JUDE, SAMIEL AND NATHANIEL STOOD IN FRONT OF the TV, their eyes grave. They cleared a space for me so I could see.<\/p>\n
At first I wasn\u2019t sure what I was looking at. A reporter\u2019s voice came intermittently over the images, but the camera kept jiggling everywhere, and it was hard to see exactly what was going on. People were screaming and running, but I couldn\u2019t see what they were screaming at and running from.<\/p>\n
Then the camera finally stabilized, and I realized what I was looking at. It was live footage from Daley Plaza, and the camera was shooting the action just in front of the Picasso statue.<\/p>\n
There were vampires everywhere, and the sun blazed down on the plaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cGods above and below,\u201d I whispered. \u201cAzazel\u2019s formula worked.\u201d<\/p>\n
The angle of the camera shifted and tipped to one side. Blood splattered over the lens. The reporter stopped speaking. The animal growls of vampires and the sickening squelch of flesh being eaten broadcast far too clearly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have to do something,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou can\u2019t fly anymore,\u201d Beezle pointed out. \u201cNo wings. And you\u2019re wearing your pajamas.\u201d<\/p>\n
A woman\u2019s high-pitched wail broke through the sound of feasting.<\/p>\n
\u201cI can carry you,\u201d Nathaniel said, and I ran for my things.<\/p>\n
Jude had already changed into a wolf, discarded his clothes, ran to the door.<\/p>\n
I grabbed my sword, pulled my boots over my pajama pants, yanked on my coat and followed Jude. Nathaniel was right behind me, Samiel close on his heels.<\/p>\n
Beezle launched from the mantel to my shoulder as I opened the front door. Jude darted down the stairs in front of me.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy can\u2019t you stay home where I know you\u2019ll be safe?\u201d I said to Beezle as he crawled inside my coat.<\/p>\n
\u201cLike I would miss this,\u201d he said, his voice muffled. \u201cAnd besides, somebody needs to make sure you don\u2019t go dark side.\u201d<\/p>\n
I ignored his jibe. I\u2019d made some questionable choices lately, to be sure, but when I looked back over them I wasn\u2019t sure I could have made different ones. And there were far more important things to worry about right now than my shades of gray.<\/p>\n
Jude burst through each of the front doors and bounded onto the porch, my apartment door slamming against the wall as he went through with a burst of speed.<\/p>\n
By the time Nathaniel, Samiel and I had clattered down the front steps, Jude was already gone.<\/p>\n
Nathaniel scooped me up, carrying me like a child, and opened his wings. Samiel lifted off a moment later. As we rose above the treetops I realized that neither of them was under a cloak of magic.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was a little conspicuous,\u201d I said. \u201cI wonder what the neighbors will make of two angels taking off from my front lawn.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGiven all the weird shit that occurs in the nexus in and around our house, they probably won\u2019t be surprised in the least,\u201d Beezle said. \u201cBesides, vampires are eating up all the nice little commuters in the middle of the day. I don\u2019t think the regular rules are going to apply from now on.\u201d<\/p>\n
As we sped downtown as fast as Nathaniel and Samiel could fly, I knew Beezle was right. In a single instant everything had changed. The world that had been hidden from normal people, a world of creatures they\u2019d seen only in their dreams and nightmares, had been split wide-open. Nothing would ever be the same again.<\/p>\n
The news report had come from Daley Plaza, the distinctive figure of the Picasso statue looming in the background of the shot. Nathaniel angled a little west from the lake and headed toward the plaza.<\/p>\n
As we got closer I could see traffic snarled on the surrounding streets, buses and taxis at a standstill, drivers abandoning their vehicles to run. People crammed on the stairwell to the El, pushing, shoving, stepping on anyone who tripped and fell. The vampires were monsters to be feared, but people didn\u2019t exactly show the best face of humanity at times like this.<\/p>\n
Then we were over the plaza, and it was worse, far worse, than I\u2019d imagined.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d thought that Azazel\u2019s potion had to be limited, that there couldn\u2019t possibly be that many vamps colluding with him. And even if there were, I\u2019d assumed his death would have cut off the production of the serum that allowed the vamps to walk in sunlight without turning to flames.<\/p>\n
After all, Jude, Nathaniel and I had fought several perfectly ordinary vampires at Azazel\u2019s mansion only a couple of weeks before.<\/p>\n
But there were hundreds, maybe thousands, of vampires on the streets below. They poured from the blue line subway station, emerged from the sewers through manhole covers, an endless seething mass of bloodthirsty insects falling upon any human they could find.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve never liked vampires, even when they\u2019ve kept a low profile. I\u2019d always suspected their veneer of civility was just that, and I\u2019ve never bought into the notion that it\u2019s romantic to have your blood drained by a vamp.<\/p>\n
This was one occasion when I would have been happy to be proven wrong. It was pretty clear from the carnage going on below us that vampires didn\u2019t entertain any romantic notions about humans. To them, we were nothing more than walking, talking bags of meat.<\/p>\n
Beezle poked his head out of the lapel of my coat and looked down. \u201cGods above and below. Where do you even start?\u201d For once there was no sarcasm in his voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just have to do what we can,\u201d I said, and tried to sound confident. \u201cLet\u2019s go, Nathaniel.\u201d<\/p>\n
He brought us down to the platform that the Picasso statue rested upon, which gave us a slightly elevated view of the plaza. On any given day you can see a few brave kids climbing the tilted platform and sliding, whooping and hollering, to the ground below.<\/p>\n
Today it was covered with the spattered blood of dozens of victims.<\/p>\n
I leapt from the top, swinging my sword to slice the head from the nearest vampire I could find. When that one was dust, I moved to the next one. I was vaguely aware of Nathaniel and Samiel fighting around me, and of Jude joining the fray, snarling and barking as he tore the vamps\u2019 throats out.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know how long we fought. I punched, kicked, hacked, slashed and watched heads roll away, disintegrating into dust as they went. And I kept doing it, over and over and over again.<\/p>\n
Still the vampires came.<\/p>\n
Still more of them poured from the ground like cicadas emerging from hibernation. And nobody showed up to help us.<\/p>\n
The Agency was a short walk from where we fought the tide. I imagined large numbers of Agents were engaged with trying to keep up with the souls pouring from the bodies of the dead, but why not send the rest of the Agents to fight the vampires? The Agency\u2019s willfully blind attitude about not getting involved in the actions of other supernatural courts surely couldn\u2019t extend to ignoring a massacre under their noses.<\/p>\n
Or maybe it could, since the cavalry never arrived. After several hours of killing vampires, I slipped.\u2028I was tired, hungry and pregnant, and I wasn\u2019t completely on my game after a week spent fighting battle after battle.<\/p>\n
My boot heel skidded in a pool of blood, and so I was just a little shy of complete decapitation on the vamp I battled. I landed backward, banged the back of my head against the sidewalk, and saw stars for a moment.<\/p>\n
My field of vision was filled with the slavering jaws of the vampire I hadn\u2019t quite killed, ready to eat my face off. There was no time to think, no time to perform a spell.<\/p>\n
Then the vampire was gone, and Nathaniel picked me up from the ground and carried me away.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are you doing?\u201d I screamed. \u201cWe can\u2019t leave. We can\u2019t leave those people down there alone.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe cannot do any more,\u201d Nathaniel said grimly. \u201cThere are four of us, and thousands of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can\u2019t leave,\u201d I said again. I\u2019d never run from a fight in my life.<\/p>\n
Nathaniel landed on a nearby roof. Samiel was beside us holding Jude, still in wolf form, in his arms.<\/p>\n
\u201cLook,\u201d Nathaniel said angrily, holding me by the shoulders so I could see what was below. \u201cThe city is overrun. We can\u2019t do anything else.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared down. It was so much worse from up here, where you could see the pouring mass of vampires undulating through the city streets, into the buildings and buses, leaving empty husks of humanity behind them.<\/p>\n
It seemed that the more people who were killed, the more ferocious the vamps became.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s a feeding frenzy,\u201d I said, sickened. \u201cHow can we leave them down there, without anyone to defend them?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe police are fighting back,\u201d Beezle said, his head popping out of my jacket.<\/p>\n
From our vantage point on the roof we could see the teams moving in, hastily mounting barricades. The percussion of gunfire was added to the chorus of screams that echoed in the canyons of the city. My city, overrun by vampires.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo,\u201d I said angrily. \u201cWe have to go back. We have to help.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nathaniel\u2019s hands rested on my shoulders and he spun me around to face him. His face was twisted in anger and, to my surprise, fear.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust what is it that you think you can do?\u201d he said, giving me a little shake. \u201cDo you not value your life at all?\u201d<\/p>\n
I saw Samiel move out of the corner of my eye, obviously intending to defend me from Nathaniel, but I slapped my ex-fianc\u00e9\u2019s hands away before Samiel could.<\/p>\n
\u201cI value my life as much as you do yours,\u201d I said. \u201cBut I don\u2019t value it more than any of them do.\u201d I pointed toward the terrified mass of humanity below.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you would kill yourself to save one of them?\u201d Nathaniel said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019m superior to them the way you do,\u201d I said coldly.<\/p>\n
Nathaniel threw his hands in the air. \u201cGods above and below, you are the most thickheaded woman I have ever met. Do you really think this is about superiority? Think about your baby. Think about the people who love you. Don\u2019t throw yourself away on the impossible.\u201d<\/p>\n
I stared at him, startled to realize that the fear in his eyes had been for me. He correctly interpreted the look on my face and sighed. \u201cI do not know why you cannot credit me with human emotions, even after all we have been through.\u201d<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t have anything to say to that. There would always be a part of me\u2014although that part was shrinking almost daily\u2014that would be suspicious of Nathaniel, that didn\u2019t trust his veracity.<\/p>\n
Samiel tapped me on the shoulder. This really isn\u2019t the time for a heart-to-heart.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cYeah,\u201d Beezle agreed. \u201cWe need to get out of here before the police start firing on us just because we look weird.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThe gargoyle is right,\u201d Nathaniel said, lifting me up again. I felt a magical veil settle over us, hiding our appearance from human eyes. \u201cThe humans are in a state of panic, unable to distinguish friend from foe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat, and Maddy\u2019s covered in blood and carrying a sword,\u201d Beezle added.<\/p>\n As we flew away I turned my head from the carnage below. I knew Nathaniel was right. I knew that continuing a battle we couldn\u2019t win was foolish and pointless. We\u2019d barely made a dent in the endless stream of vampires. But I\u2019d never run away before, and leaving felt less like good sense than defeat.<\/p>\n We continued north toward my house. Sturdier barricades were being assembled by the police farther away from the epicenter of the attack. It looked like the authorities were trying to contain the vampires to the Loop.<\/p>\n The sad truth was the density of commuters and residents downtown would probably keep the vampires busy there for a while. There was no need for the vamps to leave that area as long as there was food, and there was plenty of food to be found.<\/p>\n I could feel the pent-up tension in Nathaniel\u2019s arms as he held me, and knew that he longed to have another go at me over my hardheadedness. He held back likely due to the presence of an audience. Of course, if he was waiting for an opportunity to get me alone, he would be waiting forever. There was always someone hanging around my house these days, and Beezle had completely lost all sense of personal boundaries.<\/p>\n We landed on the front lawn, Samiel and Jude beside us. In silent concordance we all trooped back upstairs to my apartment. The television was still on. Jude returned to human form, pulling on his discarded clothing.<\/p>\n I stopped in front of the TV, staring. Nathaniel took my coat from my shoulders. Beezle flew out of the pocket and went straight to his brooding spot on the mantel.<\/p>\n A sober-voiced anchor spoke over footage shot from a helicopter. I guess they weren\u2019t stupid enough to send another cameraman into Daley Plaza.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are trying to identify the nature of this threat; however, as unbelievable as it may seem, eyewitness reports have indicated that these creatures are attacking anything in sight, biting and, it seems, feeding on the victims. They are like . . . like some kind of vampires. All we know for certain is that there are hundreds of them, as you can see from our aerial footage of the Loop. The police are attempting to halt the creatures\u2019 progress as best they can. A spokesperson for the mayor\u2019s office has said that the mayor has contacted the National Guard and that he will be making a statement to the press in approximately thirty minutes. The mayor and his staff have been airlifted out of the danger zone . . .\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about everyone else?\u201d I murmured. I\u2019d been there, fighting all morning, and it looked so much worse on TV. The news camera was far enough away that detail was blessedly lost, but the black horde seemed to swell even as I watched, a pulsing, cancerous growth engulfing the heart of Chicago.<\/p>\n I saw dark spots before my eyes. The picture on the screen went blank. A few moments later I opened my eyes to see four anxious faces above me.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat happened?\u201d I said. Somehow I\u2019d ended up prone on the couch.<\/p>\n \u201cYou fainted,\u201d Beezle said.<\/p>\n \u201cI did not,\u201d I said. I don\u2019t know why, but I was embarrassed.<\/p>\n \u201cYou did,\u201d Beezle said.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd no wonder, since you have been exerting yourself and have not eaten since yesterday,\u201d Nathaniel said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou look thinner,\u201d Jude added.<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t have lost weight since yesterday just because I didn\u2019t eat breakfast,\u201d I scoffed.<\/p>\n \u201cWho knows what this baby is doing to you?\u201d Beezle said ominously.<\/p>\n I really didn\u2019t enjoy it when Beezle implied that Gabriel\u2019s baby was trying to kill me from the inside out, so I waved the lot of them away without replying and sat up. Mistake. Everything went wobbly again.<\/p>\n \u201cFor the sake of the Morningstar, just rest for a moment,\u201d Nathaniel said, pushing me back down.<\/p>\n \u201cQuit manhandling her,\u201d Jude growled.<\/p>\n \u201cI will do what I must to get her to take care of herself,\u201d Nathaniel snapped.<\/p>\n \u201cYou didn\u2019t show such a touching concern for Maddy\u2019s health when you were trying to kill her in Azazel\u2019s mansion during the rebellion,\u201d Jude said.<\/p>\n Nathaniel stood to face Jude, his hands curled into fists. \u201cI do not have to explain myself to you, wolf.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cNot this again,\u201d I muttered, then louder: \u201cEnough, both of you. I don\u2019t need you talking about me like I\u2019m not here. If you want to be helpful, you\u2019ll go and get me something to eat.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI wouldn\u2019t mind a little something myself,\u201d Beezle said.<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t need it,\u201d everyone in the room replied, including Samiel, who signed the words.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you\u2019re going to be that way about it,\u201d Beezle grumped. \u201cWe are,\u201d I said.\u2028Samiel went into the kitchen. Nathaniel and Jude continued bristling at each other.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy is my life filled with men?\u201d I said to no one in particular.<\/p>\n \u201cBeats me,\u201d Beezle said. \u201cIt\u2019s not your charming personality\u2014that\u2019s for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n I gave him a sour look.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t even have to try,\u201d Beezle said. \u201cThe punch line was right there.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cStand down,\u201d I said to Nathaniel and Jude.<\/p>\n They both turned to look at me, and it was only then that it really registered that they were both covered in blood. And so was I. I was abruptly aware of the gore drying on my face, of my red-stained hands. It was a sad commentary on my life that I was so frequently covered in blood that I wouldn\u2019t notice its presence even when I was soaked in it.<\/p>\n Samiel reentered the living room carrying a sandwich. The thought of eating it while covered in the ichor of doz- ens of vampires made my stomach turn.<\/p>\n \u201cHelp me up,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n Nathaniel rushed to help me but I gave him a pointed look. \u201cI asked for Samiel.\u201d<\/p>\n My brother-in-law put the sandwich on the coffee table as Nathaniel backed away with a frozen look. I knew there was a reckoning coming with Nathaniel. Sooner or later I\u2019d have to decide whether he was an ally or an enemy. I couldn\u2019t keep him floating in the netherworld between forever.<\/p>\n Don\u2019t touch that sandwich, <\/em>Samiel signed to Beezle.\u2028\u201cI know how to get my own food,\u201d Beezle said loftily. Don\u2019t touch that sandwich, <\/em>Samiel repeated.\u2028He came around to take my arm as I stood. Now that the adrenaline of the fight had worn off, my legs had turned to mush.<\/p>\n \u201cBathroom,\u201d I said, and Samiel helped me limp along while the other three silently watched us go.<\/p>\n Samiel helped me as far as the tub, then looked at me expectantly, his face red.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, you do need to help me get my clothes off,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m sorry. Chloe would be better for something like this.\u201d Samiel\u2019s face went tight at the mention of Chloe. The Agents we saved from Azazel were taken to Northwestern.<\/em><\/p>\n I overheard Sokolov\u2019s goons talking about it.<\/em><\/p>\n Sokolov. The lapdog of the Agency administration who seemed to have devoted his life to making mine miserable. Just thinking about him made my fists curl.<\/p>\n I knew what Samiel was worried about. Northwestern Memorial Hospital was downtown, just off Michigan Avenue. But it was several blocks north and west of Daley Plaza.<\/p>\n \u201cDon\u2019t worry,\u201d I said, and I was glad Samiel could only read lips. I didn\u2019t sound very convincing. \u201cThe barriers were being set up south of the river. The hospital is well north of there.\u201d<\/p>\n You know and I know that if the vamps get inside the hospital, it will be a bloodbath, <\/em>Samiel signed.<\/p>\n \u201cChloe\u2019s tough,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n She\u2019s also recovering from major trauma.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cAll right. All right. We\u2019ll go get her,\u201d I said. \u201cJust let me clean up first.\u201d<\/p>\n Thank you, <\/em>Samiel signed, his face relieved.<\/p>\n We managed to get me through the bathing process with a minimum of embarrassment on both sides, and Samiel helped me dress. As I pulled a tank top over my head he touched the long scabs on my back where my wings used to be.<\/p>\n Do you miss them? <\/em>he signed.<\/p>\n I put a sweater over the tank top and nodded. \u201cI never thought about how much I relied on them before they were gone.\u201d<\/p>\n I wonder if you\u2019ll ever get them back.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think so,\u201d I said. \u201cThey were part of my Agent\u2019s powers, and I\u2019m never going back to the Agency.\u201d<\/p>\n But you\u2019re Lucifer\u2019s granddaughter.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMuch diluted by thousands of intervening generations.\u201d<\/p>\n Samiel shrugged. You\u2019ve had other latent powers appear.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cI suppose,\u201d I said doubtfully, looking at the missing two fingers of my left hand. Lucifer had assured me some time ago that the digits would grow back, and they never had. So I wasn\u2019t putting a lot of stock in the idea that I might regrow my wings.<\/p>\n Samiel left the room for a few minutes. When he returned I\u2019d managed to get my socks on. He carried a plate with a sandwich.<\/p>\n \u201cThat doesn\u2019t look like the same sandwich,\u201d I observed.<\/p>\n Can you guess what happened to the other one? <\/em>Samiel signed. Now, eat up. I swear you are looking thinner by the minute.<\/em><\/p>\n I\u2019d thought they were all exaggerating about my appearance, but I\u2019d noticed my jeans were looser than they were yesterday. This was probably a worrisome development, but given all the other worrisome developments in my life, losing a little weight ranked low on the priority list.<\/p>\n I stuffed the sandwich in my mouth. I didn\u2019t realize just how ravenous I was until I took the first bite.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s one thing I want to do before we go to the hospital,\u201d I said after chewing the last bit of sandwich. \u201cCall J.B.\u201d<\/p>\n He won\u2019t be able to help us, <\/em>Samiel signed. He\u2019s on thin ice with the Agency as it is.<\/em><\/p>\n I had a flash of J.B. spread-eagled on a table, tortured by Sokolov and his goons. \u201cYeah, you could say that. But he\u2019ll be able to confirm the location of the hospitalized Agents for us.\u201d<\/p>\n I\u2019ll get your phone, <\/em>Samiel said, and went out again.<\/p>\n I could hear raised voices coming from the living room, but I didn\u2019t have the energy or inclination to intervene in yet another argument. Jude and Nathaniel probably needed to have it out once and for all anyway. I just hoped they didn\u2019t destroy the living room in the process. My house had been trashed enough in the last month or so.<\/p>\n Samiel returned and handed me the phone. I saw that there were four missed calls, all from J.B.<\/p>\n I dialed his number and waited for him to pick up. There was barely half a ring before he barked into the receiver. \u201cWhat\u2019s the point of having a phone if you never pick it up?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSo sorry. I was busy battling the vampire menace taking over the city,\u201d I said dryly.<\/p>\n \u201cI know where you were,\u201d J.B. said. \u201cI saw you, and so did everyone else in Chicago with a television set. You and Jude and Nathaniel and Samiel.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe were on the news,\u201d I said, dread filling me. This was not good.<\/p>\n \u201cGoddamn right you were on the news. And you\u2019d better be more careful from now on. Half the reporters have decided you\u2019ve been sent from heaven to save humanity from the plague of vampires, and the other half have declared you should be shot in the street with all the other monsters,\u201d J.B. said. \u201cI\u2019ve got to go. It\u2019s total chaos here. The whole Agency is in lockdown mode.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWait,\u201d I said. \u201cCan you tell me if Chloe and the other Agents we saved from Azazel are still at Northwestern?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYeah, the Agency hasn\u2019t had time to move them with everything else going on. We can\u2019t even come close to keeping up with the new souls. The board is diverting Agents from other regions to help. Wait\u2014why do you want to know about Chloe?\u201d J.B. asked warily.<\/p>\n \u201cSamiel wants her with us,\u201d I said shortly. \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t the Agency put together an army to fight the vamps instead of struggling to clean up the mess?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know the answer to that,\u201d J.B. said.<\/p>\n \u201cIf the Agency doesn\u2019t get off their ass and do something, there won\u2019t be any souls left to collect in this city.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou don\u2019t have to tell me that,\u201d he said. \u201cBut I\u2019m not exactly a trustworthy figure around here anymore. No one in upper management is going to listen to me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou spend too much time with me.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s the way I like it,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019ll call you later. My mother is outside the window doing her best banshee impression.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI thought you had devised some spell to keep Amarantha away from you,\u201d I said.<\/p>\n J.B.\u2019s mother had been a faerie queen of her own court before I\u2019d killed her. Unlike most creatures, she had chosen not the Door but an existence as a ghost. I think she did it just to piss off me and J.B.<\/p>\n \u201cThe spell will keep her out of the Agency and out of my home, but it won\u2019t stop her from hanging around outside and driving me crazy. Try not to burn down the hospital.\u201d<\/p>\n He hung up before I could respond.<\/p>\n \u201cWhy does everyone think I\u2019m going to destroy a building as soon as I walk into it?\u201d I asked Samiel.<\/p>\n Your track record speaks for itself.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cBut those were accidents,\u201d I protested.<\/p>\n Most people don\u2019t have those kinds of accidents more than once.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cMost people don\u2019t have supernatural enemies trying to kill them every second of the day, either,\u201d I said, standing up cautiously.<\/p>\n The shower and the food had gone a long way toward making me feel human. I felt better equipped to fight another horde of vampires, although with any luck I wouldn\u2019t have to.<\/p>\n The barricades were north of the bridges that crossed the Chicago River. I didn\u2019t know how long city authorities would be able to contain the vamps in that area once the monsters ran through their food supply.<\/p>\n Of course, they would likely be evacuating most of the Loop and Michigan Avenue soon. And if they moved the patients at the hospital, we would have a lot of trouble finding Chloe.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s probably safer away from me, anyway,\u201d I muttered. The sad fact of my life was that the low mortality rate of my companions was more luck than anything else. Since Gabriel had died I\u2019d been braced for impact, waiting for the next, inevitable loss.<\/p>\n What was that? <\/em>Samiel signed. You have to look at me when you\u2019re talking or else I can\u2019t read your lips.<\/em><\/p>\n \u201cNothing,\u201d I said. \u201cLet\u2019s go get Chloe.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" JUDE, SAMIEL AND NATHANIEL STOOD IN FRONT OF the TV, their eyes grave. They cleared a space for me so I could see. At first I wasn\u2019t sure what I was looking at. A reporter\u2019s voice came intermittently over the … Continue reading