Juri turned his head toward the noise and cursed. “Now we’re done playing.”

“You’re right about that,” I said, and extended the baton I’d just stripped from his waist.

He laughed. “Really, Lela? If you can land a blow, I might consider letting you go. See if your angel can’t clean you up and send you back to me looking a little less damaged. Go ahead.” He gave me a little come-on gesture with his hands, a perfect imitation of Malachi in a playful mood. “Show me how much you’ve learned, Captain.”

I jabbed at his left side, and then reversed course and thwacked him in the knees. He grinned. “That almost hurt. Very nice. You’ll live through tonight. Want to try for another day?”

“Captain! Is that you?” Someone pounded against the door, hard enough to splinter it. Jim.

“Here!” was all I was able to scream before Juri hit me, punching all the air from my lungs. The staff fell from my numb hands and I dropped as if my legs had been ripped out from under me. Wheezing, with darkness swirling at the edges of my vision, I curled into a ball and tried to keep drawing breath, which seemed too difficult to master.

Juri lifted me from the ground and cradled me to his chest. “Keep your mouth shut, or I’ll kill them in front of you.”

Then he kissed my cheek and raised his head. “Jim! We’re in here. Sil’s dead, and I’ve got Lela.” The moment he said it, I realized that that had been the plan all along. Sil had let me kill him, to keep me busy while they took Malachi. He’d known Juri would be taking over.

Jim burst into the room, Tegan folded against his side. Her pale, bare arms were wrapped around his neck. She looked ready to faint, so scared, like Jim was the only thing keeping her from screaming. He had dark smudges on his face and a cut over his eye, but other than that, seemed unhurt. His blue eyes widened as he took in the scene in front of him, bodies piled high, blood smeared over the floor, me bleeding and dazed. “Weren’t you upstairs, Captain?”

Juri nodded toward the ceiling. “She jumped through. We fought off the ones in here, but she was bitten. Let’s get out of here.” He strode toward the door, and Jim scooped Tegan into his arms and stepped out of the way to let us by. As Juri crossed the threshold, I caught Jim’s eye. Only for a moment, but enough to make his brow furrow with confusion. Juri’s scent wouldn’t help him figure it out—the whole freaking place was hazy with it, and the sickening smell had seeped into our clothes, our hair, our skin.