Greywalker - Kat Richardson [140]
“Where is he?” Mara demanded, stepping out of the truck into the running gutter.
“Over there,” Cameron said, pointing into a darkness of bushes.
She looked into the truck at Quinton. “Come on,” she ordered.
He looked at me. “You OK?”
I suppressed a cough and answered, “Yeah.”
He nodded, then got out of the truck and followed Cameron and Mara into the dark. In a minute or two they returned, supporting a blackened, shambling figure between them. His head hung and he seemed much smaller, as if the fire had consumed part of him. His three guides helped Carlos into the rear compartment. He collapsed on his back and lay still in a settling funk of wet ash. I peered at him over the seat back, my guts twisting. The others scrambled in.
Mara frowned. “He doesn’t look good.”
“He got pretty burned up,” Cameron explained. “I don’t think he can see, either. I—I hope he’ll be all right. Edward said he would. . . .”
A thin whisper floated up. “Eventually.” Carlos sighed and lapsed back into stillness.
I shivered. “Can we get out of here?” I begged.
Quinton started the Rover and crept through the throngs of stopped cars and wandering humans.
“What about Edward?” Mara asked.
Cam fumbled with his seat belt in blackened fingers. “He got Carlos and me out to you guys, then he left.”
“Ungrateful bastard,” Quinton muttered.
“No,” said Cameron. “He had a lot of other stuff to take care of, what with Alice and everything else. He didn’t have a choice.”
“Alice was that harpy who attacked us? Is she dead, then?” asked Mara. She shot me an odd look.
Cameron gave a hollow laugh. “Well, yeah, but I don’t know what happened to her. She was still pinned to the floor and we had to finish breaking up the organ, so we left her there. The circle kept most of the fire back for a little while, but by the time we were done, the whole room was blazing like hell. We had to bail out a window and I couldn’t spot her. I guess she burned up with the house, but Edward wasn’t sure. He thought she’d crawled away somehow. I didn’t think anything scared vampires, until tonight. That fire . . . like some nightmare that’s going to come for you and eat your heart.” He shivered. “It would have eaten us if it could have.”
Mara faked a reassuring smile. “You finished your job, in spite of it. That’s courage.”
“Or stupidity,” Cameron added.
“Hey, where are we going?” Quinton interrupted.
“My house. Ben will be having kittens by now.”
Quinton remembered the way and pointed the Rover toward Queen Anne Hill. The rest of the trip was silent except for the grumbling of the engine and the hiss of the wet road beneath the tires.
Albert glowered as Mara and Cameron helped Carlos down to the basement. He glared at me and made a face I interpreted as frustration before vanishing after them.
I huddled on the porch step. Quinton handed me my truck keys. I took them in shaking hands. “Are you all right?” I asked. “I was worried—”
He shrugged. “I’m fine. But I’ve got to go. I’ve got a few things to take care of myself. I didn’t expect something like this to happen, so I need to take care of that little oversight. Don’t worry. It’ll be all right. I’ll be in touch.”
He backed away a few steps, then waved and turned, disappearing down the stairs. I got up and stumbled into the house.
Ben Danziger stood in the entry looking dumbfounded. He jammed his fists through his hair, making it wilder than I’d ever seen it.
“Oh, you’re all right!” he cried, grabbing my shoulders.
I moaned and everything got black around the edges. He carried me to a couch and sat me on it. “Wait here! I’ll get you some water. Don’t move, no, lie down. Yes, lie down. . . .”
I slithered down the upholstery and closed my eyes. Ben woke me to give me water a few minutes later.
“You look terrible,” he said, holding the glass for me.
“Thanks,” I croaked. “I look better than the other guy.”
“Oh, God, yes! What happened?”
“It burned. The museum