“Whatever.” She waved her away like she was an insect buzzing in her face. Loren tried not to bristle—not to say something she knew she would regret. “What are you doing sexting over there, Sab?” Dallas peered over Sabrine’s shoulder. “Holy burning Ignis, don’t tell me you’re actuallystudyingright now.”
Sabrine made a half-ass attempt at hiding her screen. “I need to get a head start!”
“Always such a bookworm,” Dallas tsked.
Warmth bloomed across the inside of Loren’s left forearm. She looked down at the medical tattoo, visible only when her blood sugar levels dropped dangerously low. The serpent-entwined rod was emitting the same pale blue light as the glowstick she wore around her neck.
She unzipped her cross-body purse and fumbled through the contents in search of her medication, which was the next best thing when she didn’t have access to food. Dread coiled tightly in her stomach as she realized she had forgotten it.
“Lor,” Sabrine said, cutting off whatever Dallas was saying to her. “Don’t tell me—”
“I’m fine.” Loren forced a close-lipped smile. Neither of them bought it.
“I think we should walk,” Dallas said. She cut her eyes as she looked Loren over. “I thought I told you to keep that stupid bottle in your purse.”
Loren had just about had it with this night. “You didn’t give me much notice before you dragged me out the door!”
“That hasnothingto do with it,” Dallas hissed.
Loren felt her face turning hot. Squeezing her fingers into fists between her knees, she willed herself not to be the first to break eye contact with her sister. “You don’t have to be such a bully all the time, Dal—”
“Quit arguing!” Sabrine exclaimed, pushing away from the HID lamp. “You guys are giving me a headache.” Her dark hair fluttered as she blew out a sigh. She appraised Loren, her brows knitting together. “Loren, she has a point. The last thing we need right now is you fainting on us.”
“I said I’m fine.” But she wasn’t—not really. Her vision was turning gray and splotchy, and she was starting to feel like she was floating, like she was one of the many palm tree fronds scattered across the sidewalk, stirred about by gusts of wind.
Sabrine sighed. “Do you think your mom would care if I crashed on your couch?”
“Who cares what Taega thinks,” Dallas grumbled. “If she doesn’t like it, she can kick us all out.” While Loren and Dallas lived on the North End, the shack Sabrine called home was in the South. If she were to walk from here, it would take hours, and she would have no choice but to venture through the tangled streets of the Meatpacking District, which simply wasn’t an option. People went missing from there all the time, and if they turned up, they were never alive.
“Lor,” Dallas beseeched, her face lined with frustration. “We should get you home.”
They didn’t have much of a choice anymore. Her Infernal Majesty would close at two a.m., and as soon as the doors shut, the HID lamps would be flicked off. Which meant the demons that prowled the sewers would no longer have a reason to keep away. No reason but the moon, whose brightness was at constant risk of being stifled by the few fleecy clouds drifting across the sky.
Although ice coursed through her veins at the thought of walking at this hour, Loren kicked off her heels and scooped them into a hand as she heaved herself to her aching feet. “Let’s go, then.” She paused and held up an index finger. “But no back alleys, or I’m turning around.”
They began the trek down Angelthene Boulevard, staying in the light of the streetlamps whenever possible. She joined Dallas and Sabrine in their drunken, bawdy singing as they ambled along, but she soon fell silent. Her aching feet were speckled with blisters, and they were black and sticky with the-Star-knew-what. This had to be the longest walk of her life, and to make matters worse, not a single empty taxicab rolled by.
Traffic lights flicked from red to green to amber and back, without one car passing under them. Rats rummaged in over-turned trashcans, and cats suffering from the mange watched with glowing eyes from dark alleys. While most cities had their share of vagrants huddled beneath awnings or sitting on the benches at transport shelters, Angelthene’s level of crime—along with its pest problem—was so severe, only stray shoes and articles of clothing littered the sidewalk. Not one person could be seen for miles.
There was a scuff and a shuffling sound in a nearby alley.
Loren’s lungs tightened. Slowly, she looked over her shoulder, the hairs on the back of her neck prickling. Dead leaves crackled across the asphalt.
She saw something standing at the end of that alley. Something with bony, slumped shoulders and great horns. Loren squinted, blinking hard. Willing it to be a mere trick of the eyes.
But the thing lurched forward and began to scuttle toward her on its hands and knees.
Her breath stopped in a wild gasp as terror stole through her veins. She found herself immobile at the end of the alley as the creature crawled toward her, and when she couldn’t hold it back any longer, she blinked.
In the millisecond it took to rewet her eyes, the thing had disappeared.
“Did you guys see that?” Her soft words were nearly drowned out by Dallas and Sabrine’s singing. She hurried after them, a chill dripping like a spider down her spine.
“Come on, scaredy-cat!” Dallas called. “Get your butt moving and maybe you won’t get eaten.” Despite her teasing, she knew Dallas well enough to detect an edge of concern in her words.
“It’s not funny,” she grumbled. Multicolored chalk runes decorated the sidewalk beneath her filthy feet. “Unlike you two, I don’t have a Focus I can use if anything goes wrong.” No, as a human the only thing she had was her nails—painted hot-pink and manicured into long and sharp points—and the useless pepper spray she kept in her bag only for a false sense of security. It might protect her against humans, at least. Which she supposed was better than nothing.
Sabrine—bless her—was staring at Loren in concern. “Do you need to stop for a rest?”
