Chapter 26 · Untitled Chapter

"Adrian!" I caught him before his knees hit the pavement. Blood soaked through his shirt, hot against my hands. The cut across his ribs gaped every time he breathed.

"You need blood," I said.

"Not yours." He shoved weakly at my shoulder. "Your bond's unstable. Your hunter power just woke up. If we mix that with vampire healing—"

"What? You die faster?"

His silence answered me.

I pressed my jacket against his side. Blood pushed through the fabric in seconds. Behind us, the fake had vanished into the industrial district. No trail. No scent. Just an empty alley and Adrian's ruined ribs.

"Move," I said. "Where's the nearest safe house?"

"None." Adrian forced himself upright, one hand braced against the brick. His skin felt cold when I caught his arm. "The Council felt the power surge when you broke the seal. Trackers are already moving. Twenty minutes, maybe less, before they lock down the grid."

"Then give me somewhere else."

His fingers closed around my wrist. "The hunter vault."

I stared at him. "I don't have a hunter vault. My father had a storage unit off Route Nine. It smelled like oil and dead mice."

"That was the cover.