Quinn stopped rolling her. Rashel sat up, tried to glance at her own back, then looked for Timmy.
He was crouched on the road, staring at the house. Rashel could see flames coming out of the windows.
Smoke was pouring upward and everything seemed as bright as daylight beneath it.
"Are you all right?" Quinn said urgently. He was looking her over.
Rashel's whole body was washed with adrenaline and her heart was pounding insanely. But she couldn't
take her eyes off the house.
She stumbled to her feet. "Nyala's in there! I have to get her."
Quinn looked at her as if she were raving. Rashel just shook her head and started helplessly toward the
house. She didn't want to go anywhere near it.
She knew the fire wanted her dead. But she couldn't leave Nyala in there to burn.
Then Quinn was shoving her roughly back. "You stay here. I'll get her."
"No! I have to-"
"You have to watch Timmy! Look, he's getting away!"
Rashel whirled. She didn't have any clear idea of where Timmy might be getting away to-but he was on
his feet and moving. Toward the house, then away from it. She grabbed for him again. When she turned
back toward Quinn, Quinn was gone.
No-there he was, darting into the house. Timmy was screaming again, kicking in her arms.
"I hate you!" he shouted. "Let go of me! Why did you take me out?"
Rashel stared at the house. Quinn was inside now. In that holocaust of flame. And he'd gone because of
her, to save her from going herself.
Please, she thought suddenly and distinctly. Please don't let him die.
The flames were roaring higher. The night was brilliant with them. Fire was raining in little burning bits
from the sky, and Rashel's nose and eyes stung. She knew she should get farther back, but she couldn't.
She had to watch for Quinn.
"Why? I hate you! Why did you take me out?"
Rashel looked at the strange little creature in her arms, the one that was biting and kicking as if it wanted
to go back into the burning house. She
didn't know what Timmy had become-some weird combination of child, adult, and animal, apparently.
And she didn't know what kind of future he could possibly have. But she did know, now, why she'd
brought him out.
She looked at the childish face, the angry eyes full of hate. "Because my mom told me to take care of
you," she whispered.
And then she was crying. She was holding him and sobbing. Timmy didn't try to hold her back, but he
didn't bite her anymore either.
Still sobbing, Rashel looked over his head toward the house. Everything was burning. And Quinn was
still inside....
Then she saw a figure silhouetted against the flames. Two figures. One holding the other, half carrying it.
"Quinn!"
He was running toward her, supporting Nyala. They were both covered with soot. Nyala was swaying,
laughing, her eyes huge and distant.
Rashel threw her arms around both of them. The relief that washed over her was almost more painful
than the fear. Her legs literally felt as if they had no bones-she was going to collapse at any second. She
was tottering.
"You're alive," she whispered into Quinn's charred collar. "And you got her." She could feel Quinn's arm
around her, holding hard. Nothing else seemed to matter.
But now Quinn was taking his arm away, pushing her along the road. "Come on! We've got to get to the
wharf before they do."
In a flash, Rashel understood. She got a new grip on Timmy and turned to run toward the hiking path.
Her knees were shaking, but she found she could make them move.
They lurched down the path in the wild grass, Quinn supporting Nyala, she carrying Timmy. Rashel
didn't know how many vampires had made it out of the burning house-she hadn't seen any- but she knew
that any who did would head for the dock.
Where she and Annelise had disabled the boats.
But as the wharf came into view, Rashel saw something that hadn't been there when she left it. There
was a yacht in the harbor, swinging at anchor.
"It's Hunter's," Quinn said. "Hurry!"
They were flying down the hill, staggering onto the wharf. Rashel saw no sign of the werewolf she'd tied
up earlier, but she saw something else new. An inflatable red dinghy was tied to the pier.
"Quick! You get in first."
Rashel put Timmy down and got in. Quinn lifted Timmy into her arms, then put Nyala in. Nyala was
staring around her now, laughing in spurts, then stopping to breathe hard. Rashel put her free arm around
her as Quinn climbed in the dinghy.
Every second, Rashel was expecting to see Hunter Redfern appear, blackened and smoldering, with his
arms outstretched like some vengeful demon.
And then the tiny motor was purring and they were moving away from the wharf. They were leaving it
behind. They were on the ocean, the cool dark ocean, freeing themselves from land and danger.
Rashel watched as the yacht got bigger and bigger. They were close to it now. They were there.
"Come on. We can climb up the swimming ladder. Come on, fast," Quinn said. He was reaching for her,
his face unfamiliar in a mask of soot, his eyes intense. Absolutely focused, absolutely determined.
Thank God he knows what to do on a boat. I wouldn't. She let Quinn help her up the ladder, then
helped Timmy and Nyala. Nyala had stopped laughing entirely now. She was simply gasping, looking
bewildered.
"What happened? What-?" She stared toward the cliffs where orange flame was shooting into the sky. "I
did that. Did I do that?"