“Get under the covers with Tiff,” I instruct, expecting Salma to resist. Instead, she lets me help her, and they lean into each other for body warmth.
I know Salma’s right that we should stay here. William can handle himself. Yet it feels like every molecule in my being is being tugged out that door.
“Don’t you dare,” Salma warns me.
“They came forhim. We were only the bait.”
“If they killed him, they’ll be coming for us next,” she says darkly. “We’re loose ends.”
“They won’t kill him. They need him too much.” I’m only trying to reassure myself. The truth is, I have no idea what they’ll do.
All I know is I can’t just sit here and wait to find out.
“Lorena—!”
But Salma’s voice cuts out with the shutting of the door, and I’m racing down the stairs. As I hurtle toward the LUB, William’s words sound almost prophetic to me now:
You will always be a human first, and I will always be a vampire.
I thought things could be different, but it’s not just about how we see each other—it’s how the world sees us. Pretty much everyone we know would agree that William and I should not be friends. Evenweknow it. It’s common sense.
So why are we resisting this hard?
Nate’s voice runs through my mind:You’re just a schoolboy with a crush.I hear Salma’s words, too:You’re in love.
Is it possible the vampire could actually reciprocate my feelings?
I leap over the red rope, cut across the dusty room, and step inside the wardrobe. When I spot the soft glow ahead, I slow down in dread of what I’m going to see.
I don’t hear any sounds from the LUB.
By now the vampires must know I’m coming, so I keep going, sucking in a big breath as I enter the space—and the air blows out of me in a scream.
Two bodies are sprawled on the floor, half-drowned in puddles of blood, necks twisted at odd angles. Before I can register who they are, I bend over and throw up.
I’m trying to catch my breath after expelling everything I ate today, when I hear something.A whisper.
“Lor… e.”
I look at both bodies in alarm, forcing myself to see past the blood and focus on the faces. One of them has a buzz cut and broad features—Cisco. The other one is face down, his long dark hair fanned around him.
“Here.”
I turn abruptly to my left when I hear the whisper again, and I gasp.
“Will!”
I drop to his side, the metallic smell of blood invading my nose and summoning more nausea. It looks as if he was trying to make his way to the tunnel when his energy gave out.
“Oh!” I see the blood pooling on the other side of his body, and I realize he’s bleeding out, just slower than the other vampires.
“I thought you healed quickly,” I say, though I’m not sure I ever heard him say that. It’s just part of vampire lore.
“Knife,” he manages to say, and that’s when I see it. A dagger is embedded in William’s lower back. “Pull.”
“You want me to get it out?” My voice is pure panic, and he shuts his eyes, like it’s taking too much effort to speak.
I have to do this.
