All Just Glass - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes [10]
Nissa tried to wrench her wrists out of Zachary’s grip, and he shifted, putting one hand over the power center in her throat.
“I can kill you this way,” Zachary said flatly. “Adia and I agreed that out of respect for SingleEarth, we would rather let you live, but that is assuming you do not give us trouble. We need you to come with us now.”
Nissa became very still. “You’re not allowed. Not here.”
“That was then,” Zachary answered. “This is now. We—”
A bloodbond blindsided both of them, attacking while Adia’s attention was focused on Nissa. The girl probably weighed ninety pounds, but she fought in a suicidal whirlwind of shouting and fury that made it obvious her stature was not an indication of her strength.
She made a deep slash on Zachary’s arm with an X-Acto knife. He had to let go of Nissa to defend himself. Adia made a grab at the vampire when Zachary dropped her, but she was too slow.
The bloodbond shouted, “Go!”
Nissa disappeared.
“I recognize you,” Zachary said as the bloodbond fell into a defensive crouch, the knife in one hand. The mad assault had obviously been meant to distract them from Nissa, and it had worked. Now she was waiting for them to make the next move. “Heather. You’re Kaleo’s pet.”
Adia hadn’t recognized the face, but she knew the name. She wasn’t sure how old Kaleo’s favorite bloodbond was, but clearly she was trained well enough to leap in front of hunters’ blades to protect one of Kaleo’s fledglings. Of course, bloodbonds tended to be fanatically loyal like that.
“Better a pet than a mindless tool,” Heather spat. “How dare you threaten Nissa?”
At a glance from Zachary, Adia moved forward. The action was a feint, but it was enough to draw Heather’s attention. The instant the bloodbond struck out with the knife, Zachary swept in behind her. He caught her wrist in one hand, controlling the knife, and wrapped his other hand around the front of her throat as he had with Nissa. The following ripple of power slapped Adia like a burst of frigid air, and then Heather went limp and the knife clattered to the floor.
Kicking the weapon away, Zachary heaved the bloodbond into a fireman’s carry. Adia looked around and hastily found some duct tape and cotton balls, which she used to create a makeshift bandage for the gash across Zachary’s arm. He let her do so without putting Heather down.
The slight delay gave Hasana Smoke time to emerge. Adia wondered what had taken her so long.
“You’re not taking that girl out of here,” Hasana protested.
“I don’t see why not,” Zachary replied. He swayed a little and shifted to lean on the doorway as if bored, disguising his weakness as apathy. Adia was pretty sure she was the only one who would be able to tell the difference.
“Much as I hate it, I know the Rights give you the authority to storm in here and threaten harmless people like Nissa,” Hasana said. “But they don’t give you permission to kidnap anyone you feel like.”
“First,” Adia said, “the Rights of Kin give us the authority to follow any path to our targets we must. This one jumped into the fray to protect Nissa. Ergo, she has a connection to that group. Second, she attacked us. She violated SingleEarth’s commandments and is therefore not protected by its haven. Zachary, let’s go.”
She led the way. Zachary followed. She wondered how much power he had just burned, and what it had cost him. Knocking a human unconscious without killing or doing permanent damage required a kind of precision that Adia found difficult. Sarah had always been pretty good at that kind of thing, but doing it instantly to a bloodbond with Heather’s level of strength required an incredible amount of power.
Sure enough, the moment they returned to Zachary’s car, he dumped Heather into the backseat, handed Adia the keys and collapsed into the passenger seat.
“Are you all right?” Adia asked.
He nodded. “I’ll be fine.” He closed his eyes and rubbed at his temples. “It would be more comfortable if you took a crowbar to my head, but the headache will pass, eventually.”
“What will we do with Heather?” Adia asked,