Always (40 page)

“
Okay.” I tried not to envision the whole thing. “Then the bond will be broken?”

“
Once the head is burned.”

Now I knew why he said I wouldn’t be able to kill Silango. It was a gruesome thought, not to mention I would have to get really close to a guard vampire. It did sound impossible.

“
You are the most determined third generation I have ever met,” Rueben said softly.

“
Determined enough to kill a guard?”

“
Determined enough to get your husband back.”

“
Same thing,” I muttered. We sat in a semi-comfortable silence for a long time. I could tell that Rueben wasn’t entirely himself. His usually smooth forehead scowled and darkened as his thoughts raced around someone named Sophia. Who was she?

I had asked before and was answered with a low growl and a ‘mind your own business’. I didn’t ask again. I did try to hear more of his thoughts, but he was so much better at hiding things than I was.

“
You need to find a girlfriend,” I broke the silence.

“
I have a girlfriend,” he smirked.

“
You do?”

“
Several, in fact.”

“
I don’t mean like that,” I shoved hard against his shoulder. I felt the heat of my embarrassment.

“
You’re just stuck in the 1800s,” he accused playfully, more like the Rueben I remembered.

“
There’s nothing wrong with the 1800s.”

“
Except they were like a hundred years ago.”

“
It’s not like
you
don’t remember them.”

He laughed loudly, his shoulders shaking in amusement. “I may have a few memories.”

“
Of Sophia?” I watched his reaction carefully, hoping to catch a glimpse of the truth.

“
No, not of Sophia.” He stuck his blade into a nearby tree and buried his half-finished carving in the long grass. “Come on, Claudia, let’s race.”

I jumped up quickly. “Where to?”

“
To your place.”

“
Ha! I’ll see you there.”

“
Yeah, I’ll be the guy waiting by your front door.”

“
In your dreams, old man.”

As always, his laughter made me feel lighter, like all the dark parts of my heart were filled in by his amusement. I darted away while he was still laughing.

We both knew I didn’t stand a chance against Rueben. He could outrun me twice over and still have time to rest. Still, we raced often, just for the thrill of the run.

It was easy to get back to the city; we didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing us, so we could just run full speed. It was after we actually got into the city that the race became tricky. There were too many people to just run.

I darted behind a building and ran along the narrow piece of sidewalk hidden there. A dog came out to bark at me, but I was gone before it could consider giving chase. I was too far from home to go through alleys the entire time and if I knew Rueben, he had probably gotten a taxi. Maybe if I was lucky and didn’t run into too many people, I could beat him today.

I darted across the street and along another narrow street. The only person I saw was a small boy playing with a fire truck in front of a sagging blue house. He probably didn’t even notice me zipping by.

I had decided to stay in the same small apartment that Rueben had found for me when I first came to the city. It was cheap–not that money was ever an issue–but that meant that not too many people paid much attention to it.

It was in a bad enough part of town that feeding was never a problem, either. Crime was high even without a vampire living in the neighborhood, so an unexplained murder every now and then didn’t turn any heads.

I hardly ever killed them anymore, though. I was good at stopping, even without Rueben there. Now that I was feeding regularly, there wasn’t much I couldn’t do. I could almost keep up with Rueben when he didn’t run as fast as he was able to, and I could see and hear better than I’d ever been able to.

I ducked quickly behind a large black car when a woman walked by with a baby on her hip. I bounced on my heels as she moved agonizingly slowly past me. As soon as she was out of sight, I raced to the next street over.

No way was I letting Rueben beat me this time. If he was going by cab, he might be stuck in traffic while I was rushing through the back alleys. I skidded to a stop a few streets from my apartment.

I could already hear his taunting thoughts, the steady thump of his heart: a heart that hadn’t been exerted at all.
Nice to see you could join me today, Claudia.

“
Yeah, I figured you would probably be missing me by now,” I muttered.

His laughter reached my ears before his actual words did. “I was beginning to wonder where you had disappeared to.”

“
Maybe I should have taken a cab like other cheaters I know.”

“
I didn’t take a cab today.”

As I got closer to him, I saw his smirk more clearly. “Oh, no? Did you learn how to fly, then?”

“
No.” He nudged my shoulder when I finally joined him on the front steps. “I just know how to take paths of least resistance.”

“
Meaning?”

“
The ones without any humans lurking in the shadows.” He wiggled his hands in front of us, trying to be funny.

I wasn’t giving in, though. “You probably just ran past them anyways.”

“
If I go fast enough, they won’t see me anyways.”

I pouted my lips out and crossed my arms across my chest. “You cheat,” I accused good-naturedly.

“
I wasn’t aware that we made rules that I could break. Isn’t it just whoever gets back the fastest wins?”

“
You always push the limits.”

“
I do not.” He feigned a look of innocence.

“
Remember the time you went
over
the city?”

“
From building to building.” He was already smiling wide and I couldn’t help but respond to him.

“
Fine. You win this time.”

“
I win every time.”

“
Not tomorrow. Tomorrow is my day.”

“
You do realize that you say that every day, and every day I win?”

“
I know,” I pouted.

He flicked my lip playfully with his finger. “You don’t want a bird to poop on that.”

“
That would be really gross.”

“
Yes it would.”

We both laughed. “Are you hunting tonight?”

He looked away quickly before answering; a sure sign that he wasn’t going to tell me the truth. “I might. I’ll probably just go home, though.”

“
You gonna come up?”

“
Not tonight.”

I wrapped my arms tight around my middle when feelings of dread tried to creep in. “Okay. I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

“
Absolutely,” he nodded. He looked away, down an empty alley. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“
Same place?”

“
Where else?”

He turned back to wink at me. Any other words I may have had died in my throat. I could only manage a half smile when he waved at me. I wanted to call him back as soon as he left, but I resisted the urge. The rage I saw in his eyes had to have been just my imagination.

Chapter
Forty-One

The sun had not yet come up when I made it to the cluster of trees. I liked to watch the sun rise up over the still sleeping city. Besides, the streets were easier to maneuver with less people.

I knew Rueben wouldn’t be there for a while yet. He preferred to sleep in. Sunrise wasn’t his favorite time of day.

“
I don’t know how you can stand it,” he said one day.

“
Stand what?”

“
The sunrise.”

“
It’s beautiful. Especially now with my new eyes.

”
They still look green to me.”

“
I can hear when it comes up over the horizon.”

“
You can’t hear it,” he scoffed.

“
Yes, I can.”

“
Well, I’ll leave you to your imaginary noises. I’ll meet you at a regular hour.”

“
A regular hour?” I laughed.

“
After the sun is up.”

“
So, a regular hour for humans?”

“
I was human once.”

I smiled again as the memory faded away. I didn’t mind being alone for a few hours. It gave me time to think, time to plan. It wouldn’t be long now. I was ready to take back what was mine; I just had to figure out how to do it.

I would have to go to him; I knew that. Silango rarely, if ever, left London. Once I got to London, I was fairly confident that I could arrange an audience with Silango.

The problem was what I would do after that. How was I going to get close enough to him to actually kill him? His warriors would be there and no doubt he had given them all similar orders to kill me.

If I lived through all of this, I was going to have to find Neleh and find out why she hated me so much. Then, Marcus and I would be free to be together. And it would be better than it was before. We could hunt together and he could teach me so much.

I pulled a strand of grass from the ground and wound it in and out of my fingers. The sun had already risen and was climbing higher in the sky. Rueben was usually here by now.

I crawled over to where he usually sat and uncovered his piece of wood from the day before. It was just as he had left it; unfinished and waiting for his return. I buried it back with the grass and settled more comfortably in my own spot.

He would be here soon; I just didn’t know what was keeping him. I lay down on my back to watch the clouds as they drifted by the bright blue sky. The big fluffy globs began to take on different shapes.

When the shadows around me changed and darkened, I sat back up. It was nearing evening, I realized with a small amount of alarm. I had been sitting there the entire day and Rueben had never shown up.

I slowly got to my feet. It was time that I went home. Maybe Rueben would be there and be able to tell me where he had been. There had to be an explanation why he didn’t show up. I glanced again at the darkening sky–way past the time to be heading home.

It wasn’t as much fun going home alone as it was with Rueben. He had left me alone before, but at least then I had known beforehand that he wasn’t going to be there. I crossed the street slowly once I got back to the city, practically dragging my feet along the way.

I considered taking a cab, but I hadn’t brought any money with me. Besides, most of the cabbies in this part of the city didn’t like to drive to my part of the city. So I was stuck walking back home.

To make matters even worse than they already were, there were even more people out on the streets than usual. Most of the time, I was forced to walk at a slow human pace.

“
Hey, cutie,” someone called when I passed into the dirtier part of the city.

I rolled my eyes and kept walking. I really hoped that idiot wouldn’t try to approach me. I was close to home and I was eager to see Rueben lounging on the front steps with that sheepish grin plastered on his face. He wasn’t going to get off so easily this time. I was really going to let him have it for making me wait all day and then just standing me up.

“
Where are you going, cutie?” the man called as I brushed past him.

When I heard him start to follow, I turned around to glare his way. He started to laugh, but something in my face must have scared him because he quickly rejoined his friends.

I was disappointed when I reached home and Rueben still wasn’t there. I was so sure he was going to be there.