But I didn’t understand, did I? I hadn’t trusted him.
In my mind, I pictured those green eyes in the rearview mirror. How they’d locked with mine.
Haunted. In pain.
I knew what that pain might’ve felt like. I’d thought he was betraying me, but all along, I’d been the treacherous one. So quick to doubt him.
I’d been the one to cause his pain. It was agony.
He cared for me. But I hadn’t trusted it. I hadn’t
seen
.
He’d tried to communicate his plan, but I’d blown him off.
Oh, God
, worse, I said I could never love someone like him.
Even stupid Charlotte had seen. She’d seen his love and taken him away.
I’d been the one to double-cross him. And it was most likely getting him killed right now.
Well, I was damned if I’d let that happen. Finally, Ronan’s true feelings for me had penetrated my thick skull. Finally, my scarred little heart was beating with the knowledge that maybe he loved me.
That
I
definitely loved
him
.
What did that mean about my feelings for Carden? I adored being with my vampire. He was so easy.
Too easy.
Carden was all about greasing the wheels, making people happy, and getting as close as he could to his goals. Carden had been prioritizing his mission over me since we’d met. His goals were honorable, sure. But they weren’t
my
goals.
And then there was Ronan.
We
had the same goals. Valued the same things. We’d fight for what we believed in, even if it meant our own downfall. We treasured friends, helped allies, longed for family, and all along, held the fierce desire to keep a portion of ourselves private, separated from what we saw as a world of horrors.
It was Ronan who made me want to be a better person. Ronan, like me, was never willing to compromise. We never greased wheels. It was Ronan who’d save a girl from cafeteria bullies while Carden chose to sit idly by.
Both men were good and noble, but it was Ronan who’d sacrifice his own happiness, his own life, to ensure the safety of those he cared about.
And that sounded a lot like me. Like who I was, who I wanted to be.
Vampire, Tracer, Watcher, it didn’t matter. Ronan and I were as bonded as two could be. Being parted from him like this was pain worse than any blood fever.
My body felt light, expansive. I was full of air, like I might float from the ground.
I was in love with him.
How had I not known all this time? It was obvious. Inevitable. From the moment I first saw him in that stupid university office in Florida, my feelings had been as fixed and fated as my need for air, for sustenance. No less than those things, Ronan was a part of me. I needed him in my life.
I needed to find him.
The memory of what I’d done and said pierced the balloon in my chest. Would he forgive me? His sister had sworn to destroy me. Would he side with her?
Resolution seemed impossible.
But I wouldn’t think about that. A fire had been lit inside me, and I truly believed that once Ronan and I were together, we could figure anything out.
Whatever happened with my mother, Ronan was just as much my family. I chose him. We were kindred. Because, as I’ve learned, my mother could turn out to be anyone. Bloodlines don’t mean anything. Look at Lilac as proof of that.
It was time to act. I looked at the girls around me. They were my family, too. We were in this together. My power, their power—it was
our
power.
I pulled my shoulders back and held that misericordia aloft like a torch. “We have to find Ronan.”
I guess I’d snarled the words, because my earnestness made a couple of the older girls laugh.
“Chill,” Clara said. “Of course we’ll find him. I saw exactly where they took him.”
Kenzie smiled. “Then let’s go save the guy.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
The new Acari caught up with Clara and clapped her on the shoulder. “Girl, you’re short, but you are fast.” If I hadn’t already known she was a brand-new recruit, speaking to a Watcher with such clueless irreverence would’ve been a quick indication.
But Clara wasn’t mad when she turned and jogged backward to face us. She was fierce, and with her solid gait and brown hair spilling all over the place, she looked like an action hero, like someone who’d face off with a cyborg killing machine using just her wits and a stick. “I’m not short.” She grinned. “I’m fun-sized.”
Clara, Regina, and me were like the petite brigade. I’d hated my height for years, but now, no way. I’d come to understand just how awesome “fun-sized” was. Just then, it felt like we could sneak into anywhere, make our way through anything.
Kenzie slowed her pace. “Not so fast, ladies. We need a weapons check.” She led us into a dim alcove off the main hallway. “Show me what you got.”
“Good call.” I sidled in beside her. “Does everyone have something?”
We were whispering, even though the entire floor seemed abandoned. My guess was, once those Synod dudes were in a meeting, everyone else held all their calls.
“I’ve only got one stake left,” Regina said, “but I do have this.” And then she slipped a thin, beltlike cord from around her waist.
One of the Guidons peered closer. “Bloody hell. Is that a garrote?”
Hearing the British accent placed her identity for me. “Juliet, right?”
She gave me a nod and a smile. “Hiya, D.” Then she hefted a fireplace poker in the air. “I nicked this from the hearth.”
“Score.” The other Guidon, a girl named Mala, looked impressed. Then her face fell as she rubbed her forearm. “All I’ve got is two stakes. I’ll make it work, though.”
“You couldn’t sneak your weapon from the Isle?” I asked, because it sure seemed like these girls had managed to smuggle in a veritable armory tucked away in sleeves, pants, and boots.
“The weapon they assigned me? It’s a pike.” Mala raised her brows in disdain. “Yeah. Hate that thing. It’s a miracle I’m still alive.”
Clara lifted her hands like a surgeon who’d just scrubbed. “This is all I need.”
“Bollocks,” Juliet said. “You’re going to face these guys with your bare hands?”
“All right, all right.” Clara bent and pulled a pair of nunchucks from her boots. “Meet Chuckie.”
I couldn’t fight the laugh that burst from me. “I’ve always wanted to try those.”
“Shush.” Kenzie put up a hand to quiet me. She nodded her chin at the new girl. “Whatcha got?”
“My stakes are gone.” The poor kid seemed stricken. She probably had barely any experience fighting her newbie peers, much less facing a coven of ancient, pissed off vampires. “I had a switchblade, but lost it in the fight.”
“Don’t sweat it.” Kenzie pulled two stakes from her sleeves and handed them to her. “Use these.”
“What’s your name?” I asked her.
“Monique.”
“Monique, you can stick by me,” I told her and attempted a reassuring smile. I was liking this whole girl bonding thing. I turned to Kenzie. “If she’s got your stakes, what will you use?”
Kenzie pulled up her shirt, wriggled a bit, then slid a sai knife from each hip. They looked a little like tridents and a lot like something a manga badass might wield. She grinned. “Didn’t manage to give these an airing before the last fight was over. How about you?” She pointed to my misericordia. “Where’d you get that little slice of awesome?”
“Yeah,” Mala said. “What the hell is that thing?”
“Misericordia.” I held it up, but didn’t pass it around. “The vampires use it to kill…well…to kill us; it’s a quickie way to make more vampires. But it also kills
them
. Every time.” I bent to run a hand along the side of my boot, checking to make sure my shuriken and my awesome new boomerang were still safely tucked away. “I’ve got my throwing stars, too. But they won’t do much good against these guys.”
“So shall we?” An evil smile curved a corner of Clara’s lips. “Not that I’m not enjoying this little tea party, but I’m kinda jonesing to kick some vampire ass.”
I gave her a fist bump. I liked this girl’s attitude. “Just tell us where they’re hiding Ronan.”
“Two floors up.” She gave me a look that was part trepidation, part apology. “He’s with his sister.”
“Guards?”
“Is the pope Catholic?”
“Guards and stuff,” Monique said. “Can we handle all that?”
“Sure we can,” Kenzie said.
“And we will.” I squeezed Monique’s shoulder. “Don’t freak out. We got this. Stick by me.”
We made our way to the elevator, and Clara held out an arm to stop us. “This floor is quiet, but the rest of this place is a freaking hive. So heads up.”
I eyed the elevator. It was the artery that connected the whole factory. But we needed to act fast. Anyone could emerge from it at any second. I pressed the button.
Juliet frowned. “Is that wise?”
“Gotta get up there somehow.” I told her, “You, Kenzie, Mala, and Monique will ride in the elevator.”
Monique took a step back. “Isn’t there, like, a sneaky back stairwell or something?”
“What are
we
going to do?” Clara looked disappointed that she might miss the fight. “Shouldn’t we stick together?”
“Totally.” I beamed. I was a part of something. I’d always wanted a family, and here I’d found sisters in the most unexpected of places. “We fun-sized girls will be riding
on top
of the elevator.”
Regina’s eyes widened. “On top?”
“Oh yeah.” Clara high-fived me. “Always wanted to do that.”
“On top,” Regina repeated flatly.
Mala gave her a little shove. “Did you not see
any
of the Die Hard movies?”
We were out of time. The elevator dinged. Monique held the door as the other three helped us reach up, slide the ceiling panel aside, and climb on top of the car.
We got the panel back in place, plunging us into shadows. The only light came from the car below us, filtered up through an old-fashioned wrought-iron screen. Otherwise, the floor—their roof—was surprisingly smooth, bisected only by a giant steel bar that connected us to the top of the factory high above. There were wheels like pulleys connected to three thick cables.
“That doesn’t seem like a lot to hold us,” Regina whispered.
Clara hissed. “How do you know what an elevator roof is supposed to look like?”
I put a finger to my lips to shush them.
There was a mechanical
whoosh
and a chime. Then the thing began to move.
We’d started five floors underground.
All we needed to do was go up two floors.
We stopped after one.
I met Regina’s eyes. They looked like they were about to bulge from their sockets.
There was a cheerful little
ding
.
Our heads knocked together as we all knelt to peer through the metal scrollwork panel. All I could see were the tops of the other girls’ heads—blond, black, black, brown. Their stances were taut, feet braced apart, hands on weapons.
The door slid open.
Three vampires stood there. Slow smiles spread across their faces as they shared a look.
I held my breath, and Regina pinched my arm.
One of the vampires chuckled. “Well, well.”
The door began to slide shut. A robed arm shot out to stop it.
The vampires edged inside.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The doors whooshed shut, and we began to move again. One of the vampires—a tall, gaunt creature with a gray face and thin reddish hair that told me he wasn’t so old when he’d been turned—reached out and traced a line down Kenzie’s cheek. “What a pleasant surprise.”
“Here we go,” Clara said under her breath.
I whispered, “Wait for it.”
The other two vampires were no different, eyeing the girls as though they’d won that evening’s grand surprise buffet.
A short, balding one turned to Juliet and asked in a voice meant to be charming, “Shall we get acquainted with these lovelies?”
“Let’s do.” The tall guy raised his hand to the
stop
button.
Mala didn’t hesitate. Before he could reach it, she staked his palm to the panel’s wooden frame.
And like a bomb being detonated, the elevator exploded into madness.
The tall vampire’s eyes rolled with fury as he worked to pull his hand free, but before he could, Mala slid her other stake into her hand and drove it through his chest.
She hit the button then, and the car shuddered to an abrupt stop, and we had to hold onto each other and that huge steel crossbar to steady ourselves on top.
I slid the panel aside. One vamp down, two to go. The fight had already begun, and I wasn’t about to miss it.
“I know you guys wanted to go up,” I said as swung my legs over the side. I leapt down, misericordia already in my hand, and fell onto the short vampire, driving the blade into his chest as I landed. “But you’re going down instead.”
By the time I stood up, the third vampire had already been dispatched, and Kenzie was wiping her sai knives clean with the edge of a monk’s cloak. “Really, D?
Going down?
You went there?”
“Sorry.” I gave them a rueful smile. “I joke when I’m nervous.”
We needed to keep plowing ahead while we still had the nerve. While Ronan was still alive.
I poised my finger to disengage the
stop
button. “Everyone ready?”
Everyone nodded.
“As I’ll ever be,” Monique said.
The elevator moved again and in seconds we were at the third floor. Kenzie held the
open
button as we adjusted to the sight revealed before us.
The doors had opened onto a sumptuous hallway, moodily lit. A rich, amber glow emanated from wrought-iron sconces along the wall, shimmering along burgundy velvet wallpaper and smoked mirror panels that lined the hall.
“Posh,” Juliet whispered beside me.
Regina whispered, “What is this, the Playboy Mansion?”
I heard footsteps. A distant door shutting. The bored murmurs of guards.
Soon they’d wonder who was in the elevator and why they weren’t getting out.
I had the misericordia in my hand and my friends by my side. “Now or never,” I said and stepped out.
About a dozen vampires were guarding the hall. It took only half a beat of confusion on their part before they leapt at us.