“What if there were a way to avoid all the vampires?” I ask. “Or almost all of them, anyway. What if you could know exactly where they were the whole time you were inside the building?”
My words are for Rafa, but I’m looking at Collin as I say them. His eyes brighten.
The Monster Hunter sits up, immediately interested. “What do you mean?”
I look back at him, firm. “I mean, how much would that even the odds?”
He tilts his head and arches up his mouth with his lower lip, seeing it in his mind’s eye. “A hell of a lot, actually. You saying you got some kind of spell for me, wizard?”
“Notforyou.” I try to channel what I hope comes off as paranormal investigator confidence. “I can use my magic to… talk to spirits. They can answer pretty much any question. For instance, I could draw us a whole map of the vamps’ lair.” I reflect on my fight with the grizzly, then the flight from the elf in the car with that heads-up display. “And that’s not all. The spirits can also give me real-time updates of where everyone is. Who’s guarding Emma. They could help us pick locks. Enter passcodes.Even let us know about any nearby weapons and potential escape routes.”
I give Collin a quick glance, just to make sure I’m not getting ahead of my skis. He nods back at me with confidence. He’s even smiling a little.
“So… we’d do this together then?” Rafa asks. There’s no skepticism in his voice.
My stomach twists with an involuntary quiver. Just hours ago, three vampires nearly ripped me to shreds. And that was before the Obligation started taking chunks out of me. Now I’m thinking of walking into a nest of, what? Dozens? More? (It looks like they’ve had at least a decade to increase their numbers.) And without any real super-powers, I’d be relying 100% on Collin to keep us alive. A guy I don’t even want to talk to.
Of course, I could just give Rafa the watch. Collin seems to like him, and it’s for a noble cause and all that. He might be happy to work with the Monster Hunter. And Rafa’s seriously badass in his own right. With Collin’s help, there’s probably nothing he couldn’t do.
I glance over at the Irish boy. He’s gazing back at me with what looks a lot like pride and affection—and something inside me immediately recoils at the thought of giving him away.
Some of that has to do with not wanting to be a coward. Not wanting my newfound now-or-never courage to end with a pathetic little whimper. I know I’m not going to get another chance like this. If I really want to be more than some predatory monster, if I want to be somethinggood, I can’t just stay on the sidelines. I need to commit.
But that’s not all of it. I’m still mad at Collin—and I’m not wrong to be—but for whatever reason, I’m also not ready to let him go. Not yet.
So, I won’t.
“Yeah,” I respond. “Let’s get that girl out of there.Together.”
22
Well,I’m in it now.
After we got our burgers (greasy, a bit burnt, but they still hit), we spent an hour going over a map of the building that Collin helped me draw on the back of one of the placemats. I was able to show Rafa where Emma should be (the lowest sub-basement), as well as where potential vamps might be hanging out (pretty much all over). But there’s a way in and a way out that should help us avoid any close encounters.
The thing that gets me is that we can’t be 100% certain. Collin’s “database update” was over twelve hours ago. The path we’re planning to take could actually be teeming with vamps now, so as I make my way around the block, I keep picturing fangs and claws popping out of the dark, slashing at Rafa, slashing at me. Being outnumbered and overwhelmed by the undead. Trapped underground with no escape. It’s like a nightmare, but I’m doing it to myself.
Rafa went to grab his monster hunting gear from histruck, which leaves me all by myself as I casually stroll past the Benevolent Society of San Cipriano. Supposedly being closer to the lair will help the Avatar of Knowledge get more real-time answers, but I still feel like bait on a hook. I keep squeezing my fists.
“It’s going to be okay,” Collin says, leaning his shoulder closer to me as we walk side-by-side past tall gray stone steps. “You can do this, Alvin.Wecan do this.”
The Benevolent Society of San Cipriano looks like the kind of building where vampires would hang. Six stories tall, granite façade the color of gravestone, dark stained-glass windows with sharp peaks, and a front door made for giants, framed by open iron gates. When I was drawing up the blueprints, Collin mentioned the style was “Gothic Revival,” which apparently was all the rage back in the day, especially for a religious organization. It just looks straight-up creepy to me.
It also looks like it’s closed for business. It’s a little after 4:00 p.m., and both doors are closed. I don’t see anyone going in or out. And, even more odd, there is no one on the street. (Maybe normals don’t like the vibes here any more than I do.)
“Are you getting anything?” I ask.
“A couple humans are working inside on the first floor, doing what sounds like basic office stuff,” he says. “No vampires roaming around that floor, though. I won’t be able to pick up anything else until we’re inside.”
“And you’re getting all that from my own hearing? Through all that stone?”
“That’s right. Any real-time information I get comes from the owner of the watch, and as a paranormal, even ifyou don’t feed, your senses are very acute. With a bit of practice, you’d hear the noise they were making, too. I could use my powers to show you, if you want.”
He gives me a gentle smile, back to being his friendly, helpful self. And there’s part of me, a tired part of me, that just wants to let bygones be bygones and let go of my anger toward him. We’re about to do something crazy dangerous—not being pissy would probably make things easier. But if I dropped my guard, it would be that much easier for him to convince me not to fight my monster, particularly if things got tough. And Rafa, 100% human, 100% unsuspecting, would be right there for it to grab hold of. Just like it did with Driver Dan.
I lean into my anxiety and let it bleed into annoyance.
“No, thanks,” I say, curt. “Just tell me if you get anything useful.”
