Then I look at Alexei again. I stare at that aging profile, the curve of his ear, a sight more familiar to me than even my own mother’s face. If I broke free and did any damage to the car, to the reputation of the Vampire King, Alexei would be punished for it. They all would be.
I soon realize we’re driving down side roads. A tremor of fear travels down my spine. What if I’m wrong about their good intentions? What if they’re taking me somewhere to kill me?
At this point, maybe it would be an act of mercy.
I don’t recognize any of the businesses or street names, which means we must be in Wardthorpe. Long ago, Father forbade everyone in the mansion from coming here. It’s the biggest district in the city, a place for vampires who defy the king’s color-coded system and free humans. Their freedom comes at a steep price, though. The vampires exist without the protection of guards or the royal purse strings. The unclaimed humans may be fed upon or outright killed. They, too, are forced to find other ways to pay their bills.
Alexei drives us out of Wardthorpe and into more familiar territory. The dilapidated homes and shops of Oldbel crawl past. Here, the currencies are anything vital for survival. It is everything opposite the home I’ve known until now.
During my upbringing, I wasn’t resourceful like Beatrix or strong like Valerie. I hid away with my books and my growing things. I spent most of my efforts coaxing flowers from the ground.
In this world, flowers are nothing but colorful things to be stepped on.
“His Majesty assigned you to the sewer sector,” Raphael mutters, startling me.
“Wh-what does that mean? Sewer sector?” I repeat, feeling as if I might vomit all over the backseat. To my shame, I’ve never taken much interest in the politics of New Ve, never expressed any interest in exploring the inner workings of the society Alexander Travesty has built. All that affected me was the Awakening and the color of my eyes… and even that is shrouded in a veil of vague explanations and unanswered questions. Once, I heard my cousin challenging Alexander’s logic for manipulating our very DNA to match his vision, but one day Marcus fell remarkably silent on the subject.
“…a squadron of humans assigned to every district,” Raphael is explaining. I force myself to focus on the words coming out of his mouth. “They patrol the underground and ensure our citizens’ survival from…”
His hesitation is enough to fill in the blanks.
Decades ago, before New Ve was formed, a virus swept the world. Humans and vampires alike can contract it, and the result is similar to rabies, except these victims don’t die. They roam, mindless and endlessly hungry. We call them weepers—amongst their many other gruesome symptoms, victims of the virus are constantly sobbing, crying, and wailing.
It’s one of the eeriest, most disturbing sounds I have ever heard. I’ve never experienced it with my own ears, but even captured on recordings, the weeping makes my blood run cold.
“He assigned me to a sector where I’m most likely to die, didn’t he?” I ask in a low voice.
Raphael says nothing, which again, is an answer in itself. At least there won’t be a body for Father to hang on the wall, I think as I stare out the window.
For the first time, Mei Lien speaks. Her tone is heavy with reluctance, and I remember again that moment between her and Gabriela. “There’s a boardinghouse near here,” she says, ignoring Raphael’s intense stare. “I don’t know the name of it, but it’s run by a woman called Ada. She might have a room.”
I try to thank her, but my throat shudders with pain, yet another poorly-timed reminder that I haven’t fed. The monster within me rears its ugly head, singing like the call of a water nymph. Drain these humans. Drain them dry and take the car.
The thought makes my heart race and my gums throb. I can’t. Surely, if I tried to run, the famously unforgiving Vampire King would send troops after me, resulting in a punishment far worse than anything I could face at this boardinghouse of Mei Lien’s. I shove the voice away and lick my gums in an attempt to lessen the ache.
The brakes squeal as the car comes to a complete stop. Just then, a tinny voice speaks from Raphael’s earpiece—my heart is beating too loud to make out the words. Frowning, he turns his head away to listen. Taking advantage of his distraction, I look toward the front seat. Alexei is watching in the rearview mirror.
“Please don’t leave me here,” I whisper, knowing even as I say it there’s nothing he can do.
He averts his gaze, his mouth pressing into a thin line. “I’m sorry, dócha.”
Finished with his conversation, Raphael is looking at me now, his mouth a thin line of tension. “A lot of people are sorry today,” is all I say to Alexei, my voice faint. A numb sensation creeps through me.
Cold air fills the car as Raphael gets out. He holds the door open, a silent but effective way of saying that it’s time. Choking back a sob, I force myself to slide across the seat and get to my feet.
The rain immediately comes for me, sinking greedily into my clothes and along my skin. I stand there, searching for the strength to let go of the car. Raphael’s lavender gaze meets mine. “Good luck,” he says quietly. The same words my mother had said to me last night.
“Th-thanks,” I rasp. There’s a sound stuck in my throat, something halfway between a sob and a scream. As I try to swallow it, again and again, I step back so Raphael can finally close the door. He climbs in and does exactly that.
No one in the car looks back as Alexei guides them away from the curb.
After a brief hesitation, the vehicle picks up speed, its tires crunching over a shattered bottle in the street. Though I try not to, I can’t stop myself from watching my last tie to the mansion—to my family and a life I didn’t get to have—drive away. The taillights vanish around a corner a few moments later, leaving me drenched, terrified, and alone.
I look around. Oldbel looks back, with broken windows for eyes and a trash-littered street as an unsmiling mouth. The ache at the back of my throat returns. Feed. Feed. Feed. Within seconds, it becomes more. It feels like there’s something clawing at me from the inside. I need blood, and soon if I want to survive the next few hours.
“Welcome home,” I whisper, shivering.
Chapter Three
The swell of voices and the tangy, sweet scent of human blood assails my senses, making my temples pound in tune with the throbbing in my gums.
I stare up at the boardinghouse I’ve been searching for all night. To my consternation, I discovered that nothing in Oldbel is marked, whether by street signs or house numbers, and no one would give me directions. Each person I came in contact with took one startled look at my face and fled. While it’s common knowledge that my kind isn’t exactly liked around here, Wardthorpe, or Midtown, I suspect the city has already learned of my disastrous Awakening.
This resulting in hours spent wandering down quiet roads. The moon isn’t always good company—my thoughts were crowded with memories of this night. Beatrix’s averted gaze as she handed me the mirror, the bottomless darkness in the Vampire King’s eyes as he stared into mine, the wisps of my mother’s dark hair as she turned away in that shadowed hallway, Gabriela retreating in the rain.