Chapter 39
Chapter Thirty-Nine
RED FLOWER RISING
We make it to the shift bus just in time, joining the queue of humans climbing on board.
I keep my head down; even dressed in Raven sweats with my hair tied up, there’s a chance I could be recognised.
Michael stays close, his hand in mine, his warmth steadying me.
We sit at the back, then file off with everyone once we reach Dark Haven.
I smile to myself, despite everything. If I’d figured this out earlier, I could have saved myself a lot of heartache.
Simply got on a shift bus and disappeared into the Safe Zone, rather than going through all that I did with Kyle.
But then I wouldn’t be who I am now, I suppose.
I wouldn’t have chosen to be the Raven or feel strong enough to do it.
And I would miss my parents, desperately.
I know what I’m doing is risky, and stupid.
But I meant what I said to Michael. The weight of responsibility, of doing the right thing, is getting to me.
I need some space away from it. A few minutes later the second bus arrives, taking the familiar route along the curving road leading to the coast. We get off at the Safe Zone, heading down the hill past the harvesting plant, the usual line of people waiting outside.
I breathe the fresh sea air, dreaming of a day when humans won’t have to donate blood anymore.
Vampires survived before the Rising without harvesting plants; they can damn well do it again. I just need to figure out how.
‘It’s this way, isn’t it?’ Michael tugs on my hand.
We’re in the town centre, crossing the square where he and I first danced, where rebels and guards once clashed, fire exploding into the night.
Being here with him again is bittersweet.
It feels natural, as though I’m still living in my small white house, waking to the sunrise in his arms. It’s so tempting to go back to that life, dancing at the night markets, walking on the beach, kissing on the sofa.
Sophie’s small apartment is down a side street – I checked the staff records before leaving the house – and seems the best place to start looking.
But when we press the buzzer set into the side of the door, a male voice answers. ‘Yeah?’
‘Hi, I’m looking for Sophie.’
‘Sophie doesn’t live here anymore.’
‘Anymore?’ The only response is a click. ‘What the hell?’ I press the buzzer again, but there’s no answer. Michael, finally, pulls my hand away.
‘Let’s go,’ he says, gentle. ‘Are you sure this is the right address?’
‘Yes!’ I show him the scrap of paper.
He studies it. ‘Yeah. It’s correct.’
‘So, where the hell is she? What if he’s holding her prisoner up there or something! We need to help!’
He shakes his head. ‘You can’t. No, listen,’ he takes both my hands. ‘You cannot do anything. You need to come back as the Raven. That’s the only way you’re going to get in there. Even then, I doubt you’ll find anything.’
‘Why?’ I frown at him. There’s something in his voice, something he isn’t telling me. ‘Why wouldn’t I find anything?’
‘Because people disappear! There are ways in and out of Safe Zones, if you know where to look.’
‘She wouldn’t do that! Not without telling me! God!’ I think for a moment. ‘Has she gone to one of those nomad settlements, near the Great Forest? Maybe we can send guards to search them all and—’
‘Do you think that’s a good use of Raven resources?’
I don’t say anything.
‘If she’s gone, she would have had good reason to do so.
And she would also have had her reasons for not telling you.
’ He wraps his arms around me, his warmth comforting.
‘I’m sorry,’ he continues. ‘But wherever she went, she probably won’t want Raven guards following her, either.
’ Still so gentle. I know he’s right. And I hate that.
‘She’s my friend.’ My throat aches with unshed tears. I glance back at the apartment door, up at the shuttered windows.
‘She’s also human, in a world that isn’t kind.
Come on.’ He keeps his arm around me as we walk back through the town square.
I lean on him, loss stinging my chest. How stupid I was, to think we were friends.
What other option did she have, when the heir approached her?
She probably felt she couldn’t turn me down.
But I swear there was true joy between us, laughing among the stones at Stonehenge, watching the road unfurl as we talked, sharing our hopes and dreams.
We turn down a side street, taking a shortcut through an alleyway that will bring us to the main road, where we can catch the bus to Dark Haven.
‘Shit.’ Michael tenses, his arm tightening around me as we run into a small crowd of people, all in the process of getting into the back of a battered-looking van. Before we can retreat a guard dressed in Raven camouflage prods me in the back.
‘Get in, now,’ he hisses. ‘Raven have already made it hard enough for us. We don’t have time for stragglers.’
‘But—’
‘Keep your head down,’ Michael mutters. ‘I’ll get us out of this.’
I obey, tucking my face into the curve where his neck meets his shoulder, breathing in his smoky butterscotch scent. The last thing we need is for me to be recognised.
‘We’re not with this group,’ I hear Michael say.
‘Stop fucking around.’ A rough hand grabs my arm, pulling me from Michael and shoving me into the back of the van. ‘Get in, or I’ll shoot.’
I stumble, sitting heavily on a seat. I hear Michael shouting, then the door opens again and he’s pushed in, sprawling on the floor. I glimpse a gun in the guard’s hand before the door clangs shut. I also spot something painted on the alley wall, like a sign. A red flower.
There’s a rumble, the van swaying as it starts to move.
I help Michael to one of the rough benches running either side of the interior, panic curling in my stomach.
There are half a dozen humans in here, and every one of them is staring at us.
I go to knock on the driver’s partition, but Michael pulls me back.
‘Sit, girl,’ a woman says, her tone admonishing. ‘You know better than to disturb the driver. We’ll none of us get out of here if you do that.’
I swallow, then sit down. Michael puts his arm around me. I lean my head on his shoulder, trying to quell my rising fear.
‘Nervous, is she?’ A man opposite nods at Michael. ‘Ah well. It’s not an easy choice, is it? But it’ll be worth it when we get there.’
‘When we get where?’ I whisper. ‘What the hell is happening?’ Everyone in the van is dressed in outdoor clothing, fleeces and cargo trousers and padded jackets, as though we’re going for a hike. Oh God. My breath comes faster and faster. I try to relax, but I can’t.
I think we’re about to be hunted.
I know there are humans who enjoy the challenge, and the money they earn for their families.
They feel as though it lets them choose their death, and if they can take down a few vampires in the process, even better.
God and darkness. Michael kisses my brow, but I can feel he’s as tense as I am.
I dig in my pocket for my phone, and realise to my horror it’s on my dresser at home.
Wherever we’re going, we’re trapped. I huddle against Michael, going through every move I’ve ever learned from Varin in my mind. It helps, a little.
‘We’ve stopped,’ Michael murmurs, a while later.
Adrenalin spikes and I’m instantly alert, my heart pounding.
The doors open with a clang, revealing the guard who shoved me into the van. ‘Everyone out.’
I hang onto Michael as we climb out, everyone staying close together. The guard closes the door and jumps in the passenger side, then the van leaves, so quickly it sends up a spray of dirt.
I look around. Our surroundings don’t fill me with confidence.
We’re in a forest clearing, the surrounding trees dark and impenetrable.
The sky is purple, a few faint flickers of golden sunset remaining.
Floodlights spill bright white light across the clearing, as though we’re on a stage.
It makes it even harder to see beneath the gathered trees. To see what, or who, might be there.
The other humans are wide-eyed, but I can’t tell whether they’re afraid or excited.
It’s possibly the first time they’ve been anywhere outside the Safe Zone.
Pain flickers in my chest. I suppose if we’re all going to die here, at least they have this brief moment of freedom.
It seems a pretty poor return for their lives, though.
‘Do you still have the knife?’ I whisper.
Michael nods.
‘Do you have any other weapons?’
He glances down at me, one corner of his mouth lifting. ‘Another knife, tucked into my boot.’
‘Can I have it?’ Screw this. If this is a hunt, I’m not going down without a fight.
Michael bends down, then hands me a small, sheathed blade. It’s warm and makes me feel a little less vulnerable.
Then the lights go out, plunging the clearing into darkness.
Someone screams. As my vision adjusts, I see the woman who told me off in the van running, blindly, her hands out.
I can see, but realise she, and the other humans, can’t see much at all.
I remember standing at a fence, Joaquin’s hands on me as I stared into the depths of the forest. And then what we did after.
Oh, darkness. We cannot be here. I cannot be here.
‘We have to get out of here,’ I say.
‘Agreed.’ The tension in Michael’s voice matches my own.
‘What’s our best option? Fighting back-to-back? Damn. I wish I had a larger blade.’
Michael laughs.
‘What?’
‘You’re amazing, you know that?’
‘Just don’t want to die today. And I’d be pretty happy if you could avoid doing the same.’
‘No one is going to die today.’ The voice is cool, and female. ‘Not even you, Michael, though darkness knows you deserve it.’
I realise, with a start, that the clearing is full of figures dressed in black.
Vampires.