CHAPTER 10
THE HOSPITAL’S EXTERIOR WALL stretches long before me, moonlight bouncing off the sterile white concrete, giving it a spectral purplish sheen.
I count the windows—three floors up, fifth from the left.
Little to no guards, just security cameras with blind spots I’ve memorized from years of sneaking in and out of places I shouldn’t be. I pull out my phone and type quickly.
Open the window. Don't panic. Security systems trigger on erratic vampire behavior.
I watch and wait.
After a few minutes, Max’s silhouette appears at the window, his new red eyes visible even from this distance. He pushes it open, leaving it ajar, confusion evident on his face as he peers down.
“What are you doing?” he whispers, his voice carrying clearly to my enhanced hearing.
“Jailbreak,” I mouth, gesturing for him to move aside.
My muscles coil and release as I spring upward, hands catching the ledge of the second-floor window.
Using it as leverage, I push off again, sailing through the air until my fingers close around the frame of Max’s window.
With one decisive wrench, I break the restrictor, allowing me to climb through.
Max stares at me, mouth agape. “I didn’t know you could do that.”
“Now you know.” I give him a kiss, then move to his closet where his clothes hang, washed and dried. “Put these on. We’re leaving.”
“But the doctors said—”
“Max,” I cut him off. “Do you trust me?”
He hesitates briefly, his eyes darting to the window. To freedom.
Then he nods. “Get me out of here.”
He doesn’t need to tell me twice.
I climb onto the ledge, telling Max to get on my back. He hesitates yet again, but does as I say, clinging to me as I scale down the building. His new vampire physique makes him surprisingly light, or perhaps it’s just the adrenaline coursing through me.
We touch down in the hospital gardens without incident, melting into the shadows of carefully manicured hedges.
“Stay close,” I tell him, leading him through the back alleys of Penn City.
Viktor’s den is more crowded than before, the music pulsing with hypnotic intensity. I keep Max behind me as we push through the throng of bodies, vampire and human alike. Some turn and stare at Max, sensing a newcomer among them, but a warning glare from me keeps them at bay.
Viktor’s face expectantly darkens when he spots us approaching his elevated desk. “You’ve got some nerve showing up here,” he hisses, eyes narrowing to slits, “again.”
I reach into my pocket and place one tanzanite gem on his desk, watching his expression shift from anger to interest. “I need access to your tunnels.”
“For what purpose?” He picks up the gem, examining it under a UV lamp.
“Safe passage for the day.” I nod toward Max. “For both of us.”
Viktor’s gaze rakes over Max, assessing him with the skillful eye of someone who has seen countless new vampires.
“Fresh turn,” he says, the corner of his lips tugging into a suggestive smirk. “You’re the sire?”
I shake my head. “Can you help us or not?”
Viktor pockets the gem with a thoughtful expression. “One tanzanite buys you tunnel access. That’s it. No protection, no guarantees.”
I lean in close. “Like I need any.”
A sly smile spreads across his face, revealing teeth too perfect to be natural. “My, my. Someone’s confident.” He stands up from his chair. “This way.”
“Wait,” I say, stopping him. “I need something else.”
Viktor turns, irritation flickering across his face. “The tunnel access is all you paid for.”
“A signal jammer.” I roll up my sleeve, exposing the small bandage where the tracker was implanted. “For this.” Connection tends to be severed underground, but I don’t want to take any chances.
Viktor’s eyes widen, then harden to a lethal glare, transforming his face from mild annoyance to explosive rage in seconds.
“You brought a fucking tracker in here?” He grabs me by my neck, fingers pressing around my throat—not enough to cut off my air, but enough to make his point. “Are you out of your mind? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
Murmurs and gasps ring out from the visitors around us.
I remain calm despite his outburst. “That’s why I need the jammer. Think about it. If I wanted to expose you, I wouldn’t be asking for a way to disable it.”
“You’ve compromised my entire operation!” His spittle lands on my cheek as he shouts. “They could be on their way right now!”
“Relax,” I say. “They have no reason to monitor me right now, but you need to act fast. The longer we argue, the higher the chance a sweep picks up on us.”
Max moves forward, but I signal him to stay back. This is my mess to fix.
Viktor’s grip tightens for a bit before he releases me with a disgusted shove. “Just know that if I go down, you’re going down with me.”
I pull out the other tanzanite from my pocket, its deep periwinkle surface sending shimmering reflections dancing across the serious face of Viktor. “Signal jammer. Now.”
Viktor pins the gem with his eyes, greed and self-preservation battling with payback. After what feels like an eternity, he snatches it from my palm. “Wait here,” he growls, disappearing through a hidden panel in the wall.
Max steps closer, his voice barely above a whisper. “You didn’t tell me about a tracker.”
“I might’ve forgotten about it.” I offer him a sheepish smile. After all, it’s not every day that I carry around a government tracking device for nearly twenty-four hours. “General Lee had it implanted just before the exchange.”
Viktor returns, holding what looks like a metallic bracelet with a small digital display. “Put this on,” he orders, thrusting it toward me. “It’ll scramble the signal. Anyone monitoring your tracker will think it’s malfunctioning.”
I snap it around my wrist, miniature lights blinking to life along its surface. The device hums with a low vibration, sending a slight tingling sensation across my skin. “Thanks.”
Viktor leads us through a hidden door behind his desk, then down a narrow staircase that descends deep below the city. The air grows colder and damper as we go, carrying the earthy scent of soil and stone.
After an endless stretch of twisting passages, we reach a fortified metal door embedded in rough-hewn rock.
“These tunnels connect to caves outside the city,” Viktor explains, taking an ancient-looking key from his pocket.
“As long as you follow the red markers, no matter what path you choose, you’ll find your way out.
” He unlocks the door with a dramatic swing.
“Off you go. You have until sunrise tomorrow.”
The tunnel beyond is completely dark, enlightened only by sparse emergency lights casting eerie shadows on the stone walls. I thank Viktor before pulling Max through, the door closing heavily behind us.
“I didn’t know these existed,” Max whispers, his vampire vision allowing him to see perfectly in the near-darkness.
“Most people don’t.” I shrug, following the red markers painted at irregular intervals on the rock. “The tunnels were sealed after the war, but smugglers like Viktor keep them operational.”
We walk in silence, footsteps and the occasional drip of water from the ceiling the only sounds left to fill it.
Max seems lost in thought, occasionally touching the walls as if to reassure himself that they’re real.
He still moves so human despite no longer being one, reminding me that he’s only beginning to understand what he’s become.
“Hey,” I say, stopping abruptly. “Want to try something fun?”
“Define fun.”
“You haven’t tested your speed yet, have you?”
His face shifts from confusion to realization. “I can do the sprinting thing now?”
“Sprinting doesn’t even begin to cover it.” I set my backpack against the wall. “Watch.”
I dash forward, pushing off with my feet and letting my dhampir speed carry me. The tunnel blurs around me as I race about fifty yards ahead before pivoting and returning to Max in seconds. The rush of air displaces his hair as I stop in front of him.
“Your turn,” I challenge, smiling.
Max gauges the length of the tunnel, uncertainty plastered across his features. “I don’t know how.”
“Don’t think.” I step behind him and place my hands on his shoulders. “Just feel it. Your body knows what to do now. Trust your instincts.”
He takes a deep breath, squares his shoulders, and then—he’s gone.
A gust of wind whips past me as Max vanishes, leaving nothing but disturbed air in his wake.
For a second, I wonder if he’ll be able to stop, imagining him crashing into a wall at supernatural speed.
But then a blur materializes back in front of me, his eyes wide with exhilaration, his hair windblown.
“That was—” he gasps, breathless, not from exertion but from pure adrenaline. “I felt like I was flying!”
I can’t help but giggle at his childlike wonder. “Pretty cool, right?”
“It’s incredible,” he admits, looking down at his hands as if seeing them for the first time. “Everything feels so vivid and extraordinary. Like I’ve been watching life through foggy glass until now.”
The moment of joy fades as quickly as it came, replaced by a twinge of guilt crossing his features. “I shouldn’t be enjoying this, should I?”
“Why not? It doesn’t change what happened.” I pick up my backpack and continue walking, gesturing for him to follow. “You’re allowed to find the silver linings.”
He should, because the dark clouds will come soon enough, and he’ll need the light while he can.
“My friends would say I’m embracing the monster,” he says quietly, falling into step beside me.
“Your friends aren’t here,” I remind him, more snappily than I intended. “And they’re not the ones living this.”
“You’re right.”
I sling my backpack more securely, smirking. “Go again?”
After a couple of practice sprints, the tunnel widens into a natural cavern. The first specks of daylight spill through a narrow opening in the ceiling, illuminating crystalline formations that glitter like stars. The exit is near, revealing a lush forest outside.