by Rye Brewer
I blinked. And blinked again. “An assignment?” I asked with a frown.
“Yes,” Drake answered.
“Like… a homework assignment? I mean, what kind of assignment are we talking about?”
“Miss Bourke,” Drake said, and his jaw tightened like he was trying to keep himself in check.
I was pushing him a little too far. I had to step back, but if I did, I might give Vance away. Even Will looked suspicious, and he wasn’t the smart one. That much was obvious.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. I’m sorry.” I frowned, then started chewing the corner of my mouth like I was worried.
“Are you all right?” Will asked.
“It’s just… I’m trying to be strong here, you guys, but it’s not working. You’re telling me Vance is missing and now I wish I had been nicer to him when he came to see me. I was so mean.” I looked at Drake, straight in the eye. “You never know if the last time you see somebody is going to be the very last time, do you?”
“No. I guess you don’t.”
“I was so mad that he wouldn’t leave me alone,” I said, and this was coming from a real place. It even sounded more real than anything I said before. “He was the one who hurt me. He was the reason we broke up. And then what’s he do? He acts like I can just forget all that and take him back, like he was just being himself and I should know better than to expect him to respect me. I was furious. Totally furious.”
“We’re sorry if we’re bringing up painful memories for you right now,” Will said. He looked even more uncomfortable than ever—Drake was starting to look the same way.
“How long has he been gone?” I asked. “I’m really concerned, even though he doesn’t deserve it.”
Drake smiled just a little bit, then got serious again. “I’m afraid we can’t share that information with you. It’s classified.”
“Classified? What was he doing?” I looked back and forth between them, over and over, with my eyes practically bulging out of my head.
“Again, Miss…”
“I can’t imagine that Vance would ever do anything important like that,” I said. “He’s smart and everything, but I wouldn’t call him trustworthy.”
“Yes, well, we’re starting to have concerns of our own about that,” Drake muttered as he scrawled a note in his book.
I wondered how much longer this was going to last. I wouldn’t be able to go much longer without contradicting myself or forgetting what I wasn’t supposed to know. I had already slipped up with the whole Special Ops thing.
Was it Valerius? What was he making Vance’s body do? Of course, everybody would think it was Vance. Why wouldn’t they? He looked like Vance and probably talked like Vance. If something bad happened, they would blame him. I knew this was the kind of thing Valerius was planning. What if something happened to him? What if Vance was killed while Valerius controlled him?
My palms went clammy. I wiped them on my pants.
They looked at each other one more time.
I could feel myself just about wriggling off the hook. Almost, but not quite.
“Contact us if there’s anything you remember. Or if you hear from him.”
“Of course.” I took Drake’s card. “This sounds really serious. I’m scared for him.”
“I don’t think you have anything to be afraid of,” Will said.
I could tell he was trying to be generous. He was the nice one. Drake didn’t look convinced that I was as clueless as I looked.
“Thank you,” I said. “Is that all you needed from me?”
“For now,” Drake said.
I wanted to remind him that he might have been the League’s idea of a cop, but he wasn’t a cop. I didn’t have to answer questions. I didn’t owe them anything.
“All right.” I hesitated.
“You can go,” he said. He didn’t bother to hide his irritation, either.
I smiled at them both and slid off the tall stool, then forced myself not to run out the door and down the street to the high-rise.
I had to walk like a normal person, at a normal speed, like there was nothing wrong. I even had to keep from pushing people out of my way when they didn’t walk fast enough.
I had to act like I wasn’t going straight to the vault that held Valerius’s body.
6
Philippa
It wasn’t easy, getting my hands to stop shaking long enough to enter the code on the electronic lock. When it flashed green, I turned the handle but didn’t go inside until I took one more look up and down the hallway, just to be sure nobody was watching.
I was still paranoid about somebody finding out what—who—we were hiding in there. I was paranoid about a lot of things lately.
The dark hallway was empty except for me, the way it always was.
I stepped into the cool, total silence of the vault and closed the door behind me. My eyes adjusted to the darkness, and there he was.
Right where I left him.
I let out a deep sigh and went to him the way I always did, whenever I went in to check on him.
I had even left a few cushions on the floor to make it more comfortable—there was nothing like sitting on concrete for hours to make my butt fall asleep.
“I was worried about you,” I whispered.
I sat down next to him just like always, folding my legs under me. I took his hand—it was old, wrinkled, and the skin was paper thin.
Sometimes it was hard to remember that it might have been Valerius’s hand, but it wasn’t really Valerius. It was Vance, or it might as well have been. Because if anything happened to the body, Valerius would never leave Vance’s body. So, he was just as precious to me as Vance was.
It was twisted logic, but it was the only thing I had to hang on to.
“Things are starting to get scary,” I whispered as I held the cold hand.
The body didn’t move. It never moved on its own. It just sat there with its eyes closed, propped up against the wall like a puppet.
“I don’t know where Vance is. What did you do with Vance? People are looking for him. They’re asking questions. What are you doing right now? What’s the plan? If he gets caught trying to hurt Lucian—I mean, if it was anybody else hurting Lucian, I would love it, but this is Vance. If he gets caught, they might kill him. What happens then? I don’t even know what would happen to you if he got killed and you were still inside him. Did you ever think about that? Huh? No. Probably not. You don’t care about what happens to the body you inhabit, right? You only care about getting what you want.”
I let go of the hand—I didn’t want to touch it anymore. It disgusted me as much as its owner.
The Ancient.
“It’s not like I don’t feel sorry for you,” I said. “I know how it feels when Lucian screws you over. He screwed my family over, big time. I never knew how big until a while ago. So yeah, I want him to pay for that. But not like this. Not when Vance could get hurt. That’s not fair.”
I stood up and walked back and forth over the length of the vault.
“I mean, I sort of get it. It’s poetic. He’s Lucian’s son. Wouldn’t that be a great twist, if Lucian’s own son killed him? But that doesn’t make it right for you to screw with Vance like this. He didn’t do anything wrong.”
I turned back to the body in time to see something that set my hair on end.
I bit back a gasp.
Two tears trickled from Valerius’s closed eyes, one from each.
Tears of blood.
“Holy hell!” I screamed with my hands over my mouth.
I watched, horrified, as the tears of blood slid down his cheeks. I held my breath as I waited for something else to happen, but nothing else did. Not like anything else needed to happen for me to be scared out of my mind.
“Oh, no. What does this mean?”
I held my head in my hands and didn’t know what to do. Should I tell one of the boys? They wouldn’t know what to any more than I did. When it came
to things like this, we were all as clueless as could be. I wondered again why we couldn’t have been taught about stuff like this.
“I don’t know if I should tell anybody at all. I don’t know anything anymore. What if I tell the wrong person? What if I am the only one supposed to know about it? Oh, no. What if it means something happened to Vance? Is this some sort of sign? Are you trying to tell me something?”
I knelt in front of the body.
“What am I supposed to do? What are you trying to tell me? Did something happen to Vance? Why won’t you talk, damn it?”
I wanted to grab the body and shake it, but I didn’t want to take any chances. If I hurt it or destroyed it, Vance would never be free. And Valerius was old and hadn’t fed in ages. His body was fragile.
My hands shook harder than ever. My entire body followed suit. I sat down and drew my knees to my chest, rocking back and forth.
I wasn’t used to feeling this way. I was used to knowing what I was doing, being totally sure. I almost never gave anything I did a second thought.
I had confidence in my decisions, except when it came to the clan. When I was in charge when Jonah was gone, I wasn’t so confident. But I did a good job, then, too.
This was different. I never thought I would care about anybody the way I cared about Vance. It seemed like every decision I made had life-or-death consequences for him.
“I can’t wait,” I decided. “I know Fane is going after Mom, or Mom’s body. I don’t even know what to think about that anymore. But there’s no way to know how long that will take—and even when he’s finished, do I know he’ll help me save Vance? I don’t know that at all. He might decide not to. He might be too wrapped up with Sirene or something. It might even be too late by then. I don’t want to think about it that way, but it might be the way it goes.”
Why was I talking out loud? As if Valerius might suddenly offer me sage advice.
I looked at the body again, and those trails of blood down its cheeks. It was so horrible looking. But I wouldn’t look away. It was time to harden up a little. I used to think I was fairly tough and not much could hurt me, but I was starting to see that I had a long way to go.
I picked up the hem of the cloak the body wore and wiped the blood off its face. I was as careful as I could be—the skin was so thin, it was almost unreal.
“I’m sorry to leave you like this,” I said as I wiped up the blood. “I don’t have a choice. I’m tired of having to accept the way things happen. I want to start making things happen on my own. That means following my instincts and doing what I think is right.”
Once the blood was clean and anybody who came in to check on the body wouldn’t know about the tears, I stood up.
“I have to go. I don’t know how long I’ll be gone. But I’m going to start taking matters into my own hands. And I think I know just where I need to start.”
7
Anissa
“Well? What can we do?” Tears stood out in Sara’s eyes, and her voice quavered. She was on the edge of another outburst.
A sick feeling built in my stomach as I tensed, ready to… to do what? Get away from her? Where was I supposed to go? We were miles above ground.
I exchanged looks with Allonic—he was just as uneasy as I was. Somehow that only made me feel worse. He was usually calm, collected.
Mom read the situation and reacted. Even though the crackling and hissing had already started, she wrapped her arms around Sara in a tight, strong hug. “It’s going to be all right. You’re not alone. We’ll work it out together.”
That was just the right thing to say, and she was the right person to say it.
I almost trembled with relief when Sara calmed down—not all the way, but enough that the charge in the air lessened.
Mom looked over Sara’s shoulder to where Allonic stood. “What do you think?” she murmured as she stroked Sara’s hair and rocked her slightly.
He shook his head. “I wish I knew some simple answer. This is beyond anything I’ve read or seen. The skills of the elemental witches aren’t recorded in our histories or scrolls.”
“An elemental witch,” Sara half-sobbed.
The sound ripped through my chest.
“Shh…” Mom rocked her again. “It’s all right. Don’t let the name frighten you.”
“But witches,” Sara whispered. “I have a witch’s power?” She pulled away to look at Mom with wide, tear-filled eyes.
Our mother smiled half-heartedly. “Remember all the trouble we’ve had based on names and prejudices,” she reminded her. “If you were still set on hating the Bourkes, you would never have met your Scott.”
Yes, but the Bourkes were just our enemies. They didn’t have strange, complicated powers like those Sara was exhibiting. They weren’t nearly as dangerous or unpredictable.
“I’m afraid only a witch will be able to answer the questions you have,” Allonic murmured, sounding almost apologetic.
“You want me to talk to a witch?” Sara’s voice rose an octave, at least. “I don’t know any witches! I mean, there was that one…” She looked at me, and the memory hit me like a brick wall.
Mom frowned. “Who’s this?”
“I don’t want to talk about it,” I warned. I could happily go the rest of my life never thinking about Malory or the terrible things she did. I could almost feel her fangs sinking into my wrist, draining my blood away… “She won’t help us. Let’s leave it at that.”
“Who, then?” Sara’s tears were still flowing.
I felt the time until her next breakdown ticking away, and my mind raced for an answer before that time came.
Who could we go to? Who would even know a witch willing to help us?
I realized I had been overlooking someone. I knew a witch, didn’t I? At least, I knew of one.
Sirene.
Could I trust her?
Fane did, but I wasn’t Fane. I wasn’t even one of his children. She had no allegiance to me and no reason to help a vampire. Even so, she was the only option I kept coming to, over and over.
“I think I know someone who might help,” I offered.
All eyes fell on me.
“You know a witch?” Mom asked. One corner of her mouth twisted up in a smile.
“We’re not friends,” I said with a half-smile, “but I’ve met her, and she doesn’t seem like a threatening witch. I know that sounds unbelievable.”
“She’s right,” Allonic said.
I almost forgot he knew her, too.
“She’s a powerful witch, but she’s a good one. She doesn’t use her powers for evil or selfishness.”
“Where can we find her?” Mom asked.
I looked at Allonic. “Can you take me to Duskwood again?”
He frowned. “What?”
“Do you know of any other place we could find her?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “I don’t think that stepping outside and whispering her name would work the way it did when I needed you.”
“What if she doesn’t want to help?” Mom asked.
“What if she can’t?” Sara added.
I waved off their questions. “If she can’t, or won’t, she’ll tell us about someone who can. I don’t know how I know. I just do.”
Sirene didn’t seem bitter or hateful toward vampires, the way so many other witches did. There was a warm feeling that flowed from her. Nothing like Malory’s cold and evil nature.
Another idea hit me—probably because I was thinking about Sirene.
“And if we find her, we’ll probably find Fane, too. I can tell him to warn the Bourkes of the contaminated blood.”
My secret agenda: I wouldn’t have to face Jonah.
How odd, feeling relieved that I wouldn’t have to see him, when he had been the center of everything for me after we met.
“Who’s Fane?”
Shoot. I almost gave him away.
Sara’s face was all innocence. So was Mom’s. That was a lucky break.
“Just someon
e Sirene and the Bourkes have in common,” I shrugged. “He’ll get the message to them much quicker than I will.”
Just their father. No big deal. I reminded myself to be more careful—there was so much she still didn’t know, that she would probably never know if Fane had it his way. It was bad enough that I knew.
Allonic, meanwhile, looked away.
I could just imagine what an idiot he thought I was.
“Okay. Where’s this Duskwood place?” Sara looked and sounded more hopeful, which was a start.
“We’ll have to use another portal to get there,” Allonic explained.
“I’m not used to all this… what do I call it? Alternate dimensions or realms… or what?” she asked, looking around.
“There’s much more to the world than you know,” Mom said with a gentle smile.
She helped Sara to her feet—I noticed the way my sister stumbled a little. She was near exhaustion. I couldn’t imagine how much energy it took to kick up the sort of electrical storms she produced.
Allonic removed his outer cloak and handed it to me to wrap around Sara and me, then held his hands up, palms out.
It would never cease to amaze me, the way he could close his eyes and concentrate and create something that wasn’t there before—a doorway.
My eyes were locked in the direction his hands were pointed, as a circle of pulsing light in all shades of blue, purple and silver appeared in front of him, then grew bigger until it was as tall as he was.
Sara’s eyes went round and big.
“All right. Let’s hurry.” I looked at Mom.
She shook her head.
“I think you three should go on your own,” she said, hanging back.
I wanted to ask Mom why, but some instinct told me it was too long a story to go into just then.
I threw the cloak over Sara’s shoulders and ducked underneath with her, pulling the hood over our heads. She didn’t tremble as much as she did the first time we took a portal. I guessed her resilience was improving. What a relief.
We took a step forward, then another, in perfect sync.