The Scarlet Dagger (The Red Sector Chronicles, #1) (20 page)

“
Yeah, cheeseburgers are almost as good as humans. Kidding,” he added quickly at my look of horror. “We can go somewhere else, if you like…”

“
No!”

I laughed when he jumped at my outburst. “I’m really excited, actually. It’s been ages since I’ve had a good, greasy burger. My mother never let me have them back –”

I bit my lip in guilt, on the verge of saying home.
Why did I just do that? Pittsburgh is my home, so why should I feel guilty about calling it that?

We ordered, and Aden reached into his back pocket to retrieve his wallet.

“
You don’t have to get mine,” I said. We had set up a bank account upon my enlisting, since I would be getting paid for my training. But they only deposited checks – or whatever form of currency they used – at the end of the month, so I hadn’t gotten paid yet.

“
I’m not going to let you wash dishes,” he said, smiling. “Really, it’s not going to break the bank, I assure you. Besides, we’re celebrating, both for you saving my mom, and for your newfound freedom. Please, it’s the least I can do.”

I blushed slightly. “Thank you.”

“
Thank
you
.” Aden pulled out a few of the odd colored bills and something white fluttered to the floor. I reached for it, flipping it over. It was a photograph, fairly old from how worn it looked. Wrinkles from the paper ran down the faces of a man and a woman, who stood on either side of a young boy. Their collective happiness radiated off of them. They practically glowed, a joyous American family against the cheery sunlit park in the backdrop. There was a tear in the photo running almost from one end to the other, nearly severing the man from the woman and child. My eyes remained fixed on the man. He looked familiar, though I couldn’t figure out exactly where I had seen him.

“
Oh,” Aden said, taking the photo from my grasp and placing it back in his wallet. “I must have dropped that.”

The image of the woman with the pale, blue eyed child lingered in my memory. “That’s you, isn’t it? And that woman is your mom.”

“
Yes,” he said quietly, taking two empty glasses from the cashier and walking away.

I walked after him. “Was that your father?”

He stopped at the machine, sighing as ice cubes clinked into our glasses. “Yes.”

I watched him, chewing on my lip and unable to stop myself from asking, “What happened to him?”

Aden’s shoulders hunched up, and I was afraid I had asked the wrong question, that I’d pried too far. But a moment later, he turned around, smiling warmly. “I’ll save you the whole tragic story. After all, this is a celebration. Pepsi?”

I blinked. “Uh, yeah, sure.”

He filled up my glass and I rubbed my arms, thinking about what he’d said. Mrs. Knight and Aden seemed so happy, perfectly content at being together. What tragedy could he be running from in his past?

After filling up our glasses with soda, we sat down at a booth to wait for our food.

Sitting there with him – alone, I might add – made me suddenly feel very self-conscious. I fiddled with my hair, which was pulled back in a flabby ponytail.

This is not a date
, I told myself for at least the tenth time.
Chill out already.

Then again, how would I know? I had never actually been on a date. It’s not that no one had ever been interested. I never had a problem being asked to dances or parties, but I was so focused on my grades I didn’t want to have any distractions.

Aden leaned forward, pointing to one of the cashiers. “See that guy, the one that looks like Shaggy off of
Scooby-Doo
?”

I glanced at the counter, sipping on my Pepsi. “What about him?”

“
I’ve played a few gigs with him. Believe it or not, there are guns beneath the baggy sweatshirt. He’s a killer drummer.”

My eyes swiveled back to the bar; the “guy with guns” looked no bigger around than a toothpick. “If you say so,” I said, not sounding very convinced. I turned my attention back to Aden. “You’re a musician?”

He shrugged. “I like to play bass guitar in a small cover band for fun. Just every now and then, you know, for parties and events. You have to loosen up somehow, especially down here.”

I lifted my brows, a bit surprised. “Cool,” I said lamely. “According to my brother, I’m tone deaf. I like to sing in the shower.”

“
I never hear you sing.”

“
Trust me, it’s better that way.”

A waitress scurried up to the table and dropped off our plates, piled high with steaming French fries and the biggest cheeseburger I’d ever seen. I had opted for the spicier version, putting jalapeños, spicy mustard, and pepper jack cheese on mine. I lifted it to my face and took a huge bite. Flavors sizzled on my tongue, almost a little too hot, but it was every bit a “dream burger.”

We ate in silence for a minute or two. Aden, who had a black hole for a stomach, was nearly finished with his entrée. He had stopped mid-bite to pick at a bandage on the inner part of his elbow.

“
Do you give blood or something?” I asked. “That’s the second time I’ve seen you with a bandage.” The first time was at the hospital, along with the one he had wrapped around his Scarlet Steel wound. Looking at his hand now, you couldn’t even tell the flesh had nearly been eroded away by the corrosive properties of the steel. All that remained was a patch of flesh that was shinier and slightly lighter than the skin around it. If I didn’t have vampire vision, I’m not even sure I’d have noticed it at all.

Aden immediately stopped fiddling with the bandage. “Yeah, something like that.” He didn’t elaborate, instead stuffing one last handful of fries into his mouth.

I cringed at the thought of giving blood. Last time I’d done so, I’d nearly blacked out. When I was about ten, my father thought I had mono and took me to the doctor. After the nurse had drawn a blood sample, I spent the rest of the visit with my head between my legs, breathing into a paper bag. It made me a little pale just thinking about it.

“
So,” I said, desperately wanting to talk about anything else, “are there more vampires living underground in other places, or is this pretty much it?”

Aden wiped his mouth, not looking me in the eyes. “There’s a city,” he said reluctantly.

I sat up straighter. “What kind of city?”

He looked up, eyes secretive and pensive. “The City of the Dead, named so because we might as well be dead to the rest of the world. It’s basically a cluster-thing of every civilization known to man, with different epochs stacked upon each other like junk piles.”

I tried to imagine this, reminders of Ancient Rome sitting alongside modern day Brooklyn. “Are there roads and cars? What about businesses?”

“
No cars,” Aden said. “It’s a bit of a chaotic, dangerous mess, though the Emperor is trying to clean things up somewhat.”

“
You have an Emperor?”

He squeezed the napkin in his hand, his eyes turning hard. “And a uniform currency called Krillion. It’s monetary worth is somewhere between the British pound and the American dollar.”

Though I found this fascinating, I wasn’t about to let him change the subject. “What’s the Emperor’s name?”

Aden pressed his lips together in a thin line. “Nero,” he said at last.

“
You mean like the Roman Emperor? The one who was supposedly possessed?”

He nodded. “Not bad, McAllister. I wouldn’t have picked you one for Greek and Roman history.”

“
Actually, I kind of dig horror movies. I used to watch the History Channel a lot,” I said, somewhat sheepishly. “Around Halloween, they’d broadcast programs on spookier things, like demonic possession.”

“
And do you believe in it?”

I chewed on my lip, thinking. “If vampires exist, then why can’t demons?”

I wondered how Nero had risen to power, and what kind of a leader he was. Judging from Aden’s stony expression, he didn’t seem to be very popular, at least not with him.

We left the restaurant, and after repeated refusals to let me pay him back I dropped the subject.

“
Quit being so stubborn and just let me treat you out,” Aden said, lightly elbowing me as we walked down the street. “You having a good time is payment enough for me.”

I pursed my lips, fighting the urge to smile. “Thanks,” I said softly. I started to walk in the direction of his apartment.

“
Where are you going?” Aden asked.

“
Um, home?”

He grinned. “Not yet. I have one more surprise for you.”

***

The arcade glittered with flashing lights and the air danced with the bubbling laughter of children. My face lit up as we walked in. Rows upon rows of old school games – from pinball machines, to 80’s role-playing adventures – were laid out on either side of us. The air smelled of candy and hot dogs, of careless pleasures and a near forgotten era.

My face mirrored that of a kid facing a Christmas tree surrounded by presents. “This is amazing.”

Aden laughed. “I had a feeling you’d appreciate it.”

“
I worship it.”

A familiar piece of cover art caught my eye. I scanned the game’s title and nearly squealed with delight. “
Gauntlet
? Are you serious?”

“
You’ve played it before?” Aden asked with surprise.

“
Are you kidding me?” I laughed, running up to the machine and gliding my fingers over the controls. “I used to play this all the time. When we were little, my dad would take my brother and me to the arcade at the mall. I must have blown a hundred dollars in quarters on this thing.”

Aden looked impressed. “Awesome. Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go get our quest on.”

I snorted as he pulled out a small change bag filled with coins. “No Krillions?” I asked as he deposited them.

“
Nope. Just the good ol’ American quarter.” He settled in beside me and started to explain the controllers’ functions. “The symbols on the keypad all mean different things –”

“
It’s all right,” I said. “I’ve played before, remember?”

He gave me an appraising look. “All right then, McAllister, let’s see what you’re made of.”

The machine was so old that it took a few minutes for the game to load, but once we got rolling, we didn’t stop. I laughed, feeling like a little kid again, and we made up jokes and goofy storylines for our characters as the game went on. A whole hour flew by before we stopped.

“
Man, that was awesome!” I stepped back and stretched my arms above my head. “It’s been a while since I’ve played any video games.”

“
It didn’t show,” he said, also stretching. “You totally kicked ass.”

I gazed at him, smiling shyly. “I like you like this.”

He turned toward me, gazing down on me with a small smile of his own. “Like what?”

I shrugged, staring back at him. “As Aden and not Captain Knight.”

He took a step forward, so close now I had to tilt my chin slightly to look him in the eyes. “I don’t know what it is about you. I can just be myself around you, and not worry about what other people will think.”

My heart beat faster as he searched my eyes, his jaw clenching with indecision. “Sloane, there’s something…”

I felt it as his voice trailed off, the inkling of dark thoughts, almost like Spiderman’s “spider-sense.”

Aden looked past my shoulder, and his face twisted in fear. Slowly, I turned around in enough time to see a man wearing all black raise a gun directly at us.

Aden shoved me hard to the ground as the shot rang out, and I heard the whiz of the bullet as it flew by, right where my heart had been only seconds earlier. We both fell to the ground as people began screaming and scrambling to get out of the way of the shooter, who was aiming to take another shot.

Aden was on his feet in an instant. “Let’s go!” he yelled, pulling me up. I was running before my shock could take hold, hearing another shot and then another as we ran.

More shots boomed, shattering machines in a shower of sparks and broken glass as we ran behind them.

“
What’s going on?” I yelled.

“
They’ve come for you!” Aden shouted. “We have to get the hell out of here!”

What? Who’s “they?” What is he talking about?

We pushed against the wild crowd, finally slipping into a hallway labeled as an exit. We raced down the hall, heavy footsteps close behind. I screamed as another shot was fired, echoing off the walls. A red laser beam chased our frenzied path, trying to lock on us. The next time the gun fired, it sounded much closer. A burning sensation ripped through my left shoulder – a familiar, excruciating white hot fire – and I slammed into a wall, right on the wound. Pain blossomed through my shoulder blade and down my arm, and I had to bite down on my lip to keep from crying out.

Aden swore, pulling up short and sniffing the air. “Scarlet Steel bullets,” he hissed. “Can you walk?”

I nodded, clutching at my throbbing shoulder. When I pulled my hand back, it was slick with bloody flecks of burnt skin. I paled and staggered, suddenly lightheaded.