The Undead Pool (The Hollows #12)(52)
Author: Kim Harrison

Groaning with the weight, she staggered to a stand, reminding me again that she was more than human. Fear had given her strength, her fear not for Felix, but for Nina. She’d seen the hell Nina was in, been in it until my love for her had pulled her clean from it, as if a sword annealed in quenching waters. We had to get out of here before Felix realized what we were doing and dropped into Nina like a glove.

Ivy shuffled to the hallway door. Jenks darted out. I reached for my splat gun, giving it a shake to make sure the splat balls would flow freely from the hopper. Cormel’s eyes opened as I passed him, and he fixed an upside-down, black-eyed, dead-doll stare on me. “You have to save us, Rachel,” he whispered, and my spike of fear brought both him and Ivy to a brief, alert state.

“I do not!” I hissed, then shoved past Ivy and into the hallway. I was already trying to save their souls. I did not have to save their decaying bodies as well.

Jenks was a hovering spot of sun at the end of the hall. “Ladies . . .” he said, gesturing for us to hurry. Felix was down here. I could feel it. I jogged to Jenks, Ivy moving more slowly behind me, just managing the weight of Nina and Cormel.

“Take the vanguard,” I told Jenks, and he darted off for the great room. We were almost there, and my pulse quickened at the first hints of possibility. Stay quiet, Nina, I thought, not wanting her to draw attention to us as she slowly became aware of what was going on.

The great room was silent as we entered, Jenks first, then Ivy, then me. My splat gun was out, and my pulse pounded. The open elevator beckoned clear across the room, less than fifty steps away. “How long until sunup, Jenks?” I said, knowing he was better than the weather service.

“Three minutes.”

Ivy’s eyes looked pinched at the corners. Just enough time to get Cormel into a specially lined body bag, but just.

Gun in one hand, I jogged ahead and pulled my phone out. “Okay. Go on up, Jenks. Find an I.S. agent. Get a shadow bag ready at the top of the elevator.”

“You got it,” Jenks said, and then he was gone, darting presumably to the dumbwaiter.

“And tell them not to shoot us!” I whispered after him, remembering the overabundance of FIB vehicles outside.

We were almost at the elevator when Ivy met my eyes. The relief in her expression was almost palpable. This time, there would be a happy ending.

“I can walk,” Nina said before I could pull the chair from the doors, her voice clear and precise and holding a familiar, uneasy cadence.

Fear slid through me. Ivy gasped, then dropped both Nina and Cormel. Felix.

My gun swung, but Ivy was in the way. Heart pounding, I sidestepped. Three minutes. We didn’t have time for this!

“Nina, no!” Ivy exclaimed, grabbing the woman’s shoulders, but it was too late, and I saw Felix’s persona slip in behind the woman’s eyes and take over.

“You little bitch!” Felix/Nina shouted, spittle flying as she slapped Ivy. “Nina is mine!”

“Move, Ivy!” I shouted, gun pointed and trying to find a better angle. But then Nina looked at me and smiled. I froze, lips parting at the evil satisfaction pouring from her.

And then my breath was knocked out of me as someone hit me from the side. Gasping, I slid across the carpet. My gun went off, and my grip tightened on it, refusing to let go. Friction burned until I stopped. Struggling to breathe, I looked up to find Felix—the real Felix—on top of me, his long fangs bared and his beautiful, young face hard with a domineering need.

“Get off!” I snarled, bringing my gun to bear on him, and he knocked it aside. I wouldn’t let go of it, and pain burned in my wrist. Blood covered him; none of it was his. I could hear Ivy crying as she grappled with Nina, the woman out of her mind as she fought for her right to go beautifully insane.

“Nina is mine,” Felix said, his weight pressing into me as he pinned my hands to the carpet and leaned in to breathe on my neck. “I need her to do my daylight work. Why do you keep interfering?”

“Because she’s not yours,” I said, the words punctuated by my gasping breath.

My gun was pinned, but I could still defend myself; he snarled in pain when I pulled a ley line through me and shoved it into him, twisting and bucking until I broke his hold. I spun away to a kneel, gun aim wavering as my wrist burned, but he was eight steps back, pacing. The propellant would send it that far, but he wouldn’t be there when it landed.

“I’m sorry,” Ivy said as she grappled with Nina, and her face wet with tears, she put her hand over her fist and loggerheaded Nina with her elbow. The vampire’s eyes rolled to the back of her head and she dropped. I looked at the huge clock above the elevator. The sun was up. Cormel was stuck down here. Unless we could bring the FIB to us . . .

“You can’t have her,” I said as I stood up, aim shaking. I moved, not watching my feet as I went to Ivy. She was standing over Cormel and Nina, her expression numb.

And still Felix circled, hunched and beautiful, like a jungle cat. “Did you not see Cormel’s children?” he said softly, and his voice echoed in my mind like velvet, circling, numbing as he tried to bespell me. “I tried to work through another. Their minds are too weak. I need Nina. She knows me. I know her. Ivy has made her strong. Leave her, and I’ll let you live.”

Ivy was panting, and I reached for her when she fell to a kneel, fighting the pull in his demand. “We’re not leaving . . . without her. You bloodsucking . . . bastard,” she whispered, and I quailed at the reminder of what a master vampire could do, could call forth.

“Ivy . . .” Felix whispered, his hand held out to her. “Come to me.”

“Ivy, no,” I said, knowing not to touch her when she moaned, eyes closing in anticipation of a numbing pleasure. His summons to submit had permeated the room, and I wondered if I was going to have to down her with a splat ball. She’d be pissed, but she’d thank me later.

“You need to take a nap, Felix,” I said. “Everyone else is sleeping. Why aren’t you?”

Felix looked away. Behind me, Ivy took a heaving gasp of air as his hold broke. “They sleep because they feel no need,” he said, his tone derisive. “I’m always hungry. Take Cormel if you want. He’ll be dead in three days. All of them will. Nina stays. And Ivy.”

Fear slid down my spine, and I tightened my grip on my gun. “Not happening.”

“Then you will die so I can get on with living,” he said, and with that as my warning, he jumped at me, his hands bent into claws.