He shrugged. “Sun should last another half hour. That’ll put us close enough to walk there tonight.”

  My anger seeped out quickly with his words. I sat up straighter. “I’ll see Ray tonight?” I asked eagerly.

  “When we get there, you need to listen to what I tell you.”

  “Yeah, okay.” I dismissed his concern almost immediately. I was too excited at the prospect of reuniting with Ray. She better be ok.

  “I mean it.”

  “I heard you.”

  I bounced in my seat, willing the car to drive faster, but it didn’t take long for it to start slowing down.

  “Why are you stopping?”

  “I’m not. The sun’s going down.” I looked up and sure enough, the sky was quickly changing colors. “It’s okay, though. We’re close enough.”

  Chapter 29

  The car rolled to a silent stop as the voltage levels dropped to zero. The sky was a kaleidoscope of pink, purple, orange, and blue. Soon, there would be no color at all. The most dangerous time to be out walking in the city. I wasn’t afraid though. I would be walking with a vampire.

  We both sat there in silence, staring out at the buildings in front of us. It wasn’t far, wouldn’t take long for us to reach Raven. I hoped I could remember where it even was. What if I couldn’t?

  My heart sped up painfully. I hadn’t considered that before. I had only been to the house, if it even was a house, once before. That had been when I was still pumped up and I was running for my life. That day was still a little fuzzy when I tried to remember.

  “What if I can’t find the place?” I asked Rueben.

  “We’ll find him.” He seemed so sure of himself, like there was no way we could fail.

  “But I can’t remember … I’m not sure if I can remember where it was.” Panic was starting to creep in. We had come all this way, now what? Why hadn’t I thought of that before?

  “Anya.” Rueben stopped all my frantic worrying with just one word.

  “What?”

  “We’ll find him.”

  I nodded slowly. Maybe they had some sort of connection, too. Maybe he could hear Ryan’s thoughts. Did that mean he knew if Ray was still alive? She had to be though. We didn’t come here just to fail.

  I didn’t fail her. I had gotten Rueben to come with me to meet Ryan.

  “So, stop worrying.”

  “I’m not worried.” But my voice was too high-pitched to be believable.

  I heard the click of his door opening and the whoosh of air as he got out of the car. It took me a few seconds to follow suit, but I got out of the car and stood with him outside. The air was cool and smelled of moisture. Maybe it would rain soon.

  “It’s fog.” Rueben informed me flatly.

  I turned around in a slow circle. “I don’t see any fog.”

  “Not yet.” He walked back to the car and grabbed my bag out. “We better get going.”

  I fell into step behind his easy pace. The mood was different now that we were so close to our destination. Guilt gnawed away at me until I felt almost sick.

  Rueben was walking into his death, and it was my fault. Six days ago, I hadn’t cared if he was going to die, things had changed now though. I cared now if Rueben died and the more I thought about it the more I realized I didn’t want him to die.

  I walked behind him silently, my mood growing darker with the sky. He had done a lot for me. I should just tell him to leave and I could go meet Ryan alone. Even if he killed me, it would be better than watching Rueben die.

  He stopped when we reached a low wall, well kind of low. It still came to my shoulders. “Rueben, I—”

  “Don’t.” He held up his hand. He heard everything. I pursed my lips and looked out over the wall.

  The city was eerie at night. I had been outside at night before, but only a few times and it was never for very long. I bit my lip, feeling the skin starting to peel up.

  “Are you sure this is a good idea?” I asked Rueben.

  His easy smile was gone, replaced with a look of hardness. He didn’t look afraid, just wary. “You’ll be safe.”

  He jumped on top of the low wall in an easy leap. I scowled up at him. How was I supposed to do that? “You’re such a show off,” I murmured.

  “It’s not that high.”

  I put my palms on the top of the cement and tried to pull myself up like I had seen him do. It was too high though and I ended up having to lay across it and pulling my legs up the rest of the way.

  “That wasn’t very good,” he remarked without a grin.

  My lips pulled down into a frown. Maybe it wasn’t as graceful as his attempt, but I had made it on the first try. “I’m up here, aren’t I?”

  “Guess so.”

  We both turned to see the city spread out before us. A heavy fog blanketed the streets, making it look like a scene from a scary movie. Where had all the fog come from? It wasn’t foggy outside of the wall. I looked back just to be sure, but it didn’t look as heavy. How did that happen?

  “It’s the lights in the city,” Rueben explained, “it makes it so you can see the fog better.”

  “This just adds to the fun, huh?” I muttered darkly. He didn’t smile.

  “I told you the god was coming.”

  He jumped to the ground in a graceful leap. I tried to follow and ended up on my hands and knees. I jumped up though and brushed the broken pieces of pavement from my palms. There was only a small dab of blood, which I wiped off on my pants. There was another rip in my knees added to the one I had received earlier.

  “That didn’t go so well.” His face wore a mask of surprise, but broke into a light laughter at my words.

  “No, it didn’t,” he agreed. “I should have left you in the car.”

  “You could have tried.”

  I saw his shoulders rise and fall again, but he didn’t argue with me. “Have you ever been to this part of the city?”

  I crept closer to where he was standing. “No, I don’t recognize anything.”

  “Then, we’re obviously not in the right place.” He raised both eyebrows and widened his eyes almost comically.

  I shrugged one shoulder. “Which way?”

  He looked to the left first and then the right. I followed his gaze. The right didn’t look like it went too far. I couldn’t see far enough down the other way to make a good enough guess.

  “It’s quiet down there,” he said. He lowered his own voice, listening intently for something. Did he expect to hear Ryan?

  “Should we go out to the main street?”

  He looked out ahead at the street. It wasn’t far, but it was so exposed. “I think we’ll need to.” He nodded grimly. “You stay close to me. Don’t go wandering off.” He watched my face intently.

  “You don’t have to worry about that.” I still hovered near his shoulder. “Why would I go anywhere by myself?”

  “No matter what you hear.”

  “Okay,” I snapped. We needed to keep moving. Didn’t he realize how dangerous it was out here? He was a vampire, but he was only one vampire. How many would he be able to fight off if it came down to it? He would probably just leave me behind if it got too out of hand.

  He looked like he was going to say something, but there was suddenly a low hiss from the left. Looked like that way was out now. Rueben stood up straighter, all senses focused on that low hiss. His eyes narrowed and his fists balled up.

  It wasn’t like he could fight every single one, though, we’d never get very far. “Let’s just go,” I whispered close to his ear.

  He nodded toward the main road, keeping himself between me and whatever was hiding in the shadows as I scurried in that direction. I still didn’t recognize anything but judging from the buildings, we weren’t far from where Ryan was hiding out.

  Rueben came up close behind me. “You’ve been here before,” he muttered.

  “No I haven’t.” I looked around again, this time really looking at all the buildings. Nothing.

  “You were.”

  “How do you know that?”

  “This way.”

  He stepped in front of me to lead the way. I glanced behind us one more time. A pale face stared at me from where we had just been. My heart slammed against my ribs painfully. The vampire didn’t attack, though. It stayed hidden away in the shadows of the alley. Strange.

  “Anya.”

  He had only moved a few feet in front of me, but I hurried to catch up. We moved quietly through the empty streets. The fog was too thick for me to see much, but Rueben acted as if he knew exactly where we were going.

  “I’m following your scent.”

  “My scent? Are you serious?” He had to be joking. I hadn’t even ever been here.

  “You must have been bleeding,” he continued solemnly. I inhaled deeply, trying to smell what he was, but I only smelled the normal smells. The things that made me gag.

  “When Ryan had you,” he hesitated to finish his question. “did he hurt you?”

  “Well, he didn’t exactly hug us and invite us to tea.” I tried to remember all that had taken place, but my memory was as foggy as the street.

  “You were bleeding,” he repeated.

  “Ray was,” I remembered suddenly, “he stabbed her leg.” My heart sank with the memory.

  “It’s you,” he insisted.

  “The chains were tight.” I circled my wrist with one hand. “Maybe my wrists were bleeding.”

  He pulled my hand close to his face and examined my wrists. They were healed now, of course, but still peppered with tiny white scars. He let my hand go with a small grunt. “We’re close,” he murmured darkly.

  There was a sound somewhere behind us. It sounded like someone crying, but I couldn’t see anyone through the thick fog. The soft crying continued.

  “Just keep walking,” Rueben ordered.

  “I am,” I hissed back.

  No way was I stopping, did he think I was crazy? I was fair game out here at night. If another vampire got close enough, they could drag my off into the night and drain me dry. I’m sure I would taste just fine to them.

  There was a low growl beside me. My heart stuttered and I pressed myself closer to Rueben. I pulled back abruptly when I realized it was him doing the growling.

  “Why are you doing that?” I whispered. “Do you hear him? Is he close?”

  I pranced close to his side again, holding onto his arm. What I wouldn’t give for some daylight. We should have just stayed in the car tonight and waited until morning to come into the city. It would have been safer.

  “I don’t hear him,” he growled. “I only hear you.”

  “I’m not saying anything.”

  “No one will come out and take you,” he vowed.

  A flutter started low in my stomach and I almost smiled, but then I heard shuffling from somewhere in the fog. Rueben stopped and glared in the same direction, his lip pulled back in a ferocious snarl.

  I didn’t know if whoever was out in the darkness was impressed, but I certainly was. This was the man from my nightmares, this was how I remembered him. This was so different, though … so much better.

  “Come on,” he commanded harshly.

  I kept close to his side as we continued through the sleeping city. I was more confident of him now that he had growled at my unseen predators.

  “Do you think we’re close?” I whispered.

  “Shh.”

  I peered all around, trying desperately to see something I remembered. There were bus stops all along the way, but that didn’t spark much. There were bus stops everywhere. Buses were almost the only way left to travel in the city.

  “I don’t think we’re going the right way,” I told him after only a few minutes had passed.

  He stopped walking, his posture stiffened alarmingly. “We are.”

  My breath was coming too loud, too heavy. “How do you know?”

  He didn’t say anything, he didn’t have to. Another voice came from somewhere in the fog. A familiar voice that set my teeth on edge and my heart skip a beat.

  “Hello, Anya,” Ryan called. “I see that you’ve brought us company.”

  Chapter 30

  My eyes were wide, I could feel them bugging out of my skull. We had found him; or he had found us. I still wasn’t sure which one was the hunter. I was usually the hunted, but I couldn’t imagine Rueben being so weak.

  “Is Ray with him? Ask him,” I urged in a low hiss.

  He took the time to glare at me but didn’t say anything. What was everyone waiting for? Rueben was here, alone, why wasn’t Ryan attacking? Did he think it was a trap? It wasn’t though. Should I tell him it wasn’t? Would he let Ray go then?

  I stood awkwardly beside Rueben, my heart in my throat. I couldn’t just choke on the last inning. It didn’t matter anyway. We were already here, and no matter how strong Rueben was, he couldn’t fight off all of Ryan’s vampires. It was Nevada all over again.

  This time, it was Rueben in trouble. Where was Paris to bail him out? I only wanted Ray, I didn’t want Rueben to die. I looked over at him, my panic and turmoil raw on my face. How could I save them both? What would I have to give up?

  What would I sacrifice to save the man who had hunted me down all these years? He shook his head, already knowing where my thoughts were going. The truth was, I would do anything to keep him safe. I loved him.

  I pressed my hand tight against my mouth, determined not to cry out. This wasn’t the time or the place to have a revelation like that. I couldn’t love Rueben, it was impossible, and yet … I did.

  “Anya,” he breathed.

  I nodded my head quickly, my hand still over my mouth. I already knew everything he was thinking, not because I could hear this thoughts; but because I was having them, too. I was crazy, completely and absolutely crazy.

  “Just go,” I hissed through my fingers.

  “Anya,” he said again.

  I looked up, my eyes locking with his. My entire world was in there, swimming around in those golden orbs. How could I have thought I could just give him up to Ryan?

  Focus on Raven.

  I heard his voice so clearly it was as if he had said it out loud but I was still staring at him so I knew he didn’t. Was I hearing his thoughts? I let my hand fall away from my mouth, half in shock. What?

  Game face, Anya. We need to see about Ray.

  “Right.” I nodded. My legs jerked around as if I were a puppet on the string of a drunk man. I couldn’t stand still.

  Rueben kept a watchful glare on me. No one came out of the fog though. If I squinted hard enough, I could just make out some shapes. I could barely stand the stress, though. Someone had to make the first move. Why shouldn’t it be me?

  “Get behind me.” His order was low, but the words were spoken in an urgent intensity.

  My mind went quickly to all the reasons I should not listen to him but my feet went against my will and carried me to hide behind his muscular form. “Do you see her?”

  “No.”

  I could almost feel the tension hovering just above his shoulders. I pressed myself closer to his back. “Where is she?”

  “Are you referring to this one?” The sound of Ryan’s voice made the blood in my veins freeze. I choked back a sob as it started again in a rapid rhythm, much too fast to be normal.

  “Raven?” I called out my question, too afraid to look.

  “Anya.”

  It was her voice, but it sounded different. What was wrong with her? Unable to resist I peeked over Rueben’s shoulder. My eyes sought out my sister but the fog was thick and I could just make out the shapes of way too many people standing across from us. We were going to be slaughtered. Why wasn’t Rueben running? He could have outrun them, or at least tried.

  His hand curled around his side to keep me back and a low growl came from his throat. “Stay,” he barely whispered the command.

  “What is wrong with her? It doesn’t sound like my sister. What have they done?”

  Ryan laughed, the sound carrying far over to us. It was a low laugh, sinister and dark. “She was begging for it,” he taunted.

  “What did you do?”

  “I did the right thing. I saved her.”

  One lone figure stepped closer to us, finally becoming clear as she stepped out of the concealing fog. Her long dark hair danced in the wind, covering her eyes and forehead. “Anya,” Raven spoke my name.

  I tried to break free from Rueben to go to her but he held me back. “That’s Raven,” I hissed.

  “She’s …”

  “Come with me, Anya.”

  My mind raced with indecision. I couldn’t deny that something about her was off, and yet, what else was I going to do? “Rueben?”

  “He’s changed her.”

  “Changed her?”

  “And now he controls her if he wants to.”

  “Come on, Rueben,” Ryan called. “I thought you wanted the girls dead. I’m just trying to do you a favor.”

  “You didn’t kill her.”

  “I changed her, I gave her life.”

  “You … you changed her into a vampire?” Tears sprang to my eyes but refused to fall.

  “She was already half way there, my love.” Ryan still hid in the fog.

  “But …”

  “You can come join us.”

  “Where’s Nadia? Did you change her, too?”

  “Nadia … is gone.”

  “Gone where?” My voice squeaked in panic. I grasped tighter to Rueben’s arm. “Does he mean that she is dead?” I whispered to him. But no, I already knew where she was.

  “No. I don’t think he does. She got away.”

  “She didn’t get away. Your brother came and took her. Don’t you worry, Rueben, we’ll get her back.” Without even a glance to me, Raven turned and rejoined Ryan and his gang.

  “Where is she going? We have to get her.”

  “They’re leaving.” His words came out flat, but I felt the anger he held back.

  “Wh-what are we going to do?”

  “We?” he sneered. “I am taking you to Nadia and then the two of you can do whatever the hell you want.”

  “No,” I held tight to his arm in case he was going to try and get away from me. “We are not leaving here without Raven.”

 

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