Authors: Megan Morgan
“Ethan,” Sam said. “Get the hell away from us, Occam!” He pushed at him. Occam barely budged.
Ethan strode up to the microphone, the stage filling up with people behind him.
“Hello, faithful members of the Paranormal Alliance!” Ethan said into the microphone. A cheer went up.
“Sam, we have to go.” She dug her nails into his hand. “We have to get the hell out of here.”
“Wait,” Sam said. “This could be it.”
Occam pushed in front of them. “You can leave with me right now.” He held a hand out to her. “I can glamour you, too.”
“You’re all gathered here today to defend Sam Haain,” Ethan said. “A good man, an innocent man. A man persecuted and disparaged by the Institute. The Institute wants to harm all of us. Too long they’ve been allowed to operate. Too long they’ve been allowed to mistreat and abuse us.”
June flinched as Occam spoke close to her ear. She hadn’t seen him move.
“Sounds like a familiar speech,” he whispered. “Where have you heard this before?”
People were shouting around them.
“Oh God,” she breathed out. “Sam, Robbie’s here.”
The people onstage were forming a tight-packed wall, shielding someone behind them from view.
“And we have proof!” Ethan said. “We have proof of what the Institute has been doing, and we’ve given it to the FBI. Their secrets are exposed.”
“Come with me,” Occam said. “I can protect you, June.”
He clamped a hand on her wrist. A tingling sensation rushed over her skin and her vision rippled.
“Stop,” Sam said. “Let go of her. You’re going to expose us!”
Another rush of tingles swept her body, making her nauseous. “Quit pulling on me, both of you!”
“You can’t fight my glamour, Sam,” Occam said. “I’m a vampire. And I’m much stronger than you.”
“Since your brave leader has abandoned you,” Ethan said, “you need someone who can lead you in a righteous surge against the Institute. Someone who isn’t afraid to fight fire with fire. That man is here today.”
The group behind Ethan parted. As Ethan stepped aside, shouts of confusion and horror rose from the crowed. A gangly man, clothed all in black, stepped forward. His hair hung past his collar, straight and chestnut, his skin nearly reflectively pale. Thanks to Muse, a long, dark scar traversed his face, starting on the left side of his mouth, distorting his lips, slashing across his nose, skipping his right eye, and finishing on his forehead. His eyes were milky white and seemed to glow in the sunlight.
“Many of you know who I am,” he said. “For those who don’t, my name is Robert Beecher.”
Panic shot through the crowd. Police rushed the stage.
“Don’t be frightened,” Robbie said. “Those of you who haven’t come to me already, you now have the choice to do so.”
“No!” Sam screamed, as June started forcefully pulling him away. “I can’t believe he—Cindy!”
Cindy was pushing her way toward them, her sunglasses knocked off, her face blanched.
“Run!” June shouted.
“Your time to run is up.” Occam still had her wrist.
The police were abruptly thrown back from the stage, as if they’d hit a force field.
“No one is leaving here,” Robbie said, calmly. “Unless you leave with me.”
Screams were rising farther out in the crowd. Something else was happening. Flames erupted in several places, shooting up like fiery geysers. June didn’t understand, but when she did a second later, horror blinded her. The columns of flame were people.
“He’s got a bunch of pyros with him.” Sam let go of her wrist. “Holy shit.”
They could get out in the commotion, if they kept moving. They had to. People in the crowd were turning on others, attacking them, as if Robbie had flipped a switch and activated his murderous army. The traitors were among them, ready to force a conversion.
“Oh my God!” Cindy reached them. “Sam, we have to get the hell out of here!”
“I only want you to listen to me,” Robbie said, speaking over the panicked commotion. People were trying to run. More flames erupted. “I want us to unite together against a common enemy. I only want our safety.”
Occam grabbed June, wrapping his arm around her neck and jerking her chin back.
“What the hell?” She struggled against him.
“The only way we’re getting out of here now is if we look like we’re on his side,” he said in her ear. “Tell Sam to grab that girl and come on.”
“Sam, grab Cindy!” June called out. “Make it look real, or we’re going to die.”
Sam was gaping at the stage, immobile. Cindy leaped on him, grabbing him around the chest.
“Glamour her, Sam,” Occam said. “Wake up, boy.”
Cindy changed into a dark-haired woman. Sam remained his female self.
“Where are we going?” June wheezed out.
Occam had a fierce grip. “I’ve got a plan B, since you were too stupid to run when I told you to.”
He dragged her through the tumultuous crowd. She couldn’t keep track of the other two. Robbie was still speaking, but his words were drowned out by screaming and shouting.
A pillar of flame erupted nearby, and the crowd surged, pushing against them. The heat gusted over her, screams filling her ears.
“Fucking pyros,” Occam snarled.
Occam’s body was unnaturally hot, his hands nearly burning her skin. His movements were sluggish and uncoordinated, though he was still plenty strong.
“The sun is burning you,” she said.
“Yeah, well, you know.” He huffed close to her ear. “Vampire.”
They escaped the crowd and stumbled into an area where news vans were parked. Shots rang out, finally answering the assault. June flinched.
Occam let go of her and pulled open the back doors of one of the vans.
“Get in.” He pushed her.
Belle and Zack were in the back of the van, wrapped in hoodies like Occam. June scrambled in between them. She looked around. Thankfully, Fake-Cindy appeared, dragging Sam. They jumped inside, Cindy changing back to herself in a blink. Occam jumped in too and swiftly pulled the doors shut, plunging them into darkness.
Their collective frantic breathing filled the space for a moment, until the engine started, the floor of the van vibrating.
“There’s no way we’ll just drive out of here,” Cindy said, her voice bouncing off the walls.
“The hell we won’t,” Occam said.
The van lurched into motion, wobbling, creeping along. Screaming rose over the sound of the engine.
“Did you steal a news van?” June asked.
“It only looks like a news van,” Occam said. “I can make things look different, remember?”
“You can glamour objects?”
His answer, and everything else, didn’t matter at the moment as they sped up, the van rocking and jolting. A sharp ping sounded on June’s side of the van. She jumped.
“The bullet proof plating is real, though,” Occam said.
She reached out in the darkness, searching for Sam. His labored, hitched breathing helped her find him. She grabbed up his still-sweaty hand and squeezed it. He was trembling.
“It’s all right,” she lied. “It’s going to be all right.”
The going got smoother. They picked up speed. The sound of the panicked crowd vanished in the distance.
“Holy shit,” Cindy suddenly said. “You guys are vampires, aren’t you?”
As they stumbled out of the van, June squinted painfully against the sudden onslaught of sunlight. This must have been how vampires felt. After a moment of letting her eyes adjust, she got her eyesight back. They were in a garbage-strewn dilapidated neighborhood.
“Where are we?” Sam asked. “We can’t stay here. We have to go back to the apartment!”
“We’re staying right here,” Occam said. He was huddled down into his hoodie.
Sam grabbed Occam by the shoulders. “Muse is back at the apartment. Ethan knew where we were.”
June sucked in a breath. “Trina.”
Occam threw Sam’s hands off him. “You’re an idiot. You think they didn’t go to the apartment before any of this even went down, to try to grab you? I’m sure they would have loved to parade your head around on a spike. The perfect topper for their coup cake.”
“Fuck!” Sam spun around to June. “We have to do something. We have to find Robbie.”
“You will,” Occam said. “When night falls. Now, you better get inside before someone recognizes you and you end up with a whole new set of problems.”
Occam led them into a sagging two-story house with nearly every window boarded over. Inside they faced near-darkness, but vague shapes of furniture hovered in the gloom. The smell of mildew hung thick on the air. The floor was sticky.
“Must you hide out in the nastiest places you can find?” June asked as they ascended a precariously creaking flight of stairs.
“Nasty places are good places to hide from the sun.” Occam’s voice was sluggish. “Vampires hang out communally. We don’t have one home. We drift around to wherever we deem safest.”
“So you’re the homeless of the supernatural world,” she said. “And you were worried about Rose Bellevue ruining your mystique.”
Occam laughed.
He led them into a room and turned the lights on. The place actually had electricity. The room held two bare beds shoved against opposite walls and piles of ratty sheets, blankets, and God knew what else heaped on the floor. The windows were covered. On the opposite side of the room was another closed door.
“This is where we keep humans, when we have them,” Occam said. “You can call it the guest suite, if you like.”
“Where you ‘keep humans,’” June said. “Nice.”
Occam’s skin was red, like a sunburn. Zack and Belle hadn’t come upstairs with them.
“We’re not staying here.” Sam raked his hands through his hair, nearly vibrating. “Robbie just killed half the Paranormal Alliance and took the other half under his foul control, and you want me to sit still?”
“It would be in your best interest,” Occam said. “This is the safest place for you right now. You’re next on Robbie’s to-do list. He’s looking for you.”
“He’s right, Sam,” Cindy said. “I can find out what’s going on, though. I can try to find out where Muse is.”
“You’re in danger as well,” Occam told her. “You didn’t drink his Kool Aid. I’m sure right after Sam on his to-do list is everyone who got away.”
“Why are you doing this?” June asked. “Why did you save us? I thought neutral parties didn’t get involved.”
Occam pushed his hood back. His eyes were bloodshot and the skin around them inflamed. “Except when it benefits us.”
She took a deep breath. “You knew what Robbie was planning, didn’t you? You didn’t warn us about it, though.”
“What?” Sam’s eyes turned wild. “You knew this was going to happen, Occam?”
“Of course I knew,” he said calmly. “Robbie has been soliciting our help since he revealed himself this past winter. He’s been telling us his plans. Trying to gain our sympathy and support.”
Sam seethed, fists clenched, shaking.
June slowly put the pieces together. “You don’t care if he comes into your territory, because he can’t do anything to you with his power.”
“He’s been terribly long-winded, though.” Occam waved a hand. “He’s going to shut down the Institute. He’s going to make sure all supernatural people get the respect they deserve, yadda yadda. He tried to impress us with the number of people he wooed to his side. He tried to show us how strong he was with all the secret connections he had. He even tried to pay us at one point.” He smirked. “Not enough.”
“And you kept this from me?” Sam looked like he was about to explode.
“I’m not your friend, Sam, or your ally. And what would you have done anyway, in hiding? On the run? He was working behind your back for years and had many people in his pocket. Even if you were out in public and still in charge, what could you have done to stop him?”
June reached out and gripped Sam’s arm, trying to steady him.
“So why did you get involved now?” she asked. “If you didn’t care what Robbie did, why did you save us?”
Occam took a step toward her. Even in the damp mold-scented room, his smell preceded him. “I didn’t save all of you. They were incidental. I saved you.”
June shrank back.
“You wanted me to save them too. So I did.”
“I don’t care about your little fucking crush, Occam,” Sam said. “I’ve got huge fucking problems. I can’t stay here, waiting for Robbie to do something else.”
“Go, then.” Occam shrugged. “I only brought you here because June wants you safe.”
June turned to Sam. “He’s right. Robbie is out there. He’s everywhere. If you want to be able to do anything, you have to stay off his radar.”
“God only knows what he’s doing right now,” Cindy said, her voice nearly a whisper. “What he’s already done.”
Sam gnashed his teeth. “This is a nightmare. Those were my people, my friends!” His voice cracked. “I swore I’d always protect them.”
“Protect us from people like the Institute.” Cindy gripped his shoulder. “Not from our own kind, Sam. We didn’t think we’d need you to.”
June resisted the urge to throw her arms around him and hold him. She was shell-shocked too, sickened, disheartened, but if they succumbed to their terror and grief right now, they wouldn’t be able to think straight. Not thinking rationally would give Robbie the opportunity to swoop down on them like the demon he was.
She had an idea.
“Do you think Robbie will come back to you?” she asked Occam. “Come back and try to persuade you again?”
“Oh, yes. He’ll definitely give us one last opportunity to join him. He’ll be proud to show off his biggest and bloodiest achievement. I mean, if that doesn’t convince us, what will?”
Sam turned away, wrapping his arms around himself.
“Sam,” June said. “Robbie will come back to the vampires. Which means, if you want to confront him, we have to stay with them.”
He turned around. His face was blank and pale, his gaze distant. His eyes welled with unshed tears, his clenched fists trembling against his biceps, as if ready to pummel someone.
“I’m going to kill him,” he whispered, venom in his voice. “I’m going to rip him to shreds, slowly, so he feels every bit of it.”
“Good luck,” Occam said. “Let me know how that works out.”