There was a pause before magic began to seep through the air. Melissa shivered, rubbing her hands along her arms for warmth.
“Dominic is requesting you,” Tarian said, but something was off about his voice.
Inching closer to the door, Melissa dared a small glance around the corner.
The guard stood transfixed, staring at Tarian with a blank expression.
“You will go and help the others. If anyone asks, another guard is holding the door.”
“Another guard is here,” he said, swaying slightly.
“Good man,” Tarian purred. “Now go. It’s an emergency. Run.”
The guard took off at a hard sprint.
Melissa ducked back behind the door as Tarian turned. What had she just witnessed? Necromancers couldn’t command each other the way they could vampires. What had Tarian done?
But before she had time to puzzle out the strange occurrence, Tarian popped around the door.
“Come.” He held out his hand.
Better the devil you know, she reasoned, joining him.
He pulled her out into the yard as they ran for the cars parked in the driveway.
“Please tell me one of these is yours,” she said.
He already had the keys in his hand. She spotted one car’s lights flash as Tarian pressed the button on his fob with a beep.
She slid into the passenger’s seat as he jumped behind the wheel. With a turn of the keys, the engine roared to life.
“Hang on,” he said, wheeling them around.
Melissa bit back a cry as they reversed into another car before Tarian stomped the gas. Grabbing for the door handle, she held on tight as they shot forward across the flat desert landscape.
“We’re going to be pretty easy to spot,” she said as the speedometer climbed above a hundred.
“The kitchen will keep them busy for a few minutes, and I’ve got a recording of you lying down set to play on a loop when the cameras switch back on. We should have at least a bit of time to put distance between them and us.”
“Did you go all Firestarter on the house or something?”
“It’s just a very small, contained fire,” he replied. “External damage only, nothing that will harm the structure of the building. My goal is to save lives, not endanger them.”
She twisted on the seat to face him. “You better start explaining what the hell is going on, or I will be introducing you to my claws and stealing this car.”
“Try.”
Fangs exploded in her mouth as she hissed at him. “I am not playing.”
“Neither am I,” he shot back. “Nothing about this situation warrants humor of any kind.”
“Who are you?”
“I already told you that. I wasn’t lying when we met.”
She scoffed. “I beg to differ. I think several rather vital facts were left out of our initial conversations.”
His fingers tapped against the steering wheel. “Nothing I say right now will make you any less angry at me. Just trust that I had nothing to do with your kidnapping.”
“Right. Date a necromancer and then get abducted by a whole group of them. Total coincidence.”
“As incredible as it seems, I don’t walk around with criminal intentions, just waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.”
“Well, aren’t you one of a kind.”
She saw his jaw clench tight enough to make a vein throb in his temple. “You have an ignorant view of my people.”
“Given the current situation, I think my belief in the danger of necromancers is pretty damn valid.”
“One group,” he stressed. “One small faction of radicals. They do not speak for the entire population.”
“Yes, because the rest of you are cuddly teddy bears. Must have been a different race that laid waste to half of Europe during the necromancer wars.”
“My only point is, not every one of us is evil,” he said. “I came to rescue you, didn’t I?”
Melissa leaned back against the car door, her body angled to face him. “So you weren’t pursuing me with evil intent?”
He glanced at her before turning back to the road. “No.”
“Then why…”
“What is the point of defending myself, Melissa?” he cut her off. “You already think I’m a monster, along with the rest of my people.”
She didn’t deny his words, and her silence only caused him to grip the steering wheel tighter.
“Tell me how this plays out for you, necromancer. You can’t imagine my people will welcome your return to the city with open arms.”
“Luckily, I have days to convince you to be my champion.”
Melissa snorted. “Not bloody likely. I’m getting on the first plane I can find.”