Page 49 of Fall into Place

Althea’s eyes bulged outward. She swatted and clawed at Callum, but he was too tall; he had her pinned down with one knee, and she couldn’t reach his face. Tess looked away—she had no particular desire to see Callum kill this woman. But Tess turned back when she heard Callum yell—Althea had stabbed him in the thigh with a dagger! She must have pulled it from some pocket; Callum was shaking with pain. Althea got on top of him and held the knife against his throat.

“You don’t have to die, Callum.” She smiled, then leaned down close to him. “Just tell me where she is.”

He gasped and sputtered, laboring for breath. Tess couldn’t understand why he wasn’t fighting back—his leg wound should be healing quickly.

“Tess?” Althea called. “Tess, if you can hear me, it’s safe to come out, okay? Callum’s not in charge of you anymore.”

Tess froze. Who the hell was this woman, and how did she know Tess’s name? Had Felix sent her—and if so, was she there to protect Tess or harm her? Tess’s instinct was to stay hidden, but if she did, would Althea kill Callum? And what then? If she knew Tess was nearby, surely it wouldn’t take long for Althea to find her. Whether or not Althea was theoretically there to help Tess, she would certainly drain her blood once she realized Tess was human.

Which meant Tess really only had one choice: She had to figure out a way to save Callum’s life.

Tess looked around for anything that could be used as a weapon—there was a thick stick on the ground with a fairly sharp end. It was far from a proper stake, but it was the best she had on hand. And come to think of it, she didn’t even know whether a stake would really kill a vampire—that question had never come up. But she was out of time. If she didn’t act now, Callum was dead, and possibly so was she.

“Okay,” Tess called, slipping the stick into the waistband of her leggings. “I’m coming out.”

She stepped out from behind the moonflowers with her hands in the air.

“Are you here to help me?” she asked Althea, her voice shaking. “I’ve been so afraid of Callum.”

Althea rose and looked at Tess with a satisfied smile. Callum stayed on the ground, obviously still in significant pain—but he threw Tess a sideways glance.

Tess took a step toward the pair of them, then stumbled, bracing her ankle.

“I’m sorry,” she said, gasping for breath. “He keeps breaking my ankles, trying to get me to talk. He’s convinced I know something about what happened to his sister. He won’t believe me no matter what I tell him. Can you help me?”

As Althea sped toward her, Tess made her move—she grabbed the stick and thrust it forward, hoping Althea’s momentum would do most of the work to drive the stake through her heart. Tess felt the stake pierce the vampire’s flesh and heard a disgusting squelch as Althea staggered backward—

“You fucking bitch,” she seethed, yanking the stick out of her gut.

“Fuck,” Tess breathed—she hadn’t hit the heart. Not even close.

Althea stalked toward her, and Tess steeled herself for the inevitable moment when Althea figured out that she was human.

“I’m sorry, Callum,” she whispered, but she’d barely gotten the words out before she saw that Callum had staggered to his feet, and he was racing toward her—

Except then Althea whirled around and saw him too, and the knife was in her hand, and Tess was screaming—

But then they were all thrown off their feet by a sudden flash of ice-blue light—the same light Tess had seen when she crossed over from Bar Between. Tess threw up her hands to shield her eyes from the blinding brightness, but it was gone as quickly as it came.

She looked from Callum to Althea, unsure what to do—but they both looked just as confused as she did. And then, without another word, Althea sprinted off into the night.

“What the fuck?!” Tess asked Callum, but his knees were buckling, and Tess rushed over to help him stand. “Callum? Are you okay?”

He clearly wasn’t—he couldn’t support his own weight, and he was too heavy for Tess to hold him up. She helped him sink to the ground—he was breathing hard, his gaze unfocused.

“Octavia?” he mumbled.

“She’s not here,” Tess entreated. “It’s me, it’s Tess. Can you hear me, Callum?”

“She was right there.” Callum blinked. “Like the other side of a curtain.”

“I think that light was a portal,” Tess explained.

“So she really is alive?” He looked at Tess with desperation. “The portal, New York—it’s all true?”

Tess nodded, grateful that Callum finally believed her—but worry took hold of her again when he groaned with pain.

“Oh god, your leg.” Tess knelt to examine it—it was still bleeding badly. Why wasn’t he healing? “I need to make a tourniquet.”