rusty nail. The wire trailed along the wall to another nail and matching bulb twenty feet away. Crude, but better than darkness.
Nerves prickled through me but I had no idea why.
I wished Zylas would hurry. My muscles were tired from shivering and my body ached. Plus, I was tired. So tired I could scarcely keep my head up. How long had he been gone? Shouldn’t he be back by now?
Blinking drowsily, I wondered why everything had a reddish haze. Was there something wrong with my vision? The friendly little light bulb glowed orange. It wasn’t red, so what …
The marble-like end of the blood-tracker artifact, lying in the middle of the platform where I’d dropped it, was blazing with scarlet light.
Lips quirking, I pushed my cold, weary body up. My numb feet stumbled across the floor, and it took my clumsy fingers three tries to pick up the narrow stick. Straightening, I watched the tracker’s red light glint off the wet walls. The jewel glowed even brighter. My dull thoughts prodded at the realization, trying to remember what it meant. Shivers racked my exhausted body.
Warm air brushed across the back of my neck as an unfamiliar voice said, “What’s a pretty little thing like you doing down here?”
Strong arms pulled me back into a solid body. A hand closed over my jaw and forced my head to one side. Terror burst through me, clearing the drowsy haze from my mind.
A wet mouth closed over the side of my neck and teeth sank into my skin. Pain shot into my collarbone, spreading from the sharp fangs buried in my flesh. Numbness swept outward in the wake of the pain, bringing intense dizziness with it.
My legs buckled. The vampire held me against his chest, mouth clamped on my neck. Numbness deadened my limbs. I twitched helplessly, the concrete platform swimming in my vision.
Then I remembered.
Daimon, hesychaze! The command screamed through my head, laced with terror. For an agonizing heartbeat, nothing happened. The vampire gulped down another mouthful of my blood.
The infernus jumped against my chest. Heat burned through my wet sweater.
A streak of crimson light burst out of the channel’s ceiling like it was an illusion instead of solid concrete. The power leaped downward, hit the infernus, and shot right back out. Zylas materialized in front of me, his eyes blazing as brightly as his power.
The vampire’s head jerked up—and Zylas’s glowing talons shot past my face. Bone crunched. The vampire’s arms fell away and I crumpled. Zylas caught me, sweeping me against him.
“Kasht!” he hissed. “Drādah, can you hear me?”
I couldn’t close my sagging mouth, let alone form words. My limbs spasmed as I fought to stand under my own power.
I can’t move. Panic screeched in my head. I can’t move!
“The vampire bite. The hh’ainun warned of it.” He pressed a hand to my cheek, his palm blazing hot. “You are too cold. Your heart has slowed.”
Considering my level of terror, my heart should’ve been racing. A stinging sensation built in my neck and the alarming numbness slowly morphed into cold and pain.
Crimson power flickered, followed by a strange buzz of magic that slid into my body from beneath his hand. “I do not know the vīsh to fix you.”
Just get us out of here!
“We will leave,” he agreed, scooping me up into his arms. “I found a way—”
He broke off, looking down. With a huge effort, I forced my head to turn.
The blood-tracker artifact lay on the concrete, dropped yet again. It had dimmed when the vampire died, but it was brightening fast. And this time, my thoughts were clear enough that I knew what it meant.
Vampires are coming!
Chapter Twelve
Zylas heard my telepathic warning. Holding my limp form, he kicked the artifact off the platform, then jammed his foot against the dead vampire and shoved. The body rolled limply. With a second kick, it tumbled over the edge and hit the black water with a splash.
He took two quick steps, then froze, head cocked as he listened. Hissing under his breath, he threw me over his shoulder, the air whooshing from my lungs. With a powerful leap, he grabbed the lip of a pipe high on the wall and hauled us up with one arm, then pushed me into the confined space.
Water drenched my front. Zylas shoved me in deeper, then crawled in after me. As I spluttered helplessly, he tugged on the back of my sweater to get my head out of the water.
“Quiet,” he whispered.
Somewhere in the main