Page 101 of Deadly Alliances

One of the guards took a sniff and cocked his head. “What is that?”

Ah, hell.I was afraid of the vampires sniffing out the dragons.

Summoning my siren voice, I stepped out in front of Helmet Hair. “No one here has seen or sensed anyone or anything unusual. Your orders are to stay in this room until your shift ends.”

The three pairs of eyes glazed and unglazed as the command sank in. I let out a pent-up breath, hoping no one else came down to torture the dragon captives and ring the alarm bells when they found them missing. My steps were hastened as they carried me up the stairs, knowing how little time we actually had to get to the roof before we were fucked.

“You two still with me?” I whispered as we came into the Initiate common room.

“Yes,” came Tobias’s voice from the space next to me.

It was so strange having him right there but not being able to see him. He was so tall, it seemed like his voice was coming from the ceiling. It might have been comical if I weren’t so riddled with anxiety.

“Okay, there are three more levels of human quarters, then thelobby. From there, we’ll either need to go to the main elevator or head through the kitchen to take the servants’ access. I’d rather take the kitchen route, but we’ll play it by ear.”

“That’s your big plan?” came Char’s whispered voice, followed by anoof. “Not cool, Tobias.”

I bit back a smirk. “Well, we’ve got a lot of people we’re trying to rescue.”

“Wait. Who else is coming with us?” Tobias asked.

“My little brother, an Initiate who wants out, and the vampire who’s been helping protect the Dome.”

“So Caesar reallywasdealing with a vampire?” Was that anger lacing Tobias’s words?

I sighed. I’d forgotten this was all news to them. “Yeah. But he’s one of the good guys. Shea knows him, too.”

“I’m still not entirely sure I trust the witch, either,” he grumbled.

“Well, I do. She’s sacrificed a lot to try to get us all out.”

“And you have a little brother?” Tobias asked, concern in his voice.

“Yeah. Half-brother.” I looked down at the stone steps, not bothering to offer any more information. I didn’t know how Tobias would react to bringing Alex along, especially knowing he was Hadrian’s son, but it wasn’t his decision to make.

They started up the final stairs, this time a little faster. My pulse raced, and I started taking the steps two at a time. The urgency sizzling inside me was building, becoming impossible to ignore as my limbs grew shaky with it.

“Maybe not so fast,” Tobias whispered behind me. “Char and I can’t keep up while we’re linked like this, and I don’t want todrop my concentration and expose us.”

“Right.” I slowed back down, but doing so was almost painful.

Finally, we made it to the landing of the lobby. I held a hand up as I peered around the corner. There were more people there than normal, and I looked down at my watch.Shoot.Lunch break was over. That meant both the kitchen and the way to the elevator would be busy.

I slid back into the stairwell as bodies began to flood our way. “Tobias, do you think you can make me invisible, too? Quick!”

A large hand grabbed hold of mine, and I watched with a sense of impending doom as my arm began to slowly disappear, the invisibility creeping across my chest and down my legs just in time for Initiates to enter the stairwell. I squeezed my eyes shut as arms brushed against me, dreading that they’d feel us here, that they’d suspect something was wrong. But luckily the narrow space was so crowded that everyone was bumping into everyone anyway.

Finally, the trickle of people stopped, leaving us alone in the stairwell. I exhaled the breath I’d been holding.

“Okay, come on,” I whispered, tugging on Tobias’s hand.

As a unit, we emerged from the stairs and slithered across the lobby like a makeshift snake. The kitchen was abuzz with activity, the staff hurrying to clean up after lunch. I lead the way through the room, guiding them along the edges and weaving through humans carrying pots.

One of the staff knocked into me, and I froze, once again holding my breath. The hair-netted woman shook her head, blinking at me before moving on. I breathed out slowly through my nose as I towed our chain of three to the back of the kitchen, where we waited. As soon as all heads were turned away, I opened thesecret door and we wriggled in.

We rushed through the corridor to the elevator, and once we confirmed it was empty, we stopped and dropped our chain. I sank my back against the wall as the doors slid closed and the metal box carried us upward.

“How much further?” Char asked, panting as if she was out of breath.

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