“You’re going to die.” She slashed at him, her metal hand now a shorter sword.

He ducked the blow. “Run,” he told Chrysabelle, pushing her toward the door.

She hesitated.

“Go.” He grabbed Tatiana’s wrists. “I’ll be right behind you. I know the route.” There was no way he’d leave her alone for long, not surrounded by a host of vampires and bleeding the way she was. Some nobles wouldn’t care that she belonged to someone else.

Fear shadowed her eyes, but she nodded, glancing at Tatiana. “Hurry,” she mouthed, then took off.

Tatiana kicked him as fringe security came barreling in a few seconds later. “What’s going on in here?” one asked.

“Go after her,” Tatiana screamed.

Another guard leaped onto Mal’s back. He elbowed that one off him, then shoved Tatiana into a second one. They went down in a tangled heap on top of Octavian, who bared his teeth in pain like a wounded animal.

The moment at hand, Mal took off after Chrysabelle, her blood scent painting an almost visual trail for him to follow. Hopefully he was the only vampire running after her. He at least had to be the first one to reach her.

Accessing the mayor’s property hadn’t been easy, but it hadn’t been that hard either. Her new security team left holes. Holes Creek had slipped right through. Now he crouched in a thicket of multicolored crotons outside the mayor’s living room windows, his breathing and pulse silent in the way the Kubai Mata had taught him.

Lola reclined on the sofa, her comar at her feet, looking for all the world like she’d become the queen of something. Fool woman. All she’d done was create new problems. For him, for the city, and for the KM. Whatever the noble who’d turned her had gotten in exchange, it wasn’t enough. Creek would make sure of that.

A woman he didn’t recognize entered with John Havoc right behind her. Damn. He hadn’t expected to see the varcolai here. Creek shifted slightly to get a better view, careful not to make any noise that might catch the supersensitive abilities of those inside, and listened hard.

John spoke first. “Valerie told me you plan to drop the curfew. You know I think—” His eyes shifted to the comar for a second, then back to her. The muscles in his jaw tensed but behind his ever-present shades, his eyes were unreadable. “Why is there a comar here?”

Lola smiled. “Hector, this is my administrative assistant, Valerie, and my former bodyguard, John. John is a varcolai. A wolf.”

Hector held out his gilded hand. “Nice to meet you.”

John didn’t shake it. Valerie stayed slightly behind him, like she expected something to happen. Or John had told her to stay behind him because he expected something to happen. Creek pulled farther back into the bushes and held still while two guards strolled past so deep in conversation, Creek probably could have waved at them and they wouldn’t have noticed.

When he looked up again, Hector had dropped his hand and was now pouting at his end of the couch.

John took his sunglasses off and a flash of wolfen blue rippled through his eyes. “You’ve been turned.”

Lola laughed from her spot on the couch. “You make it sound like a disease. Yes, I’ve been turned.”

Valerie gasped. “That’s awful.”

“No, it isn’t.” The mayor tilted her head. “It’s what’s best for the city. And it’s the only chance I have of recovering my grandchild.” She kicked her feet out and stood. “Hector, leave us.”

The comar scurried off with a speed that announced his willingness to go.

The mayor picked up a short glass off the coffee table and walked it over to the bar. “Drink?”

“No,” John answered. As soon as the mayor’s back was to them, Valerie reached out and squeezed his hand, then quickly released it. John positioned himself more fully in front of her. “Why do you think this is good for the city?”

The mayor filled her glass about halfway, then put the decanter back in its spot. She turned and leaned against the bar. “You know, alcohol doesn’t seem to affect me quite as much as it did when I was human.” She lifted the glass, downed the contents, then set the glass aside and walked back to them.

“It’s good for the city because it means I now understand all of my citizens, the human and the othernatural. Without a strong leader, Paradise City could be torn apart in the coming days. Now I am that strong leader.” She lifted her hands. “How can that not be a good thing?”

John palmed the back of his neck. “It can be. In many ways.”

Lola’s mood shifted. “I have a grandchild to raise. One who is half vampire. How am I supposed to manage that without understanding her needs?”

“You don’t even have custody of that child. Or know where she is. And what about her father? What about his part in this?”

“Preacher lives in an abandoned church. He’s in no position to raise or care for a child. And what is he doing to get her back? Nothing that I’ve heard. I already have someone going after her.”

“Who is this someone?”

“Dominic.”

John swore too softly for Creek to hear. “He’s the one who turned you, isn’t he? He’s doing this on purpose. Ever since Doc became pride leader, I knew it was just a matter of time. He’s building his forces up.” He pointed at the mayor. “This is exactly why it’s bad for the city. You’ll side with the vampires now, then the varcolai will feel threatened. It will lead to war.”