My stomach flip-flopped. I blamed it on the babies, and told myself this was a coincidence. No, not a coincidence. Danger. Zoe was in danger. Hull had fixed his sights on the one "team member" left outside the circle.
I grabbed Nick's arm.
"He's after Zoe," I said. "The bar where she does her business is right down there, around the corner. She must be inside. He's got to be waiting somewhere."
"If he's waiting for her, he won't be expecting us."
I nodded.
"Wot are you waiting for?" Rose said. "You--"
I shushed her.
"But 'e's right 'round this corner a ways," she said.
"We need a plan of attack."
"Plan? There's three of you--"
I clapped my hand over her mouth. A last resort--believe me. Her lidless eyes glared at me, but when I pulled my hand back she only limped away to lean against the wall.
"Before we get too far with our plan, we should find out exactly where he is."
"You think so, do you, luv?"
Shaking her head, she hobbled to the end of the alley. She peeked out, then pulled back. Another mutter. Another check, leaning farther out. Then she came back to us.
"I thought 'e was right 'round that corner, but there's an ale 'ouse back there. 'e's inside."
"Inside?"
I looked at Nick.
We headed up the fire escape Clay had used earlier. Once inside the second floor, I followed his trail to find the vantage point he'd used to watch Zoe and me below. We ended up at a trapdoor over the bar. Prop the door open a crack, crouch down and you had a pretty good view of the patrons below.
Crouching was easier for Nick, so he looked through. When he glanced up again, I knew our fears had been confirmed.
"She's there with Hull, isn't she?" I whispered.
He nodded.
"Talking to him?"
Another nod.
"Not being coerced, not held against her will..."
I tried not to be surprised. I really did. Yet, in my gut, I still felt betrayed.
It was almost laughable. Given four potential allies, we'd batted zero for four. First, Shanahan, whom we hadn't trusted from the start, who'd turned out to be as innocent as Tolliver had claimed--and as innocent as Tolliver himself. Then Hull. Never trusted, but ignored. His story believed; his presence tolerated; his threat overlooked entirely. Now Zoe. Of all four, this one hurt the worst.
"What do we do?" Nick whispered.
"Don't fight her unless you have to. She'll heal faster than you can hit. Disable her if necessary. She doesn't have any special powers except her fangs. If she gets those into you, she can knock you out. Otherwise--not a threat. We disable her and hand her over to Cassandra for trial."
He nodded, obviously relieved that I wasn't going to suggest we behead her ourselves. That wasn't our place...and even if it had been, I wasn't sure I could do it.
"I think they're getting ready to leave," Nick said, scrambling up. "Hull's standing and Zoe's talking to the bartender."