Almost Everything

by Tate Hallaway

  My arm was still tender, and I cradled it in my lap. Nik glanced over at my movement and made a face. “We need to wrap that. Chyort voz’mi! That looks awful.”

  Nik must have been really upset to swear in Russian. He once confessed to me that he felt like a peasant anytime his father’s language slipped out. I looked at my arm. He was right, of course.

  I heard a ripping sound from the backseat. When I turned to look, Elias had torn off a long strip from the tail of his shirt. “Give it here, my lady. It’s the least I can do.”

  Unbuckling, I turned around again. Nik watched us warily in the rearview, his mouth set in a grim line. Elias gently and expertly wrapped the wound on my arm. “I think you may be on to something,” he said, twisting the ends into a clever knot. “Perhaps there’s a scientist among the coveners whom you trust?”

  Thing was, I wasn’t very tight with any of the Elders. They’d pretty much shut me out since the disaster that was my Initiation. “My mom knows all the university types, but I don’t know if that means we can trust them or not.”

  “To the queen’s credit, she seemed genuinely surprised by this turn of events,” Elias said, checking his work. Clearly, he’d field-dressed a bite wound a time or two in his past. The rag bandage was snug, but not too tight. I flexed my fingers. I felt as if I were wearing one of those arm-length gloves, except this one started past my wrist and stopped before my elbow.

  We left the lights behind when we turned down River Road. We were almost to Hidden Falls. The summer air drifting off the Mississippi smelled strongly of fish.

  “I hope we’re not too late,” I whispered as if saying a prayer.

  Nikolai added, “I hope this is the right place.”

  “I hope we can actually save her,” Elias said.

  The lot was deserted. We pulled into a spot next to a sign proclaiming the park open from sunrise to sunset. Swarms of bugs swirled around the single overhead streetlamp. I stepped out to the chorus of tree frogs and crickets. A carpet of stars spread overhead. The trimmed grass was wet with evening dew.

  Nikolai locked the car with a jangle of keys and then leaned against the hood of the car. The engine clicked as it cooled.

  Elias stood beside me, his head cocked slightly as if listening intently for something.

  Another car came down the sloped driveway, its headlights flashing across the grass. When it got close enough, I recognized Bea’s Buick. It pulled into the spot next to Nikolai’s battered Toyota. I was surprised to see that it was Mr. Braithwaite driving. Bea sat beside him, her eyes red and swollen from crying.

  I ran to comfort her. Before I could open the door to help her out, Mr. Braithwaite jumped out of the car. He was dressed in khaki shorts with tons of pockets, and a black tee with the words RESISTANCE IS FUTILE and some sort of formula underneath in parentheses, which I read IF LESS THAN ONE OHM. I didn’t pretend to understand his humor, or the fashion sense that would also have him wearing dark socks with his sandals.

  He pointed a shaky finger at Elias. Behind round Harry Potter glasses, his eyes were wild with accusation. “You brought a vampire?”

  How was it that people always knew? I turned to check out Elias, wondering if I would be able to tell if I didn’t know him so well. Catlike, his eyes reflected the parking lot’s overhead lamp. Okay, I could see how that might freak out Mr. Braithwaite.

  “Elias is my friend. I trust him,” I said calmly. “He’s been able to track the hunt in the past. He helped me find my mom once, when vampires were after her.”

  Mr. Braithwaite’s mouth worked with unformed protests.

  “He’s been fed. In my car, no less,” Nikolai said drily. “I’ll make sure he behaves, Mr. B.”

  Elias shot Nik a dark look but said nothing.

  I opened the door and helped Bea to her feet. She didn’t say anything as she wrapped me in a hug. Her face was hot and wet against my shoulder, and she took in several ragged breaths.

  “Have you found her?” she asked. Pulling out of our embrace, Bea scanned the area anxiously, as if hoping to spot her mom sitting safely in our car or standing nearby.

  “We only just got here,” I admitted regretfully.

  “Why aren’t you looking?” Bea pushed away from me and ran off randomly, calling out, “Mom? Mom?”

  Mr. Braithwaite took off in the opposite direction toward the river’s edge, shouting, “Kat? Can you hear us? Kat?”

  Nik unfolded his arms and stood up. “We should check the falls.” He pointed to the right. I strained to see where he indicated. I could barely make out a shadowy, gaping break in the tree line.

  I waved, trying to catch Bea’s attention, but Nik shook his head. “She’s too freaked out right now to be much help. Let her run off some steam. You can call her phone if we actually find Mrs. B.”

  I didn’t like the idea of leaving Bea in the state she was in, but Nik was already on the move. I ran to catch up. There were no signs indicating a walking trail or something of interest among the trees, but Nik seemed to know where he was going. Elias fell into step behind us. Our shoes left prints in the silvery dew as we walked to the edge of the mowed lawn.

  A path seemed to appear out of the darkness when we reached the tree cover. The grass was longer and weedier here, but tire ruts cut a clear route into the distance. Mosquitoes swarmed thickly. They whined in my ears and bit my naked arms.

  We followed a slight curve to a concrete-slab bridge. Here the route narrowed to a footpath. Round boulders were set into concrete retaining walls that formed the channel and, at varying intervals, water trickled over algae-slicked, man-made falls. The spray smelled lightly of sewage. An abandoned plastic bottle bobbed in the lowest pool, trapped in a bay of broken concrete chunks. It was too dark to see all the way to the top. The path was barely distinguishable among the tall, untrimmed grasses and ferns.

  Elias paused, posture alert.

  “Vampires approach,” he said quietly.

  A faint rustling, no louder than wind through the leaves, sent shivers down my spine. Nik’s magical blade hummed to life as we scanned the branches and the bushes. Nik edged closer to me, until our shoulders touched. Elias did the same on the other side.

  A voice echoed from above, bouncing strangely off the water. “My, my, not at all who we expected.”

  When a naked figure dropped gracefully from the branches, I would have to say I agreed.

  Chapter Twelve

  I’m not sure I could’ve imagined a more awkward moment. Prince Luis stood in front of me, completely naked. I tried not to stare anywhere in particular, but everything hung out bare and in the open.

  The edges of his light brown skin glowed silver white in the moonlight. His confident, unashamed poise made him appear alien, vampiric, but the slightly doughy thickness at his waist reminded me of his humanity. He was also hairier than most vampires, and a light dusting of black curls covered his arms, chest, and legs.

  “Where’s Bea’s mom?” I asked.

  At the same moment, Luis demanded, “Where’s Prince Ramses?”

  Of course, his question baffled me, but I was slightly comforted by the thought that Dad was supposed to be here. Perhaps we’d come to the right place, after all.

  “Here.”

  The voice behind me made me jump. I spun around in time to see my dad step out from the thick tangle of buckthorn to balance on the edge of the retaining wall. He’d also left his clothes at home, which, frankly, made my brain spasm.

  “You trespass on kingdom business,” Dad said. “This is no place for exiles, and definitely not for a hunter.”

  A couple more vampires appeared beside Dad, as if to let us know that we were completely outnumbered. Beside me, Nikolai straightened and took in a steadying breath. I felt his power spike in readiness for a fight.

  I opened my mouth to ask about Bea’s mom again, but Elias spoke up first. “What business would you have with the Southern prince, my liege?”

  My dad flinched. His mouth col
lapsed into thin irritation.

  “You intrude on an abdication ceremony,” Luis informed us.

  Elias took in a sharp hiss of breath. “No!”

  What the hell did that mean? I looked to my dad, whose expression was tight. “What would you have me do, Elias?” His tone was soft, wounded. He had not spoken to either of us in such a kind manner since the exile. “My kingdom is shattering under the weight of starvation. The Southern witches still respect the old way.”

  It took me a second to parse what he meant, but then I remembered what Luis had told me when I asked about the hunt. The queen sacrificed herself, the way it was done before the secret war.

  “No, my prince, I beg you,” Elias said, his voice hoarse with desperation. “Don’t do this! There’s another way, I’m sure of it. Ana has plans.”

  I did? Elias must be really upset to consider my wild theories “plans.” But did all this mean that Dad was also trying to avoid the hunt? He was willing to give up his title to save his people? What caused such a radical change? This was a completely different man from the raving lunatic who had made some bad pun before throwing me to the wolves yesterday.

  And what about Bea’s mom?

  Nik and I came to the same conclusion, and our eyes met. I could almost read what he was thinking. They didn’t know. The vampires didn’t know that the coven was ready to sacrifice one of its own. If we could keep Dad from finding out, we could save her life.

  Honestly, it seemed like a pretty neat solution. I couldn’t see Elias’s problem. No one—not already expecting to, anyway—would have to die, and …

  “Please, my king,” Elias begged. He jabbed a finger at Luis. “This is a mere boy. What would he do with an animus of your stature? He’s not even entirely vampire.”

  Luis batted Elias’s hand away with a growl. “Captain! Teach Constantine how we respect the crown in the South.”

  Captain Creepy leaped down, but before his feet even touched the ground, Elias landed an open-palm punch in the center of his chest. My eyes could barely track the move, but the next thing I knew, the captain flew into the bushes with a crash.

  “I am no one’s to instruct,” Elias said.

  Captain Creepy shook himself off and bounded to his feet with a strangled cry. In a blur, he launched himself at Elias. Elias was ready for him. A strong undercut to the jaw knocked the captain’s head back. He stumbled and collapsed with a groan.

  Luis’s fists clenched. “You dare?”

  Vampires dropped out of the trees like pale missiles. Elias crouched slightly, as if prepared to take on Luis’s army single-handedly.

  “Stand down, South,” my dad said. Splashes sounded behind as Dad’s people dropped into the water in a line behind us. “We came to you in peace, but no one abuses our captain of the guard without a fight.”

  Luis laughed.

  I cringed, wishing I weren’t huddled next to Nikolai smack in between these two phalanxes of pissed-off vampires.

  “You have no chance against us, Ramses. You—”

  I had no idea what he was going to say next, because Elias took one swift step forward and coldcocked him on the chin.

  Pandemonium broke loose.

  A band of Luis’s vampires launched themselves at Elias, only to be met by flying kicks and punches from a pack of Ramses’. There were howls and snarls reverberating through the woods.

  I screamed when I felt a hand clasp around my neck. Ramses had a fistful of my tank in one hand, and Nikolai in the other. He managed to drag us back from the center of the fighting into the shallow pool. Cold wetness filled my Converses, and I slipped and slid through the pool. Dad swung his grip around and pressed us gently against the wall. He gestured with his chin to the pale hands that reached for us. “Climb the wall. Run for safety.”

  “But—Elias—!”

  My dad’s lip lifted in a wry smile. “Elias has very cleverly put an end to this abdication ceremony. I suspect he’s foxy enough to evade serious injury as well.”

  “But why?” I asked, pushing at the attempts to lift me. “Why would you do it?”

  “Because,” he said, reaching out to almost touch my cheek but withdrawing his hand awkwardly, “I nearly allowed you to be killed, my child. The emotional shock of that action has temporarily cleared my head. I don’t know how long it will last; that’s why I came here to offer the kingdom to Luis. I—” He turned at the sound of something in the fight. “I have to go. Run!”

  As I allowed myself to be pulled over the wall, I wondered what my dad was going to say. He’d never, ever expressed even the tiniest shred of affection for me before, but here he was saving not only me, but Nikolai too.

  Not that Nikolai appreciated the gesture. He struck out at the nearest vampire. She sprang out of the way of the slice of his magical blade past her waist. She hissed angrily, and I had to grab his arm before he lunged at her again.

  He swung at me but stopped the moment he saw my face.

  “This isn’t our fight,” I said. Then I whispered, “We should go. Bea’s mom is still out there.”

  With effort, he sheathed his magical blade. Vampires moved out of his way, though the female he’d tried to slash gestured to me. “Princess, let me lead you out,” she said, though she kept a watch on Nikolai.

  I shook my head. “Thank you, but we have to find our friends.” I was thinking of Bea and her dad somewhere out in the park. I didn’t want them stumbling into this chaos. The vampire watched me with a wistful expression that made plain what she needed. “I order you to rejoin the fight.”

  With relief plain on her face, she gave a half salute and dashed away. I twisted around to watch her go, and I caught sight of Elias. He and my dad were back to back like kung-fu street fighters, throwing off any attacks that came their way. My dad’s face was paler than usual, and it seemed his punches moved slower than Elias’s. I must have taken a step toward them, because Nikolai pulled me back.

  “If you want to return, we can,” he said firmly, “but you’ll need a weapon.”

  I shook my head. Elias was strong and smart. He’d get them out of there if it looked as though they weren’t going to win. “We’ve got to keep looking for Bea’s mom.”

  “They don’t know. You heard Ramses, right? They were planning on joining the Southern clan. They wouldn’t do something that drastic if they were expecting a sacrifice, right?”

  “Yeah,” I agreed. We jogged through the woods in the general direction of the parking lot. There was no path on this side, and my feet kept catching on rotten logs and sticky burrs. I remembered Elias’s shock at the suggestion that Dad would take part in the ceremony. “What’s the big deal, anyway? What’s involved in an abdication?”

  Nikolai stopped to help me push aside a cluster of willow branches that was blocking our progress. At least this deep in the woods, we seemed to have left behind all the mosquitoes. Nik watched my face carefully as I walked under his arm. “I’ve only read about this, of course, but I think the sole way your dad can stop being prince is by death.”

  Death? “My dad was going to commit suicide?”

  Nik shook his head but said, “Kind of. I think the other prince was going to kill him.”

  “What?” I had a hard time imagining Luis doing something like that.

  We connected to a deer trail and were able to walk more quickly single file. Nikolai went first. He turned his head to the side as he talked. “I don’t know for sure, but Elias used the words ‘animus’ and ‘transfer.’ There’s a legend among the hunters that, under certain circumstances, vampires can absorb the demonic soul, the animus, of another of their kind. This supposedly gives the vampire superpowers. Think Dracula level. This is a bigger problem in the Old Country, where so many nosfaratu run wild in the hills. Nosfaratu will steal one another’s souls and can become insanely powerful. So, I’m guessing they were going to do a civilized version of that. A transfer of power—literally.”

  We broke out into the open of the park proper.
Bea and her dad stood next to the park building, holding hands. Their heads were bent together, as though they were praying or talking about something intently. As we approached, I caught a strong smell of freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. I felt a heat, as strong as an open oven, radiating out in a circle around them.

  “Magic,” I said to Nikolai. I had to stop when the heat grew too strong. I didn’t need to be a fully functioning witch to guess at what they were doing. “They’re trying to contact Bea’s mom. I can’t help, but maybe you can.”

  He acknowledged my observation with a short nod. He didn’t try to break into their circle, however. He just moved a short distance to sit on a park bench. He clasped his hands lightly between his knees and ducked his head. I felt his support immediately. It brushed past me like a gust of warm, wet wind off the ocean. I could almost taste the sea salt.

  I waited, wishing I could help. The park was eerily quiet. The tree frogs and crickets seemed to be holding their breath. I wondered if it was in deference to the magic being performed or out of fear of the predatory vampires nearby. I glanced over my shoulder at the path to the falls. You’d never know a battle raged just beyond the trees. No one cried out. Everything was as silent as the grave.

  I hoped Elias was okay—Dad too.

  That last thought surprised me. I hated him most days, and the rest of the time the strongest emotion I could work up was indifference. But … maybe the hunger had been eating away at him the longest. When he’d first showed up at my door, he’d seemed as rational as someone claiming to be a vampire prince could be. I’d thought my mom was the villain in those early days, until he showed a darker side of himself in the business over the talisman.

  Perhaps, as prince, he’d shouldered the emotional toll of the hunger the most. Could it be all this crazy wasn’t entirely his fault? I could see it was possible. …