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I glanced around us, though it was only force of habit; we were alone in the tunnel and could speak openly. “Yeah.”
“Then I’ll get you blood.”
“Not yours,” I said sharply. Right now I could get carried away.
Lucas shook his head. “There’s a hospital not far from here. I’ll make a little blood-bank run. I’ll bring cold water, too.”
“Sounds great.”
After he went up onto the street, I sat with my back against the wall for a few long minutes. All day I’d told myself that I was only woozy because I was hungry for blood and because yesterday had been so frightening. Now that I was working so hard in the heat, wasn’t it only natural for me to feel faint?
Yet the weakness I sensed seemed to go deeper than that—almost as if I were coming down with a virus or something. I so rarely got sick that I wasn’t sure I’d even recognize the symptoms. Probably this was nothing more than a nasty summer cold that just happened to arrive on a bad day.
Sighing, I pushed myself up. If I was going to feel crappy no matter what, I might as well get some work done.
I went into the old subway car, then flicked on the flashlight. Gravel and glass were thick on the floor, and almost everything inside was filthy. But when I saw a scribbled line drawing still taped to one wall, I smiled. That was Raquel’s work, which meant this was our old quarters.
Eagerly I began digging the rocks from beneath the bunk that had been mine. Reaching through the filthy dust, I was able to close my fingers around a scrap of cloth and pull hard, so that my bag emerged from the rubble. The few clothes I’d had would be ruined, but maybe, just maybe—
Yes! I pulled out the jet brooch Lucas had given me when we were first dating. Although its shiny black surface was murky with dust, the fine carving appeared undamaged. Thrilled, I tried pinning it to the cheap T-shirt I wore, but the fabric was too thin; instead, I put it on the waistband of my jeans.
“Hello?” Lucas called from above. I stood on one of the bunks and pushed myself up to see Lucas making his way toward me, paper bags in both hands.
“Look what I found!” I hurried to him, trying to ignore my dizziness. “It’s still perfect.”
His fingers found the brooch at my waist. “I can’t believe you’ve managed to hang onto this through everything.”
“I’ll never let it go.”
Lucas held up one of the brown paper bags and said, “Water.” Then he held up the other and said, “not water.”
He could even joke about giving me blood. With a grin, I reached into that sack and pulled out a bag of blood, fresh from the hospital freezer and deliciously cool. Normally I liked my blood close to body temperature, but on a hot day like this, something cold would be perfect.
“Huh,” Lucas said, furrowing his forehead. “I didn’t think about getting, like, a straw.”
“I can bite through with my fangs,” I said, then thought better of it. “Or just poke a hole with your knife.”
“Why not fangs?”
“You really don’t mind seeing me like that?” I glanced up at him through lowered eyelids.
“Considering how hot and heavy we’ve been every time I saw your fangs, I have to say I kinda like seeing you like that.”
He was almost daring me. I enjoyed this. “Okay,” I said. “Watch.”
With the blood right there in my hands, it wasn’t hard to give into it—the familiar ache in my jaw, then the extension of what looked like my canine teeth. When the points jutted into my mouth, I covered my lips with one hand, then let that hand drop.
“There,” I said, letting him look at me. I felt so exposed, until he smiled, and then I felt—invincible.
“Go on,” he said. “Eat.”
I bit into the bag, welcoming the cool rush of blood into my mouth. Lucas had only been able to grab a single pint, so I went slow, making it last. Closing my eyes to savor it better, I swallowed once, twice—
“Oh, my God.”
It was Raquel’s voice.
My eyes flew open as Lucas and I whirled around to see Dana and Raquel, who had just come down into the tunnel. Eliza had said others might come later, but they were here early. Here now. Watching me drink blood.
