The Damned (31 page)

“I put a strong glamour on Eriko to keep her from being recognized,” Skye reminded her.

“This is good. She can try to make contact with Antonio,” Holgar added.

Jenn’s cell phone rang. It was Noah.

“Jenn, I’m here.
We’re
here,” he amended.

“Thank you.”

“I’ve got your back.” His voice was low, and steady.

In the scrying stone the elevator door opened. Now Eriko was facing an ornate white door embellished with reliefs of fanged Grecian figures.

That door opened. A tall, dark, and very hot guy stood in the doorway. It was Skye’s turn to gasp.

“Estefan?” Jenn guessed. Skye nodded. She looked ashen.

“She’s with Estefan,” Jenn said into her cell phone.

“Jamie will love that,” Noah drawled. “We should hang up. They might be able to listen in. We could, back in Israel.”

“Okay.” She didn’t want him to go.

After she and Noah disconnected, Jenn kept her eyes locked on the scrying stone as they exited the cab, nodding once at the black van as it rolled into the parking structure. She, Holgar, and Skye sauntered along in front of the massive complex, Holgar studying the topmost floor of the tallest building. Taamir and Noah appeared.

“Hey, ssssssexy,” a woman dressed in a silvery tank top and red mini hissed at Noah, strolling boldly up to him. She was a Cursed One, her fangs extended. “Want to party?”

Noah winked at her. “Maybe later, baby.”

The vampire sauntered away.

Jenn stared into the stone.

“Please, come in,” Estefan invited Eriko.

Eriko minced across the threshold, acting a little uncertain and excited. She gazed around the room. The lights were dim, and about a dozen figures sat in chairs. Only their eyes were visible, glowing in the shadows.

One of the figures spoke to her in Japanese. Jenn was fairly certain that it was Shell Ghost Shogun. Eriko bowed several times, speaking in Japanese. Shell Ghost Shogun laughed.

Music played, total tween-style Japanese pop, and Eriko started a routine. She stuck out her butt and pointed to her cheeks. She hopped around in little circles, sounding twelve.

“That is
not
Eriko.” Jamie said, watching over Jenn’s shoulder. She hadn’t heard him walk up. That was bad. Hunters had to be on their guard 24/7.

“Good. The glamour’s working,” Skye said happily.

“I mean, dancing around like an idiot.” His voice was tight. “This was another gem of an idea.”

Jenn refrained from pointing out that Jamie hadn’t protested when Skye had infiltrated Aurora’s nest back in New Orleans. He loved Eriko, and that was getting in the way. And he hated Antonio, and that was getting in the way too.

Eriko finished, and the assembled group applauded. She hopped around and bowed. Shell Ghost Shogun said a few more words in Japanese. Eriko laughed and waved her hands in front of her face. Then the music started up again.

“Can’t you do a spell to understand Japanese?” Jamie asked Skye. “Or make her sing something else?”

Skye shook her head. The song ended, and Jenn heard the pop of a champagne cork.

A young woman with two punctures in her neck appeared in their field of vision. She was wearing a white evening gown, and her pallor nearly matched the creamy fabric. Her hands trembled as she held out a tray of champagne glasses to Eriko.

Help me
, she mouthed.

Then Aurora glided into view, and Jenn and the others stiffened.

“We’re gonna kill you, bitch,” Jamie muttered darkly.

“I wish Antonio had been here to meet you,” Aurora continued. As she said his name, the girl holding the tray swayed. Eriko reached out a steadying hand to help her.

Monster
, the girl mouthed.
Help.

“Staci, we’re
all
thirsty, not just our guest.”

Staci shuffled away from Eriko, holding out her tray as she moved among the seated figures. Each took a glass of champagne.

“
Bueno
, Staci. You may return to Antonio’s room and wait for him there.”

“Oh, please, no,” Staci sobbed. “Please, just kill me now. While he’s gone.”

“No,” Jenn whispered, stunned.
“No.”

“Oh, God, Jenn,” Skye said, grabbing her hand.

He’s gone back
, Jenn thought,
to what he was. To what he’s always been.

She would have dropped the scrying stone if Skye hadn’t taken it from her. She would have burst into tears if she could have remembered how to cry. Or how to breathe.

“Maybe it’s a trick,” Holgar said, putting out a hand to steady her, much as Eriko had steadied the girl. “Maybe they know we’re watching. They’re saying that to provoke us.”

“Well, I’m bloody provoked. I say as soon as Eri walks back out that door, we attack. Take Aurora now,” Jamie said.

“With what?” Skye asked.

“What about Antonio?” Taamir added. “We should wait until he comes back. Make a clean sweep.”

Noah gently edged out Holgar, who yielded his place at Jenn’s side. “I’m sorry,” he said, wrapping his hand around her hand. “I know what it’s like to lose a teammate like this.”

“We—we haven’t lost anyone yet,” she managed.

“We should have been more aggressive about finding weapons and people,” Jamie said, pacing. “If he’s gone over to the dark side, he’s told them everything.”

“Maybe he’s pretending,” Skye said hopefully.

“Did you
see
the holes in that girl’s neck? And how terrified she was of him?” Taamir asked.

“Maybe she’s in on it,” Skye argued.

Taamir frowned skeptically. “Aurora obviously trusts him enough to let him go out on his own.”

“So we’re assuming,” Skye countered. “Maybe it’s just a show for us. Maybe they know we’re scrying.” Jenn knew she was trying to soften the shock, and she was grateful for the attempt. But it didn’t work.

“You said Estefan wouldn’t be able to detect your presence,” Jamie said.

“I said I
hoped
he wouldn’t be able to,” Skye replied.

“Well, you know, there are just too many maybes for my taste.” He rolled his shoulders, loosening them. “I say it’s time to attack.”

No one else spoke. From somewhere in her swirling brain Jenn knew they were waiting for her to respond. But she couldn’t.

Antonio
, she thought desperately.
Antonio.

“Come here a moment,” Noah told her. They walked a bit apart. Noah put his hands on her shoulders and positioned her to face him. Running his hands down her arms, he caught her hands in his. “They had to blow off steam,” he said under his breath. “Now they’ll listen to you. What are you going to tell them?”

“I can’t do this,” she whispered. “Noah, you don’t really know me.”

“I
do
know you,” he countered, squeezing her hands. “I am you. And you
can
do this.”

“No—”

“I was the scared kid. I was uncertain if I could step up when the time came. But I found out that I have strength deep down, deeper than most people can go. You have it. I can see it. That’s why you’re here. And that’s why you kind of like me.” He didn’t smile. He meant every word.

“And that’s why you have to go over to them and give the word. Just like you did in Russia.”

S
ALAMANCA,
N
EW
Y
EAR
’
S
E
VE,
A F
EW
M
ONTHS
E
ARLIER
J
ENN AND
A
NTONIO

“We are the vampire hunters.

Our cause is holy.

From Spain we come to save the world.

Race from us into the sunlight, demons of hell!

Better that you die inflames than by our hands!”

As she stood in the icy chapel on the grounds of the University of Salamanca, Jenn sang along with the survivors of her class—down to little more than a handful—and watched Antonio de la Cruz. While the others sang, he prayed. Beneath his black ceremonial robe, his black hair curled along his jawline. He had amazingly long lashes, and he was buffed out. Jenn had been crushing on him for two years. So had every other girl in class, except maybe Eriko Sakamoto—who was all business—and Skye York, who had a crush on an Irish student named Jamie O’Leary.

Tonight was their final exam. After two years of training, one of them would become the Hunter. What would become of the others? No one was sure.

Father Juan, the head of the Sacred Heart Academy Against the Cursed Ones, signaled for them to file out into the foggy night. The university bells tolled; the vampires were waiting to pick them off, one by one.

“This way,” Antonio said in his heavily accented English, as Skye and Eriko waved at them. They were part of a
grupo
, with Skye, Eriko, Jamie the crazy Irish guy, and Holgar, from Denmark. Holgar was a
werewolf.
Jenn still couldn’t believe it. An actual werewolf.

And Antonio? He was deeply religious, and he was Spanish, and that was about all she knew about him. Like all the other girls she had told herself that the reason Antonio hadn’t succumbed to her flirtatious skills was because he was studying to be a priest. She was glad he had her back tonight. He was a great fighter and strategist. Her grandparents had met in the underground, fighting for justice. No wonder she thought he was so wonderful.

When she thought about what was to come, she was amazed she’d made it this far. She wasn’t the best fighter, or the fastest runner. She hadn’t gotten the best grades in Lore and Strategy. She was just Jenn. But somehow she’d survived when more than a hundred others hadn’t.

“This way,” Antonio told the five, taking the lead. Jamie was about to argue with him when Holgar loped past. Jenn fell in behind.

They moved soundlessly, like ninjas.

“I smell them,” Holgar murmured.

They slowed. The dark covered them. Fog rolled in. Wind blew. Jenn started to get really, really scared. This was it.

The moon poked through the layers of fog as Antonio appeared before her. His robe hood was thrown back, and the silver light caught the angles and planes of his face. His eyes were deep-set, his lashes amazingly long. His nose was very straight, above soft lips she had dreamed of kissing a million times. He might die tonight. She wouldn’t be able to bear it.

He gazed down at her, and she couldn’t look away. It was as if he were casting a magick spell on her. He took a step toward her. Her heart raced.

“Jenn, tonight,” he began. He fell silent. Then he raised a hand and cupped her cheek. His skin was icy, and she jerked, startled. He began to take his hand away.

“No,” she said quickly, and he smiled. But it was a sad smile, stormy, and he did move it—to weave his fingers through her hair. His gaze swept over her features, as if he were memorizing them.

“Jenn, if tonight something happens, I want you to know why . . .” He trailed off, cocking his head, holding her in his gaze like a hypnotist. “Why I didn’t . . . act. It was you, Jenn, these last two years. You who captured my heart. But I couldn’t.”

His hand slipped from her hair to her shoulder. His touch made her knees buckle. She couldn’t believe this was happening. Here, now.
Antonio de la Cruz.

He cleared his throat. “I couldn’t.”

“Because you’re studying to be a priest,” she said.

“But now, when we fight them, you’ll probably see why. I won’t be able to stop it. And I want you to know that it changes nothing about how I feel. What I wish I could be. For you.”

Then Holgar growled.

“C’mon, mates!” Jamie yelled. “Wolf’s on the move!”

“Before we go,” Antonio whispered. Then he bent his head over hers, and kissed her. His mouth was cold, but she felt warm. Tingles raced up her spine. Her heart was going a million miles a minute.

“Mi luz,”
he said. Her Spanish was bad, but she knew he had just called her “my light.”
“Mi alma.”
My soul.

“Oh, Antonio,” she murmured, her eyes closed as he nuzzled her face with his mouth, his nose. “Have you known all this time that I—how I felt?”

“Sí.
And I have thanked God for it. But, Jenn, you need to
know.”
A pause. “Open your eyes.”

And she did.

L
AS
V
EGAS
T
EAM
S
ALAMANCA
M
INUS
A
NTONIO
;
T
AAMIR AND
N
OAH

“We’ll work something out, Jenn,” Skye said.

It was only then that Jenn realized she was sitting on the curb outside Aurora’s Palace. She didn’t remember sitting down.

“Oh, Skye,” Jenn whispered, her heart breaking.
“Skye.”

Jamie planted his feet in front of her. “Don’t you do it, Jenn. Don’t you bleedin’ cry. You’re our
leader
. Get it together.” He glared at her. “So, what’s the plan?”

Her body shook as she looked up at them. Holgar, Skye, Jamie, Taamir, and Noah, too, were all waiting to hear her grand, glorious decision. Noah gave her a quick nod. And something in her . . . shifted.

He’s right. I can do this.

“We need to do what will cause the most damage,” she said hoarsely. “What will help us win this war. We need to go in, now.”

“Likin’ that,” Jamie said. “Good girl.”

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

It’s hard to let go. It’s the most difficult lesson to learn, regardless of whether or not you’re a hunter. We spend our whole lives seeking and building connections—families, friends, mentors, lovers—and then, in a moment, they can be taken from us. These relationships can end along with a human life, or these relationships can fall apart, until they are as dead to you as if that person were in their grave, though they still walk.