us since they didn’t have supernatural speed. Mayhem was erupting all around us. We probably ran to the worst possible spot we could have chosen in the whole city. Vampires were killing people, and people were killing each other. From the corner of my eye, I spotted a vampire coming at Ethan with his fangs out and blood all over his face and body. By the look in his eye, he recognised him.
My suspicion was cemented when the vampire called out to the others around him, “There’s that traitor, get him!”
“Ah, fuck,” Finn swore and began shooting arrows at the vampires approaching us, managing to take a couple of them down. Ira growled and pounced on a female vampire. His entire body flew into the air before his open mouth clamped down on her throat. The vampire struggled against Ira’s animal form, but he shook her by the neck, severing her spine, and she fell limp.
I spotted another vampire about to swing a sword at Ethan’s throat. Pulling the stake out of my pocket and manoeuvring my body, I managed to plunge it right into his heart.
Ethan gave me a 100-watt smile when he realised what I did. “You just saved my life.”
I grinned back at him. “You can thank me later.”
“Come on, we have to get off the streets,” Finn ordered, gesturing for everyone to follow him down a side alley.
There was a narrow fire exit running up one of the walls and leading to the roof of a two-storey building. Making sure we hadn’t been followed, we all took turns going up. I didn’t bother to get down off Ethan’s back, and he carried me up the ladder with him.
The roof was flat and empty, and although it wasn’t as high up from the street as I’d like, it would have to do for now as a place for us to rest. A solemn atmosphere prevailed as we grappled with the fact that the city had fallen into chaos and Theodore was more powerful than ever.
I hated him with every fibre of my being. Not only was my dad recovering from a stint in hell, but because of him, we’d lost Rita. He’d lured her to the dark side, and I wasn’t sure if there was a way to get her back.
I climbed off Ethan, and he frowned when he saw the damage Rita’s fire did to my hand when I’d tried to reach out to her.
“This isn’t good. A burn from magical fire can be life-threatening,” he said, and fear filled my gut. The burn didn’t exactly feel life-threatening, but it did hurt pretty badly. Up until that moment, there had been far too much adrenaline rushing through my system for me to notice the damage done to my hand.
Finn, Lucas, and Delilah were taking stock of the weapons we had on us, while Gabriel held Alvie in his arms as he cried over Rita. I wanted to cry, too. Even though she was still very much alive, it felt as though she’d died. The sense of loss was palpable. It was like somebody had cut out a piece of my heart then stomped all over it. The person wearing Rita’s skin who stared at me with those new, unrecognisable eyes didn’t feel like my friend at all.
There were four dhampirs with us, three men and one woman. They appeared wary of Ethan and Lucas’s presence, but Finn quickly explained our alliance to them, and they seemed to accept it.
Ethan led me over to a private corner of the roof, still examining my burned hand.
“I should give you some blood for this,” he said. “It could turn necrotic if left untreated.”
“Necrotic? Does that mean it’s going to fall off?” I asked with a shudder.
“It means that the living cells will die, and that’s not something you want to happen, believe me.”
He stood so close that if I were taller our noses would probably be touching. He leaned in even more and whispered in my ear, “You drank from my wrist before. How about this time you try my neck?”
I knew I shouldn’t be getting turned on in this situation, especially since we were discussing the possibility of my hand falling off, but I couldn’t help it. Ethan’s voice always managed to send a shiver through me, and the idea of drinking his blood again was more than appealing. The last time I did I was on a high for days afterwards, and you know what? I could