We come to the edge of the forest, and Luke ducks down behind some bushes. I squeeze next to him and peek out at the unfolding scene. A dozen picnic tables are lined with vinyl tablecloths in red and blue. Most are laden with cups and plates, but no people sit on benches enjoying their food. Bodies lay strewn at intervals on the ground—mostly on their stomachs as if knocked down from behind. Intermittent screams pierce the air.

  “What the hell’s happening here?” I survey the picnic scene for clues. “Is it a bear attack?”

  “Are you serious?” Brady’s tone is acidic. “Are you telling me you don’t recognize a vampire’s handiwork?”

  Luke shakes his head. “Not vampire. Vampires. I’m guessing at least three, but maybe more.”

  “For real?” I look to Jack for affirmation. He nods, but I still can’t process the information. “Do vampires really do this? Attack people in broad daylight?”

  Jack opens his mouth to respond, but Brady is faster. “When there’s no one around to stop them, yeah. Maybe this brood got wind the local pack would be off at the summit and decided to take this opportunity to enjoy a buffet. This is what happens when there’s no one around to stop these leeches.”

  “Except there is someone around to stop them,” Luke says. “Us.”

  Brady raises an eyebrow. “You’re counting yourself in that number? I figured you’d be high-fiving these dudes for having the balls to attack a party in the middle of the day.”

  Luke stands, eying Brady like he’s something unsavory stuck to the bottom of his shoe. “Believe it or not, I do have a conscience. I can see what a dick move this is. I may need blood to survive—and, yeah, I prefer the human variety—but I’m not an asshole about it.”

  “Where are they?” I scan the area. Beyond the immediate picnic area is a small pond. Off to the left is a pavilion attached to a nondescript brick building—probably the bathrooms. A quarter of a mile behind the pavilion is a red barn. But there isn’t any movement. If it weren’t for the screams, I’d assume the trouble had passed. “We should go check it out.”

  Jack catches the crook of my arm. “You think this is a good idea? We need to get to the summit. What’ll they think if we’re late?”

  Brady crosses his arms over his chest. “That you were doing what you’re made to do. What kind of werewolf are you, anyway?”

  Jack lunges at him, growling, but I hold him back. “Now isn’t the time to fight with each other.” I move in front of Jack, forcing him to look at me. “You think I don’t get how important the summit is? But this is important too.”

  He closes his eyes and exhales heavily. When he opens them again, he cups my cheek in his palm and nods. “My guess is they’re in the barn. When the attack started, the humans would’ve tried to get as far away as possible. Ava, you’re the fastest. You scout ahead to check things out, but don’t engage until Brady and I join you.”

  “Hey, wait.” Luke steps forward. “What about me?”

  “The bathrooms,” I say before Jack can get the words out. “Most people probably tried to put as much distance between them and the attack, but it’s possible some stopped at the first hiding place they came across.”

  Jack offers a smile. “She’s right. Now let’s go.”

  Without another word, I streak toward the barn. As I go, I swivel my head, taking in everything around me. It’s possible some picnic-goers ran for the woods, but I detect no indication of that. I circle the barn, looking for a way in. The doors on either side are pulled closed, but one is open a crack and I peer through it.

  The scene is something out of a horror movie. Blood spatters the hay-strewn floor and the barn walls. Labored, terrified breathing fills the space. I count five vampires straddling victims and drinking deeply from their necks. A dozen bodies are piled up in the middle of the floor, and a dozen men and women stand helplessly along the walls, compelled not to move.

  A rush of wind ruffles my hair as Jack and Brady come to a stop beside me. “My count is five.”

  Jack nods. “On three.”

  Brady and I nod, and Jack begins counting off on his fingers. When he gets to three, I shove open the door and we rush in. The vampires look up and hiss. The two nearest us stand and leap in our direction. Jack and Brady engage them, but I follow the remaining three who rush to the side of the barn and grab for the people standing there. They each have slung one over their shoulders and are going for a second when I charge through them like a football player cutting through the other team’s defense. Two of them fall over, but the third manages to stay on her feet. She throws the forty-something man to the barn floor and turns to me, grinning.

  She sneers. “You don’t want to do this. Admit it. Rather than taking us down, you’d like to join in, wouldn’t you, hybrid?”

  Her words take me off guard, and she takes advantage of my momentary distraction to slam into me, sending me flying halfway across the barn. I land inches from the pile of bodies and spring to my feet, but the scent of human blood overwhelms me. So far, I’ve been able to stay detached, but now that I can see little pools glistening on the necks of those nearest to me, my incisors burn and lengthen. My eyes prickle, and I know if I could see them I would watch their jade green flash blood red.

  I can’t. These people have already been attacked. I need to go after the ones who did this. Still, instead of going after the girl who knocked me over, I turn and crawl toward the nearest body—that of a girl who must be around my age. Just a little. She won’t even notice.

  “Ava?”

  I tear my gaze from the girl’s neck and look toward the person who spoke. Jack stands several feet away, revulsion brimming in his eyes. It’s a look I’ve seen before. Brady looks at me that way. My best friend Lillie does her best to hide it any time the topic of blood comes up. But this is the first time Jack has looked at me like this. Like I’m a monster.

  My eyes prickle again and I feel my teeth return to their normal shape. I stand, keeping my eyes locked on Jack’s. “I’m sorry. I—”

  “They’re getting away!” Brady yells before taking off out of the barn.

  Without a word to me, Jack takes off after him. I look down at the girl, shame swimming in my stomach. Was I really about to feed on her? Who knows how much those other vampires took. Even a little bit might be enough to kill her—and I didn’t care. Have I been kidding myself, thinking I could control a bloodlust like this? Or is the fact I’ve allowed myself to drink human blood at all made the whole situation worse?

  What makes me any better than the vampires who did this?

  I tamp down my doubt and follow Jack’s trajectory out on the barn. But the scene that greets me is not what I expected. The vampires who fled haven’t disappeared into the woods. They stand in the line, snapping and snarling at Jack and Brady. Behind them is a line of half a dozen wolves.

  Werewolves.

  When I emerge from the barn, one of the weres steps forward, shifting as she does. Her raven hair is thick and wild, and her eyes are cool and calculating. “We’ve come for the hybrid. There’s a bounty on her head, and if you know what’s good for you, you’ll hand her over without a fight.”

  My jaw drops. They set a trap for me. Not only that, but these werewolves decided to work alongside vampires to set it. We were so foolish. There just happened to be a broad daylight attack on dozens of people on our way to the summit? The fact that it was designed to lure us in seems so obvious now. I can’t believe we fell for it.

  The woman takes another step forward, her companions growling low. “Give her to me.”

  A gush of wind blows past me, and in the blink, Luke is standing behind the black haired woman. He slips his arms around her neck and snaps it.

  “No way,” he says as she crumples to the ground in front of him.

  “Run!” Jack yells. I don’t need to be told twice. As much as I want to rush right into the forest and not look back, I know that if I do, they’ll only give chase. I’m confident I could outrun any one of them, but I’m not sure how their speed compares to that of my companions. I sweep past the vampires, snapping each of their necks as I go before moving to the werewolves and doing the same. Jack, Luke, and Brady are in the woods when I join them. We’ve put a mile between us and the picnic before it’s clear no one has followed us. If the attackers had backup somewhere, they’re not giving chase.

  “What was that?” Brady asks, his eyes wide. “What the hell was that?”

  “I think it was pretty obvious,” Luke says dryly.

  Brady shakes his head. “I knew they wanted you. I had no idea they wanted you that bad. Getting help from vampires? They might as well—”

  “Be us?” Jack asks, daring Brady to challenge him. When Brady remains silent, Jack turns to Luke. “Thanks for the assist.”

  Luke shrugs. “I live to serve.”

  I swallow. “What now?”

  “It’s not safe for you out here. You have to get back the sanctuary,” Jack says, although he doesn’t look at me as he speaks. His eyes are on Brady. “I need you to go with her.”

  “No way,” Brady says. “I never signed up to be on guard duty. Never signed up for any of this.”

  “I’ll go to the summit. The convocation needs to hear about this,” Jack says. “And Luke—I need you to clean up this mess. Wipe these people’s memories. Give them a plausible story to explain any deaths. We can’t have an attack like this getting out into the human community.”

  Luke nods. “Understood.”

  When Jack finally turns to me, I search his eyes, but it’s as if he’s got a wall up just behind them. “I’ll plead your case for you. As soon as they make a decision, I’ll get word to you.”

  I reach for his face, but he catches my hand before it makes contact. “Jack.”

  He leans forward and presses a chaste kiss to my forehead. “Get back to the sanctuary.”

  Before I can say anything else, he turns and runs away.

  Chapter Seventeen

  “You know, I’ve never put much stock into the idea that someone could literally wear a hole through the floor from pacing, but you’re making me reconsider my position.”

  I pause only long enough to shoot Brady a withering look before continuing on my path to the back of the room.

  We’re back in our quarters at the sanctuary. When we returned an hour ago, Evelyn and Cedrick were still at the front gate. Neither of them batted an eye when we asked if we could reenter the city. Evelyn smiled and said, “Of course,” and told us our quarters were as we left them. It was almost as if they expected us to return.

  Since then, my brain hasn’t stopped spinning through scenarios. Did they somehow find out about the ambush? Did they know about it before we left? Did they receive some kind of prophetic information from Dagny?

  If I really wanted to know the answers to these questions, the solution would be easy: I could walk back to the front gates and ask. But I allow these thoughts to consume my mind to keep other concerns from surfacing.

  The summit should be starting any time now. I don’t want to think about whether Jack made it safely or what the charges levied against me might be. I don’t want to imagine the kinds of things the werewolves will say about me. And I certainly don’t want to consider that some of their concerns might be right.

  Brady stands from his spot on the couch and intercepts me as I stride past him. “Seriously, will you sit down for even a minute?” The muscles in his jaws twitch like he’s struggling with the next words he wants to say. “Will talking about it make it better?”

  I raise an eyebrow. “You want to talk to me?”

  “Not really.” He returns to the couch and drops onto it. “But I’ll do it if the alternative is going crazy watching you pace.”

  “Go for a walk, then. You don’t have to stay here.”

  “Pass,” he says, tipping his head back. “After last night’s debacle, I don’t want to take the chance of running into that guy again. He might try to beat my ass on principle, and I’ve met my fight quota for the day.”

  He’s got a point. While I don’t think he was the target of the fight in the restaurant, if the guy who went after Luke hates vampires so much he can’t bear the idea of eating in the same room as one, he may go after Brady simply for having been with Luke.

  I cross to an unoccupied couch and sit. My body relaxes into the cushions, and I realize how tense I’ve been since we parted ways with Jack.

  Seconds tick by and the silence stretches between us. Brady shifts in his seat. He blows out a breath. “So, are you nervous about the summit?”

  “I didn’t ask for any of this, you know.” It’s not what I meant to say, but the thought that’s plagued me since I realized what I am bubbles to the surface. “I was minding my own business when a dude stabbed me and left me for dead for a couple of dollars. But I didn’t die. I woke up and I was this.”

  Brady is quiet for a moment. “It was Luke, wasn’t it? The vampire who bit you?”

  I nod. “I met him at a bar. He must have compelled me because I typically have a strict policy about guys at bars and Luke is not that charming.” My lips quirk, but I don’t quite smile. “I never asked him why he did it. Maybe because I told him about my premonition.”

  His eyebrows draw together. “Premonition?”

  I backpedal. “Don’t worry—I’m not an oracle or anything. But I got a bad feeling the day my dad died. And I had that same bad feeling all day the night I was stabbed. I mentioned it to Luke and... I don’t know. I guess he took pity on me?”

  Brady leans forward, resting his forearms on his thighs. “So when the werewolf bit you, he had no idea you had vampire venom in your system?”

  I shake my head. “Jack didn’t bite me. He would’ve, I’m sure, but he says before he could, I started turning.”

  “What? How is that even possible?”

  “It has something to do with him being my half.” I almost regret saying it, but he probably already knows. It seems that information is as readily available as my status as a hybrid. “I don’t know if it happened just because he was near me or if some kind of werewolf gene flipped on because I was dying, but either way...” I shrug.

  He leans back. “I wouldn’t stress too much about the summit. I’m sure Jack will do everything he can for you. I mean, he does have a vested interested in you staying alive, right?”

  “We’re not merged.” I don’t know why it’s so important to announce it to Brady, but I can’t stop myself. “If I die, nothing happens to him. Well—nothing physically. He’s not doing this out of self-preservation, he’s doing it because...” I stop short. I almost said “because he loves me,” but the two of us have never exchanged those words. But now that they’re in my head, I can’t help wondering if they might be true. Does Jack feel that way about me? Do I feel that way about him?

  “Wait—you know who your half is but you haven’t merged? How does that make any sense?”

  “What do you mean?” My tone is more defensive than I intend. My fight with Jack after Dagny’s prophecy flashes through my mind.

  “You’re two parts to the same whole. This isn’t like human marriage where you can pick the wrong person and end up miserable,” he says. “You’re designed to be together.”

  His words sting like an accusation. “Have you found your half yet?”

  “No,” he says shortly. “Not all of us are as lucky as you.”

  I ignore the jab. “Then you really have no room to talk. You don’t know how you’ll feel when you finally find her. Maybe you’ll realize it’s smart to take a little time to get to know her before binding your life force with hers.”

  Brady snorts. “If I’m lucky enough to find her, there’s not a power on this earth that would keep me from merging with her as soon as possible.”

  I shake my head. “You can’t know that. You’ve never even met this person and you’re ready to commit? What if she’s eighty and turns as she’s dying of a heart attack? Or what if she’s a three-year-old on a playground?”

  He shrugs. “I have faith I’ll meet her when the time’s right for both of us. And when I do, I won’t hesitate.” He holds my gaze for a beat. “I get the feeling Jack sees things the way I do.”

  I open my mouth, but no response forms. I try to convince myself he only thinks he knows what he’d do in the situation, that he doesn’t really understand what he’s talking about, but nothing I’ve learned about him so far suggests a man who’s unsure of himself.

  A knock sounds at the door. We stare at each other for a moment before I jerk my chin toward the noise. He grunts, but he rises to his feet and crosses to the front of the house.

  I stand too, unsure what might be waiting beyond. As much as I’d like to think we’re safe in the sanctuary, the throwdown at the restaurant last night disproves that theory. Worst-case scenarios spring to mind. What if some of the vampires and werewolves from the picnic have woken up already? What if they’ve come for me here? I’d like to think that’s not even a possibility, but at this point I can’t rule it out.

  As Brady opens the door, I position myself a few feet on the other side of it, rising onto the balls of my feet in case I need to spring into action. My stomach clenches when a confused expression crosses his face. “Um, hi.”

  “It’s time,” says the woman on the other side of the door. Some of the tension drains from my body. It’s Evelyn.

  I take a few steps to my right so that I’m standing about a yard behind Brady. “Time for what?”

  She smiles in a benign way I always associate with grandmothers—although I never had one to compare it to. “To go before the assembly, of course. It’s time for your initiation.”

  Brady glances back at me, his eyes wide. I’m sure the same panicked expression stretches across my face. “But... we left,” I say weakly.

  “And then you returned. If you had been gone for a week—a year—it would still be time to meet with the assembly. Your grace period has ended.” She stretches a hand toward Brady, who stiffens. “I assure you, there’s nothing to fear. You’re not condemning yourselves to life here. You may still leave at any time.”

 

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