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Maxie. Please.
Couldn’t help you if I wanted to, she admitted. For that kind of mojo, we need serious help. We’d need Christopher.
Who the hell was Christopher? Then I remembered the frost man, the powerful figure who had been the very first ghost to appear to me at Evernight, the one who had saved me from Charity. Was he a leader of the wraiths? I didn’t have time to find out. This mysterious Christopher wasn’t here, and that meant his power didn’t matter now.
Don’t worry. That bracelet will hold you no matter where you go. You’re strong.
Maybe Maxie couldn’t have said anything so encouraging if she’d had to look me in the face. It didn’t make much difference at that moment. We still had only three of us to go up against Charity’s tribe.
Outside the garage, Vic stared down at a small pile of stuff Ranulf had pulled together. As I came near, Ranulf said, “I do not think Vic should attempt to stake any vampires. He would be unlikely to survive.”
“I would resent that if it were any less true,” Vic said.
Ranulf held up a large tin of lighter fluid and a plastic lighter. “Perhaps Vic could start a fire, which would cause the vampires to scatter.”
“That’s dangerous for you,” I said. “For Balthazar and Lucas, too.”
“I agree that fire is only a last resort.” He presented the tin and lighter to Vic before he went back into the garage.
“Hey, we have plenty of stuff right here!” I called, holding up the gardening stakes that could work against vampires. “You found plenty of weapons, Ranulf. Let’s go!”
“Those are not useful,” Ranulf said, maddeningly calm, as he came walking back out with a full-sized, long-handled ax in his hands. Before I could ask, Ranulf threw the ax at the closest tree. It spun blindingly fast, blade-over-handle, until it thwacked so deeply into the trunk that I could hear the wood groan. The handle vibrated back and forth.
Vic and I stared. Ranulf smiled in satisfaction. “The ax is useful.”
“Where did you learn how to do that?” Vic said.
“Remember how I told you that the Vikings sacked my village and took me back with them?” Ranulf was speaking to Vic now; I’d never heard this story before. “All young men among the Vikings were taught to fight.”
Vic slowly said, “This is why you kick so much ass at World of Warcraft, isn’t it?”
We had a Viking warrior on our side. Maybe we could do this after all.
Vic drove with his foot to the floor the whole ride to the McCrory Plaza Six, which luckily turned out not to be too far away. The movie theater had never been a grand one, like the vintage cinema in Riverton where Lucas and I had gone on our first date. Red velvet curtains and scrolling woodwork had nothing to do with this place. It was a squat, sprawling building in the middle of a huge parking lot that had cracked and become choked with weeds. With the theater’s derelict appearance and murky surroundings, it had become the kind of place little kids would dare each other to walk past on Halloween.
“Stay outside,” I told Vic as we got out of the car. Ranulf led the way, ax across his shoulder. “If you hear one of us yell for you, start the fire. If you hear—I don’t know, something else, something bad, call nine one one. Ranulf and I can’t exactly turn to the police for help, but you could.”
“I’m ready.” Vic looked petrified, but he gripped the lighter fluid tightly. I knew there was no way he would leave his friends while we were in trouble.
Quickly, I kissed Vic on the cheek, then ran ahead with Ranulf.
I’d thought we would sneak in, but Ranulf simply pulled open the cracked glass door, which sent shards clattering to the ground. From behind the abandoned concessions stand, a figure with long, bedraggled hair instantly emerged. “What’s going on?” the vampire said, clearly wondering why another vampire had just wandered up.
Ranulf swung the ax with all his might, instantly beheading her. I cried out in shock, and the sound rang throughout the whole theater. With a frown, Ranulf turned to me. “Screaming is not useful.”
“Sorry!”
Vampires, alerted by my shriek, began appearing—two, then three, then five, all crowding into the lobby. Two of the biggest ones sprang at Ranulf, who was armed and the more obvious threat, but Ranulf threw them off like they were nothing. The ax slammed into the floor, shattering dusty tile, and a vampire’s skull rolled past my feet.
“You.” A vampire stepped toward me, and I realized with a shock that it was Shepherd. His rust-brown dreadlocks were gone now; no hair remained on his head. Neither did one of his ears. The fire had scarred his skin so terribly that his features seemed to have melted, and his skin was the revolting color of overcooked meat. “You’re the other one who started the fire.”
His ugly leer frightened me—for about two seconds, until I realized, You know, I’m already dead. There’s not a whole lot else he can do to me.
“You should’ve let us go when you had the chance,” I said, as I fumbled with the clasp of my bracelet.
“When I had the chance?” Shepherd shook his head. “You’ve got a lot to learn.”
“So do you.”
