The Burning City (26 page)

She flung herself against her brother’s taller, bulkier frame. He wrapped his arms around her, as did someone else, from the side. She reached out and snaked an arm around Diego’s slender waist.

They both stunk horribly—sweat and body odor, and that awful rotten musty smell of Occam’s vampire shambles—but she had never been happier to have her nose offended. She cried, pressing her face to Jason’s dirty T-shirt.

“You’re alive,” she choked out. “You’re really here.”

She was hugged and kissed and clutched, with no clear idea who was who, but it didn’t matter. She tangled herself with both of them, her heart slamming against her ribs. Her side ached fiercely, but she closed out the pain, melting into their embrace.

She finally managed to draw back, taking them in through tear-filled eyes, a heavenly vision. She gripped Jason’s face.

“Are you all right? Are you both all right?”

“We’re fine.” Jason’s voice was strained. “I’d kill for a sandwich and a shower, but they didn’t hurt us.”

“I hate vampires.” Diego seethed. “Fucking monsters. They kept us like animals, but Jason’s right. We’re okay. They never harmed us.”

June couldn’t stop crying. She looked them both over for reassurance. They were dirty, their appearance as awful as their stench, but no cuts, no bruises. Only the old pink scar on Jason’s wrist. She had to give him back his watch.

“Oh, God.” She wept anew, clinging to both of them. “Thank God. Thank God you’re all right.”

Jason wrapped his arms around her again and lifted her off her feet. She clung to him, dangling. He placed her back on the ground and nodded to someone behind her.

“Sam,” he said. “God, it’s good to see you again too.”

June turned, sniffing.

Sam stood in the middle of the driveway, brow furrowed, mouth open. He stared at June.

“Occam let us watch you guys on TV,” Jason said. “The press conference. He thought it was funny.”

“I didn’t tell the FBI where you were.” June gripped her brother’s arm. “I was too afraid of what Occam would do.”

Diego squeezed her hand. “Yeah. He kept saying you wouldn’t be dumb enough to send anyone after him. He said if you did, something bad would happen to us.”

Jason looked around. “This is your place, Sam? Damn. Right now I’d settle for a hovel if it didn’t belong to a vampire, but this is pretty impressive.”

Sam walked slowly toward them, still staring at June.

“Sam,” she said softly. She trembled all over, from joy, from terror of what lay ahead.

Sam stopped. He shook his head. “June,” he whispered. “What the hell have you done?”

* * * *

“We can’t get inside the Institute on our own.” June stood in the middle of the living room, arms folded, chin up, trying to appear much more confident than she felt. “There’s no way we can get past Robbie’s surveillance.”

Sam sat on the couch in front of her, his head in his hands. Jason and Diego stood behind her.

“We need Occam’s help,” she said. “He can do it, or he can at least help us do it. Isn’t that why you involved the vampires in the first place, because they can do all kinds of things we can’t?”

Sam lifted his head and pressed a hand over his mouth. He stared at the floor.

“There has to be some other way.” His voice was hushed. “There has to be—”

“There isn’t,” she said. “Sam, we’re fucked. We’re fucked really, really hard. The only way we can hope to stop him is by using extreme measures. Even if we could somehow get inside undetected, how are we going to stop Robbie? Tell me that. How are you going to bring him down? He can kill both of us without lifting a finger. And he will. He won’t play around this time, mark my words.”

Sam lifted his gaze to her.

“But he can’t hurt vampires,” she said. “It’s a vampire who has to take him out. It’s the only way.”

Sam lowered his hand. “Why would you make this deal with the devil behind my back? Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Because you wouldn’t have let me do it.”

He slapped his hands on his knees. “No, I wouldn’t have let you.”

“There’s no other way, Sam.”

Jason cleared his throat. He stepped up beside June. “She’s right, Sam. If this is something you guys have to do, you can’t get rid of Robbie on your own. Even with Muse around, she can’t read his thoughts, right? He’s blank to her?”

June cringed. She turned to him, biting her lip.

“Muse is dead,” she said softly. “Robbie killed her.”

Jason’s face sagged.

Sam got up. He walked over to June, glowering.

“Jason,” Sam said, “do you understand what your sister is saying?”

She glowered at Sam in return.

Sam gestured at Jason. “Do you think Occam let you go out of the kindness of his gentle vampire heart? Do you think he’s going to help us just because it’ll make him feel good? Your sister has struck a bargain with him. That’s why he’s willing to help us. That’s why he let you go.”

June squared her shoulders. “Jason”—she turned to him—“a lot has happened since Occam took you prisoner. There’s things you don’t know, things about me. Things I didn’t even know until a month ago.”

“I’m not letting him take you,” Sam said lowly.

“Shut up,” June told him.

Diego looked between her and Sam, eyes narrowed. “Are you… Are you saying you’re going to become a vampire, June?”

“What?” Jason said sharply.

She held up a hand. “I have to explain some things. And you have to listen.”

Jason shook his head. “Why would you even consider—”

She pressed a hand to his chest. “I’m dying.”

He blanched, his eyes going wide. “What are you talking about?” He stared at her.

“My food allergies, they’re not allergies. It turns out it’s my power killing me. Eating me from the inside out. The way Muse’s power was destroying her. The way Robbie’s power is destroying him. That’s what’s happening to me.”

“June.” Diego stepped toward her. “Oh my God…”

“How do you know that?” Jason gripped her hand on his chest.

“Occam told me. It’s what happened to him, before he was turned. It’ll eventually kill me—either starvation or my guts will dissolve or something equally horrible. That’s my fate.”

“You believe him?” Jason asked.

“Yes,” she said softly. “We’ve been trying to find some medical way to combat it, but… They haven’t been able to save any of us yet, have they Sam?”

“There’s a first time for everything,” he said grimly behind her.

“So you’re going to become a vampire?” Diego asked.

“If I become a vampire, I’ll survive. It’ll even fix some of the damage. Robbie has been trying to convince a vampire to change him, to fix his issues, too, so he can live and continue destroying the city.”

Jason gaped. “That…would make a monster.”

She nodded. “I don’t know if Occam told you, but recently they cleansed their society. They killed most of the vampires in the city. Supposedly, because they only want strong vampires around, but they also don’t want anyone turning Robbie, and the old vampires—the ones who can really help him—would never do that.”

Jason and Diego stood silent, their horror seeming to radiate on the air.

“I made a deal,” June said. “I’ll become a vampire, if Occam helps us stop Robbie—and gave you and Diego back to me, unharmed.”

“We can find another way,” Sam said. “We’ll figure it out.”

She pulled her hand away from Jason and turned to Sam. “If I become a vampire, what do you think is going to happen? I’ll still be me. Do you think I’ll turn into Occam? I’m less inclined to believe Occam’s personality is a result of his vampirism and more just him naturally being an asshole.”

Jason gripped her shoulder. “June, you really believe this? You really think you’re dying?”

She looked back at him and pressed a hand to her stomach. “Yes. In my gut, trust me. And it’s getting worse every day. I don’t want to die. I don’t want to face what I can feel in my body is happening.”

Sam drew a sharp breath. “I can’t lose you to the vampires. Not after everything. If I lose you…”

June looked back around at him. “If I don’t become a vampire, you’re going to lose me completely, forever.”

“What the hell else has happened?” Jason asked. “All this stuff, just since we’ve been kidnapped? Where’s Micha?”

June rubbed her forehead. “You guys need a shower and a decent meal, and then I’ll tell you everything.”

Sam’s face was stony, but his eyes were full of fear, of anguish. She wished she could kiss away his anxiety. She wished she could expel her own.

“Occam will be in touch soon,” she said. “He promised we would act before Robbie kills Anthony.”

Sam stepped up to her. “I’m not waiting on a vampire. And I’m not letting him turn you. We will figure this out.” He turned and stormed off toward the kitchen.

June wrapped her arms around her aching, empty stomach. “There is no other way,” she whispered.

While Jason and Diego showered, and with Sam brooding in the kitchen, June sneaked a phone call out on the porch.

“Do you think you can slip your cell phone to Micha?” she asked Trina, keeping her voice down. “I need to have a conversation with him. It’s very important.”

“I don’t know. Possibly. But I don’t know how he could talk to you without them listening in.” She paused. “What’s going on? You sound odd.”

“I just need to talk to him. Can you try?”

“I’ll see what I can do. If he can get in touch with you, I’ll have him text you right before he calls. Keep your phone on you.”

“I will. Thanks a lot, Trina.”

“Are you sure you’re all right? Make sure you don’t miss your appointment on Monday. I’ve got a new regimen of vitamins I want to try out.”

June swallowed. “Sure. I won’t miss it.”

Jason and Diego looked much better showered and in fresh clothes—some of Sam’s—and they looked much happier with real food in front of them. June didn’t want to spoil their appetites, so she didn’t start talking until they were mostly done eating. She filled them in on all the sordid details from the past month.

“So you’re with Sam now?” Jason jerked the water bottle he was holding toward the dining room, where Sam had relocated and sequestered himself. “Gotta say, I’m not surprised.”

June sat across from them, too much a bundle of nerves to eat. “I’ll always care about Micha. Trina is going to find a way to save him. It’s not fair he should die after all he’s been through.”

Diego lowered his fork. “Maybe he can become a vampire too.”

June sighed. “Everything is really complicated right now. Who knew being out of hiding was worse than being in it?”

They were all silent. Seeing them in front of her was the first awesome thing that had happened in a while. So much better than a picture.

“What went on with Occam?” she asked. “What did he do to you guys?”

Jason shrugged. “Nothing. It was boring as hell. He locked us in a room. Sometimes we didn’t see him for days. No vampires ever touched us, but I think they were trying to break us with sheer mind-numbing boredom.”

“When he did come by,” Diego said, “it was just to mess with us and drop off food and water. Vampires think humans can live on Cheetos and Pepsi.”

“He did let us watch the press conference,” Jason said. “That was a fun outing.”

“I was worried you’d resist him and he’d do something to you.” She looked at Diego. “Especially you. There was—right after he kidnapped you, I didn’t know it yet, but he came to talk to me, and he smelled like your cologne. I was worried you’d fought him.”

Diego rolled his eyes. “No. We were getting ready to leave Chicago and we were at the hotel where I’d been staying, picking up my things.”

“And I wasn’t very happy with you,” Jason cut in, eyeing her. “I wanted to find you and put my hands around your throat, to be honest.”

“I figured.” She still felt guilty about it, especially given the outcome.

“Occam showed up,” Diego said. “Like some friggin’ ghost, he just appeared. He was being an asshole. He went through my suitcase, took a bunch of my stuff. He sprayed my cologne on him, said it would make you like him more.”

“Occam is always an asshole,” she said. “I’m glad you didn’t try to fight him.”

“I wanted to.” Diego grew snippy. “His goons swarmed in and took us out of there. I still have no idea what happened to my stuff, or even my car.”

Jason continued eyeing June. “And now we’re all safe, and you want to put yourself in danger again. Going into the Institute is a really dumb idea.”

“Not going in there is an even dumber idea. If Robbie blows that place up, his followers will devour the city.”

Diego muttered, “I’m inclined to let them have it.”

“I used to feel that way too,” June said. “Now—I don’t think it’s right. It’ll set the paranormal community back decades. Normals will fear us again.”

Jason smirked. “I can for sure tell you’re dating Sam now.”

She glared at him. “Do you really think what Robbie wants to do is right?”

He was silent a moment. “No, I don’t. But I wish it wasn’t you that had to take care of it, and I sure as hell wish you didn’t need Occam. What if you die in there?”

“I’m going to die if I don’t go in there.” She sat back. “If you want me around, this is how it has to be.”

A commotion rose in the living room. A moment later, Cindy appeared in the doorway, blustery and wide-eyed.

“You’re really here!” She rushed in.

Jason stood. She was as tall as him in her heels. They embraced, Cindy clinging to him, her face pressed against his shoulder.

June side-eyed Diego. “I guess that answers my question,” she murmured. “About if you and Jason got up to anything to pass the time.”

Diego tilted his head, giving her his patented death stare. “It wasn’t exactly a porno fantasy.”

“You must be slipping.”

“Just because you can get laid in a crisis, June.”

Cindy drew back, still clutching Jason. “Occam let you go?” She looked at June. “What the hell is going on? Sam is fit to be tied, and he’s not answering any of my questions. Why is he all wound up?”

“You’ll find out soon enough.” June got up and walked over to them. She squeezed Jason’s shoulder and pulled her phone out of her pocket. “There’s someone I want you to say hi to.”