leaped and came down right on target.
"Don't make a sound," she said in Rudi's ear. "And don't even think about changing."
She had his arm twisted behind his back and the silver knife to his throat. Rudi didn't seem to know how
he'd gotten there. There were hot dogs all over the floor.
"Now," Rashel said. "Let's talk about jujitsu. This is what you call a proper hold. Resistance to it will
cause serious pain and quite possibly a fractured joint. Are you getting this, Rudi?" Rudi wiggled a little
and Rashel exerted pressure upward on his knuckles. Rudi yelped and danced on his toes.
"Hush! What I want to know is, where is the other werewolf?"
"Guarding the dock."
"Who else is on the dock?"
"I-nobody."
"Is there anybody on the stairs or in the kitchen? Don't lie to me, Rudi, or I'll get annoyed."
"No. They're all in the gathering room."
Rashel nodded at Daphne. Daphne jumped out of her bed.
"Remember-quick and quiet everybody," she said, like a cheerleader who'd been promoted to drill
sergeant.
Rashel felt Rudi boggle as every girl in the room kicked off her covers and stood up free.
"What the-what the-"
"Now, Rudi." Keeping his elbow trapped against her, Rashel exerted pressure again, moving him easily
in the direction she wanted. "You go first. You're going to unlock the top door for us."
"Annelise and Keiko in front," Daphne said. "Missy right here. Let's go."
"I can't unlock it. I can't. They'll kill me," Rudi muttered, as Rashel moved him up the stairs.
"Rudi, look at these young women." Rashel swung him around so he had a good view of the prisoners
behind him. They stood in one tense,
dear-eyed, lightly breathing mass. "Rudi, if you don't unlock that door, I am going to tie you up and leave
you alone with them... and this silver knife. I promise, whatever the vampires do to you won't be
worse."
Rudi stared at the girls, who stared back at him. All ages, all sizes, united.
"I'll unlock the door."
"Good boy."
He fumbled getting the door open. When it was done, Rashel pushed him through first, looking tensely
around. If there were vampires here, she had to change tactics fast.
The kitchen was empty-and music was blasting from somewhere inside the house. Rashel gave a quick
savage grin. It was a lucky break she wouldn't have dared to pray for. The music might just save these
girls' lives.
She pulled Rudi out of the way and nodded to Daphne.
Daphne stood at the head of the stairs, silently waving the girls out. Fayth led the way with the Valkyrie
Annelise and the tiny Keiko behind her. The other girls hurried past, and Rashel was proud of how quiet
they were.
"Now," she whispered, pushing Rudi back into the stairwell. "One last question. Who's throwing the
bloodfeast?"
Rudi shook his head.
"Who hired you? Who bought the slaves? Who's the client, Rudi?"
"I don't know! I'm telling you! Nobody knows who hired us. It was all done on the phone!"
Rashel hesitated. She wanted to keep questioning him-but right now the important thing was to get the
girls off the island.
Daphne was still waiting in the kitchen, watching Rashel.
Rashel looked at her and then helplessly at Rudi's bushy brown head. She should kill him. It was the only
smart thing to do, and it was what she'd planned to do. He was a conspirator in the plan to brutally
murder twenty-four teenage girls-and he enjoyed it.
But Daphne was watching. And Fayth would give her that look if she heard Rashel had done him in.
Rashel let out her breath. "Sleep tight," she said, and hit Rudi on the head with the hilt of her knife.
He slumped unconscious and she shut the cellar door on him. She turned quickly to Daphne. "Let's go."
Daphne almost skipped ahead of her. They went out the back door and picked up the hiking path.
Rashel moved swiftly, loping across the beaten-down wild grass. She caught up to the string of girls.
"That's it, Missy," she whispered. "Nice and quiet. Nyala, you're limping; does your leg hurt? A little
faster, everybody."
She made her way up to the front. "Okay, Annelise and Keiko. When we get there, I'll take care of the
guard. Then you know what to do."
"Find which boats we can handle. Destroy whatever we can on the others and set them adrift. Then each
take half the girls and head west," Annelise said.
"Right. If you can't make it to land, do your best and then call the Coast Guard."
"But not right away," Keiko put in. "Lots of islanders use ship-to-shore radio instead of telephones. The
vampires may be monitoring it."
Rashel squeezed her shoulder. "Smart girl. I knew you were right for the job. And remember, if you do
call the Coast Guard, don't give the right name of the boat and don't mention this island." It was perfectly
possible that there were Night People in the Coast Guard.
They were almost at the bottom of the cliff, and so far no alarms had sounded. Rashel scanned the
moving group again, then became aware that Daphne was behind her.
"Everything okay?"
"So far," Daphne said breathlessly. She added, "You're good at this, you know. Encouraging them and
all."
Rashel shook her head. "I'm just trying to keep them together until they're not my problem anymore."
Daphne smiled. "I think that's what I just said."