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“Since you stopped even pretending to be fair. Back off, okay?”
“Or what? You’ll run to your mommy? Because Kate wants to see some proof of your dedication, Lucas. We all do.”
He meant, because of me. Lucas had broken Black Cross rules many times so that we could be together—more than the others in this cell knew.
Lucas wasn’t backing down. “I haven’t had a full night’s sleep since the fire. I’m not spending another night in the drainage ditch outside, waiting for nothing.”
Eduardo’s dark eyes narrowed. “At any second, we could have a vampire tribe on our trail—”
“And whose fault would that be? After your stunt at Ever-night Academy—”
“Stunt?”
“Time out!” Dana, fresh from her shower and smelling strongly of cheap soap, held her hands in a T between Lucas and Eduardo. Her long braids fell over the thin, damp towel looped around her neck. “Chill, okay? In case you lost count, Eduardo, it’s actually my turn to take a shift tonight. I don’t feel so tired anyway.”
Eduardo never liked being vetoed, but he couldn’t refuse a willing volunteer. “Suit yourself, Dana.”
“Why don’t I bring Raquel out with me?” she suggested, smoothly steering the conversation away from Lucas. “My girl’s chomping at the bit to do more.”
“Raquel’s too new. Forget it.” Apparently Eduardo felt better for having been able to put his foot down. He stalked off.
“Thanks,” I said to Dana. “Are you sure you aren’t too tired?”
She grinned. “What, do you think I’m going to be dragging butt tomorrow like Lucas did today? No way.”
Lucas pretended to punch her arm, and she mock-sneered at him. They pretty much gave each other hell all the time without meaning a word of it. I thought that Dana might be Lucas’s best friend. Certainly only a real friend would take a perimeter-search shift, which involved—as Lucas put it—a whole lot of stooping, a whole lot of mud, and almost no sleep.
Soon everyone around us was preparing for bed. The only privacy any of us had was the “wall”—actually a bunch of old sheets hung over a clothesline—between the men’s half of the room and the women’s. Lucas and I were both right up against the sheet, separated only by a few inches and one thin cotton cloth. Sometimes I was reassured by the fact that he was so close; other times, the frustration made me want to scream.
It’s not forever, I reminded myself as I changed into the borrowed T-shirt I slept in. The pajamas I’d escaped in had been ruined in the fire; the only thing I wore that belonged to me was the obsidian pendant I’d gotten from my parents that hung around my neck at all times, even when I was in the shower. The jet brooch Lucas had given me while we were first dating was tucked into the small bag they’d given me. I didn’t think of myself as especially materialistic, but losing nearly everything I’d ever owned had been a blow. So I treasured the few things I had left.
When Kate called “Lights out,” somebody flipped the switch almost that instant. I burrowed under the thin, army-style blanket over my folding cot. It wasn’t soft, and it definitely wasn’t comfortable—cots suck—but I was so exhausted that any chance to rest was welcome.
To my left, Raquel was already asleep. She slept better here than she ever had at Evernight.
To my right, invisible behind the slowly rippling white sheet, was Lucas.
I imagined the outline of his body, what he looked like lying down on his cot. I fantasized about tiptoeing to his side and sliding in next to him. But we’d be seen. I sighed, giving up the idea.
This was the fourth night I’d done that. And, just as I’d done the other four nights, once I stopped being frustrated about my inability to be with Lucas, I started worrying.
Mom and Dad have to be okay, I told myself. I remembered the blaze too well—the way the flames had leaped up around me and the thickness of the smoke. It would’ve been easy to get lost, to get trapped. Fire was one of the only ways to truly kill a vampire. They have centuries of experience. They’ve been in worse trouble before. Remember what Mom told you about the Great Fire of London? If she made it through that, she could make it out of Evernight.
But Mom hadn’t made it out of the Great Fire. She’d been terribly injured and near death; my father had “rescued” her by turning her into a vampire like himself.
I hadn’t exactly been on great terms with my parents lately. That didn’t mean I wanted them to be hurt. Just the thought of them weak and injured—or worse—made me sick to my stomach.
They weren’t the only ones I was worried about. Had Vic been able to get out of the burning school? What about Balthazar? As a vampire, he might have been targeted by Black Cross—or by his psychotic, vengeful sister, Charity, who had nearly prevented me, Lucas, and Raquel from escaping. Or what about poor Ranulf? He was a vampire, but one so gentle and unworldly that it was easy to imagine the hunters of Black Cross wiping him out.
I didn’t know how any of them were. I might never know. When I chose to leave with Lucas, I’d known that was a risk I’d have to take. That didn’t mean I liked it.
My stomach growled, hungry for blood.
Groaning, I turned over in my cot and prayed for sleep. That was the only way to silence the fears and hungers inside—at least for a few hours.
I reached out for the flower, but even as my fingertip touched the petal, it blackened and withered.
“Not for me,” I whispered.
“No. Something better,” said the ghost.
How long had she been there? It seemed as though she’d always been by my side. We stood together on the grounds of Evernight Academy as dark clouds roiled overhead. Gargoyles glared down at us from the imposing stone towers. The wind blew strands of my dark red hair across my face. A few leaves, caught in the gale, blew through the aquamarine shadow of the ghost. She flinched.
“Where’s Lucas?” Somehow he was supposed to be here, but I couldn’t remember why.
“Inside.”
“I can’t go in there.” It wasn’t that I was afraid. For some reason, it seemed impossible for me to walk inside the school. Then I realized why it was impossible. “This can’t be real. Evernight Academy was burned in a fire. It doesn’t exist now.”
The ghost cocked her head. “When you say ‘now,’ when do you mean?”
“Feet on the floor!”
The shout awakened us every morning. Even as I blinked my eyes, groggily trying to recall the dream that already had begun to slip away, Raquel bounded from her cot, strangely energized. “Come on, Bianca.”
“It’s just breakfast,” I grumbled. Peanut butter on toast wasn’t worth rushing for, in my opinion.
“No, something’s happening.”
Bleary and confused, I stumbled to my feet to see that the Black Cross hunters around me were already on guard. My exhaustion told me that it couldn’t possibly be morning yet. Why had they hauled us out of bed in the middle of the night?
Oh, no.
Dana ran in and yelled, “Confirmed! Arm up, now!”
“The vampires,” Raquel whispered. “They’ve come.”
Chapter Two (#ulink_0efc03fc-6da8-56f0-af1b-5b6215fc4fa1)
INSTANTLY THE ENTIRE ROOM SPRANG INTO action. All around me, Black Cross hunters were grabbing crossbows, stakes, and knives. I slid into my jeans, my whole body tense.
There was no way I was joining this fight. None. I might have decided never to become a vampire, but that didn’t mean I was ready to join a crew of vampire-slaughtering zealots. Besides, the vampires coming after us now wouldn’t be the mad killers who gave the undead a bad name. They would be from Ever-night Academy, seeking only what they saw as justice for what happened to the school—and, possibly, trying to save me.
But what if they tried to hurt Lucas? Could I stand by while they attacked the man I loved?
Next to me, Raquel took up a stake with shaky hands. “This is it. We have to be ready.”
“I’m not—I can’t—” How could I explain this to her? I couldn’t.
Lucas emerged from the men’s half of the room, his shirt untucked and his dark gold hair still mussed from sleep. “You two are not getting involved in this,” he said. “You’re not trained.” His eyes met mine, and I knew he understood the other reasons I couldn’t take part.
Raquel looked furious. “What are you talking about? I can fight! Just give me a chance!”
Ignoring her, Lucas grabbed our arms and started towing us toward the back of the warehouse. “You’re both coming with me.”
“The hell I am.” Raquel broke free and ran to the metal door, which banged as she pushed her way through. Lucas swore under his breath as he started after her. I followed them, more in shock than anything else.
Outside, the sky was the flat gray that preceded dawn. Hunters in various states of undress shouted to one another to take position. Knives gleamed in the moonlight, and I heard the creaking and clicking of crossbows being loaded. Kate crouched on the gravel, her arms in front of her like a runner and her head cocked in a way that told me she was relying on her hearing to gauge the risk. I looked out over the field surrounding us—high and unkempt with uncut brush. To most humans, it would have looked entirely still. With my sharper vision, I could see flickers of movement coming closer. We were being surrounded.
“Mom,” Lucas said softly, “somebody should guard Bianca and Raquel in the warehouse. They can’t fight yet, and they’ll be looked at as—traitors, something like that. The vampires would target them.”
From his place at the corner of the lot, a crossbow in his hands, Eduardo said, “Running away now?”
Lucas’s jaw tightened. “I didn’t say I should be the one. But somebody ought to be with them just in case.”
“Just in case the vampires get through? Best way to prevent that is by having all our fighters at the front,” Eduardo shot back. “Unless you’re simply looking for an excuse.”
One of Lucas’s hands balled into a fist, and for a moment I thought he might hit Eduardo. Calling Lucas a coward was manifestly unfair, but this wasn’t the time to argue about it. I put a hand on his arm, trying to calm him.
It was Kate who intervened, though. “Eduardo, can it. Lucas, get them in the warehouse.” She never looked away from the horizon, from the attackers she knew were coming. “We need all three of you to start packing our supplies. Fast as you can.”
Eduardo turned to her. “No way are we running from this, Kate.”
“You like fighting more than you like staying alive,” Kate said, never meeting his eyes. “But I try to think like Patton. I don’t run this group so everyone can die for the cause. I run it so the vampires have to die for theirs.”
The shapes in the brush all rustled as one, moving closer. Lucas tensed, and I realized he could see them in the dark as well as I could. Ever since I’d first drunk his blood, he’d developed the first stirrings of vampiric power. That meant he knew what I knew: We didn’t have much time. Minutes, maybe.
“Raquel, come on,” Lucas said, but she stubbornly remained by Dana’s side, shaking her head.
“This isn’t safe,” I tried. “Please, Raquel, you could be killed.”
Her voice trembled as she answered, but she said only, “I’m done with running.”
Dana set aside the crossbow she’d been loading and faced Raquel. Her entire body seemed to vibrate with energy. She had been the one to spot the vampires, the one who had known about the danger longest—and she was already in battle mode. Yet she spoke gently to Raquel. “Packing up our stuff isn’t running. Okay? It’s something we need to do, because we’re going to have to get out of here, either after the fight or during it.”
“Not if we win,” Raquel began, but stopped when she saw Dana’s expression.
“They know our location now,” Lucas said. “More vampires will come. We’ve got to run. Help us get ready to run. That’s the best thing you can do right now.”
Raquel never looked away from Dana as her face shifted from determination to resignation. “Next time,” she said. “Next time I’ll know how to fight.”
“We’ll be in this together next time,” Dana agreed. Her gaze shifted to the brush and the pursuers. Nobody needed vampire senses to know how close they were now. “Get your butt out of here.”
I grabbed Raquel’s hand and pulled her back into the warehouse. After a few days being confined here, always with dozens of people around, I felt weird seeing it almost empty. The blankets were disheveled, and some of the cots had been tipped over in the rush. Still in shock, I started folding a blanket.
“Screw the blankets.” Lucas headed toward the weapons lockers. Almost everything had been taken by the hunters, but there were still a few stakes, arrows, and canisters of holy water. “We get the ammo ready. The rest we can replace.”
“Of course.” I should have thought of that. But how could I? My brain was stuck, like when the needle of Dad’s record player caught in the scratches of his old jazz records: Are my parents outside? Is Balthazar? Will Black Cross kill people that I care about, people who are probably only trying to rescue me?
Outside I heard a shout—then a scream.
All three of us froze. The noise swelled outside from a few cries to a roar, and the metal wall of the warehouse thudded. It wasn’t a body—a rock, maybe, or a misfired arrow—but Raquel and I jumped.
Lucas shook it off fastest. “Pack this stuff up. When they call for us, we’re gonna have about two minutes to get our gear into the vans. That’s it.”
We got to work. It was difficult to concentrate. The cacophony outside frightened me, not only because of my fear for the others but also because it reminded me powerfully of the last Black Cross battle I’d witnessed: the burning of Evernight. My back still ached from the fall I’d taken while running across the flaming roof, and I imagined I could still taste smoke and ash. Before, I’d been able to comfort myself by thinking that it was all over—but it wasn’t. As long as Lucas and I were stuck with Black Cross, the battles would always follow us. Danger would always be near.
With every shout, every thud, Lucas seemed to get more worked up. He wasn’t used to staying out of fights; he was more likely to start them.
Trunk shut, locked, moving on. Do they want to take the wood that hasn’t been carved into stakes yet? Surely not—they can get wood anywhere, right? I kept trying to figure it out, working as fast as I could. Next to me, Raquel was simply grabbing armfuls of junk and dumping it into boxes without even checking to see what it was. She probably had the right idea.
Something slammed hard into the metal wall again, and I gasped. Lucas didn’t tell me it was going to be all right; instead, he grabbed a stake.
At that moment, two sprawling figures burst through one of the side doors. Even my vampire senses couldn’t tell me which was my own kind and which was the Black Cross hunter, because they were too tangled together—a blur of motion, sweat, and snarled curses. They staggered toward us, oblivious to our presence, only to their life-and-death struggle. The half-open door behind them showed a sliver of light, and let the screams come through even louder.
“Do something,” Raquel whispered. “Lucas, you know what to do, right?”
Lucas leaped forward, farther and faster than a mere human should’ve been able to, and swung his stake into the fray. Instantly one of the figures froze; the stake had paralyzed the vampire. I looked at his still face—green eyes, fair hair, features frozen in horror—and felt a flash of sympathy for him in the instant before the Black Cross hunter slid a long, broad blade from his belt and severed his opponent’s head with a single stroke. The vampire shuddered once, then crumbled to oily dust upon the floor.
The vampire had been an old one, then; there was very little left of the mortal man he’d been. As the others stood there, looking down at the remains, I could only wonder if this had been one of my parents’ friends. I hadn’t recognized him, but whoever he’d been, he’d come here in the belief he was helping me.
“How did you even do that?” Raquel said. “That was, like, superhuman.” She meant it only as a compliment, and luckily the Black Cross hunter was too exhausted and relieved to notice that Lucas had just called upon vampire power.
My eyes sought Lucas’s. I was relieved to see no triumph there, only a plea for understanding. When he’d been forced to choose, he had to protect his fellow hunter. I got that. What I didn’t get was what would have happened if this vampire had been my mother or father.
Eduardo leaned in through the open doorway, panting but somehow exhilarated by the fight. “We’ve pushed them back. Won’t have long before they return, though. We’ve got to load up now.”
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“Someplace we can do real training. Get you new recruits into shape.” Eduardo glanced at me as he spoke, and although he didn’t look friendly, he looked—well, like possibly he hated me less. Now that I was a potential soldier, maybe he finally saw me as useful. But then his grin changed, becoming more cynical as he turned toward Lucas. “You won’t have any more excuses to run from a fight next time.”
Lucas looked like he might punch Eduardo in the jaw, so I grabbed his hand. His temper sometimes threatened to get the better of him.
“Come on, people!” Kate called from outside the warehouse. “Let’s move!”
Chapter Three (#ulink_e1d071e7-3f77-5be0-92e7-88de22f70214)
WITHIN TWENTY MINUTES, EVERYONE HAD PILED into Black Cross’s ramshackle armada of old trucks, vans, and cars. Lucas and I made sure to get into the van Dana was driving, and Raquel took the shotgun seat. With the rest of the van piled high with the group’s gear, we were on our own for the trip.
“Where are we going, anyway?” I shouted to Dana, over the wailing on the radio.
Dana pulled out, to join the caravan. “Ever been to New York City?”
“You’re kidding, right?” Nobody was kidding. Lucas gave me a confused look, like he couldn’t understand why I thought that was weird. I tried to explain. “You guys carry around all these weapons and go out to attack vampires. In a big city like that, don’t people—you know—notice?”
“Nope,” Dana said. “She’s never been to New York before.”
Raquel laughed as she thumped on the dashboard in sync with the song. “You’re gonna love it, Bianca,” she promised. “My sister Frida used to take me to Manhattan once a year. There are all these crazy galleries, art so bizarre you can’t believe anybody ever dreamed it up.”
