Chapter 54. Lorena
lorena
Trevor clutches his bag tightly.
He hasn’t taken out the flamethrower yet, but it’s clear by the lines of his face that he’s figured out the situation.
“Can we be in your video, too?” Nate asks Tiffany, who seems to have regressed into a state of shock. She’s not moving or saying anything.
“Let me see what you’ve got so far,” he demands, holding his hand out for Zach’s camera.
Zach hesitates, and I can see how much he doesn’t want to hand it over. “Leave my friends alone,” I say to Nate. “You came for me, not them.”
“Wait your turn,” Nate warns, and there’s no hint of games in his voice when he addresses me. Just pure, undiluted revulsion.
“Give it here, or your girlfriend dies,” Nate says to Zach, presumably about Tiffany. This time, Zach doesn’t hesitate.
“Hmm, how does this work again?” asks Nate, turning the camera in his hands. Then he slams the device on the floor, and Tiffany shrieks as it shatters into shards of metal and plastic.
“Oops,” says Nate, and Cisco laughs. “I’m so clumsy for a vampire.”
“Where’s William?” I ask through gritted teeth.
Nate stalks toward us, and my friends and I huddle closer together. I don’t dare look at Trevor beside me, who’s carefully unzipping his bag one notch at a time.
“Your boyfriend is getting pummeled by Leonardo the Bloody,” says Nate.
“And we’re missing it because of you!” Cisco cries out.
“What—what are you talking about?” My heart panic-punches my chest. William is fighting for his life against the world’s most-feared vampire?
“Did you do this?” asks Nate, moving toward me. “Did you convince him to stick us back in the ground?”
I feel like I missed a step going downstairs—or possibly the whole set of stairs. “What?”
Nate is nearly in my face now, and Salma jumps between us like a human shield. “Leave Lore alone!”
“Take a seat.” Nate’s eyes flash as he compels her, and Salma is forced down to the floor. Tiffany, Zach, and Trevor drop next, and I wonder if they’re being compelled, too.
Only I remain standing.
“Why did you say he wants to stick you back in the ground?” I ask.
“Have you two broken up?” asks Nate. “No, that’s not it. Even if you had, he still cares for you.” It sounds like he’s talking to himself.
He starts pacing and mumbling, and I can’t make out the rest of his words because he’s on the other side of the room. I glance at Trevor and see that he’s slowly reaching his hand into his bag.
“It’s not adding up.”
Nate stops moving, and so does Trevor’s arm. “I read the guy right, I’m sure of it. He’s stubborn, self-destructive, and an overthinker, but he also has a sense of justice. Why is he doing this?”
“I know him, too,” I say. “Maybe if you tell me what’s going on, I can help you.”
Nate is in my face before my next breath, so close my nose nearly brushes his chin. I can tell by the sharp inhales behind me that Trevor and Zach have never seen anyone move that fast.
“Your boyfriend wants us all to return to death-sleep.”
First I think Nate’s joking. Then I’m sure he’s just misunderstanding. “You’re wrong. I would know if that was his plan.”
Nate’s cold fingers tip my chin up, and his dark brown eyes scorch mine. “You didn’t know.” He’s not asking but telling me. “That’s interesting.”
William wants to go back into hibernation? He never discussed that with me. Why? And for how long?
“Tell me exactly what he said,” I say.
“Who am I to deny a mortal’s final wish in her last minute of life?” asks Nate, backing away from me. “William testified that he received a message from Grandsire saying it’s time to end the spell and bring back the missing vampires, which requires we all go back to sleep.”
“That makes no sense,” I say, trying to reconcile Nate’s information with my last farewell with William.
“Tell me what you know,” Nate commands. “Or I’ll start killing your friends to mark the seconds.”
“I’m thinking!”
What could’ve prompted Will to make up such a lie? I try remembering if there was anything strange about the last time I saw him. I was keeping the newsletter secret from him, and I could tell he sensed something was up. But he wasn’t acting cagey … except maybe a little when I mentioned Minaro.
He questioned if she asked about him before break. Why would he doubt his compulsion?
Unless he didn’t compel her.
“It’s really too bad you couldn’t make yourself useful in the time that was given to you,” says Nate, moving toward my friends.
“Why don’t you bring me to him?” I ask, desperation beating at my chest. “Or are you using me to lure him back—?”
“Wrong again!” says Nate, and I hear Cisco’s low chuckle. “Before they fought, Lenny handed me his cloak and mouthed two words: Kill her.”
So that’s why they’ve come.
This isn’t a summons or a kidnapping.
It’s an execution.
“Let me talk to him,” I plead. “I’m sure I can convince Will not to do this. If you just take me there now, we can stop the fight and—”
“Oh, the fight’s over.” One of Nate’s icy fingertips skates down my chin and leaves a searing trail. “Your boyfriend’s dead.”
And as I open my mouth, he yanks back on my hair, exposing my neck. I scream as he brings his fangs down—
“Let her go!”
Trevor jumps to his feet, the flamethrower in his hands.
“Stop him!” Nate shouts at Cisco.
The brawny vampire tackles Trevor before he’s even pulled the trigger, and the weapon clatters to the floor. Zach instinctively shields Tiffany and Salma’s bodies with his own.
“Cisco, get the gun!” commands Nate, keeping his hold on me.
But it seems like Cisco’s brief hibernation period left him exceedingly dehydrated because he’s pinned Trevor against the wall and is eyeing his neck.
“Don’t!” I yell.
A blast of heat knocks into me as a white tarp bursts into flames. “Let my friends go!” says Salma, aiming the weapon between the vampires.
There’s a thudding sound as Trevor’s body hits the floor, and he cries out in pain like he’s been injured.
“SHOOT!” I shout at Salma, but Cisco is too fast.
Before she can pull the trigger, the vampire has plucked the flamethrower from her hands. And it’s in this instant I know I fucked up.
I should’ve given my consent for William to turn her as soon as she asked. Salma’s right that I always think I know what’s best for her, and it’s whatever will keep her safe and by my side. I’m too afraid to let her go.
This is all my fault.
Cisco’s hand closes around Salma’s neck, and Tiffany screams, “DON’T!”
“Please!” I cry out. “STOP! I’ll do anything!”
Salma kicks at Cisco and tries to pry his fingers off, but the vampire is unmovable. “You don’t matter,” he says to my best friend.
My sister.
My world.
Then he places his other hand on her head. “NO!” I scream with every molecule of my being—
A crack resounds through the room as Salma’s neck twists.
And
time
stops.