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Charity swore, lunged forward, and pulled the stake out of Shepherd. I was frantically wriggling out from under him, but she seemed to have other priorities. “We’ll get back to this,” she said, pulling a sputtering, woozy Shepherd to his feet. “Move.”
They ran out the door, and for a moment I was alone, breathing hard, almost too stunned to think. Then, outside, I heard Dana yell, “Where the hell is Bianca?”
“Dana!” I pushed myself upright. My knees felt like they were made of jelly. “Dana, I’m okay!”
But already I could hear the sounds of fighting—the dull wet thuds of body blows and shouts of pain, echoing within the hall.
I went to the doorway and looked outside. Charity had vanished. Shepherd and Dana struggled alone at the far end of the hall, near an exit door where the stairs apparently were. It was hard to tell who was winning, but I glimpsed Shepherd’s face and saw that his fangs were extended, ready for the bite. “Look out!” I shouted.
Dana twisted, punched Shepherd hard with her left hand, and then pushed. He tumbled through the door, over the railing, and down the stairwell, echoing off the metal banister as he repeatedly struck it on the way down.
“Come on!” she shouted. “No time for the elevator!” I followed her, running as fast as my shaking legs would take me. But by the time we got down to the street level, Shepherd was gone. The doorman slumped over his booth, unconscious; either Dana had knocked him out, or Shepherd and Charity had.
We left the building, staggering out into the rain. I didn’t care about getting wet; all I needed was never to be in that place again. Raquel lit up when we emerged. “Thank God you’re both okay.”
“Did you see him?” Dana said. “Wannabe Rasta boy?”
“No, nobody came out this way. Maybe Milos saw.” Raquel pointed up at a rooftop across the street, where I could just make out a figure with a crossbow. Milos—one of the cruelest of the vampire hunters—was the only reason I was still alive.
“You look shaken up.” Dana put her hands on my shoulders.
“You okay, Bianca?”
I shook my head. She pulled me into a big hug, and Raquel embraced me from behind. I could feel their relief as powerfully as my own.
They were two of my dearest friends. They were vampire hunters. They loved me. They stood by while Balthazar was tortured. I was so angry with them I could scream, and I loved them so much it hurt. I knew they were doing wrong to kill vampires, and yet the vampire I had just tried to save had betrayed me. None of it could be untangled; I just had to live with it.
Without a word, I hugged them back and told myself that everything past this moment didn’t matter.
The next day, I was excused from patrol, which was nice enough, but Eliza went the extra mile and gave Lucas the day off, too. Well, “day off,” in this instance, meant “digging through the rubble of our old headquarters instead of hunting vampires.” Some others might join us later, she said, but for now the task was left up to me and Lucas, alone. As long as we were together, I’d take it.
“Are you sure you’re okay?” he said for the dozenth time. We were standing near one of the old train car cabins, knee-deep in broken stone. Both of us were as dirty as we’d been the day of the attack.
“I promise, I’m fine. Charity just scared me.”
“She wants to change you,” Lucas said. “And it sounds like she plans to hunt you down.”
“I’m safe while I have my bodyguard with me,” I joked, poking at his firm biceps. Lucas was shirtless, a concession to the stifling summer heat within the tunnels. Before, fans had kept the space livable; now, it was almost a hundred degrees and so humid that walking felt like swimming.
Lucas kissed me, a sloppy, sexy sort of kiss that would’ve made us both desperate for each other, if our surroundings had been any less grimy. When our lips parted, he said, “We really do have to find a way to get some time together.”
“It won’t be long before we’re alone together all the time.” I rested my hands against his bare chest. Shyly, I added, “I can’t wait.”
His eyes sought mine, eager and questioning. Voice low and deliciously rough, Lucas said, “Whatever you’re ready for—whenever you’re ready—I’d never rush you, you know that—”
I kissed him again, and this time the kiss went to my head. Dizzy, I breathed, “I want to be with you. Completely.”
Lucas leaned close once more, but the dizziness got to me—it was more than the kiss. I put out one hand, laughing from self-consciousness, and he took it as he lowered me into a seated position. “I said you were looking pale. Bianca, are you sure you feel all right?”
“It really is hot in here,” I admitted. “Plus I’m kind of hungry.”
“We can knock off any time, you know. They’ll be excavating in here for months. What we get done on any one day hardly matters.”
“There are some things I want to find.” I brushed my sweaty bangs back from my forehead as I looked at Lucas. Once again, I found myself being far too conscious of his heartbeat and the pulse just beneath his skin. “I could do with something to eat.”
“You mean blood?”
I glanced around us, though it was only force of habit; we were alone in the tunnel and could speak openly. “Yeah.”
