Page 26

I hate to admit that he’s right, but he is. He’s good in a crisis, apparently. I freeze and my mind goes blank, whereas he stays calm and seems to think rationally. I dart behind the stone near the cage, flattening myself into the shadows just as the footsteps echo louder, the distinct crunching of heavy boots on stone. The door creaks open and a torch beam slices through the dark.

Tristan, Mitch, Mike, and Jace, with someone slung between them, barely conscious, wander inside. My breath catches. It’s a vampire. They caught one. A girl. She’s tall, and her long black hair clings to her blood-streaked face. Her clothes are torn and her lip is split. Even like this, her eyes scan the darkness, taking in her surroundings.

She lifts her head weakly as they drag her closer to Theo’s cage. Her eyes widen in surprise as she sees Theo.

‘Well,’ she croaks, voice rasping. ‘Didn’t expect to see you.’

Theo goes still, eyes widening in shock.

‘Lucy,’ he breathes.

My heart stumbles. Lucy? She tilts her head toward him, blood from one temple trickling down into the corner of her mouth.

Tristan shoves her roughly against the bars beside Theo’s cage. ‘You two know each other?’ he asks sharply.

Theo doesn’t answer. He’s looking at her like she’s a ghost. For once, he seems to be speechless.

Lucy gives him a slow, wicked smile. ‘Oh, he knows me.’

My stomach turns at her words. I don’t understand the reaction from myself.

Tristan chuckles darkly. ‘Guess tonight is our lucky night.’

Theo turns his face away, jaw clenched. He says nothing. I can’t breathe. Is this an ex-girlfriend? A current one? What the hell is going on?

My eyes shift around the group. They’re all wearing those stupid masks, but they’re in the same outfits as earlier.

Lucy looks around, eyes glittering. ‘Interesting crowd you’re running with now, Theo. Bit beneath you, aren’t they? Unless you’ve developed a thing for pathetic losers who weren’t smart enough to get themselves a degree, so they resort to this nonsense.’

Tristan slams the cage with the butt of his weapon. ‘Shut your mouth.’

I’m not watching him anymore. I’m watching Theo, who looks even more concerned and confused than before. He looks helpless as he stares at the woman before him, unable to intervene. Guilt grips me, and I don’t understand why I feel this way. I shouldn’t be feeling anything toward him. He’s not a human. He’s a monster.

And yet, look around you … who look like the monsters right now? A voice whispers in my mind.

I barely dare to breathe as I remain where I am, hoping no one notices me. Mitch has been circling the cell like a hungry wolf. Jace is leaning against the bars with a silver dagger spinning between his fingers, watching the scene unfold before him. Tristan presses his stake into Lucy’s neck, drawing a deep ribbon of blood. They’ve somehow subdued her, she can barely hold her head up.

I know all of these boys, and yet, I don’t recognise them right now. Here I thought my family were the good guys. The ones on the right side of the war, but they’re here, doing the very things they condemn vampires for doing. Taking pleasure in someone else’s pain.

‘Tell me,’ Tristan says, crouching in front of Lucy. ‘Is it true you cry blood when you’re scared?’

She doesn’t answer, she just watches him, head tilted, dark hair matted with sweat and dried blood. Her mouth twitches, not into a smile, but something far more sinister. Her inky black eyes look eerie as hell paired with her dark hair and blood- splattered skin.

Tristan smirks. ‘Guess we’ll find out.’

Theo says nothing. He’s standing perfectly still, one hand braced on the bars, eyes locked on her like he simply cannot believe what he is seeing right now.

‘Tara,’ he says, voice low. ‘Get back. Now.’

I flinch, my heart skipping. Before I can move, Lucy launches herself at Tristan with a force that cracks the bones in his body. The others around him shout in shock as Tristan’s body folds unnaturally, his bones tearing through his skin. My stomach turns violently at the gruesome sight. I’m frozen, eyes wide, watching in complete terror as Lucy throws Tristan around like he’s a rag doll.

The boys were sloppy and let their arrogance blind them. I realise now that she isn’t fully chained. They may have outnumbered her, but they don’t outweigh her in strength or speed. She slams into the cage door. It groans, and there’s a deafening snap as the bolt gives.

Mike screams, diving for his stake, but Lucy’s already on him. She moves like lightning, feral and elegant, and she hits him so hard he flies across the room and lands in a pile of limbs and dirt.

Mitch grabs the silver dagger, turning to run, but Lucy is faster. She grabs his arm, yanking it backward with a sickening crunch, and pins him to the wall, fangs driving into his throat with a force that has blood spurting out of him, spraying up the stone behind him.

My knees wobble. This is the image of a vampire that I had in my mind.