“No time,” he snapped. “We have to go up.”
“Shit,” I said, my heart responding to the darkness in his gaze. Adrenaline spiked through me like crystalized honey, sweet but sharp. “I suck at climbing trees,” I added, in case he’d forgotten.
“There are walkways up near the top branches,” he assured me. He peered up an impossibly tall tree, frowned, then moved to the next one.
“What are you looking for?” I asked, the back of my neck prickling. I jumped at every small shift of the wind.
“One of the ropes,” he replied. I darted between the trees, helping him search.
“Here,” I called softly after a few minutes. He was at my side before I’d finished exhaling.
“I’m going to go up first,” he told me. “And then I’ll pull you up. Just hold on tight.”
“Wait.” I stopped him as he closed his hands around the rope, arm muscles straining. “They took all my weapons at the camp.”
He pulled a stake from the back of his belt and handed it to me, before shimmying up the rope, unconcerned with little things like gravity and falling to a messy death. I wrapped the rope around my waist, then gripped it as tightly as I could. He hauled me up and I gritted my teeth and tried not to imagine what all my bones breaking when I fell would sound like. Sweat stung the rope burns on my palms. Nicholas pulled me up onto a circular platform that ran around the trunk. Narrow bridges led from tree to tree, from platform to platform. The smell of pine was thick and green.
“I never even knew this existed,” I said, staring at the intricate knotwork of bridges.
“It was built for the Blood Moon,” Nicholas said as we started across the first bridge. “As an escape route in case of Hunters or civil war or whatever. And I think the Chandramaa have the same setup, only closer to camp.”
It was sturdier than it looked and the rope handles made me feel more secure. “This is seriously cool,” I said, risking a downward glance. Bats dipped and whirled beneath us. “Terrifying, but cool.”
Nicholas slipped behind me to guard my back as we hurried between the treetops. “There’s this thing called gravity,” I reminded him as the rope bridge swung wildly and I tried not to throw up.
“There’s also this thing where I’d rather my baby sister’s minions didn’t eat my girlfriend.” He gave me a little push.
I ran faster, blood welling on my chafed hands. The air rushed past my face, and pine needles dragged through my hair and scratched my cheeks. It was like being beaten up by Christmas. It was too dark and too high for me to see any vampires down below, but Nicholas was running as if they were right there with us.
“Shit,” he said, just before Solange’s voice drifted up to us, sharp and arrogant.
“Nicholas, why are we playing hide-and-seek?”
He shot me a warning glance as we stumbled to a stop. “Because I’m not in the mood to share,” he called back, sounding bored. I tried to peek through the branches at her.
“Families share,” she returned as vampires moved below us, like beetles scurrying in the undergrowth. They weren’t trying to be quiet or stealthy, and there were enough of them that even I could make them out from this distance.
“I’m beginning to wonder about you, big brother.” Her tone changed, seemed to throb with power. Nicholas flinched. “So come down here and bring her.”
“Lucy?” he murmured.
“Yeah?”
“We’re going to need to run.”
Easier said than done.
“Maybe I could talk to her?” I asked dubiously. Nicholas just shook his head. I knew he was right but it still felt wrong to run away from Solange.
“Can you exorcise her?” Nicholas asked. There was sweat on his brow and his jaw was clenched. He was holding himself as if he were in the center of a storm.
“Well, no.”
“Then wait until you can.”
“Well, if you’re going to be all logical about it,” I muttered. I reached for his hand, squeezing tightly, while he struggled against the insidious compulsion.
“Lucy,” Nicholas said hoarsely. “Get out of here.” Even as he said the words, he tightened his grip on me and moved toward the nearest ladder.
I yanked on the back of his shirt. “Hey!”
“She’s stronger than me,” he said through his teeth. The veins on his neck looked stark, blue as ink.
“But she’s not stronger than us,” I insisted.
“Go,” Solange snapped at her guards. “Fetch them.”
I shoved my arm under Nicholas’s nose. “Drink.”
“No,” he said, going very still. “Lucy, get out of here.”
“Nicholas, you and I both know that’s not an option right now, especially since you’re currently cutting off the circulation in my arm.” I touched his hair, pushing a lock off his forehead. “And we don’t have time for angst. So drink.”
He finally lifted my arm, his touch cold and gentle. He didn’t look away as he sank his fangs into me, breaking the delicate skin of my wrist. The pain was swift and sharp, like pricking myself with a needle. I couldn’t help but think of Sleeping Beauty as a soft lethargy whispered through me. The need to close my eyes, to rest, to drape myself around him without resistance was seductive, tempting. Wrong.
“Nicholas, stop.”
I tugged on my wrist. His fingers tightened in response. His throat muscles moved as he swallowed. His eyes glittered, his inner beast prowling dangerously near the surface. I really didn’t want to stab my boyfriend. He hadn’t drunk enough to do me any harm, but if he took any more, I’d be too light-headed to fight.