The Burning City (28 page)

“Sam.” She stood in the doorway.

“I don’t want to hear anything you have to say right now.” He didn’t look at her. “You’ve made your choice.”

“So have you. You’ve made the choice to save this city from Robbie.” She walked into the room. “You could let him do what he wants, and none of this has to happen with Occam.”

“I can’t let him do what he wants.” He leaned over with both hands on the table.

“Then we can’t do this without Occam. Surely, you can comprehend that us going in there alone is a death sentence.”

Sam said nothing.

“With Occam’s help, we have a chance. And what’s the price for his help? That I get to live?”

He looked up. “I’m going to lose you.”

“You’re going to lose me if I don’t let Occam do this, much more horribly.”

“Trina is looking for a cure.”

“Her vitamins?” June tilted her head. “Sam, do you think she can fix what no one could fix for Muse? It might work for a while, but it won’t work forever. I don’t want to die.”

He pushed away from the table and walked over to the windows.

“Get in touch with Anthony,” she said. “Right now.”

She walked upstairs, numb and in a daze. She was beyond fear, beyond anguish, even beyond hope. She simply focused straight ahead on what needed to be done.

In the hallway, she paused outside one of the guest room doors. Jason was sleeping inside. Diego was in another. The urge to check on them, to make sure they were still there, overwhelmed her. Quietly, she turned the doorknob to Jason’s room and eased the door open.

The room was dark. Jason was asleep on the bed.

He wasn’t alone.

Cindy lay next to him. They were facing each other, Cindy’s arm draped over Jason’s side. Both were fully clothed. The sight made June’s heart ache.

She closed the door and bowed her head, considering the future, considering Jason’s future, her mother’s future. Maybe they would be better off if they didn’t see her again after she became a vampire.

She turned, intending to check on Diego next, and nearly yelped.

A short distance down the hallway, a small white figure stood. Still as the grave, staring blankly.

Muse gleamed in the darkness. Like Rose, she appeared solid but dead, like someone had propped her corpse up.

June glanced back, toward the stairs. If Sam came up he wouldn’t see her, but June would have a hard time acting like she wasn’t there.

“The answer is inside you,” Muse whispered. “It will change you.”

June stared at her. Those words made no sense, not like she expected them to, but they did seem ominous.

“Are you talking about Occam?” June asked. “About him making me a vampire?”

Muse didn’t reply. How much of a human’s personality remained in a ghost? Were they just an empty shell, an afterimage?

June inched toward her. “We have to do something dangerous tomorrow. If you can help us at all, offer any advice…”

Footsteps sounded on the stairs. June looked around, then back down the hallway. Muse had vanished. A chill lingered in the air.

“I guess not,” June murmured.

Sam stepped into the hallway, holding his phone.

“Anthony will come,” he said. “Happy now?”

She drew a slow, deep breath. “No. But I guess we just wait for our ride now.”

June descended the porch stairs at twilight, another twilight, twenty-four hours from the last. Things were in motion, barreling toward a brick wall or the open sky—the next few hours would tell.

Three figures stood in the driveway: Jason, his arm around Cindy’s shoulders, Diego standing next to them.

A gun rested on June’s hip. She hadn’t gotten to practice for a while, but she wouldn’t be shooting Robbie, anyway. Having it there just made her feel more secure. She could shoot other things, if need be.

“I guess this is where you wish me luck,” she said as she approached the three. “Occam will be here soon.”

Jason let go of Cindy, wrapped his arms around June, and squeezed. “You better return in one piece,” he whispered. “We just got each other back.”

She clung to him and closed her eyes. “Remember what we discussed. If I don’t, you have to take care of Mom.”

Jason squeezed her tighter, nearly cutting off her breath. “Don’t make me have that conversation with her.”

He drew back, still holding her, and looked into her eyes. He had their mother’s eyes. Not like June’s. They had never been that vivid.

Diego inched up beside them. She untangled herself from Jason.

“And you,” she said. “You have to make sure the shop stays open. Keep the dream alive.”

Diego threw his arms around her.

“You’ll be back in the shop soon.” His voice trembled. “Tattooing some surly drunk biker. You’ll be giving all of us hell for slipping freebies to our friends.”

She blinked tears from her eyes. That seemed like another lifetime. How the hell had she ended up here?

Diego pulled back and wiped his eyes. “I don’t know if I can deal with you as a vampire, but if it means not losing you, I’ll take it.”

Jason squeezed her shoulder. “Me too.”

Cindy stepped up to her, eyes shining. “You’re my best friend, June.” She clutched June’s hands. “Fighting by your side has been an honor.”

June hugged her before she said anything else dramatic and stupid. She was smothered in boobs.

The door to the house opened. June let go of Cindy and turned.

Sam and Anthony stepped out on the porch. Everyone in the driveway stood silent as the two descended the stairs.

“There’s a car at the gate,” Sam said. “I’m assuming it’s our ride.”

June braced herself. She took in Anthony as he walked over to them. “Can you see how this will go?”

Anthony’s eyes flashed. He shook his head. “Too many winding paths. I can’t even see my own fate.”

“I guess that’s a good thing,” June said. “The future is wide open.”

Cindy rushed over and hugged Sam. He wrapped his arms around her, gazing at June over her shoulder.

“Please come back to us,” Cindy begged. “We need you now more than ever.”

Sam drew back and gripped her arms. “If I don’t, I’ve left instructions on what I want for the Paranormal Alliance. Promise me you’ll honor my wishes.”

Cindy sniffed and nodded. “We’ll carry on, Sam. I promise.”

June pulled her phone from her pocket and texted Trina:
Tell Micha it’s happening
.

Jason hugged her one more time. “I love you,” he whispered. “You gotta come back, even if you have fangs.”

She clutched him tight. “I have to get those put in.”

If she didn’t turn away from all the sad faces and go, she would lose her courage.

June, Sam, and Anthony strode down the driveway toward the gate. She glanced at Sam.

“We’re going to stop him,” she said. “We’ll come back from this.”

He stared straight ahead. “We won’t come back the same.”

A black car sat beyond the gate.

“No,” she said. “We won’t.”

Occam sat in the front passenger seat, Zack driving. They both turned and watched the three of them as they piled into the backseat, June in the middle.

“My favorite vampires,” June said. “I see you survived the cleansing, Zack. I’m relieved.”

Zack chuckled darkly.

“Soon, he’ll be your brother.” Occam swiveled farther to look at Anthony behind him. “You’re the seer.”

Anthony stared at him. His eyes stayed dark.

“You look like your brother,” Occam said. “You must be so proud.”

Anthony stiffened. “I’ll be prouder when he’s dead. I don’t consider him my brother.”

“Let’s just go,” June said. “We can’t waste time.”

“Indeed, we can’t.” Occam turned back around. “Robbie has his finger on the trigger.”

They drove away from the house. June didn’t look back.

They seemed to be hurtling forward at the speed of light, yet the neighborhoods slid by painfully slow. An agonizing long time passed before the buildings of downtown loomed on the dark horizon, their lights gleaming against the night.

“Would you like to hear the plan?” Occam finally broke the silence. “Or are you just going to stumble after me like good little sheep?”

“I figure we’re at your mercy,” June said. “But what do you have in mind?”

“I’m glad you asked. We’ll use Anthony to get inside. Sam and I will use our powers. Do you think you can stop pouting long enough to help, Sam?”

Sam said nothing, staring out his window.

“My helpers are inside,” Occam said. “Most of Robbie’s minions will already be bloodless by the time we show up. Any strays, they’ll let me know about, as well as Robbie’s whereabouts. Hopefully, he’s still on one of the upper floors. We’ll send Anthony up to say hello and keep him distracted. Then we’ll move in as close as we dare.”

“And then what?” June asked.

Occam turned around. “It depends. I can go up and pretend I’m there to give him what he wants from me. Or I can turn you, and you can greet him.”

June swallowed.

“However.” Occam eyed her. “Robbie will be happy to see me—you, not so much. And you’ll still be no match for him. That gun on your hip won’t help. He may not be able to throw you around when you’re a vampire, but he can throw everything around you.”

“Then it has to be you,” June said. “You have to kill him. And then we have to find all the charges and defuse them.”

“‘We’ll watch you do all the work for us,’ is that what you’re saying? You don’t have a plan of your own?”

“We do,” Sam spoke up. “You don’t need to do our dirty work. You only need to get us inside and tell us where Robbie is.”

June glared at Sam. “Nice of you to share this plan with me.”

Sam looked back out the window. “If you can throw yourself on the blade, so can I.”

“My only interest is June.” Occam shrugged. “She made a promise.”

“I’ll keep it,” she spoke tightly. “If you keep yours.”

“I will. My concern is that he doesn’t kill you. I won’t allow that to happen.”

Was she supposed to be relieved?

“Fine, then.” She looked at Sam. “Since we have a plan.”

They fell back into silence, the car rushing along the lake shore, the pathway to their doom as it was back in January.

The drive to the Medical District was agonizing, crawling through traffic, passing through the normal world where people were going obliviously about their lives: walking and talking and laughing, going into bars, getting on buses, hugging, holding hands. Would she ever get back to that world?

When they arrived, Zack drove them to the parking garage she and Sam had snuck into. He stopped the car at the curb in front of it.

“Park nearby,” Occam told Zack. He said to the others, “This is our only getaway car so you have to follow me back to it.” He turned and focused on June. “Don’t be afraid, Little Red. Just hold my hand.”

As they were climbing out, June’s phone buzzed in her pocket. She pulled it out. A call from Trina. She let it go to voicemail.

She had two texts from her, as well. The first one asked,
What the hell is going on?
The second said,
June, call me! Please!

June pushed the phone back into her pocket. Zack pulled away from the curb. They hurried into the parking garage.

As they marched up the sloping floors, Occam filled them in further.

“Robbie’s goons will be at the entrance to the walkway. Anthony, I need you to lure them away, out of sight of the cameras.” He smirked at Sam. “We’re going to commit some bodysnatching.”

Sam strode along, staring straight ahead.

June walked behind them. “Why don’t we just sneak in the way your vampires sneaked in? Why go knocking on the front door?”

“Do you think that’s a good strategy?” Occam asked over his shoulder. “How many telepaths do you think Robbie has in the house? Vampires can’t be read. Could you block your mind while you’re breaking in, unsure where the listeners are?”

He was a bastard, but he was a clever bastard.

Floor after floor, they made their way up, until they reached the ramp leading up to the floor with the walkway. As before, they stayed behind the wall, peeking over.

Three men stood at the entrance to the walkway—the tube was lit up, stretching across the darkness to the equally darkened building.

“Fortunately,” Occam murmured, “these are not telepaths. That’s why they’re out here.” He turned to Anthony. “Tell me where the edge of the camera’s sight is.”

Anthony peered over the wall, his eyes flickering.

“The camera only sees the entrance to the walkway,” Anthony said. “A few feet out from it.”

“How do you know that?” June was boggled.

Anthony looked at her. “I see them walk out of the camera’s sight in a minute.”

“You can see stuff like that?” She gaped, momentarily forgetting their dire situation in her wonder.

“I see everything.” His eyes flickered again. ”I can tell you their blood pressure and heart rate for the next few minutes. I can tell you what radio signals and light particles they pass through.”

“Wow,” she murmured.

Occam crouched behind the wall. “Go. Tell them you want to speak to Robbie, that you’ve come to join him.”

Anthony took a deep breath and walked up the ramp. They peeked over again. June clung to the top of the wall, her heart hammering against the concrete.

Anthony walked across the floor toward the walkway. When the three men noticed him, they all drew guns. Anthony held his hands up and stopped.

“It’s me!” His voice went high. “Anthony, Robbie’s brother. I’ve come to talk to him.”

The men lowered their guns but didn’t holster them. They walked over to Anthony, a man with blond hair at the front.

“He told me to come back when I’d made a decision.” Anthony backed away. “I’ve made one.”

The blond man grabbed him and started frisking him. The other two watched.

Occam ducked down and looked at June, his eyes gleaming. “I hope you’re ready for some blood.”

June tensed.

He vanished.

Sam started. “Where the hell did he go?” he whispered.

She clutched the top of the wall and looked over.

The blond man was still frisking Anthony, his back to the other two.