Seth nodded. “Yes, sir.”
Garr nodded. “Well, we glad to have your help here in Charles Town. Been a long time since we had much trouble here, dat’s right, Noah?”
Noah gave me a quick glance. “Yes, sir.”
Garr leaned forward, crab meat sticking to his fingers. “Well, we got it now, doh. Dem Arcoses, dey turned some, dey left some wit tendencies, dey killed some. No tellin’ how many runnin’ round now, doh.”
“Preacher says we have to entomb them again,” Eli offered. “Maybe just one of them.”
Garr nodded. “Probly so.” Eli had already explained to Garr Victorian’s explanation, and about me. The whole while, Garr said nothing more. But he watched me with ancient, wise eyes.
We finished eating; I don’t think I’d ever eaten so many crabs at once. They were good, with just the right amount of seasoning. Some of it I recognized as normal, regular, everyday spicy crab boil seasoning; some I did not.
“To keep up your strength,” Noah said, staring at me from across the table. He wagged his brows.
By the time we finished, the sun had nearly set; the gloaming, Noah had called it, with no sun, no moon, and the eerie glow of afterlight. Usually, the gloaming was filled with bugs and birds and frogs, calling, mating, singing—not so much anymore. Funny how nature knew what was going on, but humans didn’t.
We left the dock, and the afterlight, behind.
Inside Garr’s river house, he pulled something from the pocket of his white T-shirt and stopped us one more time. He handed a vial each to Seth and me. “Drink up, Brodder and Sister,” he said. “Dis will let dem newlin’s tink you mortal all de way. Might help for a spell, dat’s right.”
Neither Seth nor I hesitated; we unscrewed the small little lid and turned the bottle upright. We drained every drop. It tasted a mixture of sweet and tang, but with no aftertaste. We handed the vials back to Garr.
“Dere now. You go and take care of stuff. I’m here if you need me,” he said.
“Thank you,” I returned, and before I could go, he grasped both of my hands. With aged fingers he trailed the dragons on my arms, scraping the wings at my cheek.
“You mind dem Duprés, girl,” he said. “And dis Noah, too. Dey keep you and your brodder safe, and Preachers boys and dat odder big dark fella.” He narrowed his eyes. “Don be a hardhead, girl. You can’t take dem all on by yourself.”
“Yes, sir,” I answered, and could only wonder what sort of conversations he and Preacher’ had had about me.
Garr grinned. “Wasn’t no Preacher, girl. Was Eli Dupré. Now git.”
I could do nothing more than stare.
Garr laughed and shooed us out of his little old green river house. Eli grasped my arm and pulled me close.
As we crossed the yard, the lamplight cast an amber half circle around the house. Beyond the circle, fireflies blinked in the night. It felt surreal here, on the Awendaw; almost disjointed from the hell in Charleston. I knew better, though, and by the time we left and headed south on US 17, complete darkness had fallen. This time, I rode back with Eli on his bike.
Just as we hit the city limits, I felt Eli’s hand grasp mine, wrapped around his waist, and squeeze. He said nothing. He didn’t have to, and I wasn’t going to ask.
No sooner had Eli stopped the bike than Victorian’s voice fill my head.
Please, Riley—you don’t have to do this. It is a fight you will never win, love. Don’t you see? There’re too many of them, and I cannot stand the thought of your putting yourself in danger. I’m begging you—leave now. Please? And yes—you can answer me in your head. Another strigoi quality. Just think to me… .
“What is it that you can’t stand the thought of? My killing your kind? I’m in constant danger, Victorian. Whether I’m in the fight or not. You know me by now—I will not sit idly by and watch others die. Maybe you can live with that, but I can’t, ” I thought.
“Ah, see? Just that easy. You’ll find more abilities as time goes by. And this—it’s one of the many qualities I adore about you, Riley. I so wish I could just take you away. You and I, completely alone somewhere, far away from the melee you’re about to subject yourself to. I dream of nothing, day and night, but you; the smell of your skin, the taste of your lips, the feel of your hands on me. It’s … almost painful.”
“I’m not getting into that with you right now, Victorian. You know where my heart lies,” I thought to myself.
“I know where you think your heart lies. I aim to prove otherwise. For now, love, I beg you; listen to those around you. Let them keep you safe. My existence would be no longer if you perish.”
“I can’t make promises, other than I will be careful. Now, go away. You’re distracting me.”
Ah, a promising gesture indeed. Distraction. I have more hope now than before. I shall see you soon, love. Stay safe.
“Ri, what’s wrong?”
I blinked, and just that fast, the conversation was over. I focused on Eli’s face. I could tell he couldn’t hear my conversation with Victorian. “I just carried on a conversation with Victorian. In my head,” I said, closing my eyes briefly. I looked at him. Eli’s eyes were harder than usual, but he said nothing. “He says it’s my strigoi blood that gives me the ability, and no,” I said, meeting his angry gaze, “I don’t want it. But I’m stuck with it. And he was begging me not to fight.” I wasn’t lying—Victorian was a distraction. Eli was a distraction. Anything right now was a distraction. I had to get my mind in the game and erase all other distractions from my thoughts. It was bad enough my little brother ran beside me in all this; I had to do things right the first time and get this shit over with.
“Thank you for telling me,” Eli said. “No more secrets, Riley.”
My stomach turned. “No more secrets.”
“We ready to get dirty?” Noah said, walking from the garage and standing before me in the beam of street light.
I glanced at Luc, who rolled up and pushed his bike in next to the Camaro.
“Yep,” I said. “Let’s go.” Noah’s guys appeared from the building; Zetty with them. Phin, Luc, Seth, Eli, and I gathered.
“This way,” Noah said, and took off running. His team followed.
“Ladies first,” Luc said, but Eli grabbed my arm when I started off. “Riley,” he said. “Be careful. I mean it.”
“I always am,” I said, and hoped he could detect the sincerity in my gaze. He gave a short nod—meaning he understood—and we took off after the group.
Jenna, in her baggy jeans, T-back, and black high-tops, could just about outrun Noah. We moved through the city’s industrial section on foot, bounding off rooftops, treetops, cars and awnings; there wasn’t a flat surface we couldn’t use. Zetty, whom I hadn’t done any free-running with, surprised the hell out of me. That big guy could haul ass and jump just as high as Phin. He wasn’t quite as nimble, maybe, and obviously not as experienced; Phin had been doing it a lot longer. Still, he was impressive.
The brine of the city, mixed with the dirt and trash and urine of downtown industrial Charleston, hung thick in the air, trapped in the same fog of humidity as Savannah. Dark clouds had formed, just before dark, and a slight rumble sounded in the darkened distance. Every once in a while, heat lightning would flash across the sky.
It brought back heated memories of Eli and me on the barrier island, not too long ago, and he must have remembered, too, because our gazes met frequently and there was always something there, heated, between us. It thrilled me and urged me on.
As we ran and leapt, my anger, anxiety, fear, propelled me. I pumped my arms, used my thigh muscles to spring from ledges, and moved with all my energy until I burned. It felt good; the weight of my blades, sheathed in moleskin made by my surrogate grandfather, felt more familiar; adrenaline built up. By the time Noah led us to a dilapidated redbrick building in a row of other old buildings in the very slums of Charleston, I barely recognized it as an old church; after I noticed the double wooden archways, I wondered if it’d once been a carriage house. Graffiti in white paint marked the double doors—two large M’s, whatever that meant. Crouched atop the roof across the street, we peered at the row. I could hear the roar inside. With my sense of smell I detected sweat, piss, and the metallic scent of blood. I struggled to keep the exaggerated oscillatory sounds of the city out, and after a few moments of concentration, I filtered out most. I glanced upward. One small oval window, near the top, flickered with light. Noah moved next to me. Eli stood protectively on my other side.
“No cops wander this side of town,” he said. “They skirt it, avoid it, and it’s always been bad, and I don’t mean vampire bad.” He glanced at me. “That’s a new development. I mean street gangs, drugs, whores—you name it. It’s just easier for the cops to let what happens, happen. Not enough room in the prison for all this.”
I looked at him.
He pointed up the street. “See that convenience store?” I looked. “Whatever kind of shit you want, you can get out back next to the Dumpster, right along with a loaf of bread, a bag of Chick-O-Sticks, and a six-pack of beer.”
“Sweet place to raise a family,” I offered. “Now, are we headed in or what? I don’t want to be in the middle of a fight when a vision comes over me again. I go totally out.”
“I know,” Noah said, his mercury eyes regarding me, then shifting to Eli. “I can always pull you out of it.”
“The hell you will,” Eli said, his voice dark and threatening.
I narrowed my gaze at them both.
He laughed. “Okay, Riley Poe. Bro. Chill.” He inclined his head. “Once we’re in, we separate. If any of the newlings notice us all together, they’ll get suspicious and come after us, despite the Gullah potion we all drank. You wanna try and save a few in the quickening, right?”
