Hourglass (10 page)

“I just
bet.
” She giggled girlishly. “You know how her nose gets so pinched when she gets mad? It always makes me laugh.” Charity contorted her face into such a dead-on impression of Mrs. Bethany in a fury that I almost smiled despite my fear. But I didn’t forget that this was how Charity worked—endearing herself to you to get you off your guard.

“Mrs. Bethany’s got a lot of vampires behind her. Dozens, maybe hundreds.”

That had a more powerful effect than I’d anticipated. “That must not happen,” she whispered, the humor leaving her dark eyes. “The tribes must not unite behind Mrs. Bethany. It’s important.”

“Are you going to tell me why?”

“Yes,” Charity said, surprising me. Then she smiled, too sweetly. “After you tell me where my brother is. And you
will
tell me.”

Shepherd sprang toward me with blinding speed. I was able to dodge out of the way, but only barely, and I stumbled against the wall. As he came back toward me, I remembered sparring with Lucas in Black Cross training, and the moves came to me—dodge left, grab his arm, spin him around, and push. Shepherd hit the door so hard it vibrated.

I felt like a major badass—at least, for the second it took Charity to grab me from behind.

“Let me go!” I cried. “There are others coming!”

“Not in time to save you.” Charity dragged me backward hard enough that I lost my footing, then she threw me onto the shag rug.

Panic seized me, threatening to rob me of the power to think or even move—until the window shattered with a crash. Glass flew everywhere, and I cried out just as Shepherd screamed in pain. He fell forward, half on top of me. Desperately I pushed him aside and glimpsed the stake protruding from his back.

A crossbow! Somebody fired through the window!

Charity swore, lunged forward, and pulled the stake out of Shepherd. I was frantically wriggling out from under him, but she seemed to have other priorities. “We’ll get back to this,” she said, pulling a sputtering, woozy Shepherd to his feet. “Move.”

They ran out the door, and for a moment I was alone, breathing hard, almost too stunned to think. Then, outside, I heard Dana yell, “Where the hell is Bianca?”

“Dana!” I pushed myself upright. My knees felt like they were made of jelly. “Dana, I’m okay!”

But already I could hear the sounds of fighting—the dull wet thuds of body blows and shouts of pain, echoing within the hall.

I went to the doorway and looked outside. Charity had vanished. Shepherd and Dana struggled alone at the far end of the hall, near an exit door where the stairs apparently were. It was
hard to tell who was winning, but I glimpsed Shepherd’s face and saw that his fangs were extended, ready for the bite. “Look out!” I shouted.

Dana twisted, punched Shepherd hard with her left hand, and then pushed. He tumbled through the door, over the railing, and down the stairwell, echoing off the metal banister as he repeatedly struck it on the way down.

“Come on!” she shouted. “No time for the elevator!” I followed her, running as fast as my shaking legs would take me. But by the time we got down to the street level, Shepherd was gone. The doorman slumped over his booth, unconscious; either Dana had knocked him out, or Shepherd and Charity had.

We left the building, staggering out into the rain. I didn’t care about getting wet; all I needed was never to be in that place again. Raquel lit up when we emerged. “Thank God you’re both okay.”

“Did you see him?” Dana said. “Wannabe Rasta boy?”

“No, nobody came out this way. Maybe Milos saw.” Raquel pointed up at a rooftop across the street, where I could just make out a figure with a crossbow. Milos—one of the cruelest of the vampire hunters—was the only reason I was still alive.

“You look shaken up.” Dana put her hands on my shoulders.

“You okay, Bianca?”

I shook my head. She pulled me into a big hug, and Raquel embraced me from behind. I could feel their relief as powerfully as my own.

They were two of my dearest friends. They were vampire
hunters. They loved me. They stood by while Balthazar was tortured. I was so angry with them I could scream, and I loved them so much it hurt. I knew they were doing wrong to kill vampires, and yet the vampire I had just tried to save had betrayed me. None of it could be untangled; I just had to live with it.

Without a word, I hugged them back and told myself that everything past this moment didn’t matter.

The next day, I was excused from patrol, which was nice enough, but Eliza went the extra mile and gave Lucas the day off, too. Well, “day off,” in this instance, meant “digging through the rubble of our old headquarters instead of hunting vampires.” Some others might join us later, she said, but for now the task was left up to me and Lucas, alone. As long as we were together, I’d take it.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he said for the dozenth time. We were standing near one of the old train car cabins, knee-deep in broken stone. Both of us were as dirty as we’d been the day of the attack.

“I promise, I’m fine. Charity just scared me.”

“She wants to change you,” Lucas said. “And it sounds like she plans to hunt you down.”

“I’m safe while I have my bodyguard with me,” I joked, poking at his firm biceps. Lucas was shirtless, a concession to the stifling summer heat within the tunnels. Before, fans had kept the space livable; now, it was almost a hundred degrees and so humid that walking felt like swimming.

Lucas kissed me, a sloppy, sexy sort of kiss that would’ve made us both desperate for each other, if our surroundings had been any less grimy. When our lips parted, he said, “We really do have to find a way to get some time together.”

“It won’t be long before we’re alone together all the time.” I rested my hands against his bare chest. Shyly, I added, “I can’t wait.”

His eyes sought mine, eager and questioning. Voice low and deliciously rough, Lucas said, “Whatever you’re ready for—whenever you’re ready—I’d never rush you, you know that—”

I kissed him again, and this time the kiss went to my head. Dizzy, I breathed, “I want to be with you. Completely.”

Lucas leaned close once more, but the dizziness got to me—it was more than the kiss. I put out one hand, laughing from self-consciousness, and he took it as he lowered me into a seated position. “I said you were looking pale. Bianca, are you sure you feel all right?”

“It really is hot in here,” I admitted. “Plus I’m kind of hungry.”

“We can knock off any time, you know. They’ll be excavating in here for months. What we get done on any one day hardly matters.”

“There are some things I want to find.” I brushed my sweaty bangs back from my forehead as I looked at Lucas. Once again, I found myself being far too conscious of his heartbeat and the pulse just beneath his skin. “I could do with something to eat.”

“You mean blood?”

I glanced around us, though it was only force of habit; we were alone in the tunnel and could speak openly. “Yeah.”

“Then I’ll get you blood.”

“Not yours,” I said sharply. Right now I could get carried away.

Lucas shook his head. “There’s a hospital not far from here. I’ll make a little blood-bank run. I’ll bring cold water, too.”

“Sounds great.”

After he went up onto the street, I sat with my back against the wall for a few long minutes. All day I’d told myself that I was only woozy because I was hungry for blood and because yesterday had been so frightening. Now that I was working so hard in the heat, wasn’t it only natural for me to feel faint?

Yet the weakness I sensed seemed to go deeper than that—almost as if I were coming down with a virus or something. I so rarely got sick that I wasn’t sure I’d even recognize the symptoms. Probably this was nothing more than a nasty summer cold that just happened to arrive on a bad day.

Sighing, I pushed myself up. If I was going to feel crappy no matter what, I might as well get some work done.

I went into the old subway car, then flicked on the flashlight. Gravel and glass were thick on the floor, and almost everything inside was filthy. But when I saw a scribbled line drawing still taped to one wall, I smiled. That was Raquel’s work, which meant this was our old quarters.

Eagerly I began digging the rocks from beneath the bunk
that had been mine. Reaching through the filthy dust, I was able to close my fingers around a scrap of cloth and pull hard, so that my bag emerged from the rubble. The few clothes I’d had would be ruined, but maybe, just maybe—

Yes!
I pulled out the jet brooch Lucas had given me when we were first dating. Although its shiny black surface was murky with dust, the fine carving appeared undamaged. Thrilled, I tried pinning it to the cheap T-shirt I wore, but the fabric was too thin; instead, I put it on the waistband of my jeans.

“Hello?” Lucas called from above. I stood on one of the bunks and pushed myself up to see Lucas making his way toward me, paper bags in both hands.

“Look what I found!” I hurried to him, trying to ignore my dizziness. “It’s still perfect.”

His fingers found the brooch at my waist. “I can’t believe you’ve managed to hang onto this through everything.”

“I’ll never let it go.”

Lucas held up one of the brown paper bags and said, “Water.” Then he held up the other and said, “not water.”

He could even joke about giving me blood. With a grin, I reached into that sack and pulled out a bag of blood, fresh from the hospital freezer and deliciously cool. Normally I liked my blood close to body temperature, but on a hot day like this, something cold would be perfect.

“Huh,” Lucas said, furrowing his forehead. “I didn’t think about getting, like, a straw.”

“I can bite through with my fangs,” I said, then thought
better of it. “Or just poke a hole with your knife.”

“Why not fangs?”

“You really don’t mind seeing me like that?” I glanced up at him through lowered eyelids.

“Considering how hot and heavy we’ve been every time I saw your fangs, I have to say I kinda like seeing you like that.”

He was almost daring me. I enjoyed this. “Okay,” I said. “Watch.”

With the blood right there in my hands, it wasn’t hard to give into it—the familiar ache in my jaw, then the extension of what looked like my canine teeth. When the points jutted into my mouth, I covered my lips with one hand, then let that hand drop.

“There,” I said, letting him look at me. I felt so exposed, until he smiled, and then I felt—invincible.

“Go on,” he said. “Eat.”

I bit into the bag, welcoming the cool rush of blood into my mouth. Lucas had only been able to grab a single pint, so I went slow, making it last. Closing my eyes to savor it better, I swallowed once, twice—

“Oh, my God.”

It was Raquel’s voice.

My eyes flew open as Lucas and I whirled around to see Dana and Raquel, who had just come down into the tunnel. Eliza had said others might come later, but they were here early. Here now. Watching me drink blood.

“WAIT,” I SAID, HOLDING OUT MY HANDS. “HEAR us out.”

Raquel and Dana didn’t run, but they didn’t look like they were going to listen, either. They were both frozen, shock-still, staring at me—at the friend who had just been revealed as a vampire, the creature they hated most in the world.

The bag of blood fell from my trembling hands. Red droplets spattered onto the dust and gravel. I felt like I might plunge to the ground with it at any second. My fangs slid back up into my jaw as though they were trying to hide.

Why hadn’t I heard them? My vampire senses should’ve warned me. But I’d been feeling weak—and Lucas had distracted me—and here we were.

For what felt like eternity, we faced one another. Everyone was breathing hard. When I looked into Raquel’s eyes and saw the naked hurt and terror there, I wanted to cry, but I held it together.

Dana broke the silence. “You had better start explaining.”

“No,” Raquel said.

“I know how this feels,” Dana said to her. “Believe me, baby, I know. But we better learn what we can.”

“Please,” I began, but Raquel stared down at her sandals.

Lucas and I shared a look. He probably stood a better chance of explaining to Dana than I had of explaining to Raquel. He began, “You want the long version or the short version?”

“I’m gonna want both versions,” Dana said. “And you can top them off with the long-ass director’s cut version when those are done. How about starting with the short version?”

“Bianca was born to two vampires.” When Dana frowned, Lucas continued, “Yeah, I know. It turns out vampires can have children—doesn’t happen a whole lot, but it happens. Her whole life, they told her they’d turn her into a vampire someday and she accepted it, because that’s what you do when you’re a little kid and your parents tell you how things are supposed to be. Then she went to Evernight, and we met, and she wised up about what vampires are capable of. So she left with me and joined us. She’s not a full vampire and she won’t ever be.”

That left out some key elements of the truth, but they were the elements I wanted to discuss least right now. Lucas had done a good job, I thought.

I couldn’t tell if Dana agreed. She remained still, her long braids hanging past her shoulders, one hand on the stake in her belt. “Funny how she’s drinking blood if she’s not a vampire.”

“I need blood as well as food,” I said. “I’m part vampire.
That’s not something I can change.”

“What’s the difference between a part vampire and a full vampire?” Dana demanded. “Because if they both have fangs and drink blood, I’m not seeing how I ought to spend time with either kind.”

I stepped forward hesitantly. Raquel backed up, a move that felt like a slap across my face. But I continued forward, taking it slow, grateful for Lucas walking directly behind me. “The difference is that I’m alive,” I said. “You can feel my pulse, if you need proof. Go ahead.”

It felt so scary, stretching out my hand.

Dana took it like it was no big deal, her fingers pressing into my wrist. I wondered if she could tell, from the speed of my pulse, how frightened I was.

Her eyes flickered over to Lucas. “How long have you known about this?”

“Since halfway through my time at Evernight Academy. I found out pretty much the same way you just did.” Lucas put one hand on the small of my back, comforting me. “Then Bianca came clean and told me the story. I realized—how I felt about her—because of
who
she was, it didn’t matter
what
she was.”

Dana shot me a look. “You have this one wrapped around your finger but good.”

Was she actually joking around with me again? It seemed like too much to hope for. “I don’t know,” I said. “He’s pretty stubborn.”

Lucas didn’t join in the banter. “Dana, tell me what you’re going to do.”

“I honestly don’t know,” she replied. Her broad face, normally never without a smile, was gravely serious now. “I believe what you’re telling me, but the fact remains that having a vampire in our organization, knowing what we know—I don’t think that’s a great idea. I don’t care what kind of vampire she is, she shouldn’t have jack to do with Black Cross.”

On that point, we were in total agreement. “Lucas and I want to leave,” I said. “Soon. I’ve always known I couldn’t stay here.”

“Biding your time, huh?” Dana didn’t look impressed.

Lucas stepped closer to her. “We’ll be gone in a few weeks,” he promised. “If you don’t think you can keep the secret that long—just tell us right now, and I’ll get out of here with Bianca this instant. It’s your call.”

“You’re really ready to leave us? To walk away from this work?” Dana looked disappointed—no, more like crushed. She and Lucas had been best friends almost their whole lives; losing him, and discovering that he’d kept such a major secret from her, had to hit her hard. “I thought this was your world. I thought you were committed.”

“It’s more complicated than I used to think. They aren’t all evil, Dana.” Lucas’s lopsided smile nearly broke my heart.

“Besides—I love her. She needs me. That means my choice is made.”

“I gotta think.” Dana stepped back to pace along the edge of the tunnel, at least in the small space that had been cleared of
debris. That left us alone with Raquel, who had yet to say a word.

“Raquel?” I ventured. No response. “I know you’re angry. I don’t blame you. But if you think about it—really—can’t you see why I didn’t?”

She nodded slowly.

“You do?” Well, that was something, anyway. “This doesn’t have to change things. Not if you don’t let it.”

“That’s good,” Raquel whispered. I started to relax. What I’d taken for horror in her reaction was probably merely shock. Maybe we’d be okay, if Dana would only come around.

Lucas’s hand found mine, and I held on tightly. I wondered if we would have to run and whether I even could run, as weak and shaky as I felt.

Dana stopped pacing and said, “A few weeks, you said. What’s the holdup?”

“Eduardo took the cash I’d been saving,” Lucas said. “I’ve only been able to put away a little more since then.”

“Makes sense.”

“Dana, spit it out.” Lucas sounded almost angry. “What are you going to tell the others?”

“Nothing.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“You heard me. I won’t say anything.” Dana’s expression was flat, but she sounded sincere. “Let’s go back.”

“They’ll ask why we aren’t digging,” I said, unsure whether the crisis could really be over.

“And we’ll tell them it’s too damn hot down here for Satan
to have a steam bath. I get the feeling we’ve all been through enough today already.” Dana headed toward the exit, then glanced back at us. “Come on, everybody.”

There didn’t seem to be anything to do but follow her. None of us said one word on the way back.

Saying that night felt tense would be a massive understatement.

Throughout dinner, Lucas and I sat next to each other, trying not to stare at Dana or Raquel. We were eating plain rice for about the tenth day in a row, and every grain seemed to stick in my throat. Raquel and Dana didn’t look at us. In fact, they were making such a point of not looking at us that I felt like everyone would surely notice.

Instead, the others were wrapped up in different concerns.

“For his own safety, Lucas needs to keep moving from cell to cell from now on,” Eliza said, stabbing at her plate of rice with a plastic spork. “Or at least until we’ve taken care of Mrs. Bethany.”

Easier said than done
, I thought. Black Cross’s best hunters had gone against Mrs. Bethany three times in the past few months, and she’d killed at least a dozen of them without taking a scratch.

Kate hadn’t really been eating since Eduardo died. She simply pushed the rice around on her plate, making little grooves. “You’re telling me I can’t keep my son with me any longer?”

Eliza didn’t flinch. “I’m saying you should dissolve your cell.”

“We’ve been together awhile,” Dana said. It was the first time she’d talked all night. Lucas and I both flinched. “Practically my whole life, and Lucas’s, too.”

“The cell should’ve been a lot more fluid long before now,” Eliza said. “You know that.”

“Yeah,” Kate said. “I know that.” She let her spork fall to her plate.

I saw the tension knotting the muscles of Lucas’s shoulders. As claustrophobic and demanding as the life was, despite the zealotry Lucas had outgrown, his Black Cross cell remained the only sort of home or family he’d ever known. I knew how lost he had to feel, how alone. Sometimes, despite everything, I missed Evernight Academy—where at least I’d been warm and comfortable every night, and had as much as I wanted to eat, and knew that my parents were looking after me.

Here, I was afraid, and even my best friends could possibly turn into my enemies.

I glanced up from my rice, hoping to meet Raquel’s eyes, but she was looking at Dana. Her expression was unreadable.

“Give it time,” Lucas murmured, as everyone bunked down for the night. He curled behind me, as he had before; I’d never been so grateful to have him close. “I think we’ll be okay.”

“But Dana—” She’d been raised in Black Cross. She’d been willing to leave Balthazar to his fate. How could she accept me so quickly?

“Shhh.” He said it as if he were soothing me, but I knew it was a genuine warning. The others were lying down, too, and
they were close enough to hear every word.

The lights were put out, and I lay next to Lucas—both in his arms and a million miles away. He fell asleep quickly, to judge by his deep, even breathing and the relaxation of his arm around my waist.

See, Lucas thinks everything’s safe. He’s not worried a bit.

No, he’s a hunter. He’s used to resting when he can so he’ll have energy to fight later if he must.

Well, then, I’ll try to be a hunter, too.

As soon as I gave in to my exhaustion, sleep grabbed me quickly. I’d been more tired than I realized. My head, my eyelids, my limbs—all of it felt so heavy—

The darkness folded itself around me, as warm and comforting as a blanket.

“Get up.”

The flashlight’s beam blinded me, jolting me from sleep. I felt Lucas shift and heard him groan, “What’s going on?”

More sternly, Eliza repeated, “Get up.”

I pushed myself up on my elbows and squinted, trying to make out shapes in the room. The darkness coalesced into forms—most of the Black Cross hunters, standing around us in a semicircle, weapons on their hands.

Dana told them about me.

My stomach clenched so painfully I thought I might vomit. The rushing of blood in my ears, quickening with my pulse, deafened me to almost anything else. My whole body seemed to go cold, and I kept thinking,
Go back, go back
, like I could
somehow stop time and make all of this not be happening. It seemed like there had to be some way out, but there wasn’t.

Lucas’s hand closed over mine. Though I knew he had to be as frightened as I was, he said, evenly, “You’d better tell us what this is about.”

“You know what it’s about,” Eliza said. “Don’t you?”

“Yeah. I expect I do.” He took a deep breath as he quickly scanned the room. Dana wasn’t there—coward—and she’d no doubt taken Raquel with her so Raquel wouldn’t protest. But I realized that he wasn’t looking for them, but for his mother. Kate was nowhere to be seen. Did she have any idea what was going on? Surely not. They had come up with some pretext for sending her away, and the one person who might still have been in a position to help us was gone. “What happens now?”

Eliza’s smile was cold. “Now we go upstairs and have a little chat.”

She meant the ground-level room where Balthazar had been kept.

I felt like I couldn’t move, like they would have to drag me up there. But Lucas squeezed my hand and said, “Come on, Bianca. You and me. Let’s go.”

His strength flowed into me, and I managed to get to my feet. “Can I get dressed?” I asked. I was surprised how steady my voice sounded.

Eliza shrugged. “Throw on your jeans. But move.”

In our jeans and T-shirts, we made our way up the stairs onto the harbor. It was very late—or very early—whichever way
you wanted to look at it, the dead of night. No boats floated upon the river, and even the omnipresent roar of traffic was only a whisper. Briefly we were outside, a taunting taste of freedom, before they pushed us into the storage room. Blood stained the concrete floor.

I thought for sure they would handcuff us, the way they had Balthazar, but they didn’t. Lucas and I stood in the center of the dark room. The others surrounded us. When the lights were flipped on, the starkness of the scene—the angry faces surrounding us and the weapons they carried—made my stomach clench even tighter.

“What is she?” Eliza demanded of Lucas.

He began, “She was born to vampires—sometimes they can—”

“Skip it.” Eliza’s hand rested upon a stake in her belt. “We heard your little story. What we want now are facts. How strong is she? What powers does she have?”

“You’ve seen her work out and fight along with the rest of us.” Lucas stood partly in front of me, as if trying to shield me.

“If you don’t know what she can do by now, blame yourselves.”

“This is a really bad time for backtalk,” Eliza warned.

Lucas’s eyes narrowed. “From where I’m standing, this is a really bad time, period.”

“You got that right,” said somebody.

I noticed that all the hunters were looking at Lucas—not at me. He was the one they talked to, the one they wanted explanations from. Although they were angry with Lucas, he was still a
human being. Still a person.

I was only a monster.

Eliza’s fingers tightened around the stake. Would she really use that on me? I was still alive, which meant being staked wouldn’t paralyze me: it would kill me. I knew nobody in this room but Lucas would care if she did. Strong as Lucas was, he couldn’t possibly defend me against twenty trained, armed hunters. My own strength and fighting skills wouldn’t add much to our chances.

“How many of them are there?” somebody in the back demanded. “These—vampire spawn.”