Tendra
It hadn’t even been that long since I’d been topside in Mission, but it felt like a lifetime.
I’d traded a jacket in my bag with a homeless man for his baseball cap, and tucked my distinctive blond hair inside it as best as I could. I didn’t want to walk the streets for long, and I certainly didn’t want to return to my apartment, so I went to the one place that I felt remotely safe.
Ruby lived in a part of Mission that was shitty, but yet protective of its own. They didn’t take kindly to outsiders, which was why I thought I’d have my best chance there. I wasn’t sure what kind of human spies the Valarians would have hired, so everyone was suspect.
The strap of the duffel dug into my shoulder, and I felt awful keeping Brex cooped up in the thing, but I didn’t trust him not to run wild on the busy morning streets. I kept my head down, thankful for the hat hiding my hair and face.
It’d only been a few days, but I now viewed Mission through different eyes. Every human I passed—from the cart owner on the corner selling hot dogs, to the bus driver who swerved to avoid hitting a stray cat, to the elderly couple walking hand in hand—were lives that I was fated to save. For two and a half centuries, my female ancestors had carried this blood in their veins, all for me to be born with full potency to protect the human race.
I’d wondered if showing up topside would make me mourn my old life. Now it just reminded me how much I couldn’t go back.
When I reached Ruby’s apartment, I typed in the code on her gate I knew by heart and then jogged up the stairs to her apartment. I knocked on the door, hoping she was there. Because I had nowhere else to go.
My knock was met with silence.
I knocked again. “Ruby, it’s me! Open up!”
Finally, I heard pounding feet, then the sound of the bolts being thrown back, and Ruby pulled open the door, her hair disheveled, wearing a large T-shirt and a shocked expression. “Tendra!”
I wrapped her in a hug. With my foot, I swung the door shut behind me as she pulled back to grip my face. “What are you doing here? I thought—”
I shook my head. “I fed you a whole line of bullshit.” I unzipped my bag and let Brex jump out, then I took off my hat and shook out my hair. “Do you have some food? And can I use your shower?”
She stared at me, her mouth agape. “Wh—what’s going on?”
I blew out a breath. So freaking relieved to be somewhere familiar. “A lot. A whole lot. And I’ll explain soon, because I know this is rude to bust in on you like this…but could I get that shower first, maybe? And some food?” My voice cracked on the end, because her caring face gave me the comfort and the space to break.
And Ruby, my girl, she knew immediately what to do. She flew into action. “Yes! You go shower. I’ll leave a towel and some clean clothes out for you, and I’ll make you some eggs, and coffee. And I think I have some leftover donuts or something. And some fruit.”
She dashed into the kitchen, and I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “Ruby?”
“Yeah?” She glanced up.
“Thank you,” I said, my voice barely able to say the words. “Thank you.”
She smiled. “ ’Course, Ten. You get cleaned up, then I’ll feed you, okay?”
I nodded. “ ’Kay.”
Ruby’s apartment was small, a one-bedroom with a bathroom so tiny, when I sat down on the toilet, my knees touched the far wall. And I was short. I smiled picturing Athan in this small space, trying to maneuver around.
Shit, now I missed him. When we first met, I wanted to kill him. Now I missed his strong presence, the careful way he explained things to me.
I stripped off my gross clothes and turned the shower to scalding before stepping inside. I spent longer in there than I should have, but fuck it, Ruby didn’t pay a separate water bill.
When I stepped out, a blue fluffy towel was laid out on the sink, along with a pair of soft yoga pants, underwear, and an off-shoulder workout top. God bless her. We were the same size, so even the bra fit.
I left the bathroom to the sound of eggs frying, and I inhaled the comforting scent of coffee. In the kitchen, Ruby was swinging her hips to some song playing on the radio. She glanced up when I took a seat at the stool to her breakfast bar. With a smile, she slid a plate to me full of eggs, some fruit and yes, a donut.
Seconds later a steaming mug of coffee was placed in front of me.
I wanted to cry. I’d been subsisting on granola bars and peanut butter. Instead of breaking down, I picked up my fork and dug in.
“So I fed Brex, and he’s napping on my couch like he pays rent.” She took a sip of her own coffee and popped a piece of melon in her mouth. “So what’s up? Family not work out?” She was trying to play it casual, but she wanted details.
I shoveled more eggs into my mouth and took a bite of my donut, then washed it down with a sip of the hot coffee. Rubbing my hands on my legs, I took a deep breath. “So, yeah, that was actually all a lie.”
Ruby lifted her eyebrows, hands frozen on the way to lift her mug to her mouth. She set the mug on the counter in front of her and crossed her arms over her chest. “Uh, okay. Start from the beginning.”
That was hard, but I did. As soon as I uttered the word vampire, her eyebrows rose into her hairline, but she stayed mum. Up until I talked about vaulting myself out of the warehouse and making it here.
She blinked. And blinked again as I sat with a twisting stomach.
“Uh,” she said, “I know you don’t take drugs, and you also don’t drink much. And you look, uh, fine. So am I just supposed to believe this? That you’re some sort of vampire queen? What the hell?”
“I know.” I swirled my fork in my eggs. “I know it sounds like total fiction, and even more so when I say it out loud, but…it’s true. All of it.”
She felt my forehead. “Okay, you’re not delirious with fever.”
I laughed. “I’m surprised you aren’t running screaming from me. You’re actually handling this well.”
She shrugged. “I grew up reading Anne Rice. Lestat was hot.”
I rolled my eyes. “So you believe me?”
“I guess so?” She picked up her coffee again. “This is Mission, and if there were vampires anywhere, it’d be in this fucking city.” After a sip, she licked her lips. “So tell me about your bodyguard. What was his name?”
“Blood guard. His name is Athan.”
Another slow blink. “Blood guard,” she repeated in a monotone.
I fidgeted, unsure what to say. Hours ago I’d been fleeing vampire assassins and now, sitting in Ruby’s apartment, I could kind of pretend it’d all been a dream.
Almost. Because I’d fucked up my back or something in that fall. I must have winced because Ruby snatched a bottle of Advil out of her cabinet and smacked it onto the counter in front of me.
“Well, ooh boy.” She whistled. “Right, so what’s he like?”
I opened my mouth, but the words weren’t forthcoming. What was Athan like? My first impression of him hadn’t been good seeing as he’d drugged me and tied me up. But since then, he’d been…“Protective.” I poked holes in my strawberry with the tines of my fork. “He’s protective of me. And loyal. And caring. He could have dragged me kicking and screaming, but he’s made an effort to explain this world to me. He’s kind.” I glanced up at Ruby, who was watching me closely. “And to be honest, being away from him right now feels so wrong, it’s like I’m missing something.”
Her voice was quiet. “He sounds great.”
I glanced out her window. “He is.”
“But you’re meant for his brother, right?”
Well, that felt like a slap. I jerked my head to face her. “Yes.”
She placed her hand over mine where I hadn’t realized I was tapping the table with my nails. “Honey, I’m not sure if it’s like Stockholm Syndrome or some shit, but it sounds like you’re falling for this vampire. And you need to fall for another one.”
I yanked
my hand back. “I don’t have to fall for any vampire. He can drink my blood, but that doesn’t mean I have to love him.”
She pulled her hand back. “Right. Of course.”
“I’m not falling for Athan,” I insisted, even though the words tasted rotten in my mouth. Ruby shot me a skeptical look, and I growled in my throat. “Okay fine, I like him. A lot. But it’s crazy, right? To feel that way. Maybe it’s because right now he’s all I have.” She opened her mouth and I cut her off. “I know I have you. Now. But where I’m going, I won’t.”
She nodded. “That’s true.” She nibbled her lip. “I wish it wasn’t like this, that you didn’t have to give your life for a job you didn’t sign up for.”
I shrugged, but the nonchalance wasn’t wearing well. Ruby noticed. “Ten…”
I dropped my head in my hands, not able to cry but glad I didn’t have to put on a brave face. I groaned loudly, and warm arms wrapped around me from behind. “I’m sorry,” she whispered in my ear.
“I’m exhausted already.” My voice was muffled through my hands. “I’m exhausted and terrified. Because not only do I want to stay alive to like…stay alive. I want to stay alive for you. And for Kev and every other fucking human being on this goddamn planet!”
Her arms squeezed tighter, and I fell silent, letting my mind break and knit itself back together. Because by dusk, I had to be strong Tendra again.
When I was finished, I raised my head. “Thank you.”
Her smile was tentative. “Of course.”
“I’ve been thinking back, to my childhood, and now it all makes sense—why we moved, why I was kidnapped. My mom didn’t move us because we were free spirits or full of wanderlust. She moved us because we had freaking vampire assassins after us.” I glanced up at her through tearful eyes. “That’s hard to come to terms with, you know? And I’m doing all of this now without my mom…” I bit my lip. “I hope she’s proud of me. I’m scared and I’m a little resentful, but I want her to be proud.”
“She would be,” Ruby insisted. “She’d be so proud.”
I smiled at that, and she stroked my hair. I watched the long blond strands slip through her fingers. The tugging on my scalp was soothing, and I enjoyed it for a while until a thought occurred to me. “Hey, do you have any hair dye?”
Her gaze darted to my face. “You know I do.”
“You got black? And do you have scissors?”
A chuckle escaped her lips. “We’re going full on Jason Bourne, huh?”
I laughed. “You bet we are.”
She called her girlfriend, Iona, and told her the truth. That I was moving away and she wanted one last day to spend time with me. Iona understood, and I was grateful. Being with Ruby reminded me why the hell I was doing this.
Brex sat on the toilet as I leaned over the edge of the tub so Ruby could rinse the dye out of my now-short hair. “Stop moving, you’re getting dye on me!” she squealed.
“My neck is going to break!” I yelled from under a curtain of wet, black hair.
“Quit being a baby,” she snapped back and shoved my head farther under the faucet. I huffed and let her manhandle me.
“Only for you will I stain my bathtub black,” she muttered. “This is going to take forever to clean.”
“You have that Magic Eraser I got you from that time I got spaghetti on your wall, remember? Use that.”
“Oh, right, I do still have those.” She turned off the water and wrapped my hair in a towel. “Okay, you can stand up now.”
I did, cringing at the pain in my neck and back.
“Did you take that Advil yet?” Ruby asked.
“Uh…”
She rolled her eyes at me. “Go sit on the couch. I’ll get you some water.”
I dutifully did as she said. From the couch, I gazed out the window at the small vegetable plants she kept on her tiny balcony. She loved to grow her own food, and it was a shame in Mission that she wasn’t able to have her own plot of land. I wanted that for her. A place where her tomatoes and basil and herbs could thrive.
When Ruby handed me the pills, I gulped them down with some water. She curled up on the other edge of the couch while I stretched out with my head on the armrest.
“You wanna watch TV? Iona did some shit and was able to steal cable from that bastard next door.”
I laughed. “Nah, that’s okay. I mean, unless you want to watch it.”
She shrugged. “No, it’s fine.”
We sat in silence for a while, and Brex lay down at Ruby’s feet. She scratched his head. “Iona wants to leave Mission.”
Well, shit. “What? I’m so sorry. I thought you two were doing well.”
Ruby swallowed and glanced up with a small smile. “She wants me to go with her.”
I sat up, pulling my hair out of the towel and shaking out the damp strands. Ruby getting out of this city is what I wanted for her. “Good. Go.”
“Yeah?” she asked hesitantly. “You think I should?”
“I’ve been outside Mission, and Ruby there are so many amazing places to see. I want that for you.”
“I haven’t had the money to move,” she said. “But Iona has some saved and she said she wants me with her. I’m sure I can find a waitressing job anywhere, right?”
“I think you can do whatever you want.”
Ruby smiled, relief clear in the relaxed lines of her face. “I didn’t want to tell you before…before this.” She gestured to my hair. “In fact, I wasn’t sure I’d go. I didn’t want to leave you.”
“Even if this hadn’t happened, I’d still want you to leave, Ruby.” Remind me what I’m doing this for, for you to have a future with the woman you love. “Go find a place to live where you can have a garden. Where you don’t need five dead bolts, and I’ll stay here and make sure humankind doesn’t get turned into bloodless husks, okay?”
Her eyes widened. “It sounds nuts when you say it like that.”
“It is nuts,” I muttered, lying back down and fingering my now-short locks.
“So how much time do we have?” She smoothed her hand down a purring Brex’s back.
I craned my neck to see the clock. “About five hours.”
She nodded. “I think this calls for an ice cream movie marathon, then, right? I mean, for old times’ sake?”
I laughed. “You can’t possibly have my mint chocolate chip, do you?”
“Oh, I certainly do.” She rose to her feet and retreated to the kitchen, where I heard the slam of the freezer door and the clatter of silverware. She returned with two pints and two spoons. She handed me mine and kept the rocky road for herself. While picking up the remote, she asked, “Boondock Saints?”
“I do miss the MacManus brothers,” I said, popping the lid off my ice cream.
She grinned.
For two hours I forgot about my blood, and Athan, and I cuddled up on the couch with my cat. Something told me I’d need the reminder of how good humanity could be in the coming days.
Chapter 10
Athan
This wasn’t a joke. No games. No playtime. The unemotional, hard-ass Athan I’d been before I ever met Ten was back.
Para sat tied to a chair in front of me, blood dripping in crimson rivulets down her chin.
I rolled one of her fangs in my fingers as she spat and sniveled from pain. Para and I were about the same age, and we’d known each other for a long time. She’d always tripped the alarm bells in my brain, but I’d never imagined she’d betray our clan.
“Let’s try this again,” I said, taking a step toward her. She flinched, but I didn’t plan to rip out any more teeth…yet. “I want to know what you were doing in that warehouse. I smelled your perfume plus two other Gregorie vampires. Who were they?”
She coughed and finally gave me a truthful answer. “Bee and Gus.”
I held out my hands and grinned, all teeth. “There! See? I’m smiling now. I like answers.”
She glared at me mutely as I crouched so that my head was
level with hers. “But we’re not done yet. Because I smelled something else, too. You know what I smelled?”
She shook her head, dark hair matted with blood.
“I smelled Quellen. So I’d like to know how I smelled you and Quellen in the same place.”
“Why do you care if I was there? I’m allowed. There are no laws that say I can’t go into Mission.”
I laughed softly. “Right. But that warehouse was special. I know you know why it was special.”
She glared. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“You have one fang left. You can still feed if it’s there. I pull it out, and you’re fucked. Want to change your answer?”
“Fuck you.”
“Para—”
“I was at Bite.” She spoke the words like I’d personally ripped each one out of her throat. “As soon as your little human said Sanguivita, the word spread.”
I knew it. Fuck, that had been a mess. “What happened in that warehouse, Para?”
She rolled her shoulders to test the strength of the rope around her wrists, and huffed in frustration when she couldn’t get free. “The Quellen got her, what do you think happened?”
I tried to stay calm, even as rage boiled my blood. I had to believe…I had to believe she made it out into the sun alive. “Why should I believe you?”
She turned away from me.
“You’re lying. I know it, so just tell the truth.”
“She got free,” she spat. “I don’t know how, but she did.”
I knew it. The rage was still there, though, simmering. “You have no idea what you’ve done—”
“Oh, for fuck’s sake.” She curled her lip. “You’re delusional if you think everyone is just going to fall in line. That we all give a shit about humans. That some of us don’t sympathize with the Valarians.”
Her betrayal gutted me. I leaned in and spoke through gritted teeth. “What did they offer you that would make you betray your own clan?”
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