throw my net of power farther than the doorway.
Jacob aimed his gun at my head; at this distance he wouldn't miss. "Jacob," I said, "you don't want to hurt us."
The end of his gun began to lower toward the dirt floor. "I don't want to hurt you," he repeated.
I felt Ellen's power then, like a red flare behind my eyes. It hurt, and I was suddenly flung back to just sensing Nicky. I couldn't feel Jacob anymore.
"Fuck," he said, and he took something out of his jacket. "You hooked up with your vampire master and thought you could roll me like some young kid. I warned you what would happen if you did that." He was dialing his phone.
I fought panic, and it shut down the ardeur, and suddenly Nicky went very still against me. He growled low in his throat and said, "Now who smells like prey?"
"It's my power," I said, and knew my voice was thin with fear, but I didn't care. "I didn't contact anyone outside."
Jacob was quiet, listening to the phone ring in his ear.
I tried to get up, but Nicky held on to me. "No," he said, and I wasn't sure if he meant "no, don't get up," or "no, something else." But he let me feel just how strong he was as his arms locked around my body. It was like a hug that could suffocate with just a little more pressure. He let me feel the potential in his body for hurting me. There was more than one problem with the ardeur shutting down.
"It is her power," Ellen said.
"That's not possible," Jacob said, and then he frowned down at the phone in his hand. "Mike isn't answering. It went to voice mail."
I felt a small spurt of hope. Maybe Micah had figured it out? We had our own bodyguards; maybe Jacob's plan wasn't going so smoothly after all.
Chapter 10
"You'd feel if he'd gotten captured," Nicky said, his arms still locked around me.
Jacob nodded. "I would."
"It's her power, my Rex," Ellen said.
"I thought her vampire powers came through her Master of the City; when you put up the shield against that connection, her powers were supposed to be less."
"I can only apologize; I didn't understand that some of the powers are her own now." She dropped to her knees beside him, holding her hand up to him. I'd seen similar gestures among other animal groups. It was a human version of acknowledging that Jacob was dominant to her, and an apology for screwing up.
Jacob stared down at her, and I knew if he didn't take her hand that it meant he didn't forgive her. That could be the beginning of being cast out of your group. He finally lowered his gun hand so she could lay her smaller hand on the back of his; I'd seen much more elaborate versions of this, but apparently Jacob wasn't big on ceremony. It was his pride; he could run it the way he wanted.
"Get her up, let's raise this zombie and finish this," Jacob said.
Nicky simply stood up with his arms around my waist. There was a moment when he held me completely in his arms, my feet off the ground, and we looked into each other's faces from inches away. He looked disappointed, as if he was worried the ardeur had gone, but he sat me down on the ground just the same. But the moment my feet were under me the world swam in streamers of gray and white. I waited for the headache to come back, but it didn't. I was just suddenly so weak. I started to fall and Nicky had to catch me to keep me from falling to my knees. My vision was going in spots and swirls, and I couldn't get my legs to work right.
Nicky changed his grip and I was suddenly being held against his body, while my legs wouldn't support me. I sagged against his bare chest, and the grayness swallowed my vision in little white starbursts, then the world went black and then nothing. There wasn't even time for me to wonder what was happening.
I heard voices first. A woman said, "She needs to feed, or she will die."
"She's human," a man's voice said.
"Not human enough," the woman said.
I was lying on my back again, but this time there was something folded under me for a pillow. It took me a moment to realize it was my suit jacket. My bare arms were warm in the