Page 42 of Before We Burn

The woman becomes instantly frightened—rightfully so. Vampires never act in the open unless they are trying to defend themselves. I hold the cup out for her and look at her kids one more time before the announcer calls for passengers for the bullet train to Boston.

I look at the woman one more time. “There are ten gold coins in the pocket of that jacket. Take one of them to the buyer on Sullivan Way and ask for it to be split. He will take three silver coins from it and give you twenty seven bronze coins. Tell him Marz sent you, and he might even give you thirty bronze coins. There are apartments on Martyrs Ave. Give them one gold coin, and it should be enough for at least eighteen months. Once you do that, find a man named Zara. He’s odd, but he has honest work for a good wage. His husband, Axel, will have connections to get the children in school. Again, tell them Marzana sent you if you choose to do it. You’re close to death; I can smell it on you.” I pause, the children having begun to listen carefully, the older one taking a mental note of each place and name I said.

“I’ll leave the blood here for you to decide.” I put the blood down and stand. Before I can turn away, she grabs it, gulping it down in a long drink. Instantly her bruised, pale skin begins to brighten, her cracked lips healing, and skin tightening. I see the look of relief spread across her features.

I walk backward, keeping my eyes on them until they disappear in the crowd. She didn’t say thank you, because she knew she couldn’t. But her thoughts were the sweetest gift I have ever received. She’s going to follow my directions. She’s going to get her life back, and I hope one day I see her again to tell her how proud I am that she did it.

I turn around and match my pace with the rest of them, knowing smiles shared amongst everyone. I can’t help the pride that swells in my chest.

Everett falls into pace with me, his shoulder bumping mine as he gives me a smug smile. “I thought you hated humans. Why’d you help her?”

The question catches me off guard. I can see why he would think I hated humans. All I talk about is how vile and cruel they are. When I really think about it, though, I never hated humans. Sure, the way they think and treat others—and each other—is terrible. They just never had a choice. They never got to see the world in another light like I did.

“My personal vendetta against humans doesn’t mean I enjoy seeing them in pain, Everett. My heart doesn’t beat, but that doesn’t mean I lack empathy.” My tone is soft and practiced. I don’t want him to think I’m being defensive. This is the most honest answer I can provide him with.

We’re the last ones to board the train, and Everett and I stand in the entry way, the lights dim and his deep brown skin radiating in a golden glow. I can’t help the smile that comes to my face as I offer my hand to him and he looks at it, confused.

“Truce?” I ask, with so much hope it’s almost delusional.

The offer is time sensitive. I’m on a high right now, and I want to go into this next mission without worrying about my next argument with Everett. I want to go into this next phase as a team, and if that means making peace with the person who started this entire thing, so be it.

Everett begins to smile, bright perfect teeth shining back at me, and I swear a knot has formed in my throat, because words escape me.

“What?” My tone sounds defensive.

Everett laughs and takes my hand as he steps closer to me. “Your smile, Marz. It’s contagious. So sure, I’ll accept your truce, as long as you promise to stop calling me human. I like you when you’re being sensible.”

I bite my lip hard to stop my smile from getting brighter. “Deal,” is all I say before I turn to find my seat with the rest of our company.

The train has begun its departure, which makes it difficult to move efficiently. Everett stumbles behind me until he is ready to take his seat. I move to sit in an empty seat near Connie when I catch a scent. It’s familiar but dangerous. I focus, searching through thoughts and finding ones that don’t fit the general thought processes. Most people are excited to go somewhere new. There is a sense of hope associated with Boston that everyone feels, except the two men sitting at the end of the train car.

They are together, the matching leather jackets a dead giveaway. They are fucking vampires—vampires I am very familiar with.

Everett is close to me now, his body pressing against mine. “Are you alright?”

I don’t answer, too fixated on the vampires sitting at the front of the train. One slowly stands, then the other. A deep sigh escapes me, and I begin to rub my temples as they pull out knives with a blue shine to them.

Are those UV blades?

I reach into my boots, pulling out the small throwing knives I store there for hand-to-hand combat, and reluctantly take my stance. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. I just need a break.”

17

FLOAT LIKE A BUTTERFLY…

EVERETT

One second I was enjoying the company of the most beautiful woman in the world, the next I’m getting round-house kicked in the head. It was probably an accident, but the smirk on her face tells me she isn’t exactly sorry.

Marzana is amazing to watch fight. She’s agile, flexible, and fast, and there were points when I thought she was about to lose the upper hand, but it never came though. Knives slice by her at a speed I can’t track; the only sign the knives are there at all is the faint glow that surrounds them.

I knew the humans—or well, the military—had begun experimenting with the use of UV on other weapons like knives, arrows, and swords, but I never thought we would actually need them. Most people in the army can’t fight hand to hand because our training always involved guns—all different types of them.

It didn’t help that if we were to try to fight a witch and we touched them, we would be putty in their hands. Witches are stronger when they have physical contact with a person. You could end up immobilized, even if you punched one in the face, solely from the connection if you didn’t knock them out. And vampires, the supposed-to-be-mythical beings known for being incredibly fast? Yeah, good luck landing a punch on them.

I look to Constantine and Bunny to see if they’ll try to help Marz, but they just stay seated with bored looks on their faces. Once Marz turns the UV knife on the final vampire assassin and stabs him, her face falls into a scowl and her entire demeanor changes. She turns around, her lashes creating a shadow under her eyes as she looks from Constantine to Bunny, her lips pulling into a snarl.

“So is this the team I have?” Marzana hisses, but neither of them say anything.