Daughter of Night (A Daughter of Nyx novel)

Chapter Eighteen

Her hand shook as she ran it through her hair and she could do nothing about the nausea boiling in her stomach. She would have tried to argue, but why? Their minds were already made up. A fact made more certain when Nikolas spoke.

"Ahh, I see where you're going. Dinner with a view. Nice."

There was nothing nice about the shiver that ran down her spine.

The headlights were still following and didn't they realize there was nothing at the end of this road but death? There were no houses. No stores or shops. No reason at all to be going up that mountain road in the middle of the night in the winter.

They didn't know about the three vampires in the car. What was their motivation? Aside from her.

Didn't they think it suspicious?

Perhaps, they thought Elliot was trying to get away from them. Because they were the only two cars on the road. They had to know that Elliot knew by now.

Why would they follow?

The road flattened out and he continued to the campground that no one used because it was winter.

He pulled into a spot and killed the engine.

The other vehicle pulled up behind them, trapping them against the stone fence.

Elliot met her eyes one last time before opening the door. "We'll be back soon," he said as he got to his feet.

It was only then that she knew why the people in the other car followed, even when she knew they shouldn't have.

The sound of gunfire shattered the silence of the mountaintop.

~~~

Guns?

Elliot staggered and his name was a prayer as it broke from her. Nikolas jumped out of the car, Jonathan a half a second behind him. She couldn't take her eyes off Elliot as he straighted. The bloom of red over his chest, over his heart seemed to not phase him and the smile on his face was cold, empty, and not directed at her, but at some unknown assailant that was about to meet his end.

The pity she had felt, the sadness over the death that was coming to the people that followed them up the mountain was gone, burned away by the scent of sulfur and silenced by the slight ring in her ears.

They had no idea that they were facing vampires. Which meant that they were going to kill whoever she was with.

Elliot vanished and the next sound she heard was a drawn-out scream.

She turned, trying to see through the softly steaming window. There wasn't much she could see in the dark but the sounds told her everything she needed to know. There were shouts and more shots fired. These were further away and she could only imagine that the people that chose death, were running from their fate.

"Where did he go?" The words barely reached her but the following scream did.

How many were there?

The SUV blocked her vision even better than the night. It was huge, big enough to carry eight.

Would they have sent that many? So many lives to be lost for a cause she still wasn't sure she understood.

Another scream, rising in volume until there was nothing human about it and more shouting.

"Split up!"

Fools. Vampires could track them. Separating would make no difference.

Or perhaps that was her foolish belief.