Blood Fever_The watchers

by Veronica Wolff

  I heard the girl follow, and I spun, jogging backward, and threw my star. Hit.

  “Bitch,” she shrieked. Stumbled. Fell. But she rolled back to a squat at once, glaring at me. She didn’t pull her eyes from me as she plucked my star from where it’d embedded in her foot. She did a little limp-hop and began running after me again, almost as fast as before.

  I turned and hauled ass for the water, not sure what my plan was. I took up my last star and spun around again, facing her. I threw, but she bobbed out of the way at the last second and laughed as it went wide.

  Slowing to a jog, she held her throwing blade between her fingers, showing it off. “Need a weapon?”

  “Nah, I’m good.” I slid the last two homemade stakes from my sleeves.

  “Clever.” She prowled toward me, her blade poised for action.

  I lunged, taking her by surprise, slamming my stakes at her from either side. Water, sand, and blood made my grip slick, and one grazed her arm in a nearly useless hit and flew from my hand, but the other managed to penetrate the thick muscle at her shoulder.

  She yowled and pulled the wood free, hurling it into the water.

  I gave her a gratified smile. “Clever. That’s me.”

  Furious, she ran at me with her knife, slashing wildly, and her blade sliced my arm.

  I sidestepped toward the water, managing to avoid another of her wild thrashes. “Easy, cowgirl.”

  “Oh, it is easy.” She bobbed toward me, stabbing at the air like a fencer, and I hopped back. But then she leapt, slicing too quickly for me, slashing my belly. The wound was shallow, but the stinging seawater brought tears to my eyes. “Time’s up, Drew.”

  I flew into her, grabbing her head. “Not quite.” Her hair was done in a long braid, and I snatched it, wound it around my hand, and yanked her head down.

  She grunted and sprang away, still holding on to that blade, and stabbed at my belly. I flinched aside and felt the hot sizzle of steel along the side of my waist.

  We were in the breakers now, and a big wave slapped us, sending us both stumbling. As she twisted back into position, she threw her knife. I saw the move coming and swatted it away before it could pierce me, but still it slashed the side of my hand, a hot sting to join all the others.

  I looked down to see if I could find and retrieve her weapon, but it was gone. Blood had turned the seawater pink at my feet.

  Neither of us had any weapons now. I dove for her, and we fell into each other, and the calf-high waves swirled and sucked at our feet as we grappled. I had to be faster, meaner. I grasped at the air for whatever I could grab, pulling a fistful of hair, scratching at her cheek, flailing my legs to get in whatever kicks I could.

  She did the same, pulling my ear, biting my shoulder. I slammed my hand against the side of her head, cupped over her ear. She stumbled, momentarily dazed, and I hit again, curling my body hard, tangling my fingers in her braid, bringing her head down and my knee up into her throat. I heard a bone crunch. Heard her exhale a strange, squeaking breath.

  She dropped, facedown in the surf. Her body bobbed up and down, looking like a peaceful bit of seaweed floating in the breakers. Dead.

  I swiped a hot tear from my face, shaking from adrenaline. I hated this.

  But I wasn’t done. Would I ever be done?

  Because now there was Masha.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  I was tired. All I wanted was to find Carden. He’d make this all better. It’d been so long since I’d tasted him. I needed him, only now I didn’t know where my physical need for the blood ended and the simple needs of my heart began.

  I could run. But Masha would be there waiting for me at the top. I couldn’t stay on this beach forever. No, I needed to face her. To fight.

  And then it hit me. Mei-Ling.

  She was out there. Maybe even now, facing down Masha.

  I raced up the beach. I needed to get to higher ground. My legs pumped while I scanned the hillside for the best route up.

  It was steeper here, barely a hill, almost a cliff face. I’d have to clamber on all fours. Then climb.

  I sprang onto a low rock, hopped onto another, hoisted myself atop a boulder, and set to climbing. Carden’s words came to me. Trust your legs, he’d said. My legs were strong. I was strong. I could do this.

  As I wriggled over the top, I sent a brief thanks to Priti for putting us through so many arduous climbing drills over the past weeks. I’d never complain about one of her classes again.

  I rolled onto my feet, and there Masha sat, waiting for me, looking like Buddha on the mountaintop. “You have no weapons, Acari.”

  “Hasn’t seemed to hinder me before, Guidon.” I was relieved she’d waited for me—it had to mean Mei was safe.

  But something about that last fight had deflated me—maybe it was that I still didn’t even know the girl’s name. Whatever the reason, I had an idea and it didn’t involve weaponry.

  I walked toward her. “Why are you doing this? Why are you always fighting me? Think how strong we’d be if we sided together. If the girls were in this together. It doesn’t have to be like this.”

  She looked at me like I’d gone insane. “Who’s to say I don’t like it like this? You’re so stupid. You brag how smart, how clever you are. But you are just stupid. You had a chance with Hugo, and you threw it away.”

  “This is about Alcántara? Are you kidding? We’re out here in the middle of nowhere, fighting for our lives, and you’re making this about a guy?”

  “Not just a guy.” She gave me a suggestive smile.

  “Ew. Whatever.” I put up my hands—the last thing I wanted was to hear Masha’s naughty details. “Why are you even siding with him? He’d have you as his slave if you let him.” I stepped closer, feeling brave that her whip had yet to make an appearance. “They’re killing us, Masha. Where do they take the bodies? Don’t think for a second they wouldn’t take you there. Don’t you want to go home?”

  “This is my home now. Hugo, my family.”

  It zeroed in on a suspicion I’d had. “You’re bonded with him, aren’t you?”

  She flew to her feet, whip in hand. “What do you know?”

  I put my hands up. “Easy. I don’t know jack about you and Hugo.” Though I did have a million questions, like, why had Alcántara been interested in me? Had he wanted to bond with me, too? Could vampires bond with more than one person at a time, or would his interest in me have eventually meant Masha’s decline?

  I sensed I was onto the reason for her irrational hatred of me, only now was totally not the time to address it with her. Instead, I said, “I’m just saying, Master Al seems like a pretty crap family. And I should know.” I’d left a man who’d kept me under his thumb.

  I’d never be under another thumb again without giving a fight.

  I took a wary step closer. “It doesn’t have to be like this.”

  “You’re right. I don’t have to listen to your boring chatter.” She unfurled her whip. “I’m going to kill you. Then I’ll find your little friend and kill her, too.”

  “Good luck with that.” I knew what was coming and got into a fighting stance, only this time I slid my sleeves over my hands. “Isn’t that what your friend told me earlier?”

  “My friend wasn’t as strong as I am.” She gave her whip a twirl. “My friend didn’t have Hugo’s blood running through her veins.”

  “Ah, so you are bonded.” But I smiled anyway, because I knew something Masha didn’t: I had Carden’s blood running through my veins. It’d make me just as strong.

  Masha hauled back her arm and cracked her whip, but I’d seen it coming. I covered my face, and as the leather hit my palms, I grabbed and pulled. It cut into me, but my sleeves gave my hands some protection. I pulled again, and Masha held on, an absurd tug-of-war.

  But years of jump ropes and schoolyard bullies had taught me a good trick. I let go suddenly, and she stumbled backward, catching herself before she toppled.

  She teetered a
long the cliff’s edge now, and I couldn’t waste a moment. I snatched a rock from the dirt and lobbed it at her as hard as I could. “Think fast.”

  She automatically flinched and swatted it away, losing her balance as she did. Her foot slipped along the ledge, and she dropped. It was surreal, like she’d suddenly shrunk two feet. She’d landed on her knees and was sliding, grappling in the dirt for a handhold, sinking, scrambling, skidding down to her belly, finally dangling from the cliff side by her elbow, holding on to the rocks by her hands.

  For a moment, everything stopped. I’d hated her for so long, dreamed of this day for so long, it seemed unreal that it’d finally arrived. More unreal was my next impulse. In that moment, I knew a flash of insight: The enemy of my enemy was my friend.

  I couldn’t help it. I was tired. So tired. I dropped and grabbed her arm. “We don’t have to fight.”

  “Fuck you, Acari trash.” She scrambled to get footing, but only slid further. Rocks dislodged and tumbled down, striking the cliff side with a bounce-bounce, then they bounced right off a sharp ledge and down, away from view.

  “They’re not all bad,” I said, putting words to my revelation as I had it. “Vampires don’t have to be bad. It’s these guys who are bad.”

  “Your vampire,” she spat. She didn’t look at me as she spoke, but rather her attention was fractured, eyes skittering all around as though she’d missed some obvious solution to her problem. “He doesn’t deserve the name. He won’t survive. Hugo won’t allow it. He’ll kill your McCloud.” She looked at me then, her lips peeling into a lizard smile. “Hugo said he’d let me stake him. Staking a real vampire is so much more spectacular than the Draug we’ve—”

  I lost it. I forgot how weary I’d become. I forgot about making peace. I let go of her arm. Shoved her away.

  Bounce, bounce.

  A horrific thud echoed along the rocks, her body hitting the ground forty feet below.

  I rolled onto my back, looking up at the white-gray sky. “I tried, Masha.”

  I WANTED TO JUST LIE there. To sleep. To pretend I was anywhere else. I needed to save Carden, but could I? I seemed capable only of killing and screwing things up.

  I’d killed Masha, and it took a minute for the reality to set in. She’d bonded with Alcántara. Would he be furious his Russian pet was killed? Would he be feeling her death even now? Would he find out I was the culprit?

  I was on the verge of freaking out, but freaking out was a luxury I didn’t have. I made a mental list to calm myself.

  I would:

  Gather my stars.

  Find Mei.

  Go to class.

  Pretend nothing had happened. Pretend I wasn’t hysterical.

  Frantically try to find the killer before Carden was staked before my eyes.

  Could I blame the Guidons’ deaths on the mysterious rogue vampire? But they weren’t drained, and exsanguination was one thing I was incapable of doing. I had to hope that removing my weapons from the scene of the crime would be enough to erase any evidence pointed my way.

  As I climbed back down, I called quietly for Mei. No answer. Hopefully she was back on campus by now, headed to her music class.

  With that thought came strains of her flute, high and keening, echoing along the rocks, as though I’d summoned her. I stopped to listen. I was imagining things, surely.

  But the sound came louder. And I detected another sound, too. Guttural moans.

  I shivered. I’d found my stars and stakes, and hastily wiped them clean of sand and blood and holstered them. “Like nothing ever happened,” I muttered, then took off at a jog, headed for the sound of the flute, which, unfortunately, was coming back from the direction we’d come.

  Alone, I moved quickly, mesmerized by the rhythm of my steps, a soothing drumbeat in my head. But then I saw them.

  I skidded to a stop, my heart exploding double-time.

  In an instant, my stars were in my hands. I’d thought I had nothing left, but there I was, squatted, poised, ready for another fight.

  Draug. A whole slew of them.

  Coming right for me.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  Options flew through my mind, scattershot, like a pinball in a machine. I could run. But if that were Mei-Ling’s flute, it meant she was out there, probably in danger. Was she playing to give me a message? Was it a call for help?

  There’d be no running. I’d have to fight this one out, at least until I found her.

  But how to fight a dozen Draug with only four throwing stars? They were moving slowly, like zombies. Maybe they’d just eaten. Maybe their bloodlust was temporarily dulled. Or maybe, like Tom had said, if I didn’t show fear, they’d not hunger for me.

  Either way, fear was something I couldn’t afford. I put two stars in each hand and took off running, headed straight for them. “Best defense…good offense.”

  I heard Mei-Ling scream and ran harder, but then I made sense of her words and skidded to a stop, close enough to the Draug to see the whites of their eyes.

  “Stop, Drew,” she cried again. “Stop.”

  She meant me. She wanted me to stop.

  Her voice came from above, and I looked along the hilltop. She was walking, her flute in hand. Tom walked beside her, looking grumpy to be there.

  “What the—?”

  She half slid, half ran down the hill to me, a proud smile on her face. “I thought I’d bring backup.”

  I had the oddest flicker of temper. I was slashed all over my body, and despite the rapid healing of my wounds, my shoulder still ached like crazy. I’d been freaking out with worry for her, fighting to protect her, and here she was, scampering toward me with a smile on her face. “What the hell are you doing?” I snapped.

  She looked stung. Hurt. It made me feel like an ass. “I thought I’d help you,” she said quietly.

  “Sorry. You’re right.” I sighed and looked toward the Draug, and it hit me what I was witnessing. They weren’t acting like zombies because they’d been fed. This was Mei-Ling’s doing. I looked back at her for confirmation.

  She waved her flute. “Cool, huh?”

  I stepped closer, fascinated to see the creatures up close. Their eyes were glazed, and they held themselves utterly still, like they were waiting for something. The stench was overpowering, but I couldn’t look away. Each face was so distinct, all in various states of decay.

  My eyes went to a patch of brown curly hair, and I recognized one of the Trainees who’d been in my Phenomena class last term. I whirled and ran to the hillside, leaning on the rocks for support as I retched up every last bit of food in my system.

  Tom’s voice sounded at my shoulder. “Get a hold, girl. Be calm, like your friend here.”

  Astounded, I looked up, wiping my mouth, gathering myself. Sure enough, Mei-Ling did look calm. Composed. I remembered how she’d been through a crisis before, watching as her boyfriend was killed, but it hadn’t destroyed her. This time, when crisis struck, she’d had the wherewithal to use music to pacify the Draug. She’d needed me to protect her, but it appeared in this situation I’d needed her.

  “Yeah, Drew,” she said with a teasing smile. “Be calm like me.”

  I used my sleeve to wipe my mouth again. “Jeez, Mei. Your flute did this?”

  She shrugged, looking pleased.

  Tom, though, had that grumpy look again. “Her whistle shut them right up.”

  I bumped up against her, giving her a half hug. “You’re like the pied piper.”

  He scowled at my arm around Mei’s shoulders. “You girls done? We gotta get a move on. My Draug ain’t the only ones called by blood.”

  That focused us quickly enough. There was a rogue vampire out there somewhere, who’d be called by the scent of blood in the air. It also reminded me how there were bodies—bodies that might easily be linked back to me. “There are three of them,” I said gravely. “They were Guidons.”

  Tom sniffed and nodded up the beach. “I smell ’em, all right. This way?”<
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  I nodded, nervous. How would we dispose of them? Even if I didn’t get in trouble for killing three Guidons, I knew I’d get it for going so far off campus. “What should I do?”

  “We’ll see,” he said mysteriously.

  We reached Masha’s body, and the full impact of what I’d done hit me. Masha was dead.

  I knelt to study the body. I’d killed a girl before, only to see her pop up on another island. I didn’t want another Lilac. I felt for her pulse, for her breath.

  Really dead.

  My eyes went to the injury on her arm, and ice filled my veins. I’d retrieved my shuriken, but that cut was short and razor-thin…like something a throwing star would leave. “My fingerprints are all over this.”

  Tom spat in the sand, looking thoughtful. “Not for long.”

  “What?” I didn’t understand what he was saying to me.

  “You”—he waved at Mei-Ling’s instrument—“play that thing again.”

  She pulled it out, and just holding it seemed to give her comfort. She began to play, and it wasn’t just the Draug who were affected.

  My mind lulled, as though my brain got heavy, and those snapshot memories flickered on the edges of my consciousness again. She made me feel nostalgia.

  Could she make me feel happy, too? Might her music have the power to make me no longer Acari? To make me, for just once, simply a teenager?

  He shooed at me, startling me from my thoughts, and waved me away. “My boys got this. You don’t want to watch.”

  He was right—I really, really didn’t.

  For once, the sea called me, and I headed to the water, walking in the breakers, away from the body of the girl I’d killed. She’d washed onto shore, and the waves rolled over her, pushing her a little higher on the sand with each ebb and flow of the tide. I walked away, walked deeper, longing to feel the waves pound my legs. Maybe they would cleanse me.

  I walked until the crash of the surf filled my head more loudly than the hideous gurgle and snarl of the Draug as they consumed the bodies.