“Thanks, man.” Lucas stared malevolently at the silent Balthazar until the door had shut behind them. Then he said, “Bianca, stand by the door. If they come back or somebody else walks up—”
“I’m on it.”
Balthazar finally lifted his head. He looked worse than in pain; he looked sad. “Come to gloat?”
Lucas snapped, “No, dumb ass, I’m trying to figure out how to get you free. You want to help with that, or would you rather mope around for a while before your inevitable painful death? Your call.”
“Wait,” Balthazar said, hope dawning. “You’re here to help?”
I went to the door, though I was unwilling to be so far from Balthazar. “Are you hurting? Did they do anything to you?”
“Bianca, what are you doing with these people? This is too dangerous for you.” How typical of Balthazar, to ignore the deep trouble he was in and worry about somebody else. “They can’t know who and what you are.”
“No, they don’t.” My voice was pitched at a whisper, so nobody downstairs might awaken and hear it. Thank goodness they were probably too tired to be roused even by an explosion.
“We’re sort of stuck with them right now until we can get some money and get away on our own.”
Balthazar turned toward Lucas, who was testing the strength of the metal railing Balthazar was chained to. Unfortunately, it looked sturdy. “You have to get her out of this. Immediately. Don’t worry about the damned money. Just go.”
“Easy to say,” Lucas said. “Hard to do, particularly when you’ve got to take care of somebody else.”
“Can’t you get the handcuffs off?” I pleaded. “They said it would be a while before they came back. That’s plenty of time for Balthazar to get away. We could say he overpowered us.”
Lucas shook his head. “There’re guards set up all around here. The only place that isn’t guarded is the river, and given the whole running water problem, I’m guessing Balthazar can’t swim out of here.”
Wincing, Balthazar said, “Absolutely not.”
“I’ll think of something,” Lucas said. He sounded like he was trying to make himself believe it. “Why did you join this little hunting party, anyway? Didn’t think you were Mrs. Bethany’s errand boy.”
“Hardly.” Balthazar groaned. “But she said Bianca was here and I thought—I thought she might be in trouble. The kind of trouble I’m in now.”
He’d run into unimaginable danger because he was afraid for me. That made this all my fault. Touched by his devotion, but angry with myself, I leaned my head against the doorjamb and shut my eyes for a second.
I heard Balthazar say, “So why are you helping me out, Lucas? Last time I checked, you still believed in the war against vampires.”
“You haven’t checked lately, have you?” Lucas replied.
“Besides—you’d help Bianca, no matter what. That means I help you, no matter what.”
Lifting my head, I saw Lucas and Balthazar regarding each other. For the first time, there was real respect in Balthazar’s eyes. “Okay.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have any idea what to do for you.” Lucas kicked at the railing and swore. “Balthazar, I’m going to try, but I can’t promise.”
“I understand,” Balthazar said. He was speaking to me more than to Lucas now. “Don’t put yourselves in danger on my account. It’s not worth it.”
“Yes, it is,” I whispered. Lucas’s eyes darted toward me, but he said nothing. “There’s no way we’re leaving you here. I don’t care what I have to do.”
Lucas cut in, “We’ll come up with something. But it might take a couple of days. Those days might be pretty rough.”
With my vampire-sharp hearing, I detected Milos and the other guards coming closer. “They’re back.”
Balthazar quickly said, “Whatever they do to me—I promise you, I’ve been through worse.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Lucas said, “but hang on.”
The door banged open, and Milos and the other guard returned. “Had your fun?”
“Just had a little chat,” Lucas said. He glanced down at Balthazar, giving him a look I could see but the guards couldn’t—like a warning. Then he pulled his fist back, as if to punch Balthazar, who winced. Their playacting almost convinced me. Lucas relaxed, grinning wickedly. “Let him think it over for a while, huh?”
“Sure,” Milos said with a leer. “Take Bianca off to bed.”
They both laughed, happy to join the taunting. Balthazar closed his eyes.
Lucas grabbed my hand and towed me outside, before I started crying. I let him even though I didn’t want to go. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see Balthazar again.
Chapter Nine
IF I’D THOUGHT STAYING WITH BLACK CROSS WAS claustrophobic before, I hadn’t known the half of it. Now all twenty or so people staying at the harbor station were huddled in a room that wouldn’t have been big enough for ten people to sleep comfortably. There was no privacy, no silence, and no chance to talk to Lucas.
At least we were near each other.
Lucas and I technically slept on separate pallets that lay side by side, but that left no space between us, not in that room. As soon as we stretched out, Lucas pulled his blanket over us and spooned behind me, his belly to my back. One arm cradled me around the waist, and I could feel his breath against the back of my neck.
I closed my eyes, luxuriating in the moment. If only we were alone. If only I weren’t still so shaken from the attack and Balthazar’s capture that my entire body trembled. It would have been so sweet.
Lucas softly kissed the back of my neck. I knew he was trying to tell me to have faith that we’d figure something out. But I knew as well as Lucas did how difficult that would be.
My fingertip traced along Lucas’s hand and fingers. I could feel the fine hairs on his forearm, the movement of his thumb as he made little soothing circles around my navel.
For a moment, I contemplated turning around and kissing him. If the others woke up and laughed, I almost didn’t care.
Yet exhaustion weighed me down, and I knew Lucas was even more wiped out than I was. Besides, tomorrow, we’d need our wits and strength.
I closed my eyes, wondering if I could possibly fall asleep with so much on my mind—and then, what seemed like a few seconds later, I realized that everyone around me was getting up. I’d slept through the night without feeling like I’d rested at all.
“Mom?” Lucas said, pushing himself up on one elbow. He was still curved behind me; we’d been tangled up in each other all night. “How are you?”
“Fine.” Kate pulled her hair back tightly into a stubby ponytail. Her body was so tense that I could see every muscle in her arms working. “I’m going upstairs. We need answers.”
I gasped in dismay, but Lucas put a warning hand on my shoulder. When I glanced at him over my shoulder, he said only, “Get dressed. We should be a part of this.”
Robotically, I grabbed my clothes—the same stuff I’d worn yesterday—and started to pull my jeans on.
The trained hunters around us got ready and went upstairs first, which left Raquel and me alone for a minute. “Looks like we’re back in uniforms,” Raquel said, pointing to the new white undershirt she wore; Black Cross had kept a case of them around for emergencies, which meant everyone was matching today. “We’ll have to go back and look for our stuff in the tunnels. Some of it might be okay. I hope we can get your brooch at least.”
I hadn’t even thought about the jet brooch Lucas had given me. Though it pierced me to imagine that it was lost in the rubble forever, that wasn’t exactly my top priority. “Raquel, do you know who it is they captured?”
“A vampire,” she said breezily. “Wait, was it Mrs. Bethany? No, they’d have told us anything that good.”
“It’s Balthazar.”
Raquel’s head jerked around. I could tell she almost didn’t believe me—as if I would’ve ever joked about something like that. During the school year, Balthazar and Raquel had spent a lot of time together because of me. We’d all gone into Riverton together, studied in the library, and even shared a picnic on the grounds of Evernight. She’d always liked him, at least until she learned that he was a vampire. Surely a year of friendship couldn’t vanish overnight.
Each word clipped, she said, “Let’s get up there. We’re late.”
By the time we walked into the room where Balthazar was kept, he was surrounded. The hunters, except those standing guard outside, had circled him, and Kate stood in front, only a couple of feet away. His arms were stretched above his head, still handcuffed to the railing, and I could see that the skin around his wrists had been rubbed raw.
At the sound of the door, Balthazar glanced over at me. Raquel ducked her head, perhaps ashamed. I felt like doing the same, but I saw the need in his eyes. Balthazar wanted to see one friendly face while this was happening. I’d just have to be strong enough to do that for him.
“So you say this was only a revenge thing.” Kate paced the floor, her boots loud on the cement. “We hit your house, you hit ours—that’s it?”
“Sounds the same to me,” Balthazar said. “Except, of course, your attack endangered innocents. Ours didn’t.”
Kate’s response was to kick him savagely in the side.
No! I braced one hand against the wall.
Kate rasped, “I’m not taking any moral lectures from a vampire. Not the night after you killed my husband.”
Balthazar had the good sense to remain silent.
In the far corner, near where Lucas was, his expression grim and his arms folded, Eliza stood. I thought she meant only to oversee until she called, “You were after something. Admit it.”
“I told you.” Balthazar leaned his head against the wall behind him. “We were after revenge.”
Eliza shook her head. “No way. That many vampires working together—that doesn’t happen often. Mrs. Bethany’s planning something. And you’re going to tell us what it is.”
“She might be planning something,” he answered, surprising me. But I realized that Balthazar was looking right at Lucas as he said it; apparently he thought this information was important, something we ought to know. “I think she’s traveled more in the last month than in the last century. Vampires who normally consider themselves loners have flocked to her side because of the burning of Evernight. Basically, you’ve given us common cause. Mrs. Bethany might be able to use that.”
“Use that to do what?” Eliza demanded.
Balthazar closed his eyes wearily. “I don’t know. I’d planned to leave before Mrs. Bethany said we were coming here. She doesn’t take me into her confidence.”
Why would Balthazar plan to leave Evernight? I wondered. Normally, I would have expected him to be the first one helping rebuild.
Then I thought of Charity—his younger sister, the psycho, who had led Black Cross to Evernight. Balthazar had been the one to turn her into a vampire, something for which he’d never forgiven himself. She’d fled after the fire, and probably Balthazar was still trying to find her, to somehow recapture the closeness they’d lost so long ago.
“So, you say you don’t know.” Eliza stepped a little closer. I saw that she had a gun in one hand, but it was only a neon-green plastic water gun. The toy looked incredibly silly, but I realized that it would be loaded with holy water—real holy water, the kind that could burn a vampire like acid. “You understand that I don’t believe you.”
“Yeah,” Balthazar said. “I thought that was how it might go.”
“I’m on it.”
Balthazar finally lifted his head. He looked worse than in pain; he looked sad. “Come to gloat?”
Lucas snapped, “No, dumb ass, I’m trying to figure out how to get you free. You want to help with that, or would you rather mope around for a while before your inevitable painful death? Your call.”
“Wait,” Balthazar said, hope dawning. “You’re here to help?”
I went to the door, though I was unwilling to be so far from Balthazar. “Are you hurting? Did they do anything to you?”
“Bianca, what are you doing with these people? This is too dangerous for you.” How typical of Balthazar, to ignore the deep trouble he was in and worry about somebody else. “They can’t know who and what you are.”
“No, they don’t.” My voice was pitched at a whisper, so nobody downstairs might awaken and hear it. Thank goodness they were probably too tired to be roused even by an explosion.
“We’re sort of stuck with them right now until we can get some money and get away on our own.”
Balthazar turned toward Lucas, who was testing the strength of the metal railing Balthazar was chained to. Unfortunately, it looked sturdy. “You have to get her out of this. Immediately. Don’t worry about the damned money. Just go.”
“Easy to say,” Lucas said. “Hard to do, particularly when you’ve got to take care of somebody else.”
“Can’t you get the handcuffs off?” I pleaded. “They said it would be a while before they came back. That’s plenty of time for Balthazar to get away. We could say he overpowered us.”
Lucas shook his head. “There’re guards set up all around here. The only place that isn’t guarded is the river, and given the whole running water problem, I’m guessing Balthazar can’t swim out of here.”
Wincing, Balthazar said, “Absolutely not.”
“I’ll think of something,” Lucas said. He sounded like he was trying to make himself believe it. “Why did you join this little hunting party, anyway? Didn’t think you were Mrs. Bethany’s errand boy.”
“Hardly.” Balthazar groaned. “But she said Bianca was here and I thought—I thought she might be in trouble. The kind of trouble I’m in now.”
He’d run into unimaginable danger because he was afraid for me. That made this all my fault. Touched by his devotion, but angry with myself, I leaned my head against the doorjamb and shut my eyes for a second.
I heard Balthazar say, “So why are you helping me out, Lucas? Last time I checked, you still believed in the war against vampires.”
“You haven’t checked lately, have you?” Lucas replied.
“Besides—you’d help Bianca, no matter what. That means I help you, no matter what.”
Lifting my head, I saw Lucas and Balthazar regarding each other. For the first time, there was real respect in Balthazar’s eyes. “Okay.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that I don’t have any idea what to do for you.” Lucas kicked at the railing and swore. “Balthazar, I’m going to try, but I can’t promise.”
“I understand,” Balthazar said. He was speaking to me more than to Lucas now. “Don’t put yourselves in danger on my account. It’s not worth it.”
“Yes, it is,” I whispered. Lucas’s eyes darted toward me, but he said nothing. “There’s no way we’re leaving you here. I don’t care what I have to do.”
Lucas cut in, “We’ll come up with something. But it might take a couple of days. Those days might be pretty rough.”
With my vampire-sharp hearing, I detected Milos and the other guards coming closer. “They’re back.”
Balthazar quickly said, “Whatever they do to me—I promise you, I’ve been through worse.”
“Don’t be so sure,” Lucas said, “but hang on.”
The door banged open, and Milos and the other guard returned. “Had your fun?”
“Just had a little chat,” Lucas said. He glanced down at Balthazar, giving him a look I could see but the guards couldn’t—like a warning. Then he pulled his fist back, as if to punch Balthazar, who winced. Their playacting almost convinced me. Lucas relaxed, grinning wickedly. “Let him think it over for a while, huh?”
“Sure,” Milos said with a leer. “Take Bianca off to bed.”
They both laughed, happy to join the taunting. Balthazar closed his eyes.
Lucas grabbed my hand and towed me outside, before I started crying. I let him even though I didn’t want to go. I wasn’t sure I’d ever see Balthazar again.
Chapter Nine
IF I’D THOUGHT STAYING WITH BLACK CROSS WAS claustrophobic before, I hadn’t known the half of it. Now all twenty or so people staying at the harbor station were huddled in a room that wouldn’t have been big enough for ten people to sleep comfortably. There was no privacy, no silence, and no chance to talk to Lucas.
At least we were near each other.
Lucas and I technically slept on separate pallets that lay side by side, but that left no space between us, not in that room. As soon as we stretched out, Lucas pulled his blanket over us and spooned behind me, his belly to my back. One arm cradled me around the waist, and I could feel his breath against the back of my neck.
I closed my eyes, luxuriating in the moment. If only we were alone. If only I weren’t still so shaken from the attack and Balthazar’s capture that my entire body trembled. It would have been so sweet.
Lucas softly kissed the back of my neck. I knew he was trying to tell me to have faith that we’d figure something out. But I knew as well as Lucas did how difficult that would be.
My fingertip traced along Lucas’s hand and fingers. I could feel the fine hairs on his forearm, the movement of his thumb as he made little soothing circles around my navel.
For a moment, I contemplated turning around and kissing him. If the others woke up and laughed, I almost didn’t care.
Yet exhaustion weighed me down, and I knew Lucas was even more wiped out than I was. Besides, tomorrow, we’d need our wits and strength.
I closed my eyes, wondering if I could possibly fall asleep with so much on my mind—and then, what seemed like a few seconds later, I realized that everyone around me was getting up. I’d slept through the night without feeling like I’d rested at all.
“Mom?” Lucas said, pushing himself up on one elbow. He was still curved behind me; we’d been tangled up in each other all night. “How are you?”
“Fine.” Kate pulled her hair back tightly into a stubby ponytail. Her body was so tense that I could see every muscle in her arms working. “I’m going upstairs. We need answers.”
I gasped in dismay, but Lucas put a warning hand on my shoulder. When I glanced at him over my shoulder, he said only, “Get dressed. We should be a part of this.”
Robotically, I grabbed my clothes—the same stuff I’d worn yesterday—and started to pull my jeans on.
The trained hunters around us got ready and went upstairs first, which left Raquel and me alone for a minute. “Looks like we’re back in uniforms,” Raquel said, pointing to the new white undershirt she wore; Black Cross had kept a case of them around for emergencies, which meant everyone was matching today. “We’ll have to go back and look for our stuff in the tunnels. Some of it might be okay. I hope we can get your brooch at least.”
I hadn’t even thought about the jet brooch Lucas had given me. Though it pierced me to imagine that it was lost in the rubble forever, that wasn’t exactly my top priority. “Raquel, do you know who it is they captured?”
“A vampire,” she said breezily. “Wait, was it Mrs. Bethany? No, they’d have told us anything that good.”
“It’s Balthazar.”
Raquel’s head jerked around. I could tell she almost didn’t believe me—as if I would’ve ever joked about something like that. During the school year, Balthazar and Raquel had spent a lot of time together because of me. We’d all gone into Riverton together, studied in the library, and even shared a picnic on the grounds of Evernight. She’d always liked him, at least until she learned that he was a vampire. Surely a year of friendship couldn’t vanish overnight.
Each word clipped, she said, “Let’s get up there. We’re late.”
By the time we walked into the room where Balthazar was kept, he was surrounded. The hunters, except those standing guard outside, had circled him, and Kate stood in front, only a couple of feet away. His arms were stretched above his head, still handcuffed to the railing, and I could see that the skin around his wrists had been rubbed raw.
At the sound of the door, Balthazar glanced over at me. Raquel ducked her head, perhaps ashamed. I felt like doing the same, but I saw the need in his eyes. Balthazar wanted to see one friendly face while this was happening. I’d just have to be strong enough to do that for him.
“So you say this was only a revenge thing.” Kate paced the floor, her boots loud on the cement. “We hit your house, you hit ours—that’s it?”
“Sounds the same to me,” Balthazar said. “Except, of course, your attack endangered innocents. Ours didn’t.”
Kate’s response was to kick him savagely in the side.
No! I braced one hand against the wall.
Kate rasped, “I’m not taking any moral lectures from a vampire. Not the night after you killed my husband.”
Balthazar had the good sense to remain silent.
In the far corner, near where Lucas was, his expression grim and his arms folded, Eliza stood. I thought she meant only to oversee until she called, “You were after something. Admit it.”
“I told you.” Balthazar leaned his head against the wall behind him. “We were after revenge.”
Eliza shook her head. “No way. That many vampires working together—that doesn’t happen often. Mrs. Bethany’s planning something. And you’re going to tell us what it is.”
“She might be planning something,” he answered, surprising me. But I realized that Balthazar was looking right at Lucas as he said it; apparently he thought this information was important, something we ought to know. “I think she’s traveled more in the last month than in the last century. Vampires who normally consider themselves loners have flocked to her side because of the burning of Evernight. Basically, you’ve given us common cause. Mrs. Bethany might be able to use that.”
“Use that to do what?” Eliza demanded.
Balthazar closed his eyes wearily. “I don’t know. I’d planned to leave before Mrs. Bethany said we were coming here. She doesn’t take me into her confidence.”
Why would Balthazar plan to leave Evernight? I wondered. Normally, I would have expected him to be the first one helping rebuild.
Then I thought of Charity—his younger sister, the psycho, who had led Black Cross to Evernight. Balthazar had been the one to turn her into a vampire, something for which he’d never forgiven himself. She’d fled after the fire, and probably Balthazar was still trying to find her, to somehow recapture the closeness they’d lost so long ago.
“So, you say you don’t know.” Eliza stepped a little closer. I saw that she had a gun in one hand, but it was only a neon-green plastic water gun. The toy looked incredibly silly, but I realized that it would be loaded with holy water—real holy water, the kind that could burn a vampire like acid. “You understand that I don’t believe you.”
“Yeah,” Balthazar said. “I thought that was how it might go.”
