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Adam pushed, and the gap widened enough for my hand. I could hardly bend my wrist, but my fingers brushed the cold metal of one of the chains.

“A bit further…”

Adam was panting with the strain of pushing at the heavy door, but my index finger caught in a link and I tugged it through.

“You can let go,” I said, the light shrinking again before I’d finished speaking.

Bit by bit, we pulled the chain through the opening. It was a slow process – the chain had been looped and crossed over repeatedly, a huge metal knot for us to untangle, but eventually the first padlock caught in the gap, and we pulled it through. Adam made quick work of it and began again with the next chain.

Four times, we repeated the process. My arm quickly grew sore and bruised from repeated attempts where the door slammed on my wrist – but it kept me distracted from other pains, and the gnawing worry that something was going to go wrong.

As we pulled at the final lock, a sound from outside the shelter caught my attention, and I shushed Adam, who dropped the chain with a clatter. By unspoken agreement, we retreated deeper into the shelter, each of us with one of Émilie’s blades in hand.

35: We Are All Hunters and Prey

For the first time since this nightmare began, I wanted to break and cry – to be so close to escaping and discovered in our attempt; it was too much. The door swung open outwards, heavy in the wind. I squinted, shading my eyes with my free hand – it wasn’t Émilie standing there, but her more attractive counterpart. I’d never thought I’d be so pleased to see Izzie Misery.

“Isabel!” My voice cracked on her name as my vision adjusted to the dim light, tension draining from my shoulders at the sight of her. Water dripped steadily from the heavy cloak she wore, forming a dark puddle at her feet. The fabric clung to her frame as she moved, her face a stark white oval beneath the hood’s shadow, dark sunglasses hiding her eyes. “It’s daylight—?”

“I am acutely aware of that, Erin.” Her tone was clipped, as she came into the shade of the shelter, pulling the door closed behind her.

“What a pleasant rescue partyyoumake,” Adam snipped.

“We don’t have time for this.” Despite myself, my voice was strained even to my own ears. I didn’t want to show weakness infront of Isabel, but she was the one doing the rescuing here. “Where’s Nicholas?”

“Blessedly unconscious in the vehicle, I should think. We need to move fast – for the time being, the storm is heavy enough that there is suitable cloud cover, but I can’t rely on it lasting if I want to move freely, and I will admit I am less than happy about it.” Isabel rushed her words, and in the dim light, I could see her assessing first me and then the room. “The tang of blood is strong in here, Erin. How badly are you hurt?”

“What do you mean, unconscious?” I asked, worried. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust her, but…

“Oh, for goodness’ sake!” She pulled off her gloves, and Adam stood, moving aside so Isabel could kneel by me, his white blonde head bowed down under the low ceiling.

“Is he alright?” I pushed. I had to know.

“He is fine. Old as he may be, he’s not as adept at sunwalking as I, that’s all. He doesn’t know I am here. Which is partly why we need to make haste – he would be displeased if he found out I had gone behind his back.” She levelled her gaze at me over the lenses of her glasses. “Let me see your stomach, Erin.”

My muscles tensed involuntarily as her cold fingers brushed my skin. I kept my eyes fixed on the ceiling, counting the metal ridges while she peeled back what remained of my blood-stiffened vest.

Isabel made an uncharacteristically vulgar sound of distaste in the back of her throat. “One would only make incisions such as these to inflict pain.” Her icy fingers probed around the hot,inflamed flesh, soothing it somewhat. “Did she drink from you?”

I was still thinking of Nicholas, and had trouble bringing my mind back to the topic at hand.

“No, she just let me bleed. She wasn’t interested,” I paused, my eyelids heavy. “Can you do anything about it? If we could bind it up or something, it might be easier to move.”

Her fingers hesitated, and she shared a look with Adam.

“Isabel…” Adam said warningly.

“It would always be Erin’s choice.”

“Nick would be furious.”

“Nick is not here.”

“What?” I asked, looking between them.

“My blood might heal you a little, enough to get you moving on your own more easily. But I’m sure you remember the potential risks of having it in your system. Can you recall what we talked about before?” Her voice was gentle.

“It might work like a virus,” I nodded, touching the faint puncture marks at my throat that had already faded to almost nothing. After my last night with Nicholas, Isabel’s blood wasn’t likely to be the problem. And we still had to get out of here.