“Don’t you love the sun,” Eris says, looking dreamily out the window as it cascades beautiful light into the carriage.
“I enjoy the night more,” I say.
“I would assume as much coming from you. After all, you are a vampire.”
“A drop of Montgomery blood in my veins barely constitutes me as a vampire.”
“But the potential of that single drop is infinite.”
“You’ve been listening to Sin too much,” I say, trying to paint her master as some myth-spinning madman. Anything to get her doubting, anything to keep her off balance.
“Once he turns you, you’ll have a shift in perspective,” she says. “So many Lessers are uncomfortable in their own skin. Do you know why? It’s because they long to feel the sun. Everyone thought that the difference between humans and vampires was that we need blood to survive. No—that isn’t the biggest difference. You humans ate animals, feasted on flesh and blood just as we do. In fact, you slaughtered them in a most uncivilized manner. So, no, it isn’t the blood that made vampire Lessers different. It’s the sun. Without it, the human soul shrivels and dies and all that’s left is the choking reminder of the beautiful daylight they once felt but are forever denied.”
“Are you implying that you still have a human soul? Because I’m not so sure of that,” I say.
“I’m saying that Day Walkers retain more humanity than Lessers. We are superior. You will see that. Your humanity won’t be lost, but only enhanced, coupled with the power and immortality of a vampire.”
She’s trying to sell me on the idea, though I know what Tegan would think: Eris is trying to sell
“Of course, you’ll be lucky if he decides to turn you now,” she says. “He knows you went to the Council. Don’t you remember the offer he gave you?”
“Kill Victor and he’ll spare my friends.”
“And you spat on his generosity. You’ve already shown your disloyalty. I have no idea what fate you now face.” She smiles, hoping I’ll be afraid of this ominous warning. But I’m not. “Rest now. We have many miles to cover.”
That’s the best thing I’ve heard from her so far, because that means the night will come before we arrive, and that is what we need the most. The night.
Despite Eris’s suggestion I stay awake the entire time, watching the sun slowly dip down. It’s funny, I’ve always enjoyed sunsets, though I’ve known the dangers they bring. Now, however, the opposite is true: The setting sun brings my salvation.
The night grows older and we continue riding. I figure it’s been nearly twelve hours of nonstop traveling when we finally come to a halt. I look out the window, expecting to see Sin’s devilish smile, the frightening metal claw attached to his arm, the one that scarred Michael’s face and chest. Instead all I see are ruins of what were once buildings.
“We have to let the horses rest,” Eris says, the carriage door opening and the Day Walkers exiting. She takes my arm and not so gently escorts me outside.
The air is cool and I quickly gauge our surroundings. We’re barely off the main road.
“We’ll stay here for the evening,” Eris says. “Don’t worry. The Lessers out here won’t dare come near us.”
“I wasn’t worried,” I say, knowing that if anyone should be worried, it’s her.
The horses attached to the carriages are unhitched and led to a small stream running not far from the main building, or at least what was once a main building.
“This place used to be a hydro plant,” Eris says, as though reading my mind. “That tiny stream was once a massive river. This building drew energy from it and powered the nearby cities. Vampires hid here during the war until it was bombed by you humans.”
“Looks like we did a pretty good job,” I say.
She glares at me, annoyed. “We’ve put a great distance between us and the city. Us and your friends. Don’t annoy me. My hand might
“I notice we went north. I figured we would go west, back toward Los Angeles.”
“Yes, so would everyone else. I couldn’t take the chance that Clive had set up an ambush down the western road, so we’ll be taking the scenic route.”
Clever, but I’d expect nothing less from her.
I start walking among the ruins. I’m Eris’s prisoner, but she doesn’t need to chain me. With her speed, and the Day Walker guards as well, I could never escape. Not by myself anyway.
Concrete shells of buildings rise up like a strange forest, nothing but the gray slabs. The metal cables that once held them together now stick out as though they are exposed bone. Bits of rubble, both large and small, litter the ground and I have to watch my step. Inside the main building, or what’s left of it, I see the remnants of a fire where scavengers once made camp. Cinder blocks circle the ashes.
“Terry, get up high and keep a lookout,” Eris shouts.
One of the Day Walkers brushes past me and quickly scrambles up the building, using the wall and the remains of floors to bounce from one place to the next, until he’s scaled the three stories in a matter of seconds.
Sitting at the top, he looks out over the land and I wonder what he sees. I sit on one of the cinder blocks and wrap my arms tightly around myself to ward off the chill. A Day Walker comes up to me and places a blanket around my shoulders and then lights the fire with a match.
“Thank you,” I say.
“We wouldn’t want you dying of frostbite,” he says.
“You could just turn me and save my life before that happened.”
But he shakes his head. “Only Sin will have that pleasure. Not only would you be robbed of the wonders of walking in the sun, but he would have our heads.”
So I sit and wait, hoping that the horses will need a full night’s rest before continuing their journey.
“Eris, something’s coming,” Terry says from atop his watch post.
My heart jumps.
“What is it?” she asks.
“A car. Heading this way.”
Eris clamps her jaw tight, her words a hiss between her teeth. “Your friends?”
“I have no idea.”
“Let’s hope not. For their sake.”
She moves away and gathers the other Day Walkers, each one checking to make sure their stakes are in their belts, in their boots, across them in bandoliers.
“Eris . . .”
“Talk to me, Terry.”
“They’re definitely—”
A vicious black shadow, fast and unforgiving, knocks him from his perch. One moment he’s there, the next, he’s falling to the earth, a trail of blood flowing from his body. When he lands with a thud, a stake is lodged in his heart. I look back to where he was, but the shadow has moved on.
“Spread out!” Eris yells.
The headlights of the car appear closer, barreling right down at us, its engine echoing through the vast space. When the car is near the camp, it stops and slides, the doors flying open, and figures tumbling out, stakes at the ready.
Terry’s fall put the fear into their hearts, and the arrival of Old Family vampires, Richard and Faith, sealed their fate. Michael and Ian do their part. They may not have the speed and strength of their fanged opponents, but they have experience, they have technique. Day Walkers fall quickly to the ground. Each one has a stake squarely in his chest, and their eyes are closed, never to see another sunrise.
Eris looks around nervously. Jumping to my feet, I sprint toward her, intending to tackle her.
Her beautiful figure becomes a blur, a white cascade in the wind, shadows and mirrors, on a direct collision course with me. She stops dead just within arm’s reach of my throat. I stagger to a halt. Victor is beside her, a
