Darkness Before Dawn (3 page)

One song shifts into another. I get lost in the moment and, in the process, lose sight of Tegan. It doesn’t worry me until I realize several songs have passed since I saw her. My body is damp from dancing, the crowd is suffocating me, and suddenly I feel like there’s no escape from this wall of bodies. I need some air. I need some space. I need Tegan.

“I’ll be right back,” I shout into Marc’s ear. But he doesn’t care. He just turns and starts dancing with someone else.

Wading through the forest of dancers, I circle the room. Tegan’s nowhere to be seen. I go back to the kitchen. She’s not at the beer counter, and neither are the two guys who were talking with us earlier. My instincts warn me that something’s not right, and I always listen to those.

I move back into the living room and hear a commotion on the stairs leading to the next floor. Quickly I start up them, pushing past a couple caught in a lip-lock. Tegan’s gold-glittered boots become visible. I see her struggling to climb up the steps. She’s being helped by the guy with blond, shaggy hair. The one who gave us “special drinks.” The pieces fall into place when Tegan starts laughing maniacally and has trouble standing. Her top-quality beer was laced with something designed to make her more … agreeable. Not all the monsters have fangs.

The guy keeps pulling her up, whispering into her ear, and rage fills me. I storm up the steps and push him as hard as I can.

He crashes to the floor. “Hey, bitch!”

He pops back to his feet, trying to stare me down, but I’m not in the mood to be intimidated. Tegan wraps her arm around the banister, using it as a crutch to remain standing. “Dawn?” My name gets tangled on her tongue. “I was … to play a game with … um… What’s your name?”

She looks disoriented, eyes glazed over, her head wobbling like it’s too big for her neck.

“Come on, Tegan, we’re going.” I wrap my hand around her arm. The guy reaches for his stake, but I’m faster. Mine is out, the tip pressed against his chest before he even touches his.

“These work equally well on people,” I say.

His eyes widen. He raises his hands, backs up.

“I know who you are now,” he says, his voice laced with disgust. “Dawn Montgomery. The city’s new delegate.”

“So you also know that I can have the Agency here in five minutes and you’re busted. But all I want is to leave with my friend.”

“Sure. Go ahead. Just don’t come back.”

“Why would I want to?”

Quickly pulling Tegan to her feet, I put her arm around my shoulders and hold her by the waist. I carefully guide her down the stairs. I give Shaggy Guy one final glance and see the anger in his eyes, but know that it can’t possibly match mine. “Bastard!” I throw back at him.

“Was that his name?” Tegan murmurs.

“Yeah.” I shoulder our way through the moshing crowd. It’s a struggle to keep us on our feet. Tegan’s dragging me down.

“You can’t sleep yet,” I tell her.

I take Tegan outside, hoping some fresh air will clear her head.

“Is she all right?” the doorman asks, before fang-checking another partygoer.

“I don’t know,” I say.

“Well, don’t bring her back in. The last thing we need is a girl ODing on the dance floor.”

“Someone spiked her drink!”

“Whatever…”

That’s the thing about people in this city: No one cares. Was it always this way? If so, what were we fighting for during the war?

“Are we going home already?” Tegan asks.

“Yeah, just hold on.”

As we stumble past a crowd of people heading toward the door, the wind blows across our damp bodies, cooling us. The air is dirty out here, but at least there’s plenty of it to breathe in. Holding Tegan close, I walk down the cracked sidewalk until the party is just a whisper, then a murmur, then nothing at all. I turn around and can’t even see the lights. When I was inside, I thought the whole city could hear that music. But no, it barely reaches a single block.

I lower Tegan to a bench alongside the trolley tracks and drop down next to her. She presses her head against my shoulder.

“I don’t feel so good,” she mutters.

“Just hold on until we get to my place and you can sleep it off.” Or maybe I should take her to the hospital. She’s breathing, but so listless that I’m getting more worried. I shove my stake back into my boot and pull out my phone to call Michael. Or even Rachel. But there’s no signal.

Dammit
. With only one tower, service is sporadic, even more so this far from the city’s center. I think about walking a short distance away to try to find a signal, but I don’t want to leave Tegan by herself. The trolley should be here soon. It can get us downtown, and from there we can catch another one to the emergency clinic.

The streetlight above me flickers, and I pray it doesn’t go out. I’m beginning to realize how alone we are out here. Not a single soul around, every shop closed or abandoned. The few row houses surrounding us are blacked out, the families either asleep or not even in.

I stifle a yawn. All I want is to lie down on the bench and go to sleep. Drinking two beers so fast was a bad idea. Coming out to this part of town with Tegan was an even worse idea. What were we thinking? That we’d stay at the party until sunrise? That we wouldn’t be caught out on the streets alone at night when the monsters come out to play?

The hairs on the back of my neck rise and I twist around, reaching down for my stake, but no one’s there. No one could be; it’s just a wall with a tattered Agency poster begging for blood donations covered in graffiti:
Suck on this!
and
No more blood!
and
Stakes, not blood!
Fangs have been drawn on the calm woman’s soft smile, and a crude imitation of a stake is piercing her chest. Not everyone appreciates what the Agency is doing. Looking around this run-down part of town, I guess I can’t blame them.

Ding, ding, ding
.

I turn back gratefully as the trolley rides up to us. When I put Tegan’s arm around my shoulders and lift her, she makes a barely audible protest. The trolley glides to a stop. I drag her to the rear door and struggle to get her on board. Once inside I shove her into the corner seat. The trolley starts moving forward with a jerk. I lose my balance, toppling beside her.

Straightening, I glance around. The conductor doesn’t look back at us, just stares ahead at the tracks like they might suddenly make a break for it and he’ll have to catch them. Three other guys sit in the trolley, with their heads bent forward, obviously asleep. Probably tramps hoping to ride the entire line before getting kicked off. It’s safer to sleep on the trolley than on the street.

We pass through an area with all the lights turned off, and, with the clouds hiding the moon, it’s like we’re going through a tunnel.

When we emerge into a better-lit district, one of the men seems closer to me. Surely it’s just my imagination. Or maybe my perception is skewed since I had the beer. The entire car seems smaller.

Pulling up the collar on my jacket, I slump further down on the seat. I nudge Tegan. Her eyes are closed; her head has listed to one side. She looks like a rag doll, totally relaxed. Too relaxed.

I nudge her again. “Tegan?”

She doesn’t react. I’m trying not to panic. Hopefully I can get a signal now. I reach into my pocket for my cell phone just as we pass between two tall warehouses, the passage so narrow it seems like it was once a single building, but the track was laid down and sliced it in two. The only light comes from a series of bulbs on a single line, crisscrossing from one wall to the next like festival lights put up at the last minute.

We slow down. I remember there’s a sharp turn at the end of this. The conductor must be preparing for it.

But then we stop.

The three men snap their heads up at once, instantly alert, twist around, and stare straight at me. I start to shout at the conductor to get us moving again, but as I watch, his head slowly turns until I think it’s going to do a full one-eighty. As if on cue, they all smile. Their huge fangs glisten with saliva.

Vampires!

Chapter 3

M
y fight-or-flight instinct is urging me to get the hell out, but I can’t leave Tegan. They’d feed on her for days, maybe weeks, before letting her finally die—or worse, turning her into a monster like them. I can’t lose her, not after my parents, not after Brady. I’d rather risk my life protecting her than add to the memories that already haunt me. I quickly stand, getting in front of my best friend. But before I can get my stake out, one of them grabs my shoulder and throws me toward the center of the trolley. I land sprawled over one of the hard benches that face the windows. I see Tegan sliding down to the floor like her muscles and bones have turned into jelly. I have to believe she’s safer under the seat and with all their attention focused on me.

One of the vamps lunges for me, but I kick him back so hard he smashes into one of the tiny windows and it shatters.

My adrenaline rushes through me. No matter what happens next it’ll all be a blur. I won’t even think. Just act. Let my training and instinct take over. That’s the only way I’ll get out of this alive. If I let myself think, I’ll panic.

I yank out my stake and scramble to my feet. I waste no time going after the nearest one. If I can kill one of them, it might be enough to scare off the others. The odds aren’t in my favor, and the desire to run overwhelms me, but I stay strong. I’m Tegan’s only chance.

The conductor reaches out to grab my neck and I make a stab for his heart, but he twists around too fast and the stake cuts deep into his arm. He gives a horrific howl. When he reaches for his wound, I fall back on a nearby seat and kick straight up, catching him under the chin, sending him flying back onto a bench.

I dodge past the two who are down. My target is the one who is kneeling, reaching beneath the seat, clawing desperately at Tegan. If I can just get the stake into him—

From behind me, one of them kicks the back of my knee and I go down. The floor comes up too fast for me to brace myself, and my forehead does all the work, taking the brunt of the impact, smashing into the hard surface with a thunderclap that echoes around me. By a miracle I remain conscious.

The attacker grabs my ankle and pulls me across the floor. He spins me over and straddles me, putting all his weight on my hips. The others start gathering around. At least Tegan is safe for the moment. I grip my stake, ready to stab the vamp on top of me, when he leans down for my neck. I see the bloodlust in his feral eyes. His ugly face is thin and scarred, and his fangs are frighteningly large.

His mouth opens wide, ready for the plunge, when one of the other vamps releases a bloodcurdling shriek. From the floor, the only thing I see is him disappearing through the rear door. Another scream echoes from outside. Then deafening silence.

I feel a spark of hope. Maybe a night patrol has arrived to help us. But we’re not out of danger yet.

The vampire on me has grown still, too distracted by his accomplice’s cries, maybe too confused or scared to finish me off. This is my chance. I imagine him as no different from the dummies I practice staking in school. Using every ounce of strength, I ram the metal stake into him. But because of the angle, I miss his heart. He jumps off me, my weapon still in him. He’s groaning in pain, but still very much undead. And worse, he’s taken my best weapon from me. But I still have my fists, my training, and, more important, my will to stay alive. I stand up too quickly and pain explodes through my head, reminding me without mercy of the fall I just took. The edge of my vision darkens.

I hear another scream and suddenly only two vampires are in the trolley. With both vamps distracted, gazes darting between each other and the door, I try to get to Tegan. Somehow I have to get her off this trolley. But my body refuses my commands. I’m frozen in place when a stranger steps onto the trolley. It’s too dark to make out the details, only that he’s dressed in black, blends in with the night. He’s not wearing a balaclava or the Night Watchmen’s medallion, but since he’s already quickly dispensed with two vamps, I have to assume he’s one of the city’s elite. Off duty, maybe.

Out of desperation, the uninjured vamp attacks the stranger, but he slumps over quickly, a stake through his chest; I don’t have time to register how it happened. I can’t find my strength, and my vision is fuzzy, the image in front of me turning black. The last vampire left yanks my stake from his chest. Before I can react, he wrenches me in front of him and holds the stake up to my throat.

“Don’t come any closer,” he says, his voice high-pitched with fear. “I’ll kill her.”

But the stranger just takes another step, and I feel the point of the stake pressing against my neck. Maybe the stranger doesn’t care. Maybe he’s not a knight in shining armor.

“I mean it! I’ll…” But the vampire doesn’t finish his sentence. The stranger moves quickly. It’s probably the result of the blow to the head I took, but he becomes almost a blur, leaping over the seats, yanking the vampire away from me. I sink to the floor. I hear a distant scream, a gurgle. Then nothing.

I want to sleep, but I force myself to fend off the fog in my brain. I begin slowly crawling toward Tegan. The stranger is suddenly standing over me. He lifts me up with amazing strength. For a heartbeat that seems to last an eternity, I’m mesmerized by his presence. He looks to be a little older than I am. His long black hair hangs to just below his strong jaw and falls in a way that makes his blue eyes stand out from the shadows.

Suddenly he shakes his head as though he, too, had been caught up in something he didn’t understand. He releases his hold on me and steps back. “Come on,” he says, his voice calm, serious. “I’ll get your friend. You follow me. Others will be on their way.”

He edges past me, our bodies brushing, creating an awareness that baffles me. I register the firmness of his muscles, his power. He maneuvers Tegan out from beneath the seat and lifts her into his arms as though she were a small child. He turns around and steps out of the trolley. I’m still in shock. I give myself a mental and physical shake. I have to follow Tegan. I hop off the trolley.