Page 130 of Blood as Sweet as Roses

“And she must have gotten support from the eastern shifters and the witches,” Celine says. She takes her phone from her pocket and tries to make a call, but the line is dead. “Fuck, they must have cut the cell service somehow.”

“Magic,” Damien confirms. “But it will take a lot of energy to maintain a spell like that, and I don’t think they have many witches on their side.”

“It’s not the whole coven, at least I don’t think so. Just a few of the independent witches who serve Artemis,” I answer. A lone vampire breaks through the wave in front of us and stumbles toward the elevators. When he spots me, he tries to scurry away. But I rush forward, grabbing him by the scruff of his throat. He’s not prepared, and I easily stake him, tossing his deanimated body behind the desk.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spot a long-legged wolf barge into the lobby from the entrance to the courtyard. Her white fur shimmers in the emergency lights. She launches herself into a group of masked vampires, scattering them. In the chaos, she manages to pin one down. Then she shifts back into her human form to stake them.

“Ha! That’sthirty-four!” she declares proudly, twisting her ivory dagger-stake out of the deanimated vampire’s chest.

“Lexi, you’re naked again,” Celine points out.

Her sister looks down at her bare, blood-splatted body and makes a squealing noise in the back of her throat. “That dress wasBalenciaga! Goddammit, how did Tudor manage toshiftandkeep his clothes on?”

“It takes a long time to perfect,” Damien says.

“I’m getting really good at shifting, though, aren’t I?” she says, looking over at her sister for approval.

“You’re doing great, Lex,” Celine says, although her eyes are watching a group of clashing vampires by a luggage rack. In a flash, she rushes to join them.

“Lexi, what’s happening in the courtyard?” I ask the vampire-shifter.

“It doesn’t look good,” she answers, wiping blood from her cheek. “We’re keeping the eastern shifters at bay for now, but our witches and wolves are getting tired. There were only a few representatives at the conference. And the witches seem to think that Oana and the Artemis witches have a circle somewhere, and they’re using magic to block the cell service, and maybe infiltrate the hotel’s defenses. They’re trying to counter it, but it’s hard to do that and fight at the same time. Can you spare any vampires?”

I look around at the pandemonium, and consider the risk of allowing any vampires to get access to the other floors.

“I don’t think so,” I answer. “Can you keep holding them off?”

Lexi’s blue eyes shine optimistically. “We’ll do our best, Crimson.”

I give her a nod, and she shifts back into her wolf form, then leaps toward the courtyard entrance.

I pull my phone from my pocket, trying again to reach anyone else.

But the cell service is still down.

A group of vampires rush me, and my phone clatters to the ground. Furious, I sink my fangs into the neck of the nearest one, grabbing another by her hair and pulling fiercely.

I just have to hold them off until dawn.

Ihaveto keep her safe.

CHAPTER 46: BRAVE

Paige

“One last push!” I shout.

Lily screams, and the rest of the newborn’s slippery body falls into my hands. I’m wearing gloves I found in the first aid kit. Lily is lying down on her back, on top of a pile of towels on the floor of the security room. Her face is contorted in pain and drenched with sweat, tendrils of ash-blond hair sticking to her forehead. Eli is wearing headphones, watching downloaded videos on Lily’s phone under the desk.

The wriggling infant squeals, letting out their first cry. It’s like music to my ears. Luckily, the emergency lights are enough to see by, although I would have preferred the bright overhead lights.

“She’s here, Lily!” I declare, checking the tiny body for any signs of injury she might have sustained in the birth canal. But it was a fast, uncomplicated labour. “She’s here and she’s healthy!”

“Thank goodness,” Lily sighs, surrendering down onto the drenched towels below her. She pants heavily, recovering from the effort of the past several hours.

I tie off the umbilical cord and snip it with my scissors. They’re not perfectly sanitized, but I did my best under the circumstances. I prepared a few warm, wet towels, which I use to clean off the little baby as best as I can. She’s so impossibly tiny, her fragile body red and slick with fluid. As carefully as I can, I wrap her in a dry towel and hand her to Lily.

Despite her exhaustion, the mother takes her baby tenderly in her arms. She gazes down at her with eyes full of love and wonder. “Hello, Winnie,” she whispers. “Welcome to the world, honey.”