Fang Girl (21 page)

Lily excused herself and disappeared down the hallway to her own room. Sarah lay back in her sleeping bag, crossing her arms behind her head. “Good thing I’ve trained myself to sleep days,” she said. “You okay over there?”

“Yeah.” I wriggled into my own sleeping bag. “I guess so … but does this all seem right to you?”

“What, the house?” Sarah sniffed. “No, it sucks. I always pictured Lily and me living somewhere much more—”

“No, not that.” I stared up at the ceiling. “Only … there’s still something bothering me about Lily’s whole plan. I wish I could put my finger on it.” My Bloodline link to Lily abruptly slackened, like the volume had been turned down. I guessed that she’d fallen asleep. It was like a noisy radio station had been switched off in my head; suddenly I could think again.

I sat bolt upright, nearly ripping the sleeping bag. “
That’s
it!”

“What? What is it?” Sarah twisted to stare at me.

“The problem is that Lily is a stone-cold psycho killer!” I couldn’t believe I’d managed to forget the sight of her slaughtering an entire room of innocent
people. “I don’t want to be her hit man. I certainly don’t want to kill Ebon. And I sure as hell never wanted to be a vampire!”

“Why not?” Sarah sounded as puzzled as if I’d announced that I didn’t want to win the lottery.

“Because I’m not
crazy
. What normal person thinks vampires even exist?” I replayed the conversation in my head, gob-smacked at the nonsense I’d swallowed whole. “Why the heck did all that sound so reasonable at the time?” I slapped myself on the forehead. “Of course. She’s been putting the whammy on me. Using her influence as my sire.”

“Well,
duh
,” Sarah said in withering tones. “Of course. Otherwise you’d freak out, like you are now.”

“You’re okay with the fact that she goes around killing people?”

Sarah looked at me like I was a complete drooling idiot. “She’s a
vampire
. Of course she has to kill people sometimes. It’s no different from any predator hunting prey. You don’t have hysterics over the fact that humans eat cows, do you?”

I decided not to try to get into an argument on comparative ethics with a psycho preteen who’d been raised by an undead murderer. “Okay, leaving that
aside, don’t you think it’s a little too convenient that she ‘accidentally’”—I made air quotes with my fingers—“came up with a way of creating a supervampire?” I frowned, something else occurring to me. “Not to mention Van just happening to be around right when she needs a dhampir in order to track down Hakon. There’s no way that all this is only some nice way of saving your life. No offense.”

“None taken.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “Of course Lily must have planned it. She’s
clever
. Killing two birds with one stone—helping me and herself at the same time. It’s exactly what I’d do, if I was her.” She frowned thoughtfully. “Except I think I would have done something to ensure your loyalty. As it is, you’re way too attached to your family for anyone’s good. That was kind of sloppy of her.”

My indignant reply was cut off by an unexpected, loud ringing sound. Both Sarah and I jumped. She scrabbled in the pile of discarded clothes next to her sleeping bag, pulling out the vibrating iPhone. “Someone trying to call you?”

“My family!” I grabbed the phone. We both peered at the caller ID displayed on the screen.

HAKON

“Oh my God,” I said. “This is Ebon’s phone. He must be trying to contact Ebon.”

“That’s not possible!” Sarah’s eyes were wide. “Lily told me Hakon’s a Viking, he’s something like a thousand years old. He’s got to be asleep this close to sunrise.” We both stared at the phone as if it was a land mine we’d just uncovered. “Should we answer it?”

“I can’t, I don’t speak Swedish!” The phone finally went dead, and I sagged in relief. “Good, he gave up. I hope he doesn’t get suspicious.”

“Come to think of it,” Sarah said, her forehead furrowing, “Ebenezer would have to be asleep as well, given his age. Why would anyone be trying to phone him now?”

The phone chimed, nearly making me punt it through the wall. I peered down at the phone screen, trying to decipher the glowing icons. “Whoever it was, they’ve left a voice mail.” I touched the
PLAY
command.

“Jane.” Even from the tiny speaker, the recorded voice was unmistakable. “Call me back. Now.”

It was Ebon.

T
hat can’t be him,” Sarah said, but even as she spoke, I was hitting the
CALL BACK
button. The phone barely rang before it was picked up at the other end.

“Jane?”

“What’s the chorus you bomb out on every time?” I demanded.

There was the briefest pause, then, “Skullcrusher Mountain,” Ebon said. “The falsetto is impossible, even on Easy.”

“It’s him,” I said to Sarah, covering the phone’s microphone briefly. I put the call on speakerphone so she could hear too. “You’ve got some nerve, Ebon.”

“I know. There isn’t time.” His voice was flattened
by more than just the distortion of the phone line; he sounded bone-weary. “The drugs keeping me awake won’t last long. Jane, I know the general gist of what Lily’s been telling you—Hakon listened in as long as he could, relaying it to me. But I’ve had to wait until now to talk to you without her overhearing.”

“Give me one good reason why I should listen to you,” I said. “Mr. Lies-Through-His-Teeth-and-Tries-to-Murder-Me.”

A long silence.

“You’re supposed to say something.” Ebon’s voice was fainter, as if he was some distance from the handset.

I blinked. “Huh?”

“Not you!” Ebon snapped. Then, evidently not to me, “Please, I haven’t got time. Say something. Anything.”

“No way,” said a boy’s voice, shaking but determined. “You’re trying to use us to lure her here!” He paused. “Oops.”

It was Zack.

There was no way that could be a vampire imitating him. The iPhone glass cracked beneath my crushing fingers. “Ebon! If you’ve hurt him, if you’ve so much as
touched
him—”

“We’re fine, we’re all fine here.” This time it was my dad’s voice, filled with forced calm. It was exactly the same way he’d sounded when he’d had to tell us that Mum had collapsed with acute appendicitis; it had taken weeks before he’d admitted that she’d nearly died. Hearing that tone now made my throat tighten in dread. “Stay away from here.”

“It’s all under control,” added my mum’s voice.

“You are handcuffed to chairs and surrounded by hostile vampires!” Ebon practically wailed. “Will you all
please
be sensible?”

As usual, it seemed that fell to me. “I get it. Hostages. What do you want, Ebon?”

“It’s not what I want, it’s what Hakon wants.” Ebon took a deep breath. “You. All of you. The dhampir, the girl, yourself … and Lily.”

“No!” Sarah exclaimed. She reached for the phone, but I swung it out of her reach.
I’ll handle it,
I mouthed, and she subsided, though her face was pale and set.

“If you all turn yourselves in, Hakon will release your family,” Ebon said. “If you don’t—”

“Don’t do it, Xanthe,” Mum interrupted. “Three for four is a bad deal. Stay away, and send help to—” Her words degenerated into a muffled mumble.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t—ow—let you tell her—
ow
—where we are,” Ebon said, evidently to Mum. “Would you please stop biting—
ow!
—me! I’m trying to help you all here!”

“It would have been a lot more helpful if maybe you hadn’t kidnapped them in the first place,” I snarled.

“I didn’t! I swear I didn’t, Jane.”

“That’s actually true, to be fair,” Zack said. “A couple of big guys grabbed us not long after you went into the hospital. Ebon’s been pretty cool.” There was a momentary thoughtful pause. “Apart from the whole tying-us-up thing, of course. But he was very apologetic about it.”

“Zack, stop telling your sister how nice the evil vampires are,” Dad said firmly. “Don’t you believe a word Ebenezer says, Jane.” Seemed that Ebon had come clean with them about his real name and origin. “Not unless he offers you a show of good faith. Like releasing your brother.”

“I told you, I can’t do that,” Ebon said wearily. “Jane, I promise I’ll get your family out of this. Please trust me.”

“Yeah, right.” But I had to admit, there was something raw about Ebon’s voice that made me wonder. It was a stark contrast to Lily’s polished self-composure. “Ebon,
let’s say I do what you want.” Sarah glanced sharply at me; I shook my head at her. “What happens then?”

“They’ll kill Lily!” Sarah burst out. “They’ll kill you, Jane, it’s suicide!”

“No, Hakon’s planning to imprison Lily, not stake her,” Ebon said. “He wants you to work for him, Jane. He always has, that’s been the whole point of all this.”

“You don’t want to do that, Xanthe,” said Mum. “This Hakon is
not
an ethical employer.”

Sarah grabbed my sleeve. “Listen to her, Jane. Lily’s told me all about Hakon. He’s pure evil.”

And that was
Sarah
saying it. I rubbed at my face, trying to fight the sleepiness that clouded my thoughts. “I have to say, this really doesn’t sound like a good deal, Ebon. I don’t want to work for anyone.”

“That’s my girl,” Dad said. “You stay safe.”

“You all really aren’t helping here, you know,” Ebon said with a resigned sigh. I heard footsteps, and guessed that he was moving out of earshot from my family. “Jane, we’re vampires. We can’t help but be under the thumb of those older than us. You can accept that, or you can die.”

“
Lily
escaped,” Sarah said, lifting her chin proudly.

“For less than a hundred years,” Ebon snapped.
“That’s nothing. Even I’m almost twice as old as that, and most of the other vampires regard me as an infant. My own grandsire? She is eight
thousand
years old. To Hakon, Lily might as well have run away last afternoon. If it wasn’t for this experiment of hers, he might have been content to let her run for another couple of centuries before getting around to disposing of her. Until now, he hasn’t even made any real effort to find her.”

“Apart from sending you after her,” I pointed out.

Ebon laughed: a bitter, painful sound. “Me?” His farm boy accent thickened. “I’m a joke.”

“You’re from a different Bloodline. So you’ve escaped from your own sire.”

“No, my Elder simply doesn’t care where I am or whether I’m alive or dead. Why do you think I’ve been trying for over a century to get accepted by another Bloodline? It’s hard, impossibly hard, to be a lone vampire. You’re constantly dodging hunters sent by other lineages. The Bloodlines
hate
rogues. And on top of all that you still have to find food, shelter, money, all without officially existing. And everyone you ever knew is dead and everything keeps changing, utterly—” He broke off. When he spoke again, his voice was more composed, but quiet. “It’s … very lonely.”

“Oh, my heart just bleeds for you, guy who has my little brother tied to a chair.” Despite my brave words, my unease was ballooning into full-scale panic. Ebon may have deceived me before, but I couldn’t persuade myself that he was lying this time; the self-hatred and hopelessness in his voice were all too real.

“You have to turn yourself in, Jane.” Ebon’s words were starting to slur together, as if he was badly drunk. “By the deadline. Otherwise … otherwise, Hakon’ll—”

“Ebon!” I was finding it hard to speak now myself. “Talk to me! What deadline?”

“Tomorrow night. Midnight,” Ebon mumbled, barely audible. “Hakon’s deadline. Surrender yourself and them, or he’ll kill one of … one of your family. Jane, I’m sorry, so sorry … won’t let him … I won’t.”

I stared at the dead phone, my mind struggling as if my thoughts had to swim uphill through syrup. Capture Lily. Turn her and Van and Sarah and myself in. Tomorrow, midnight. I couldn’t
think
. There was no way I’d ever be able to take her down on my own, not when she could practically put me on my knees just with her smile.
Think
.

“Jane.” Sarah grabbed my lax hands, squeezing them fiercely between her own. I could barely feel the pressure
through my numb skin. “It’s okay. I’ll think of something, I’ll make a plan while you’re resting.”

“Help me,” I croaked, forcing myself upright. My feet were dead lumps of flesh; I lurched across the room like a zombie. “Living room—help me!”

I could feel the rising sun like the muzzle of a gun pressed to the back of my neck. By the time Sarah had supported me to the living room, my legs were dead from the hips down. A faint gray light filtered through the gap in the curtains; my vision blurred. Everything was too bright, like an overexposed photo.

“You.” Van glared at me. His wrists were rubbed raw where he’d been trying to free himself. “By my mother’s blood, I will stake you if it’s the
last thing I do
.”

I’d never been so glad to see anyone before in my life. I tripped and sprawled, having to crawl the last few feet. Van twisted in his chains, as if he thought I was trying to attack him—but I reached past him.

“Jane, what are you doing?” Sarah yelled, swaying as I pulled strength from her in order to snap the chains binding Van to the radiator.