Frost Burned

once, then went back to the slaughter.
    I sat down on the ice-covered ground because I was too tired to move. Beside me, Adam ripped into Frost’s rib cage with his front claws and his fangs. The sword had freed itself from the vampire when I sat down. I turned my head and watched Adam tug and wrench until the vampire’s heart fell on the ground beside me. Vampires taste bad—very old flesh and blood just tastes wrong. I wiped my mouth hastily with the bottom of Kyle’s shirt—I hoped it wasn’t a favorite.
    But the taste didn’t stop Adam. He moved up to Frost’s already torn neck and did more damage until the vampire’s head rolled on the floor next to his heart.
    Finished killing Frost for the moment, Adam crouched over the dead body, a silver-and-black killing machine.
    “Adam?” said Marsilia. She was up on her feet again but not moving right.
    Adam lowered his head and roared at her. It was a rumbling bass sound that vibrated my chest and hurt my ears at the same time. I could smell his rage.
    I’d had my ten seconds of rest, and there was no more fighting to be done. I rose to my knees—and Adam turned to me and roared at me, too.
    “I couldn’t help it,” I said to him. “He was going to destroy the world.”
    Adam snarled and snapped his teeth at me.
    My cheekbone was hurting again; sometime during the fight, Frost had hit it. I was going to have the world’s worst black eye. My shoulder hurt, my wrist hurt—my burnt hands hurt a lot, now that the battle rush was gone. I was cold, miserable, and tired.
    Adam had every right to be mad. I’d have been outraged if he’d gone to battle without telling me. Without explaining himself.
    “By rights, as the Master of Ceremonies, I should kill him for interfering,” Stefan told me. I jerked my head around to look at him. I’d forgotten about that, forgotten, truth be told, that there was anyone but Adam and me there. “But I suspect that the Lord of Night won’t stir himself to come punish me for a result that he himself desired. And”—he toed Frost’s body—“he was as good as dead when you stabbed him. Adam was overkill.” He bumped the body again. “Hmm. I thought he was older—but those of us who are really old turn to dust when they die. The sun will do the job.”
    Asil knelt beside me with a wary eye on Adam. “You okay?”
    I wiggled my toes and fingers. The fingers hurt. A lot. But they moved. “Look,” I said brightly. “No wheelchair. Last time I battled immortal monsters, I ended up in a wheelchair.”
    I heard Wulfe giggling. He was propped up on the remains of a wall that had taken more damage in the fight. The broken areas showed pale cement against the blackened surface of the rest of the wall. I had been trying to lighten the atmosphere, but I hadn’t been as funny as all that.
    Asil ignored Wulfe. “I like you—but I’ll say it for him”—he tipped his head toward Adam—“because he can’t. You aren’t a monster, and if you insist on fighting them with toothpicks because it’s the right thing to do, all the magic in the world isn’t going to be enough to save you.”
    I looked him in the eye, ready to defend myself hotly—who did he think he was? And then I looked at Adam, who had quit growling. He was panting with effort—more effort than what he’d used to finish off Frost. How had he known? How far had he run?
    My throat was raw, and my eyes were burning. It wasn’t because of the remains of the fire.
    “I understand. I really do. But I can’t—” I swallowed. “I just
can’t
sit and do nothing when you and the other people who are mine are in trouble. It isn’t in me.” Cautious, yes, I
did
cautious. I tried my best not to be stupid—and hey, I was still alive, right? “I called and let people know where I was. I brought backup. I can do that. I am careful.” I wasn’t talking to Asil anymore. “But Adam, good and evil are real—you know that better than anyone. I have to do the right thing. If not, then I am no better than that—” I jerked my chin toward Frost’s body. “ ‘All that is required for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.’ ”
    Hao said, “Life is not safe. A man might spend his whole time on earth staying safe in a basement, and in the end, he still dies like everyone else.” Half-naked, covered with the same filth we all were, he still gave the impression of being in control of himself and his environment.
    Adam sighed. He picked his way