crap.”
“Dawn—”
“We should probably wrap tape around the grip, make sure our hands don’t slip.”
“Dawn—”
“Maybe I should go get my metal collar.”
“Dawn!” I look up at him, knowing what he’s about to say. “You won’t be coming.”
I open my mouth to speak, but he shoves more stakes into the bag, making a loud clanging noise and cutting me off. “It’s not negotiable.”
“I’m a delegate. I negotiate.”
“Ex-delegate.”
“Maybe to the city. But to you, I’m more than that.”
“I know. Which is precisely why you’re not going. It’s too dangerous.”
“And that is
Victor looks up at the ceiling, his grip tense around the leather bag that carries his weapons of war. “I have no idea what I’m going to be facing. Sin could rip me apart in a few seconds, and it’ll all be over. That’s why Faith is staying behind. If something happens to me, she has to step up and become head of the Valentine family. And I’m not willing to risk you being another victim. No. I’ll fight better knowing you’re here, safe and sound.”
“That isn’t true,” I say. “Remember when you fought your father, when you . . . when you killed him. You said to me that I was the reason you drove the stake through his heart. Looking at me gave you that strength. The same with Brady. Our toughest battles have always been fought together. We . . . we fight as one.”
“Please, Dawn, not this time. If something happens to me . . . No, if something happens to
“Then let it,” I say. “Because I . . . don’t make me say it, Victor.”
“What is it?” he asks. When did the distance between us close? When did he place his hands on my face?
“Because I can’t live in a world without you.”
“And I can’t create a new one without you.”
I want this new world that we’ve both dreamed of, but I want him more. “I hid in a closet when Sin took Brady. I was safe at home asleep in my bed when he killed my parents. I can’t—I won’t—let him have you. I love you too much.”
Raising up on my toes, I wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him, conveying with my lips and tongue everything that I feel for him. Victor Valentine. Vampire. I risked loving him. I’m not willing to risk losing him.
Victor draws back and studies the determination in my eyes. Tenderly he brushes back my hair. “So, that’s three stakes, right?”
“And make sure they’re sharp!”
A black car sits ominously outside the building. Leaning against it are several of our friends.
“About time,” Michael says, a black duffel bag in his hand. He shakes it, and I can hear the metal stakes.
“I’ll drive first,” Richard says, his elbows on the roof of the driver’s side. “We’ll need a speed demon if we’re to get there in time, and frankly, Victor, you drive like my grandmother.”
“This will get us there and back, with plenty to spare,” Ian says, loading four orange gas canisters into the trunk.
Rachel is there, a big bag in her hands. “Now, I’ve packed all of you lunches. Let’s see, there’s turkey sandwiches, roast beef, um . . . what else? Ooh, I’ve got a few slices of pie. . . .”
As she rattles off the rest, I slap myself out of the shock I feel and look up at Victor. He appears as surprised as I am: stunned at our gathering of friends and allies.
Faith is standing beside Richard. I wish I had vampire ears to hear what they’re saying to each other. Or maybe not; they deserve their privacy. But my human eyes catch Faith trying to wipe away a tear without anyone noticing. Hundreds of years of practice and still not sly enough for me.
Tegan is holding Michael’s hand, and he reaches down and gives her a quick brush over the lips. I’m so glad they have each other.
“Everything looks good,” Jeff says, shutting the hood of the car. “Just go easy on the brakes, all right?”
I’m grateful Jeff isn’t suited up to go with us. The city needs him now more than ever. And as he rejoins Rachel, I can’t help noticing his hand lying gently on her stomach. Maybe it means nothing. Maybe it means everything.
Faith walks over to Victor. “I want to go, but . . .”
“A Valentine needs to be here in case things don’t go well,” Victor finishes for her.
She nods, swipes at another tear. “Just make sure things go well.”
He hugs her hard. “You’re a great sister.”
“You’re an okay brother.”
Laughing, Victor leans back and she turns to me. “Don’t let anything happen to him.”
“I won’t,” I promise.
Richard gives us our boarding call. “Let’s go, guys, plenty of night left.”
Victor, Michael, and I jump into the backseat. Richard and Ian take the front.
As we drive through the streets, I know that in the distance Clive is watching us go toward the walls, toward our final confrontation. I close my eyes and think about him and my parents and everyone I’m doing this for, and our road has never felt more straight.
Chapter 27
It isn’t at all what I expected. The Valentine Manor built outside Denver held such opulence, such dark grandeur. But this, the first Valentine house built in America, is held up only by haunted memories now: three stories tall, but the walls are buckling; a roof made of fine timber, eaten away and letting the rain pour into the house’s interior; a massive door that once would have stood as the pride of the wealthy Valentine immigrants now hangs off the hinges, termites having made their home inside.
“This is the place,” Victor says. “I remember the gardens. They looked so beautiful at night.”
“I imagine this place has seen better days,” I say.
“It was once the biggest estate in the Northeast. Now it’s just a shell. My father let it rot away for some reason. Maybe he just grew bored with it. Once he and the servants left, nature did the rest. We vampires are well aware of what time can do to things built by hand.”
“And this is where it all began?” Michael asks.
“I lived here for only a few years,” Victor says. “But I know this is where Sin came into life, where he suffered, where he became twisted inside.”
“It isn’t your fault,” I say, putting my hand on Victor’s.
He doesn’t agree and shakes his head. “I should have come back. I should have known that my father had changed, had become crueler than I could have imagined. I heard he hated his youngest son. I just never knew how much. Or why.”
“We can’t change any of it now,” Ian says. “Trust me, Victor, I know this is hard for you, but you need a clear mind. We all do. If we’re going in there to fight, it has to be for that and nothing else. The time for understanding is over. The time for action is here.”
“He’s right,” Richard says. “It has to end here. Tonight. Sin can’t be saved.”
“I know,” Victor says, rubbing my hand. “I know.”
With stakes drawn, we head into the manor.
The long hallway is dark and I can see that it’s cramped, a corridor meant to keep out the light, not to impress its guests. But once we reach the end and open the doors into the next room, we’re all shocked by what we see.
