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Blindingly fast, the vampire flung one hand forward, and I saw a whirling glitter of metal in the split second before Dana cried out and slumped against the wall. Even as Dana fell, the vampire sprang forward with superhuman strength, tackling Kate and knocking them both sprawling into the corridor.
“Mom!” Lucas yelled, running toward them. But the vampire didn’t intend to kill or even fight. She ran off, her shabby shoes thumping against the tiles.
Lucas and Kate took off after her instantly as Lucas yelled, “Stay here! Take care of Dana!”
I knew he’d try to help the vampire get away. But what was I supposed to do for Dana? I didn’t know anything about medicine. Yet when I saw the stricken look on Dana’s face, I instantly went to her side. “Is it bad?”
“Bad enough.” Her face contorted in a grimace. “Must’ve been an autopsy knife. Don’t think—the arm’s broken—but—how much blood?”
“A lot, but she didn’t hit the artery.” I knew enough to realize that if the artery had been cut, blood would be spurting from the wound; instead, a thick red flow oozed downward, coating her shirt to the elbow. “I’m not going to take out the knife. This is more than we can deal with using the first aid kit. We should go to the ER.”
“And explain this to the hospital staff how, exactly?” Dana groaned and leaned her head against the wall. I realized she felt faint. “No, we need to get out of here.”
“You need medical attention!”
“There are more supplies back at the first aid room. We—we can handle it. Just help me up. Okay?”
“Okay.” I slung her good arm around my shoulder and walked her into the hallway. The lights were brighter there, and I saw the vivid red of the bloodstain for the first time. The color seemed almost indescribably beautiful.
Then I felt the hunger.
It wasn’t the same as it had been when I bit Lucas—this was different, more basic and yet equally strong. Dana’s blood smelled like steak, like the seashore, like any hundred wonderful things I wanted and hadn’t enjoyed for too long. When I breathed in through my mouth, I could almost taste the coppery tang of it, and the hand I held against her shoulder registered every beat of her pulse. My jaw ached as though my fangs were about to emerge. I couldn’t think, couldn’t speak, couldn’t do anything but want to drink.
Stop it.
I turned my head away from Dana and shut my eyes tightly. Dana murmured, “Hang in there. I know it looks bad.”
“You don’t have to comfort me.” I felt so ashamed. “You’re the one who’s hurt.”
“But I know—this kind of thing is scary, especially if you’re—not used to it.” She swallowed between every gasp for breath. “You never saw—anything—like this before.”
I remembered how Lucas had looked after I bit him for the first time, and the boneless way he had fallen at my feet. “I guess I have to learn to deal with it.”
We met up with Mr. Watanabe in the parking lot, and he took us back immediately. Dana turned out only to have a flesh wound, but she still needed me to hold her hand while Mr. Watanabe stitched her up. Within a couple of hours, Lucas and the rest returned; I didn’t have to ask how the hunt had gone, because Kate looked discouraged. Everybody was completely exhausted, and the sun had only just come up.
When Lucas hugged me, I whispered in his ear, “Did she get away?”
His thumb brushed against my cheek as he nodded. “Always looking out for everybody.” He kissed me gently on my forehead, right there in front of the whole group, and that made Dana grin for the first time since the hospital.
After that, the group discipline broke down—or it might be more accurate to say it was suspended. Kate didn’t give any more orders, and apparently there wasn’t anything else to do until later. Some people shuffled off to an area where several cast-iron cots were lined up. Kate fired up a portable stove and started making breakfast for a few people, and Mr. Watanabe began methodically cataloging all the weapons. Lucas and I helped get Dana comfortable on the cot in the first aid room.
“Sorry about this,” she said as she eased her way down. Her braids looked like dark ropes on the white pillowcase.
“Sorry about what?” I asked. “It’s not your fault.”
“Yeah, but now I’m taking up the only room in this whole place where you and Lucas could’ve been alone. That’s suckiness one, young love zero.”
“I’ll forgive you this time,” Lucas said. “You need some breakfast, Dana?”
“Send somebody up here with some pancakes. If they don’t have ’em, make ’em.” Dana made a show of putting her good arm lazily behind her head. “What good is getting stabbed if you can’t use it for emotional blackmail?”
While Lucas went to tell Kate about Dana’s breakfast, I sort of threw myself together in what passed for a bathroom. It was a small cinder block room off the first aid area, one both tinier and grosser than in most gas stations. I couldn’t really do much with myself, but I pinned my brooch to my sweater. When I came out, Lucas brightened so much at the sight of it that I felt like I’d had a complete makeover—or maybe he was just that happy to see me.
“Look at you two.” Mr. Watanabe chuckled. He was carefully sharpening a small knife with a grindstone, peering at the blade through his bifocals. It was weird to think that anybody so kindly spent his time preparing weapons to attack vampires. “I’m glad to see you with a girl, Lucas. A young man should have a girl.”
“No arguments here.” Lucas hugged me from behind. “You must’ve been fighting ’em off with a stick when you were my age, huh?”
“Oh, no. Not me. I had already met my Noriko.” The old man’s eyes softened as he said her name. “After the first time I saw her, every other girl in the world—for me, it was as if they did not exist. I only wanted to be with Noriko all the time.”
