SEVENTY-SEVEN | IVY

My vision swam, but I held myself steady. I kept my thoughts strictly focused on the most simplistic element of my plan: fight to the door. I couldn’t allow myself the weakness of worry, and I definitely could not think about Cyrus. Bile rose in my throat, but I swallowed it back down, ignoring the ringing in my ears and the black dots hovering across my pupils.

The vampires behind Alice swarmed around us, flashing their teeth and pushing us back against the wall. My bonds had fallen free, but none of them seemed shocked or even surprised that I’d been cut loose the entire time. I steeled myself, and I dodged Alice’s lunge, barely missing her teeth by a fraction of an inch.

Those behind her were drenched in shadow, but I could make out an array of dark faces, each with their own set of blinding teeth. The bodies attached to the mouths did not matter, just as the stories and emotions behind each creature di