Leo shouted something behind me, but it was lost as we spilled into the main auditorium of the theater – and straight into a rave.
Neon lasers and strobe lights flashed in rhythmic pulses to the beat, illuminating the gyrating crowd gathered on the stage in the center of the room. Plush red seats sat around the rectangular stage, covered with fake cobwebs – or maybe they were real, I couldn’t tell. A DJ’s station sat off to one corner, where a girl with a full head of dreads stood bobbing her head to the beat.
My confusion increased as my eyes roved over the newly setup table, where the two kids I’d seen earlier lingered. Bowls of red punch labeled “human blood” sat on the table, surrounded by a fortress of plastic cups. Patrons – all clad in the same Gothic attire, I noticed – eagerly snapped up the cups and dipped them in the bowls, cheering one another as they knocked them back. A few hissed at each other, flashing white plastic vampire teeth.
I don’t think I even blinked; my brain somehow shut down at the stupidity of it all. The only thought in my head was WTF?
Being in the Black Cross Guild, I had heard of these parties. There was a certain type of crowd that was actually excited about the vampire apocalypse, going so far as to dress up as the famous undead and pretend to be vampires for a night of reckless abandon. In a way, I couldn’t blame them for wanting to live it up one last time. When the likelihood of dying the next day was high, it kind of made me want to get drunk too.
Leo surveyed the crowd with a look of growing annoyance. I swallowed and clenched his hand tighter. My eyes caught on a cardboard sign hanging above a shadowy hall across the room; the word “PISSER” had been spray-painted across it.
“There,” I shouted, pointing.
Leo’s eyes followed my finger and he nodded. We set off around the stage, careful to avoid bumping into anyone. The noise made me nervous, urging me along. In addition to the Black Cross Guild frowning upon these parties, the Scarlet Guard was dead serious about busting them. Rewards ran high for reporting a “blood bath,” and they went to great lengths to try to bust as many as they could in an effort to discourage any positive feelings toward vamps. Having one at a theater – the Pittsburgh Playhouse, I thought, judging from the studio room layout – was incredibly stupid, in my book. It was way too exposed, and the damn music was much too loud for my growing headache.
Gritting my teeth, we rounded the corner of the stage, and a flash of pink caught my eye. My gaze snapped around, landing on the red and pink tinged bangs of a familiar Asian girl.
My breath caught. Arika.
Hope made my heart skip a beat. If the others were here, we could grab them and get the hell out before the Scarlet Guard rained on this little parade.
“Leo,” I shouted, “I think I saw Arika.”
His gaze immediately sharpened, and he scanned the area, totally alert. “Where?”
“Over there.”
We walked along the other side, bypassing the bathroom for now. I frowned. A throng of people stood around the edge of the stage, dancing and grinding to the music. Apparently the stage had only so much standing room, so the rest spilled over onto the sides.
I couldn’t concentrate as the music grinded against my skull, the smell in the air making my nose tingle and my eyes water. Flashes of unfamiliar faces lit up with neon lights. One in particular looked hauntingly familiar.
The realization of who it was hit me like a blow to the head, knocking the breath from me and rendering me immobile and speechless for a few seconds.
Leo nearly slammed into me as I came to a sudden halt. “What?” he shouted, trying to get me to look at him. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
I didn’t even realize I was shaking until I tried to speak and my voice warbled.
“Orion,” I whispered, staring straight ahead.
I’d know him anywhere – the dark hair, light brown skin, and wicked glint to his eyes. As if sensing me watching him, his eyes caught mine and he smiled, licking something darkly colored from his lips.
Though I didn’t want to, I finally blinked because my eyes were watering so badly. When I looked back up, he was gone.
Everything else faded away as I searched the crowd. Finding him was the only thing that mattered.
Without realizing what I was doing, I let go of Leo’s hand and fished my way through people, parting them like water, my eyes searching, scanning, hoping.
“Sloane,” someone whispered.
I whirled – Orion’s face flashed with neon red light right before he wrapped an arm around a giggling girl’s waist, leading her into a dark hallway.
My heart thudded violently in my chest as I went after him, each breath and footstep achingly slow.
Bursting through the crowd, I ran into the hall.
It was pure black. The light from the rave only reached so far, illuminating two figures at the far end in murky red, green, and blue light.
Feeling my muscles coil with tension, I slowly stalked forward. Someone was moaning; as my eyes adjusted to the darkness, the shadows became tangible. A tall man in a leather jacket and dark jeans had a girl pinned to the wall, one wrist in his grasp while his other hand cradled her neck. He had his head buried in the curve of her shoulder. Had I not known better – had I not smelled the heavy wave of blood saturating the air – I would have thought they were a couple trying to get some privacy.
I stopped behind him, not bothering to sneak up because I knew he had heard me. “Hello, brother,” I said in a low voice.
Orion chuckled darkly, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand as he turned to face me. The girl, riding a vampire endorphin high, slumped to the ground, a goofy smile on her face. For a moment, Orion eyed me up and down, his cool countenance unruffled. “I was beginning to think you weren’t capable of living up to my expectations,” he said, his low voice smooth as oil. “But then again, I always did underestimate you.”
A wave of roiling resentment tore through me; living in his shadow, never being good enough for Mom, had become something I’d grown numb to over the years – or so I’d thought. “You’re so predictable,” I spat, my lip rolling up in disgust as I eyed the girl, who had begun to pull at his pant leg, begging to be bitten again. “Given the chance to do the right thing, you always slip back into your old ways.”
“And who’s to say my ways aren’t right?” he asked, holding up his arms. Kicking the girl aside like she was a dog, he stalked toward me. I backed into the wall, and he put his arms up on either side, blocking my exit. His eyes glowed red as he leaned into me, sniffing. “You smell different. More animal,” he said, the red light flashing off his fanged smile. “I see you’re embracing your inner goddess.”
“I’m not embracing anything,” I said, my throat tight as I remembered Leo’s almost drugged state after I had fed from him. “I do what I need to survive, and that’s all.”
“Oh, but you know you want to do more,” he purred. “Admit it: When you feed from a human, some part of you wants to drink every last drop.”
His words scared me, paralyzing my thoughts for a second or two. Orion’s eyes flashed knowingly. “You could join me, Sis. We could rebuild this world into a utopia.”
I barked a laugh, though there was no warmth to it. “Knowing you, ‘utopia’ means ‘dictatorship.’”
He feigned to be hurt. “Do you really think so little of me?”
I arched a brow, nonplussed. “You painted the picture of the villain for me.”
Something moved to my right, just outside my line of vision. Someone was creeping up on us. A tendril of blood-scented air wafted toward me, and my heart skipped a beat in fear.
Leo.
I wanted to yell at him to stay back, to run as far away from my monster of a brother as he could.
But when the air erupted into screams and gunfire, Orion was the last thing on my mind.
Both of our heads snapped around to the hallway entrance. The girl Orion had fed from started screaming; she scrambled to her fe
et and ran down the hall, locking herself in a room.
Orion was faster than me – he started to run, but I caught hold of his jacket, jerking him back.
Hissing, he whirled and made a fist, driving it toward my head, but I ducked and it sailed over me in a flash of silver, the light from the rave reflecting off his ring. Using my legs to spring upward, I came up with a palm strike to his chin, which he narrowly avoided. Eyes like fire, he snarled and tackled me to the ground, pinning me to the cold, concrete floor with his forearm. I gasped for breath as he leaned in, his mouth right next to my ear.
“Sure you won’t reconsider my offer?” he whispered.
“Never,” I growled. He had just enough time to blink before I headbutted him, skewing his balance. He teetered to the side, and I bucked him off, scrambling to my feet as he rolled away. I grabbed for him but only managed to get a fistful of his jacket, which he deftly maneuvered out of before saluting me and running toward the shadows.
Adrenaline pumping, I started to go after him when someone yelled my name. I drew up short as Leo appeared at my side. “Did he hurt you?” he asked, examining me.
Heat flooded my cheeks and I blinked, shocked. Gulping to moisten my dry throat, I said, “No.” Wooden chips flew toward us as a shower of bullets ate away at the walls, and my eyes darted to the chaotic, smoky dance room. “What’s happening?”
“It’s the Black Cross Guild,” Leo said, and my eyes rounded. I was fully expecting him to say The Scarlet Guard was behind this. “Some of them were already here, dressed as partygoers and running surveillance.”
I nodded, trying to think through the noise. “We need to get to the lobby, which means –”
“– crossing the room,” he finished grimly. “I know. Let’s go.”
Grabbing my hand, we tore off toward the room, pausing at the hall exit to watch for an opening. People ran screaming in every which direction, chased by the slow, lethal hunters, who appeared as calm as if they were running a training exercise. Some of the hunters were finishing spray-painting something along the wall in red paint – “LET THE REVOLUTION BEGIN.”
Leo was the first to take off. I followed his lead, crouching low as we wound our way over dead bodies and around the stage. Anger prickled under my skin. They say they’re trying to protect mankind, but what about the innocent dead laying around us? Who was there to protect them?
I clutched Orion’s jacket as we sprinted toward the exit. Two people locked in battle spilled onto our path, and I dodged but not before the girl knocked into me. After kicking her opponent in the chest, following up with a flash of red metal as she gutted him with a crimson sai, she whirled on me, a hot glare on her petite face. The anger in her eyes flipped to surprise as her mouth dropped open. “Sloane?”
“Arika!” I almost hugged her but thought better of it. “Where are the others?”
“They’re here too,” she said. “We were looking for a place to hide, and figured a crowd of washed out, vampire-humping teens was as safe a place as any. Where’s Leo?”
“Arika,” Leo said, appearing beside me, gawking.
Something passed between them, and the emotion in his eyes was unreadable. Jealousy tutted and waved a chastising finger at my conscience, but then I blinked. Getting out of here alive trumped any confused feelings I might be experiencing right now.
“Where are Rook and Dezyre?” I asked, gripping Arika’s arm.
She jerked her arm away, which actually made me relax. At least some things hadn’t changed. “They were right behind me when the Guild tried to stop us from escaping.”
“Yeah, well, that didn’t work out so well for them.”
I turned as Rook, sporting a busted lip, walked up to us, one arm supporting a limping Dezyre. Her dress was torn and her lab coat was missing.
I closed my eyes briefly and heaved a long sigh. Words couldn’t express how glad I was they were all right.
“You can rejoice later,” Arika said. “We need to get out of here.”
For once, I couldn’t argue with her. We ran toward the exit; hope fueled every step as I spied the glowing red exit sign at the end of the hall.
A shot exploded behind us and Rook yelled in pain. In slow motion, I whirled around. Rook was falling to the ground, a screaming Dezyre trying to hold him up.
The sharp smell of Scarlet Steel and burning flesh filled my nose, making it crinkle as dread gripped my throat. Running forward, Leo and I caught Rook before he could hit the ground as Arika raced past, flinging a sai toward our pursuer. It flipped several times, cutting through the air like a knife, before embedding itself in the hunter’s chest.
As she went to retrieve her weapon, I flipped Rook over as Dezyre sobbed beside me. My heart nearly stopped beating.
His breath was coming in stutters as blood bubbled out of his mouth. In his chest, where his heart was supposed to be, was a gaping, smoking hole.
CHAPTER 18
I thought my lungs and arms would give out by the time we reached shelter. Leo kicked in the door of the old Laundromat, its windows boarded up long ago by some unlucky owner who had gone out of business, probably post-Eclipse.
The doorjamb was so rusted through that it had been easy to kick open, especially with vampire strength. The inside of the place was sad in a way; it looked abandoned and unwanted. Everything was covered in dust and white sheets, a reminder of what once was and what could never be again – normal, blissful yesterday, far removed from the terrors of reality.
We went straight to the back in case anyone was chasing us, and Leo and I dragged Rook to a shadowy corner. Arika started to follow and scowled as she was smacked in the face by a dangling cord. When she pulled it, a little white light ghosted to life above us, threatening to give out at any moment.
I should have thought about Aden, and how I had possibly let his only chance at survival get away, but I just couldn’t. Nothing else seemed to matter when my friend’s life was slipping away.
Rook was freezing to the touch; goose bumps riddled his skin as he shivered uncontrollably. It dawned on me that I was still clutching Orion’s jacket. “Here,” I said, draping it over him. “Sorry about the asshole smell on it.”
That produced a soft, if not raspy, chuckle from Rook, but did little for chasing away my building fears. I recognized this crushing, sinking feeling, like the sun was never going to shine again. It was the same way I felt when watching the life drain from my father’s eyes that night at the hospital.
Dezyre bumped me as she knelt beside Rook, interrupting my tortured memories. I blinked, then looked at her in confusion. She was clutching Rook’s hand to her chest and gazing at him while tears streamed down her face. In a way, I wanted to hit her. She even managed to look pretty while crying.
Footsteps approached from behind. “We’re clear,” Leo said, coming to stand beside Arika. “People are running everywhere from the theater, and it looks like the Black Cross Guild and the Scarlet Guard have their hands full with each other. Apparently the Guard showed up right after we bailed.”
No one had a chance to say anything else, because Rook’s spine arched and he began violently convulsing.
"It's the bullet!” Dezyre said. “It must still be inside him.”
Without warning, she ripped open his shirt, snapped on a glove, and plunged her fingers into the bloody hole in his chest. I turned away, tasting vomit. If anything, she had a stronger stomach than I did, but then again I guess she would have to, being a medical student.
“Hold him down!” Dezyre shouted, struggling to keep Rook from bucking her off. Leo and Arika immediately went for an arm each, straining to hold him still enough for Dezyre to work. Blushing and feeling like a pussy, I sat on Rook’s legs, pushing all my weight into the floor while he thrashed.
“Dammit, come on. Dammit, dammit,” Dezyre muttered, fishing for the bullet.
My adrenaline spiked, and I thought I would black out from the stomach-churning mixture of ice-cold fear and burning dread coursi
ng through me. Through it all, I heard a furious thumping noise, pounding for all it was worth, fighting to survive.
I gasped, realizing what it was.
Rook’s heart.
The thumps were beginning to slow, or time was stopping – one or the other. “No,” I whispered as Dezyre’s brows knitted tighter, her delicate face squeezed up in concentration.
Thump.
Thump.
Thump.
I opened my mouth to say something, but Dezyre reared back, gasping. Her fist shot out of the wound and rose into the air, victoriously clutching the bullet. Blood ran red rivers down her wrist and onto her arm.
Aside from her gasps and my own heavy breathing, the air was still.
Silent.
No.
My eyes snapped to Rook’s. He stared at the ceiling, pupils dilated.
And looking very dead.
I scrambled off him and crawled forward. Dezyre deflated like a balloon, her mouth open in shock, tear-filled eyes wide and pinned to Rook’s face.
Arika’s jaw flexed as she stood and stepped back, giving us some space.
Leo sat there, looking as stunned as I felt. He had known Rook just as long as I had.
I blinked, fighting back the hot sting of tears.
“It doesn’t end this way,” someone said quietly.
My gaze fluttered upward at the sound of Dezyre’s voice, just in time to see her sink her fangs into her wrist and force the streaming wound between Rook’s gaping lips.
“Drink,” she snapped, her voice rough with emotion. “Drink, damn you. You are not leaving me alone, not again.”
I paused, brows furrowing. Again?
No one moved as Dezyre poured her life into Rook; I don’t think anyone even dared breathe.
I was so caught up in trying to figure out what she was doing that I almost missed the dull, hopeful pumping of Rook’s heart.
My breath hitched, and I leaned over him, searching his eyes. They were slowly coming back into focus, and I heard a strained breath seep into his nose, lifting his chest slightly.
“Oh, my God,” I breathed, closing my eyes and slumping forward with relief. This was real. Rook wasn’t going to die. The gentle throbbing of his blood pushing through his veins, thrumming with life beneath my fingertips, told me this was happening.
Dark Horizons (The Red Sector Chronicles) Page 18
