up until they’d squealed out of the plaza parking lot in the pizza delivery car at what must have been nearly one o’clock in the morning. Everything was blank after that.
She’d probably fainted again, Allie decided grimly. That was the most likely scenario. She’d fainted from lack of blood. She certainly didn’t think she could have just fallen asleep, not in the situation she’d been in. Fleeing one group of vampires in the company of another pair of them was hardly a sleep-inducing event. Being around vampires at all wasn’t. As far as Allie knew, all vampires were bad. Although, frankly, she’d never imagined there was more than one group. Learning otherwise was more than a little alarming. Especially when Liam was no longer with her.
Mouth tightening, Allie started to rise, but settled back to sit on the side of the bed again when the room began to spin. Damn, this weakness was a nuisance. Especially right now, when she needed to find Liam and figure out where they were and what to do next. Then she spotted the Go bags next to the bed.
Hooking her foot through the straps of the larger one, she dragged it closer and then bent carefully to pick it up. The damned thing felt ridiculously heavy, but Allie knew that was more to do with the shape she was in than with its actual weight. The thought made her mouth flatten with displeasure. Mostly because she used to be strong. Allie used to have a gym membership and a personal trainer who had put her through a strenuous routine of exercises that included lifting weights. She’d been lean and strong then. Now she was just scrawny and weak and she didn’t like it. She needed to rebuild her strength. The problem was, she couldn’t do that until she found a way to feed Liam that didn’t include bleeding herself dry.
Pushing those thoughts aside for now, Allie unzipped the side flap of the Go bag and retrieved the hairspray and lighter she kept tucked there. The lighter went into the front pocket of her black jeans, the can of hairspray was tucked up the baggy sleeve of her black blouse, and then she set the bag aside, took a deep breath, and got slowly to her feet.
Much to her relief, this time the room didn’t spin around her. Still, Allie waited a moment and took a couple more deep breaths before starting to walk toward the door, opposite the window, the one she suspected led out of the room.
She was right and it opened to a long hall painted a warm beige. A really long hall, Allie thought grimly as she stepped out and pulled the door closed. At least, at that moment, weak as she was and knowing she had to traverse it and then the stairs that she suspected the rail ahead protected . . . yeah, it looked miles long in that moment.
She headed toward the stairs, bracing one hand on the wall to steady herself just in case. Her legs were shaking by the time she reached the top of the stairs, but it didn’t slow her much. She needed to get to Liam and see that he was all right.
Leaning heavily on the stair rail, Allie managed to stumble down the steps without falling or passing out, but once safely at the bottom, she had to pause again to catch her breath. She was panting as if she’d just run a marathon, and her heart was racing like crazy. It felt like it was going to burst. Actually, the state she was in was more than a little alarming, and for one moment, Allie was afraid it really would burst, or that she’d at least have a heart attack or something.
Grasping the cap of the newel post with one hand, she pressed the heel of her other hand to her chest as if that could stop the attack from happening, and just stood like that as she waited for her heart rate to slow. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until her heartbeat began to slow and she let the air escape her lungs in a long, slow sigh.
Raising her head then, Allie took in her surroundings. She was in an entry. Through the glass window in the door ahead of her she could see several vehicles parked on the driveway that ran along the front of the building, and a snowy yard beyond that. To her right