Page 106 of Deadly Alliances

But the guards and the woman who came into view didn’t even look at us. They walked past as if in a daze. Piper whimpered, and Shea’s hand clung tighter to my waist.

Alex cocked his head. “Agnes?”

But the group of five didn’t stop or respond, and the woman—Agnes, apparently—mumbled something about an elevator. I studied the others, who looked as confused and incredulous as I felt. What the hell was going on?

Suddenly, Arya burst into the corridor, along with the Dracul boy and another young woman I didn’t recognize.

“Arya!” Shea shouted—a little too loudly for my comfort; we weren’t away from the vampire school yet, and the zombie-like group that had just passed had me deeply unnerved.

She stepped around me and waited to meet the three joining us. Alex went running to his sister with his arms extended. It warmed my heart to see their reunion. It was so odd to think that these loving, peaceable people were related to Hadrian Denholm, lord of all vampires. I didn’t really know her, but I knew that Arya wasgood. Surely her little brother was, too.

“What’s going on?” Alex asked Arya.

Tobias met my eyes and nodded his head in acknowledgement, though there was wariness in his gaze. I regarded him with the same distrust, but I reminded myself that this boy might be related to Claudette Dracul, but he was not her, nor did he bear her offenses.

I opened my mouth to say something, but a noise like fingernails on a chalkboard—magnified by one hundred—sounded from thedoor.

“Rainbow!” Piper hissed. “Julian, your crazy cat is going to draw the attention of every vampire in Heritage Prep!”

I turned around to see Rainbow crawlingupthe door, his claws poking into the thick metal. With one of his front paws, a single hooked claw was lodged into the welding. A line of sunlight spilled its way into the corridor—right onto me.

I flinched violently at the memory of the Sun Room, the agonizing, blistering pain the sun had inflicted on me. But no pain came. I glanced down at the illuminated part of my forearm, registering that the heat there was pleasant.

Shea put her hand over the spot on my arm. “You’re okay. The sun will never hurt you again.”

At the sadness in her voice, I wanted to reassure her that it wasn’t her fault, but the loud scraping of Rainbow’s claws stopped, and then more sunlight poured in as the door teetered, then fell out, slamming onto the roof of the citadel and revealing our exit.

Freedom was finally in sight.

Chapter 39

Shea

Freedom sang a chorus in my soul as I stepped out into the glorious sunlight. I didn’t even care that it was twice as cold out here as it was inside. And seeing the looks of gratitude on the faces of Julian, Tobias, and Char humbled me to the point of tears.

But we weren’t out just yet.

“Sedjed ka,” I said, my magic forming a direct line to my mate. “Caesar, where are you?”

“Almost there,” his voice toned in my head. “A few more minutes.”

“Okay. Hurry.” I ended the connection and turned to my fellow escapees. “He’ll be here soon.”

“Who were you talking to?” Alex asked, looking at me like I was crazy. I guess I must have looked it, talking to thin air.

I gave him a placating smile. “I’m a witch, and I usedmagicto call a friend.” I wiggled my fingers in front of me as I spoke, trying to mystify him.

His eyes bugged out. “Whoa, cool!”

“Isn’t it?” I turned to Tobias and Char. “Okay, guys. Go ahead and shift, that way we can load up and be ready by the time—”

A thick fog rolled in, accompanied by a whooshing sound that could only be the flapping of large wings. The lot of us all looked around, struggling to see through the mist. Then a large red dragon and a hazelnut brown gryphon I’d know anywhere,emerged from the haze and landed on the roof in front of us, each with two passengers on their backs.

A petite Asian girl with—whoa, rainbow hair?—and a guy who looked like he jumped out of a fashion magazine slid off the dragon’s back as Char went running for them. She hugged Rainbow Hair and gave the dragon a pat on the shoulder. When the good looking soldier tried to hug her, she put up a halting hand, and he stepped back and saluted her instead.

“Wait, where’s Gibson?” she asked, looking around at the cavalry that flew in.

Rainbow Hair looked down mournfully, and the dragon shook his head.

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