"And there's the vampire from the platform," Jez said. "He got away-did he see the flash?"
"He saw everything. We were both right there, looking down at you. After that, he took off running. I'm sure he's going back to report to whoever sent him."
"And they'll be putting everything they have on the streets, looking for us." Jez looked around the garage.
"We need transportation, Hugh."
Hugh gave a tiny grin. "Why do I have the feeling you don't mean a taxi?"
"If you've got a pocketknife, I can hotwire a car. But we have to make sure nobody's around. The last thing we need is the police."
They both stood up, Jez reaching down absent-mindedly to pull Claire to her feet.
Claire whispered, "Wait. I'm not ready for tins-"
Jez braced herself to be merciless. "You're never going to be ready, Claire. Nobody is. But you have no idea what these people will do to you if they find you. You... just have no idea."
She located a Mustang across the garage. "That's a good one. Let's go."
There was a loose brick in the wall near the car. Jez wrapped it in her jacket and broke the window.
It only took a moment to get the door open and another few seconds to start the car. And then everybody was inside and Jez was pulling smoothly out "Take Yanacio Boulevard to the freeway," Hugh said. "We've got to head south. There's a safe house in Fremont."
But they never made it out of the garage.
Jez saw the Volvo as she turned the first corner toward the exit It had its brights on and it was heading right for them. She twisted the wheel, trying to maneuver, but a Mustang wasn't a motorcycle. She didn't have room. She couldn't slip out and get away.
The Volvo never even slowed down. And this time there was no blue light. There was a terrible crashing of metal on metal, and Jez fell into darkness.
Everything hurt.
Jez woke up slowly. For a long moment she had no idea where she was. Someplace-moving.
She was being jolted and jarred, and that wasn't good, because she seemed to be bruised all over.
Now, how had that happened... ?
She remembered.
And sat up so fast that it made her head spin. She found herself looking around the dim interior of a van.
Dim because there were no real windows. The one in back had been covered from the outside with duct tape, and only a little light came through at the top and bottom. No light came from the front. The driver's compartment was closed off from the back by a metal wall.
There were no seats in back, nothing at all to work with. Only three figures lying motionless on the floor.
Claire. Hugh. And... Morgead.
Jez stared, crawling forward to look at each of them.
Claire looked all right. She had been in the backseat with a seat belt on. Her face was very pale, but she didn't seem to be bleeding and she was breathing evenly.
Hugh looked worse. His right arm was twisted oddly under him. Jez touched it gently and determined that it was broken.
And I don't have anything to set it with. And I think sbmething else is wrong with him-his breathing's raspy.
Finally she looked at Morgead.
He looked great. He wasn't scraped or bruised or cut like the rest of them. The only injury she could find was a huge lump on his forehead.
Even as she brushed his hair back from it, he stirred.
His eyes opened and Jez found herself looking into dark emeralds.
"Jez!" He sat up, too fast. She pushed him back down. He struggled up again.
"Jez, what happened? Where are we?"
"I was hoping you might tell me that."
He was looking around the van, catching up fast Like any vampire, he didn't stay groggy long.
"I got hit. With wood. Somebody got me when I left my apartment." He looked at her sharply. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah. I got hit with a car. But it could be worse; it was almost a train."
They were both looking around now, automatically in synch, searching for clues to their situation and ways to get out They didn't have to discuss it The first order of business was always escape.
"Do you have any idea who hit you?" Jez said, running her fingers over the back door. No handles, no way to get out "No. Pierce called to say he'd come up with something on the Wild Power. I was going to meet him when suddenly I got attacked from behind." He was going over the metal barrier that separated them from the driver's cabin, but now he glanced at her. "What do you mean, it was almost a train?"
"Nothing here. Nothing on the sides. This van is stripped."
"Nothing here, either. What do you mean, a train?"
Jez wiggled around to face him. "You really don't know?"
He stared at her for a moment. Either he was a fantastic actor, or he was both innocent and outraged.
"You think I would do something to hurt you?"
Jez shrugged. "It's happened in the past."
He glared, seemed about to get into one of his Excited States. Then he shook his head. "I have no idea what's going on. And I would not try to hurt you."
"Then we're both in trouble."
He leaned back against the metal wall. "I believe you there." He was silent for a moment, then said in an odd, deliberate tone, "It's the Council, isn't it? They found out about Hunter's deal with us, and they're moving in."
Jez opened her mouth, shut it. Opened it again.
"Probably," she said.
She needed Morgead. Claire and Hugh weren't fighters. And whoever had them was a formidable enemy.
She didn't think it was the Council. The Council wouldn't use hired thugs; it would work through the Elders in San Francisco. And it would have no reason to kidnap Morgead; the deal with Hunter Redfern didn't really exist.