It was burnt almost completely down. Some of the structure remained, but it was little more than a pile of rubble and charred wood. There were no bodies; of course there weren't. The vampires had perished in the flames and turned to dust. He wagered if he were to venture in, he would be able to pick it up by the handful.
He didn't know why he'd come here. He thought perhaps it was because of Chloe. She'd perished here in this fire. Her body was undoubtedly buried beneath stone and wood, left to decay in the hot Arizona air.
"No," he said.
He began to pick up pieces of stone, tossing it away as though it was nothing more than clumps of dirt. As he worked, he began to sweat. Eventually, he took off his shirt and tossed it aside, letting himself grow silky with perspiration.
Minutes faded into hours, and soon he realized he'd spent most of the day moving rocks and burned beams, and he had nothing to show for it. He hadn't found Chloe's body, and it was unlikely that he ever would.
Harper would be worried about him. The others, too. He hadn't taken his phone when he'd left that morning, meaning to be gone only an hour or two. He couldn't text them and tell them where he was, or what he'd been doing.
He doubted he would tell them that, anyway. It was his own private thing, his own private grief. He missed Chloe like crazy; she was the sister he'd never had, and he had always felt protective over her. Now she was gone.
Conner knew his grief was different of that of his friends. He missed her, yes. He was sad she was gone, yes. He'd do anything in his power to change all of that, yes, yes, yes. But he wasn't going to lose himself because she was gone. He still had a lot to live for. He was finally getting somewhere with Harper, and they had the whole Phoenix problem to take care of.
He thought maybe that seemed callous, so he hadn't said it to the others. He hadn't told them to stop moping around and actually do something. But he'd thought it, sure. He knew if Chloe was there with them, she wouldn't have allowed any of them to sink into such a dark depression that had taken hold over his friends.
Conner slipped his shirt back on and turned away from the building. Even if he'd found her body, Chloe wasn't there. He didn't know if he believed in an afterlife, but he was smart enough to realize that a dead corpse wasn't the same thing as his friend.
He started to walk away when he saw someone watching him. He paused, meeting the gaze of the young man. It took a minute for him to recognize him; he was the vampire who'd brought them all here in the first place.
"Jeffrey?" he said.
Jeffrey approached him. "Yeah," he said. "That's me."
"What are you doing here?" Conner asked. "I thought you were dead. Last thing I saw was you running into this building. I thought you'd be ashes by now."
"I thought I would be too," Jeffrey admitted. "That was the whole point. But then I saw that friend of yours. The one who wanted to stop it, and I knew I had to get her out."
"Wait, what?" Conner reached forward and grabbed him. He gave him a rough shake. "What did you say?"
Jeffrey didn't struggle; he just stood there and accepted the roughness. "I said that I saw your friend. She was injured. I picked her up, and I carried her out the door. She wasn't conscious. I gave her to a paramedic I saw, and then I ran."
Conner shook his head. "You're lying."
"Why would I?"
Conner couldn't come up with a reason. "What hospital?"
"I don't know!"
He forced himself to take a deep breath. "Alright, so she was alive. You're sure of that?"
"Yes," Jeffrey said. "She said something about a boy, but when I looked, there wasn't one. Then she passed out again."
Conner nodded. "But if it was Chloe, why wouldn't she have called? It's been two weeks. If it was Chloe, she would have called. Where's the nearest hospital?"
"Uh, Hope's, I think," Jeffrey said.
"I have to go," Conner said.
"Let me come back with you."
Conner turned slowly back towards him. "Why would I do that?"
Jeffrey hesitated. "Because I have nowhere else to go."
"Fine," Conner said. "But stay out of our way. Things are about to get dark in this city, and you're just a kid."
"I know that," Jeffrey said. "But I'm also a vampire. If something is going to happen, I can help. I have to help. I have to do something. Otherwise I'm going to snap. I'm so thirsty, and I don't know how much longer I can hold out."
Conner leaned back and assessed the kid. "Have you fed yet?"
Jeffrey shook his head.
"Alright," Conner said. "You can come with me, and you can help if there's an opportunity, but if you do snap, then you're dead. I'll kill you myself, and it won't be a pleasant way to go. See, I'm not human."
He allowed his human side to fade and became an incubus. Jeffrey stumbled backwards in fright. Conner returned to normal and reached forward, grabbing his arm. "I'm not going to hurt you unless you deserve it," he said. "Now come on, we're going to the hospital."
The two of them walked a ways together before Conner realized he had no idea where he was going. He didn't have his phone, so he couldn't look up the address, call a cab, or get hold of any of the others.
"Do you have a phone on you?" Conner asked.
Jeffrey shook his head.
"Do you have a car?"
"Yeah," Jeffrey said, trying to catch his breath. "Back at my place."
"Take us there," Conner said.
"It's a bit of a walk."
"Then we better get going. What are you doing out in the daylight anyway? Vampires are weak in the daylight. And you don't have any of your powers."
Jeffrey shrugged. "So?"
"So, you're going to get yourself killed," Conner said.
"How?"
Conner blinked at him. "What do you mean, how? You could get attacked."
"By other vampires?" Jeffrey said. "They're all holed up during the day, or if they're out and about like I am, they're also weak."
"There are things other than vampires," Conner said.
"Like you?"
"Like me."
"Why would they bother me?"
Conner sighed. "You really have no idea what you've gotten yourself into, do you?"
Jeffrey frowned. "I was turned," he said. "Attacked. Left to die. When I came to, they gave me a mission. Keep Alec distracted. That's all I was told. I was never given any information other than that. I don't know what kind of world I'm in anymore. Hey, where is Alec, anyway?"
"He's not around," Conner said. The statement hurt to say. Alec was supposed to be his best friend, and he'd disappeared without a word. He'd abandoned them. He was more than hurt; he was angry. After everything they'd been through, he'd just walked off.
"Oh," Jeffrey said.
Conner grunted and they continued to walk. After an hour and a half they reached his apartment. He didn't have the door locked, so they walked right inside.
Conner whistled. "This place looks great. But what's with the bags of garbage?"
"Alec did all that," Jeffrey said. "He said he liked cleaning. He just never threw out the bags."
Conner rolled his eyes, and went over to the couch. He flopped down and stared at Jeffrey. "Well, look it up already."
"What?"
"The hospital," he said. "You have a phone, right? Use it."
"Oh, right," Jeffrey said. "Fine, just a minute." He grabbed a phone off the counter, and quickly began typing. In less than a minute, he flashed the GPS coordinates at Conner. "This is where it's at. Not too far. About a ten minute drive."
"And your car is...?"
"Outside," Jeffrey said.
Conner followed him out to the car, got in the passenger seat, and propped his feet up. "So what were you doing there, anyway?"
"Reminding myself," Jeffrey said as he started the car and put it into drive.
"Of what?"
"That I'm not immortal," he said. "All of those vampires, dead. I'm no different. I could be killed just
like them. I guess reminding myself of that helps me keep my head when the thirst gets to be too bad."
For a moment, Conner felt a flash of pity for the kid. He was in his early twenties, and he hadn't had a choice but to be turned, no more than Alec had over a century back. Now he was stuck like this forever. Or at least until he was killed.
Then he shook off the feeling, and sat there in silence until they reached the hospital. He climbed out, and went inside. Jeffrey followed him, like a shadow. He didn't mind. It wasn't like the kid had anything else to do.
"I'm looking for someone," Conner told the receptionist. "Her name is Chloe McAllister."
The receptionist nodded, and looked up the name in the computer. "Her chart says family only."
"I'm her brother."
"Can I see your driver license?"
Conner flashed a charming smile at her, his eyes twinkling. He leaned closer and licked his upper lip. The receptionist's eyes went a little unfocused as she stared at him.
"Is that really necessary?" he asked. "Can't we just... cut through the red tape?"
"Yes," she said. "Oh, of course."
"Thank you," Conner said.
She glanced down at the computer and then gave him the room number with directions on how to get there. Conner nodded, and headed in that direction. He was aware that her eyes were following him. If he wanted her, he could have her, right then and there. He didn't think twice about it, and continued to the elevator.
Chloe was on the sixth floor, in the intensive care unit. When they reached the floor, Conner went straight towards her room number. He was stopped by a police officer. "Family only," she said.
"Why?"
"We cannot discuss that with anyone but family."
Conner turned his charm back on. "Are you sure? I just want to see her for a moment."
The woman flushed, her cheeks glowing a bright red, and her eyes a little misty. "Yes," she said. "I think that would be fine."
"Wait out here," Conner said to Jeffrey. Then he stepped into the room. For a moment, he didn't recognize the woman in the bed. Her hair was short, with most of the length burnt off, badly burnt and scarred, and covered in casts.
He approached the bed, clasping his hands on the rail to keep them from shaking. "Chloe?"
She turned towards him, her brow furrowed. Then she saw who it was. "Conner!"
"What are you doing here?" he asked. "Why haven't you called? Why haven't you let us know you're alive?"
"I couldn't!" Chloe said. "First of all, there's an open investigation. I was the only one brought out of the house alive, so they're hounding me with questions that I don't know how to answer. And also, I didn't have my phone so I didn't have any of your numbers."
"We've been a team for years," Conner said. "You couldn't remember any of our numbers?"
Chloe flushed. "Well, what's my number?" she asked with a smirk. "It's all just names on a contact list these days. Anyway, my healing powers aren't working and I had a concussion. Things are moving slowly up here," she tapped her head.
"God, I'm just glad to see you," Conner said. "Look, I'll get you out of here. You can come back to the hotel with me. Everyone is going to flip. We thought you were dead. Brittney and Sarah have been in a right state."
"Just them?"
"Well, the rest of us too," Conner admitted.
"How's Alec? I know it must have been hard for him, killing all those vampires."
"Nobody knows," Conner said bitterly. "He disappeared right after the fire started. Dropped his phone, broke it, and then left. Nobody has heard from him since."
Chloe stared at him. "You're kidding?"
Conner shook his head. "I wish I was, but no. He just vanished."
She said nothing for a moment, though Conner could tell the news stung. "Can you really get me out of here?" she asked. "They've refused to let me leave so far. Said I was crucial to their investigation."
"Of course I can," Conner said. "Can you walk?"
"Yeah," Chloe said. "I've been doing physical therapy for a week. I can move, but I have to be careful."
"We'll be careful," Conner said. "Don't you worry about that."
He left her, going back into the hall. "I'm taking Chloe home," he said. "You've decided she has nothing to do with the fire, and that questioning her is only hurting her mental state. She's a victim, not a suspect. You're going to go and file that in your report, and then forget about her. Alright?"
The female police officer nodded quickly. He felt a little guilty using his power on her, but he needed to get Chloe back to the others and this was the simplest way.
"Can I have a kiss?" the officer asked. "You're so handsome."
Conner shrugged and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. She let out a sigh of wistfulness. "Will you come back?"
"I don't know," Conner said. He went back into the room. Chloe was standing, and she looked even worse than she did laying down.
She must have read the expression on his face, because she gave him a very typical Chloe-scowl. "I'm fine," she said. Then she took a step, and nearly fell. Conner hurried over to assist her. Together, they walked from the room. Jeffrey joined them, and helped to support her as they went to the elevator.
They ran into a few more nurses and doctors on the way, and Conner used his powers as necessary to convince them that they were free to leave and that Chloe had been discharged. Normally, Chloe might have berated him for this, but she seemed glad to just be out of the hospital room.
"You were in the ICU," Conner commented.
"Yeah," Chloe said. "They could have moved me days ago -- I didn't have any real head injuries other than a concussion, but they insisted on keeping me there where guards could easily look after me. I'm not sure if they think I'm a suspect or a victim."
"Maybe a bit of both," Conner said. He waited for the usual elbow to the ribs, but apparently Chloe was too sore for that.
They piled into Jeffrey's car, and he gave him instructions on how to get to the hotel. They arrived quickly enough.
"Now, be prepared for an onslaught of affection," Conner said. "Everyone's been upside down with grief."
"Told you I was important," Chloe said, sticking her tongue out. Conner felt a surge of affection for her.
They both shared a laugh.
"Now," Conner said, turning to Jeffrey. "This is the man who saved you. He took you out of the burning rubble. At great cost to himself, because he's a vampire, as you well know. Cleansed in holy fire would have ended his life."
Chloe looked over at Jeffrey. Like all vampires, he showed no signs of physical injury. He had healed already. She only wished that her powers would work and she could heal herself. They'd been off since she'd hit her head, though. She hadn't tried levitating, and she wasn't sure she would be able to tolerate it if she could.
"Thank you," she said. "I won't forget it."
Jeffrey offered her a smile. "It was all I could do after betraying Alec like I did."
Both of them winced at the name.
"So he's gone," Jeffrey said. "Just... vanished."
Conner nodded.
"Are you sure he left of his own volition?" Jeffrey asked.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I've kept my ear to the streets," Jeffrey said. "There are vampires disappearing, and I don't think they're being killed."
"Why not?"
"Because they're disappearing in the night," Jeffrey said. "When they have all their powers."
"We've got to somehow rally the vampires together, find them a leader, and figure out who's out there killing or kidnapping them," Conner said. "All while the city is under quarantine by the National Guard. Should be easy."
They drove back to the hotel in near silence.
When they got there, Conner turned to Chloe. "Expect a lot of hugging," he said. "Sarah and Brittney both have been in a right state. Harper too, I guess, but she's better at hiding her emotions than the rest.
"Oh," he said. "The ot
hers are there too."
"The others?"
"Samuel, Heather, and Wren," he said. "They had nowhere to go after Alec killed Miriam, so for the moment, they're with us."
"Alec killed Miriam?"
"Yeah," he said. "I don't know the details or why he did it, he didn't stick around to explain. So we're all a little in the dark."
"How are they taking it?" Chloe asked.
"They're broken up about it," Conner said. "I guess the four of them have been together for years. She was their leader, and I think they're feeling a little lost without her. Heather is taking it the hardest. She's having trouble with her transformations. Can't turn into a harpy at will anymore."
Chloe winced.
"Whatever," Conner said. "I'd rather have a harmless human unable to transform them an angry harpy seeking vengeance."
"You think she'll go after Alec if she gets the chance?" Harper asked.
Conner shook his head. "I don't think so," he said. "She knows that Miriam went too far with her army of vampires. It's caused a real problem here in Phoenix. You've been locked away in that hospital room, but there are vampires everywhere. Harper can't walk outside without seeing a dozen or more lurking around the streets."
"You mean, they're not sticking to the night?"
Conner shrugged. "They're not hunting, at least that's the impression we've got. I don't even know if they realize they shouldn't be out during the day. The consensus is that we should rehabilitate them."
Chloe sighed. "I just want to go home."
"I know," Conner said. "But we can't leave now. Nobody can. We're stuck here in Phoenix until we fix this."
"Great," Chloe said. "That's just great."
SIX
Harper sat across from Heather, staring into her eyes. "You can do it," she encouraged. "You can change still. It comes from your emotions. Get angry."
"I'm not angry, and this is ridiculous," Heather said. "I should be glad that I can't transform anymore. I should be happy to be just a regular human."
"But you're not," Harper said. "If we're going to fix Phoenix, we're going to need all the help we can get. You know that, or you would never have gone to dinner with us. We need you."
A Phoenix Never Dies (Afterlife Book 6) Page 3