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“Fifteen years ago. I was twelve. They wanted me, too—they asked her where I was—but she didn’t tell them. I got away by fading into the shadows, but she was a human. She couldn’t hide like me. She told me to run and then faced them down by herself.” Flat, matter-of-fact statements that made my heart constrict.
“Twelve years old.” I squeezed my nape. “Shit.”
She shrugged and looked away.
“So that’s why you’re a slayer?” I asked
She dipped her chin. “SI saved my life—in more ways than one. I was on my own for six months until another slayer found me and took me in. I was in pretty bad shape by then—physically, emotionally. Jumpy. Stealing food, eating out of garbage cans. Terrified they’d come back for me. And so full of hate…” She passed a hand over her face. “The slayers gave me a chance to do something about all the hate—gave me a target for it. I was one step away from going feral. I like to think I would’ve killed myself first, but I don’t know.” The last few words were a whisper.
I sank onto the mattress. My belly was full for the first time in weeks, and I’d been feeling a confidence I probably shouldn’t have. I was safely in New York and Ridley had warmed up to me—a little, anyway.
Now a sick sensation settled in the pit of my stomach. What if it had been Kral Syndicate vampires who’d killed Ridley’s mother? My father didn’t make a habit of killing human females, but if the woman had been a spy or betrayed him in some other way…
Ridley sat against the water-stained wall, legs out, the switchblade in her hand. She’d taken it out at some point during her story, although she hadn’t released the blade.
I didn’t want to ask, but I had to know. “Do you know what syndicate they were from?”
She understood immediately. “Not yours. They had French accents.”
“We have a few French vampires. Cajun-French, from New Orleans, and even a couple from France.”
“They were from the Paris Syndicate. Three men.”
The sick sensation eased. “You know who they were?”
“Not their names, no. And I didn’t get a good look at their faces. But they were from Paris, trust me. That, I’m sure of. It wasn’t the first time they’d attacked us.” She glanced at her switchblade and firmed her jaw. “And I will find them. I have a lead now, someone who might be able to identify them.”
“Good. And when you do, I hope you send them to a bright, sunny hell.”
Her smile was all teeth. “I intend to.”
We fell silent. It had been a long day. I’d been doing okay, but now a wave of tiredness rolled over me. I yawned and knuckled my eyeballs like a kid.
“Go to sleep.” Ridley nodded at the bed. “You need it. We’re safe here.”
“I think I will.”
I made a trip to the john. It was basically a mildewed closet with a toilet, a shower and a sink with a faucet that only spouted cold water. At least we didn’t have to use a hole in the backyard.
Ridley followed me but stayed on the other side of the door. Back in the room, I stripped to my T-shirt and boxers and curled up on the mattress.
Ridley took off her combat boots and socks and resumed her position against the wall. The switchblade rested on the floor beside her.
I moved closer to the wall. “There’s room for both of us.”
She closed her eyes. “I’m good.”
I sighed and went to sleep. But when I woke up a couple of hours later, she was curled up next to me, still in her tank and tactical pants, her breath slow and even.
I came up on an elbow. Her dark lashes curved against soft, pink-touched cheeks, and her cap of shiny hair was sleep-mussed. She’d taken a shower. She smelled of clean soap and fresh-cut grass.
My chest hollowed out.
Holy crap, she was young. She should be in college or working a first job, not risking her life on a daily basis.
Those vampires who’d murdered her mom deserved to be chained to a post and left to burn in the summer sun. They hadn’t just taken her mom’s life, they’d stolen the life Ridley should’ve been living, pushed her into a high-risk profession.
And she didn’t risk only her life when she went out on a mission, she risked her freedom as well. Not every vampire staked the slayers they captured. Some kept them as blood slaves.
