After Dark Read Free Page B

flew through the ballroom, landing on the polished floor. As one came to rest near her foot, Cally realized that’s not what they were.
    They were tear-gas canisters.
    “Get back!” Lucky yelled, pushing Cally behind him as a dense, grayish cloud erupted into the air. “Cover your mouth!”
    Within seconds the ballroom became a scene of mass chaos, the music and laughter replaced by screams. Cally was buffeted back and forth as the guests crashed into one another trying to escape the rapidly spreading fumes. Her eyes swimming with tears, she reached out, groping blindly through the wall of smoke.
    “Lucky! Where are you?”
    “I’m here! Don’t worry—I’ve got you!” he shouted, his strong hands closing around her own.
    Suddenly the crowd surrounding her began to surge in the opposite direction. Cally tried to move toward Lucky, only to be wrenched from his grasp. Barely able to see and breathe, she was borne away by a living tide. Somewhere in the madness, she could hear Baron Metzger calling her name, but she could not see him, much less tell which direction his voice was coming from.
     

    At first Lilith thought the explosions and gouts of smoke were some kind of pyrotechnic display Count Orlock had arranged for the amusement of his guests. But when her eyes started burning and her mascara began to run, she realized the fireworks had nothing to do with the Grand Ball.
    “Daddy—what’s going on?” she wailed.
    Victor Todd took a monogrammed silk handkerchief from the breast pocket of his tuxedo and covered his nose and mouth. “We’re under attack, princess!”
    “Van Helsings? Here ? They must be mad!” Irina coughed.
    “Get Lilith out of here now ,” Victor said, pushing her toward her mother.
    “You heard your father,” Irina said, grabbing her daughter’s arm. “We’ve got to get out of this place!”
    “Where’s Jules?” Lilith looked around, but her eyes were stinging too much from the acrid smoke for her to see more than a few feet in any direction.
    “The de Lavals can take care of themselves!” Irina snapped. “We’ve got to escape!”
    “ Don’t tell me what to do! ” Lilith said, pulling away from her mother.
    “Lilith! Come back here!”
    Ignoring her mother, Lilith pushed her way through the crowd. After only a few steps she quickly found herself trapped, unable to move forward or go back. As the choking fumes burned her eyes and mouth, she was overwhelmed by the urgent need to free herself from the crushing press.
    “Get out of my way, damn you! I’ve got to get out!” she screamed, kicking and clawing at those closest to her. Those on the receiving end of Lilith’s slashing nails began doing the same to those ahead of them, triggering a chain reaction.
    There was a sound of smashing glass and splintering wood, immediately followed by the smell of sea air from the nearby Atlantic as the panicked partygoers pushed their way through the French doors, spilling out onto the garden terrace like hornets from a burning hive.
     

    Finally out of the tear gas, Cally staggered across the stone terrace toward the wide, curving stairs that led to the gardens below.
    “Fire!”
    Cally looked up just in time to see dozens of crossbow arrows flying toward the terrace. She ducked, putting a marble replica of the Venus de Milo between her and the deadly rain. As she watched from her hiding place, she saw one of the other guests jump atop the balustrade’s railing, instantly shapeshifting into his winged form.
    With a beat of his eight-foot wings, the transformed vampire shot up into the night sky in a desperate attempt to escape the Van Helsings’ crossbows before they could reload. At first it looked like he had succeeded, but then a shadow soared from the roofline of the building.
    With just a few beats of its own leathery wings, the gargoyle easily overtook the fleeing vampire, who screamed as the beast’s slashing talons destroyed his right wing. Unable to maintain balance,