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“Corpsmen,” Kit said, his head tilting. It had started to rain outside, with the rising wind causing the open shutters to creak on their hinges. But neither that nor the sound of rain hitting the pavement, or the distant thunder rumbling through the air was likely enough to drown out a vampire’s hearing. “Their boots are reinforced at the toe, and have a distinctive sound on cobbles.”

“War mages?” Gillian heard the shock in her own voice. “Why would the Circle be here?”

“They’re after you. I told you as much—”

“That’s ridiculous! I’m under the queen’s protection—”

“And the queen isn’t here.”

“Stay with her,” Rilda told him. “I’ll see to it.”

“You’ll get killed!” Gillian said, grabbing for her arm. “I’ve lost enough friends!”

“Are we still friends?” the older woman cocked an eyebrow.

“You know damned well we are!”

“Good. Then as your friend, I’m asking you to stay,” she said, and then she was gone.

Gillian stared after her for a moment, then ran for the stairs. Rilda could yell at her all she liked afterward, but she was not leaving her to stand alone! But Kit was having none of it.

A hand, which had been so gentle earlier, clamped around her arm like iron. “The Circle doesn’t want her,” he said, when she rounded on him. “They want you.”

“And they’ll have neither of us!”

“They will if you go down there. I can assure you—”

“You assured me that they wanted to make my death look like an accident. That they wouldn’t simply murder me in the street!”

“I said they would prefer that, as it would avoid uncomfortable questions at court, preserve their standing—”

“Then why would they come here tonight?”

“Because they haven’t been successful!” Dark eyes flashed. “And they are running out of time. Your influence with the queen grows daily. They may have decided that they cannot wait any longer—”

“They will learn otherwise!”

She tried to break away, but Kit’s hand held as fast as if he were a statue carved out of granite. “You cannot take on several dozen war mages and possibly more,” he said flatly. “With the noise from the rain, I cannot tell for certain how many. We have to get you away—”

Which was when Gillian lost patience and spelled him, freezing him in place.

It wouldn’t hold for long, as strong as he was, and it still left her captured by his grip. A smarter woman would have provided for that, she thought, struggling. And asked to be released before she acted. But Kit was no fool, and would have known it was coming.

She doubted whether he had intended to let her go all night, and wasn’t, even now.

She stared up into those rich brown eyes, gleaming in candlelight, and thought she could still see the brain working behind them. And it probably was, since the spell didn’t make someone unconscious, merely immobilized. That was usually a death sentence, if it went on long enough, as it also stopped them from breathing. But Kit was a vampire. It wouldn’t hurt him.

It would, however, seriously anger him, and she thought she could already see sparks of red in the depths of those eyes.

Best to be away now.

She used the counter curse just on his hand, and jerked away before he realized what had happened. And yes, he was wide awake in there, the hand flexing and almost grabbing her again, but she had expected it and he had not. She danced backward, out of his range, feeling guilty as she watched the fingers stretch, still trying to reach her.

“T’will wear off soon,” she told him breathlessly. “I’m sorry.”

And then she impulsively kissed him, the frozen lips hard and uncompromising against her own. Yes, she would pay for this. But if he wasn’t so stubborn—

“You make me crazy,” she whispered, and ran for the stairs.