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“Don’t let it spoil your night,” Lucas said quickly. “Forget about that jerk, okay?”
Though her shoulders still drooped a bit, Skye nodded, and I relaxed. There wasn’t any reason to be jealous of her. Well, except for that awesome dress. “I’m done crying over him. Tonight I just want to hang out with my friends and dance.”
“I can oblige.” When Lucas offered his arm to her, I found I didn’t mind.
The Autumn Ball was always a spectacle — something out of another century, harkening back to the grander events so many of the vampire students remembered from when they were young. Instead of a OJ or a band, a small orchestra played classical music, which turned out to be a lot more danceable than you’d think. Instead of glittery lights or modern decorations, the great hall was illuminated with hundreds of candles, many set in place in front of hammered brass or old — fashioned, smoky mirrors to reflect the light throughout the room. Every guy wore an evening suit or a tux; every girl wore a floor — length dress, and some of them had gloves to match. It was the kind of grand occasion every girl — and more of the guys than 197 would readily admit it — wanted to be a part of at least once.
I’d attended twice with Balthazar, and had loved my dresses, the dancing, and everything else. However, it turned out to be just as much fun to watch, from above, where I darted amid the hanging chandeliers lit by candles. Sometimes I laughed, either watching Lucas carefully navigate Skye through the waltz, almost visibly counting one — two — three, or Vic and his date, keeping each other at full arm’s length and obviously both plotting an early escape. Other times, I watched in admiration; some of the dancers were clearly expert and eager to show off their many years of experience. Balthazar and Patrice were the most beautiful of all, moving gracefully at the heart of the dance. And, of course, every once in a while, one of them would slip out to continue the hunt. My parents would always nod at them as they went past — Mom pretty in a cream silk dress I hadn’t seen before.
Lucas went most often, as much as everyone else put together. Was that because of his crazed drive to do something productive? Because Skye excused herself frequently to goof around with her friends on the outskirts of the dance? Or because he didn’t trust himself to be in such close proximity to a human? All of the above, I suspected. Each time he went out, he walked by my parents, and the three of them would get very tense. But they were acknowledging each other now, Mom and Dad getting over their anger, and I hoped it was a positive sign.
Everything was going perfectly, until I felt a chill — and the visions began.
My mind filled with image after image of the humans below, people I’d never known well but now felt an intimacy with that was as powerful as love. Different faces, different emotions, different ages: Every human being down there felt precious to me now. And above this, a darkening veil of terror for those humans’ safety, and hatred of the vampires who danced in their midst.
The wraiths. The Plotters, to be exact. Suddenly I could feel them over the entire dance, gathering like storm clouds. Was this how the attack had begun a year ago? “What are you doing?” I whispered, safe that I was far enough above the crowd for the orchestra to drown out my words.
The images changed to violence: vampires being set aflame, being frozen within blocks of ice, being caught in the kinds of traps that Mrs. Bethany set for ghosts. No one plan took form, but I could tell what it meant. These ghosts feared for their anchors’ safety, and for their own. And they wanted revenge on the vampires below, for Mrs. Bethany’s plan.
Those people are safe, I promised. If you want to move on, you know that I can help you.
I expected surprise, happiness, maybe a rush to depart. Instead I felt only a deeper wave of fear. Honestly, I wasn’t much less frightened myself, and I didn’t yet know how — or if — I could perform the wonders Christopher claimed. So how could I make them any promises?
Yet I felt that, if they would follow me, I had to try. If I was able to usher several of the wraiths away from Evernight Academy in one swoop, that would be as effective at stopping Mrs. Bethany as anything else we could do.
But a hard rush of refusal hit me, like a hard — breaking wave on the shore in winter. And then a rising tumult of energy. aimed downward, in points like a hundred arrows — What’s happening?I thought. I looked wildly at the crowd; Balthazar and Patrice were off hunting traps, but everyone else I cared for was down there dancing. There was no time even for a warning.
The energy streaked toward the floor like thunderbolts, and I expected a rain of ice or snow. Maybe ghostly apparitions. I didn’t expect every single human in the crowd to instantly collapse, unconscious.
The orchestra’s music snarled into something unrecognizable as instruments stopped, one by one, and the vampires began to react. A few of them were obnoxious enough to laugh, but most of them were worried — either about humans they cared for, or because something obviously dangerous was happening. Lucas knelt on the floor, two fingers at Skye’s neck to check for a pulse. Ranulf held Cristina in his arms, though she was completely limp, her head flopping backward. Vic lay facedown, his arms and legs splayed awkwardly like an abandoned rag doll.
And then he moved — or. I should say. his body moved. Because I knew from the first moment that whatever was rising wasn’t Vic.
I realized: I Wasn’t the only wraith with the power to possess humans.
The other humans began coming to as well, but their eyes were clouded — a milky greenish color all over, with no pupil or iris. Yet none of them were blind. Their movements were slow and awkward, as though they had not moved in a very long time. Lucas drew back as Skye, or something that looked like Skye, stared malevolently at him from her place on the floor.
Vic squared his shoulders as he pulled himself fully upright. If I hadn’t already sensed that Maxie Wasn’t among the attackers, I would have known that she wasn’t the one possessing him just from the expression on his face. It was so unlike Vic, so strange for him, that it took me a while to recognize the emotion I saw — cruelty.
He shouted, “Mrs. Bethany!”
It wasn’t Vic’s voice. It was a hoarse rasp that made me instantly think of someone whose throat had been cut. I wished desperately for a mirror to free him — but would the traps work if a wraith was possessing a human being? Remembering how securely armored I had felt when I’d possessed Kate, I suspected not.
Mrs. Bethany stepped forward. She didn’t look scared. Just mildly interested. Her long, starched dress of lace was stark white.
“Free our kind,” Vic said. The crazy raspy voice seemed to make the entire room shiver. “Free us. Or we shall strike, and your kind will perish.” Smoothly she replied, “If you force me to exorcise you from your anchors, they will suffer terribly. Some might die.”
The mask of cruelty on Vic’s face didn’t waver. “You have been warned.”
Then, suddenly, as if the marionette strings had been cut, all the humans collapsed again — but this time, only for a second. Within moments, they were up, rubbing their heads if they’d fallen, confused about what had just happened. Nobody seemed to remember exactly, which was probably a mercy for everyone involved.
I tried to take hope. We were collecting most of the traps tonight. Once we figured out how to act safely, we’d be able to free the wraiths ourselv·es. Given time, I could probably convince many of them to leave this realm with me, if they could no longer remain safe here.
And yet I sensed that something terrible had already been put into motion — something we might not be able to stop.
Chapter Nineteen
“I CAN’T BELIEVE I WENT ALL EVIL.” VIC SAT ON the steps of the gazebo, where we’d gathered after the chaos had died down. Although it wasn’t yet midnight, the Autumn Ball was definitely over. “Did I shoot ftre out of my eyes or something cool like that?”
