The lobby spread out before them, empty of everyone except the boy on reception.
Perfect, he thought. They just needed to get out and find the car. Once they were on the road, Dominic wouldn’t catch them twice.
Melissa’s hands pressed against his back as she leaned forward to peer over his shoulder. Her scent wrapped around him, a mix of floral hotel shampoo and something uniquely her.
“Is it clear?” she whispered in his ear.
He bit back a growl. Escaping from his family with a damn hard-on had not been in the cards.
“Looks clear. We should—”
“Wait.” Melissa’s fingers curled into him. “There.”
He saw exactly what had caused her to stop him. Dominic strode into view, his salt-and-pepper hair unmistakable.
Tarian glanced around the simple lobby and knew there was no way to escape without his grandfather spotting them.
“Any ideas?” she breathed into his ear.
He was about to say no when a second shape emerged from the hallway.
“Yes,” he replied, power coursing through him. Usually he needed to be close to use his magic against his fellow necromancers, but desperate times called for desperate measures.
His eyes slid closed, tension knotting his shoulders, as he focused on the second guard. Magic flowed from him, caressing along Melissa’s skin as it asked if she was the one meant to be influenced.
Leave her alone, he whispered to himself. Trap the guard.
Power flowed into the lobby, pooling around the hapless soldier.
When Tarian opened his eyes, he was seeing Dominic from a different angle.
“They’ve been spotted at the west end,” he said, his voice rougher and deeper than it should have been.
Dominic turned to stare at him, or rather the guard. “Are you sure?” he demanded.
“Absolutely, sir. He still has the girl.”
“Then let’s go.” Dominic took off down the hall, and Tarian pulled back his magic as the guard turned to do the same thing.
West end, he told the guard. The traitor is hiding over there.
Tarian stifled a groan as his magic boomeranged back into his body. Melissa was there, her arms wrapped around him in support.
“Want to tell me what just happened?” she asked.
“Later,” he replied. By the time he got this vampire back to New York he’d have no secrets from her. The thought, however, wasn’t as alarming as it would have been days past. “We need to run.”
Catching her hand, he pulled her across the whitewashed floor toward the glass double doors.
Night had fallen by the time they burst from the hotel. A quick scan showed only two necromancers patrolling the parking lot. One more than he’d be able to control at once.
“Still want to show off your fancy vampire skills?” he asked.
Melissa glanced at him. “What were you thinking?”
“If you can incapacitate that one,” he said, pointing to the furthest guard, “I can control the other.”
“Deal.” She was gone without another word.
Tarian watched in surprise as the guard he’d indicated went down in a soundless attack. He hadn’t even seen her move. Vampires were deadly creatures, he’d seen that first hand, but Melissa’s bloodthirstiness had a certain elegance that brought a smile to his face.
A smile that disappeared when she took down the second guard instead of staying hidden.
“Melissa,” he hissed, racing across the parking lot.
He found her dragging the second guard next to the first.
“What?” she asked. “He didn’t see his friend go down, so as long as I stayed on his blind side there was no chance of him controlling me.”
The desire to shake her made his fingers twitch. “It was an unnecessary risk.”
“It was my call,” she snapped back. “And it went off without a hitch. The appropriate response is, ‘Thank you my lovely, brilliant vampire. I’d be lost without you.’”
Staring at her grinning like a loon while kneeling next to two unconscious necromancers caused a curious pang to snake through him. He just might be lost without her.
“Come on,” he said, unlocking the car. “Let’s get out of here before Dominic realizes we’re not in the west end of this place.”
Melissa made no protest, and within minutes they were jetting off onto the road.
“Think they’ll be able to follow us?” Melissa asked. She turned to look back at the hotel, as it grew smaller in his rearview mirror.
“I’m sure Dominic won’t be giving up, but we’ll just stick to the smaller rural roads.”
“How’d they find us this time?”
He shook his head, unable to answer her. Dominic had many talents but tracking wasn’t one of them. “I have no idea,” he said truthfully.