the crimes you have committed!"
"What the hell?" I asked, staring at my hands as Adrian dragged me down the road, forcing me into a limping gallop alongside him while he muttered about making the train. "Where did that come from?"
"You're a Charmer," he answered breathlessly. "You drew a ward to bind him." He glanced at me briefly as we approached the train station. "You said you could not charm, and yet you drew a powerful ward."
"Don't look at me, I have no idea how I did that," I replied, glancing behind us, the pain caused by drawing the ward thankfully a fast-dimming memory. "The other vamp is still out there."
A blast from beyond the station warned that the train was about to leave.
"It matters not. Come. We must hurry."
I raced up the steps, pausing at the top when Adrian almost doubled over, his hand to his chest.
"You're hurt badly, aren't you? We'll stop and—"
"No," he gasped, shoving me past him into the station, toward the platform. "We must leave now. I do not have the strength to fight the two of them together." Too much blood has been lost. I must feed.
His thought shimmered in my mind as we raced through the station. I jerked the tickets out of my pocket as we burst out onto the platform. The train tooted its horn a couple more times, slowly starting to move. Adrian lunged forward, jerking open one of the doors. I told my aching body it could rest if it got me on that train. Then I said a little prayer and jumped. I fell onto the floor inside, quickly pulling myself out of the way as Adrian threw himself beside me.