by Melinda Metz
CHAPTER
FIFTEEN
MARTIN MUST HAVE FOLLOWED ME and Mom! Shay thought. She threw her body on top of Gabriel’s. Martin wasn’t going to get him back. She would not let Gabriel be dragged back to that lab and used as a test subject again.
Pffft! A tranq dart flew over Shay’s head, and almost immediately, Millie collapsed in a heap next to Shay and Gabriel. Shay scrambled over to her—positioning herself so that she blocked Gabriel, still so weak, as well as she could. She searched Millie’s body for the dart, hoping if she pulled it out fast, Millie wouldn’t be completely paralyzed.
Out of the corner of her eye, Shay saw Tamara leap onto the back of one of Martin’s goons and wrap her arm around his neck. Jerk. Crack. The man went limp, neck broken. Tamara gave a whoop of triumph.
“Martin, stop this!” Shay’s mother screamed.
“Mom, run!” Shay yelled. She found the tranq dart embedded in Millie’s thigh and pulled it free. “Just get out of here!”
Instead, her mother ran toward Martin. Tamara ran at him too. She reached him first, fangs bared. Before she could sink them into the flesh of his throat, a tranq dart hit her in the back. She swayed on her feet. Ernst grabbed her before she could topple. He turned to another stairway, one Shay hadn’t noticed. In one bound, Ernst was up the steps, Tamara cradled in his arms. He kicked open the door, and a blast of night air hit Shay’s vampire senses. Ernst disappeared outside with Tamara.
With vampire speed, Luis went after the goon that had shot Tamara. The third of Martin’s men headed for Millie. “Got one down over here!” he shouted. “Taking it to the van.”
Nobody’s getting taken to the van, Shay thought. As the man leaned down to grab Millie, Shay backhanded him. He flew across the room and hit the wall with a dull thunk.
Shay stared at him for a moment, astonished by her own strength. She was a complete badass. Pffft! A tranq dart came whistling toward her. She twisted her body away from the sound, and a second later she heard the dart hit wood.
Ernst approached. Shay hadn’t even seen him return to the cellar. There was too much going on, and everything was happening so quickly. He kept his body low to the ground as he scooped Millie up into his arms. “You save Gabriel,” he told Shay. “Move fast.”
“I can walk,” Gabriel said, struggling to his feet. Shay saw tremors rippling through his naked body. A second later his knees buckled, and he would have fallen back to the ground if Shay hadn’t wrapped her arm around his waist.
“Lean on me,” she ordered. She and Gabriel had only taken two steps after Ernst when she heard Martin shout her name.
She jerked her head toward him. He held her mother pinned tightly against his chest. The third goon was on the ground behind him—dead or unconscious, Shay wasn’t sure—and next to the goon lay Luis. The yellow tail of a tranq dart stuck out from his shoulder.
“Time to choose, Shay,” Martin told her. “Mommy or the boyfriend.” He brought a gun to her mother’s head. Not a tranq. A real gun. One that shot bullets.
Shay’s body went cold. She looked Martin in the eye, and she knew he’d do it. He would kill her mother.
Ernst had vanished up the steps with Millie. Shay was on her own.
Martin jerked his head toward the closest of the fallen goons. “Take that gun and tranq your vampire or I shoot her now.”
“What we did was wrong, Martin,” Shay’s mother cried before Shay could answer, before she could even decide what to answer. “We treated him like an animal. I wanted to pretend he didn’t have any emotions, that there was nothing human about him. But I was wrong. We were wrong. We need to let them all go.”
“I wasn’t wrong,” Martin snapped. “What’s it going to be, Shay?”
Everything slowed down as Shay stared at the gun to her mother’s head. Mom’s breathing had been fast and panicked. Now the moments between breaths stretched out . . . out . . . out.
Shay could smell Martin’s sweat. A harsh chemical scent clung to him too. From the tranq guns? She wasn’t sure.
She heard Ernst’s movements outside. He was running, faster than any human ever could. But he wouldn’t make it back in time.
Gabriel’s body pressed against hers. His muscles tensed as he struggled to stand upright without her support. Shay wrapped her arm more tightly around him. He needed her strength whether he thought so or not.
Click. With that sound, everything felt like it was moving at normal speed again. Martin released the gun’s safety. His finger twitched on the trigger.
“Take me!” Gabriel demanded, pulling away from Shay. “Just take me and let’s end this.”
“No!” Shay’s mom reached down to a small metal cylinder hooked to Martin’s belt. She stuck one finger through the metal loop at the top of the canister. With her other hand, she held the lever at the back of the canister down. “Enough.”
Martin slowly lowered the gun, but he didn’t let go of Shay’s mother. He kept his face expressionless, but Shay could hear his heart thundering and his breath coming fast. The acrid scent of his sweat grew stronger. He was terrified.
“That’s an incendiary grenade. If you pull that—,” Martin began.
“If I pull it, the safety pin comes off. Then if I let go of the lever, there will be fifteen seconds until it explodes and sets this whole place on fire.”
Shay stared at her mother in shock. When had she become a weapons expert?
Mom’s head was lowered, her attention focused on the one finger she had positioned through the metal loop. “I was with you when you were planning Gabriel’s capture, remember?”
“So you’re going to kill us all?” Martin demanded. “Including Shay? She can burn. You know it’s one of the few ways she can die.”
“So now she’s Shay again? You were calling her a monster just the other day,” Shay’s mom taunted him. “I’m not doing anything that would hurt her. She’s a vampire now. In fifteen seconds she can easily get herself and Gabriel to safety. I’ll only be killing the two of us.”
“Mom, no!” Shay begged.
“Martin and I did some terrible things,” her mother replied. “And I’m sorry for them.” She looked at Shay, then moved her gaze to Gabriel. “Very sorry. Now you two get out of here.”
“I’m not leaving you,” Shay cried.
“I want you to have your life. That’s what I want more than anything,” Mom said.
Shay shook her head, tears blurring her vision.
“Gabriel is going to need your help to get out fast enough.” Her mother used the metal loop to pull the safety pin free. “Shay. Go!”
Martin let out a high bleat of panic. He wrenched the grenade off his belt, jerking it away from Shay’s mother. Her fingers slipped off the lever. Martin hurled the grenade as hard as he could, then turned and raced for the stairs.
“Run, Mom!” Shay screamed as she heard the grenade hit the far wall and fall to the floor. She hauled Gabriel toward the stairs.
Her mother raced ahead of her, but she was no match for Shay’s vampire speed. Still holding Gabriel with one arm, Shay grabbed Mom and threw her to the top of the steps—and safety. She might be injured, but she’d be alive.
“Luis!” Gabriel managed to protest.
“I got him out.” Ernst stood at the top of the stairs, blocking their exit.
Shay’s heart gave a thump of fear—had Ernst changed his mind about letting Gabriel live?
Then Ernst gathered himself and leaped into the air, almost flying over their heads . . . and right into Martin. The velocity of Ernst’s body knocked Martin back into the cellar, with Ernst sprawled on top of him.
Ernst twisted his head to look at Shay and Gabriel. “Go!” he shouted. And Shay understood. He was going to hold Martin there until the fire overtook them. He was going to sacrifice his life so she and Gabriel could escape.
“No!” Gabriel cried.
“Go!” Ernst ordered. “And know I love you!”
Shay wrapped both arms aro
und Gabriel. “There’s no time left,” she shouted. She bent her knees and jumped for the top of the steps, pulling Gabriel with her.
They landed on soft pine needles outside, but Shay didn’t linger. Still hauling Gabriel, she took off at a sprint, running faster than a sick girl could ever have dreamed. Her mother had already made it to the tree line.
The explosion came almost immediately.
Shay felt herself and Gabriel flung through the air. They landed in a heap twenty feet away. When they turned back to look at the farmhouse, it was an inferno. Shay prayed that Martin and Ernst were already dead. Escape was impossible.
Shay watched as the house collapsed into the cellar, then turned to Gabriel. His face was twisted with grief.
She didn’t know what to say to comfort him. There wasn’t anything to say. Instead, she held him tight as flying sparks lit up the night.
CHAPTER
SIXTEEN
“I’M NOT SURE THIS IS SOMETHING you want to do,” Gabriel said.
“Me either,” Shay admitted. They were parked outside Olivia’s house, where they’d been sitting for almost an hour. “But I’m going.” Still, she didn’t get out of the car. She wanted to explain to Olivia. Her best friend had truly come through for her, time after time, even though Shay knew she hadn’t deserved it. She’d never appreciated Olivia enough. Now that she did, she was afraid it was too late.
How could she expect her friend to understand? As many times as she’d tried to figure out a way to describe everything that had happened, she hadn’t come up with anything that felt even remotely right.
Olivia had seen Shay with her teeth planted in someone’s throat. How does she rationalize that to herself? Shay wondered for the millionth time. People with a full sanity tank didn’t believe in vampires. Not unless they were forced to. Maybe Liv thought Shay was some kind of crazy serial killer. Or that she’d gone on a drug-induced frenzy. She had been pretty twitchy that night, and both Olivia and Kaz had noticed.
“So . . . you’re going?” Gabriel prodded her.
“Yeah. Yes. Yep, I am,” Shay said, so nervous, she was using three times as many words as she needed. She didn’t reach for the door handle. “Really. In a couple of seconds. I just need something good first.”
She turned toward Gabriel and threaded her fingers into his curly hair. “Come here.” She gently tugged his head closer to hers. Not that he needed any urging to kiss her. Gabriel always wanted to kiss her. After everything that had happened, there were no barriers between them anymore. They’d gone through the most intense experience of their lives together, and they were bonded now, twined together forever.
There was something different about kissing someone you were in communion with, at least based on Shay’s vast experience of having kissed a whole two other guys besides Gabriel. But in addition to the feel of Gabriel’s lips, and the play of his tongue against hers, Shay was filled with his emotions, conscious every second of how much he loved her.
With a sigh, Shay forced herself to pull away from him. “Olivia,” she said.
“Olivia,” Gabriel repeated. “I could go with you.”
“That would make it worse. Two vampires standing on her front porch, especially after what she saw me do . . . No, I’ve got to go alone.” She kissed his cheek. “But thank you.” Shay put her hand on the door handle, and this time she opened it. She walked directly to Olivia’s front door and rang the bell before she had the chance to wimp out.
Olivia would be the one to answer the door. Or at least she was the only one home to do it. The scents that Shay was picking up from Olivia’s parents and younger brother weren’t fresh. They’d been gone for at least a couple of hours.
She’s coming, Shay thought, hearing Olivia’s soft footsteps. Her stomach gave a slow roll as the door swung open. Olivia’s face paled as soon as she saw Shay, and Shay was intently aware of the change in her friend’s blood flow. It was pretty easy to fight down her bloodlust, though. Mom had stolen more blood from the hospital, and Shay had fed right before they left.
Olivia started to slam the door, but her human reflexes were no match for Shay’s vampire speed. Her human strength was no match for Shay’s vampire power either. Shay easily caught the door and held it open, even though Olivia was using all her weight to push it shut.
“I just want to talk to you for one second,” Shay said. “Please, Olivia. I’m still your friend. I’m still the person you’ve known forever, the person you love to boss around. I’m just me.”
“You ripped that woman’s throat out,” Olivia accused, her voice sharp with panic. “There’s nothing you can say. I saw you.”
“I didn’t rip it out. I didn’t even really hurt her. I drank from her, that’s all.” That’s all. Like the fact that Shay drank blood would reassure Olivia. “I . . . something happened to me, Olivia. Martin was giving me these transfusions and—”
“I’ll call the cops.” Olivia took her cell out of the front pocket of her hoodie. Shay could easily have snatched the phone away, but that wouldn’t calm Olivia down and get her to really listen.
“Let me explain first,” Shay begged.
“No. Leave now or I call,” Olivia insisted.
“Please. I’m not going to hurt you. I can explain—”
Olivia tried to dial, but her fingers were trembling too much to hit the buttons with any accuracy. “I don’t know what you are, but you’re not Shay. Get away from me. Now!” Her voice rose with each word, until she was screaming, her eyes wide and bright with hysteria.
“Liv—,” Shay tried again.
“Got it!” Olivia cried. “It’s ringing. Go or I’m telling them to come get you.”
Shay held up both hands. “Okay, I’m going.”
“Don’t ever come back,” Olivia warned.
“I won’t,” Shay answered, tears stinging her eyes. She turned and ran back to the car. She jumped behind the wheel and slammed the door. Gabriel didn’t ask what had happened as she drove back to her house. He didn’t need to. He’d have been able to hear every word without a problem. And even if he couldn’t, their communion would tell him that it had gone very, very badly.
She thinks I’m a monster. The word repeated itself over and over in Shay’s head as she drove. Monster, monster.
“Most humans really are as scared and dangerous as Ernst thought they were,” Gabriel said quietly. “You and your mother are the exceptions. Most people . . . well, they assume that we’re evil. All of us.”
“I know,” Shay whispered. “I just didn’t want to believe it.”
He was silent for the rest of the drive, letting her cry.
“Do you think we need to be concerned that she’ll send the police here?” Gabriel asked when Shay pulled into her driveway and turned off the car.
She kneaded the steering wheel with her fingers, a habit she’d picked up from her mom without even realizing it. She made herself let go. “I don’t think so. I think she wants to forget it ever happened. And it’s not as if the police would have an easy time believing I tore someone’s throat out with my teeth. I’m still known around here as the sick girl.”
“There’s that,” Gabriel agreed. “But we still have to leave. We shouldn’t even stay another night. We’ve been here far too long already.” Shay’s mom had driven Shay, Gabriel, Tamara, Millie, and Luis home five days before, after the fire. They’d taken Martin’s van, since he’d already rigged it to keep the sunlight out. Mom’s Mercedes was too small to hold them all. They’d awoken at sunset in Shay’s garage—weak and shaky, with Tamara, Millie, and Luis still paralyzed and hawthorn-sick.
“That’s what they were talking about when we left,” Shay commented. Tamara had been urging Luis to leave with her, just go, right then. Even after Shay’s mother had saved her life, dragged her into the van, taken her to a safe place, and kept her out of the sun, Tamara was still filled with hatred and mistrust. The instant the hawthorn had begun to wear off, she’d wanted to leave.
“People are going to start asking questions about Martin soon,” Gabriel said. “A man like that, who’s been on the cover of Time magazine and everything, can’t disappear without a huge investigation. We need to be far away when that happens. We’ll all get new identities, start a new life.”
Shay sighed. She didn’t need to be in communion with the other vampires to feel their confusion over what to do next. She felt the same confusion within herself.
“They’re really getting into it now,” Gabriel commented. For a moment they both listened to the argument going on inside. With their vampire senses, it was easy to hear the raised voices.
That was all he said, but Shay could feel his sadness—sadness and, underneath that, grief over Ernst’s death. “Do you think . . . It doesn’t sound like everyone wants to stay together. At least not Tamara,” Shay said. “Will they break up the family?”
“Do you want the family to stay together?” Gabriel asked her.
Shay started to answer, then hesitated. “How can you have a private conversation when you live with other vampires?”
“Privacy isn’t really a thing with us. With the communion, we’re all connected anyway. Or we were,” Gabriel replied. The communion only existed between him and Shay now. All the other family members had been hit with hawthorn darts during the attack at the farmhouse. “But right now they’re probably too busy with their own conversation to listen to ours.”
True. It was hard to talk to someone and listen in on a separate conversation at the same time. “I know how important your family is to you. It’s just that when I look at Tamara and Luis, all I see is them draining the blood out of you.”
“I did the same thing. To Sam. You know that,” Gabriel said.
They hadn’t talked about it since that night when he’d almost died in her arms. Shay fought down the image of Gabriel drinking from her father, putting him to death. “You thought it was to keep your family safe. And we’ve both forgiven you—my father and me,” Shay reminded him. It was the truth. She believed it in her heart and her gut. She didn’t think she would have made the same choice, but then she hadn’t seen her family annihilated by a bunch of humans.
