Ethan went to stand beside Lucas by the window. “I don’t have to deal with them. They can go about their lives as they had before. I have no interest in setting up any new hierarchy.”
Lucas laughed. “Did your transformation cause you to forget everything you know about our people? We cannot function without a hierarchy, and all those vampires waiting for you to see them want to know where they fall in the new order of things. You might not have asked for the title, and hell, I know for a fact that you don’t want it, but for all intents and purposes you are the new Whitfield, and you’re going to have to embrace it. If you hadn’t noticed, humans are piling up on the outskirts of the city trying to get out, but they’re trapped. We’re all trapped. Somebody needs to step up and fix things, and that someone is you, Ethan.”
He pointed a finger at him and strolled from the window to sit down on one of the armchairs by the fireplace. Lucas crossed his arms over his chest, satisfied with his logic.
“Drinking from Tegan didn’t turn me into a warlock, Lucas. I’m just as clueless as to how to break the barrier as everyone else is.”
Lucas’s eyes flicked from Ethan to me. “What about you? Do you know how to lift the barrier?”
“I have no idea,” I whispered. “I wish Rita hadn’t gone with Theodore. She’s the only witch I know who has a chance of lifting it.”
Lucas snorted. “She’s probably the one who put it in place. Stupid bloody witch.”
“If she could trap us all like this, then she’s the opposite of stupid,” I said, defending my friend instinctively even though she wasn’t on our side anymore. The pain of her betrayal still cut deep.
Lucas brushed me off with a wave of his hand and returned his attention to Ethan, who was still staring out the window.
“So, when are you going to see them?” he asked again.
With an audible sigh, Ethan replied, “I suppose there’s no time like the present.”
Finn
After settling Alora in a seat at the back of the minivan, I returned to the front and started up the engine.
“Why are we taking her with us?” Delilah asked, disgruntled. “We’ve got enough to worry about without adopting every waif and stray we come across.”
I glanced at Alora in my overhead mirror and saw her visibly stiffen at Delilah’s statement.
“You don’t have to take me,” she volunteered meekly. “I can find my own way …”
“You’re staying with us,” I interrupted firmly before meeting Delilah’s gaze. “She’s some kind of clairvoyant. Ridley kidnapped her two years ago so that he could use her powers. Two fucking years she’s been kept prisoner by that psycho. We’re helping her. It’s not up for discussion.” I tightened my jaw, giving Delilah one final look before I started driving.
“You always have to play the hero,” she muttered passive aggressively under her breath, but I pretended I couldn’t hear her.
I thought about that as I drove, wondering if it was true. I signed up with the DOH because I wanted to save people from vampires. I wanted to make up for the fact that I couldn’t save my family from them. Then there was Tegan. The very first night I saw her with Cristescu after he’d annihilated a whole squadron of my men, I knew she was stuck in a bad situation, and I wanted to help free her from it.
I’d been trying to help her ever since that night to no avail. She stayed with him willingly. Maybe she never needed saving to begin with. Or maybe she was just a lost cause, too in love with a bloodsucker to see how she was falling down a bad path.
There was traffic piling up on the road ahead. I rolled down my window and stuck my head out, only to be greeted by the sounds of horns blaring and people shouting in desperation.
“What the heck?” I said, pulling the van to a stop on the motorway.
All four lanes on the side of the road leading out of the city were crammed with vehicles, while the opposite side was empty. Made sense. After all the madness and carnage that had gone down, it was only logical that people would want to flee.
Telling the others to stay put, Gabriel and I got out and went to investigate the holdup. Even if everyone was trying to get away from Tribane, the traffic shouldn’t have come to such a dead halt, unless there’d been an accident.
We weaved through the stationary vehicles and people standing around kicking up a fuss about the delay. When we got about half a mile up the motorway, we saw that there had been an accident, only not the kind we expected. Several cars looked like they’d been pulverised to pieces, and stretching from the ground far up into the sky was a translucent purple shield, a barrier to the outside world.
Gabriel let out several low expletives as we continued closer to the shield. It vibrated with energy—magical energy. The sound of women and children crying filled the night, and among the shattered vehicles was a mess of blood and limbs. Most of the people, though, were staring up at the barrier in fear and fascination.
“This is Theodore’s doing,” Gabriel said quietly. “He’s trapped us all in.” He paused and pointed to the carnage. “Those people tried to drive through it and look what happened.”
“Shit,” I whispered, not knowing what else to say.
I’d thought Theodore fled in terror when he saw Cristescu transform. Clearly, he wasn’t too terrified if he managed to construct something like this.
“Well,” I said. “It looks like nobody’s going anywhere right now. We’d better get back to the others and find somewhere for all of us to sleep tonight.”
Gabriel nodded, and we began walking back. Once we reached the minivan, I quickly filled everyone in on what was going on. Alvie trembled while Delilah looked out the window with a resigned expression. Ira rested his furry head on her lap, and Alora moved warily to the front of the van.
“Can I sit up here with you?” she asked hesitantly.
My eyes roamed her pretty face and her unseeing, unfocused eyes before I responded, “Sure, you can.”
She exhaled with relief and climbed between the seats. Once she settled in beside me her hands fumbled at her sides, trying to find the straps for her seatbelt. My eyes softened.
“Hey,” I murmured. “Let me help you.”
Her hands stilled, and she nodded once. I took the seatbelt and secured it over her chest and around her waist, my hands brushing the smooth material of her dress as I did so.
With Alora strapped in, I turned the van around and began driving away in the direction of the city. I thought about bringing everyone to my place but reconsidered. Perhaps it would be a good idea to stay under the radar for awhile until we could get the lay of the land. I exited the motorway, spotting a sign up ahead with the universal symbols for food and accommodation. A couple of minutes later, I turned into the parking lot of a large chain hotel, with a red brick, one storey diner beside it.
“Anyone hungry?” I asked as I parked in one of the many free spots. Almost the entire place was empty, but the lights were on in the diner and there were a few people inside, so I presumed it was open.
“I’m starving,” Alvie exclaimed, and Gabriel shot him an affectionate smile.
“Right, you all go and get some food while I book us into the hotel,” I said, sliding out of the minivan.