Hollowed (15 page)

Ruby
'
s hug is gentler, her fingers stroking through my hair, her lips to my forehead.
"
Look how tall you
'
ve grown,
"
she murmurs when she draws back.
"
You look so much like Mom.
"

I would say something, but I
'
m too busy crying like a five-year-old. I can
'
t form a coherent sentence between my sobs. Ruby sighs and wipes at my tears with the pads of her thumbs.

"
Come on, don
'
t be a baby. People are staring. You want another Disneyland scene?
"

If nothing else, that gets me to crack a smile. My eight-year-old self had a hysterical meltdown outside Toon Town because I
'
d missed my chance to get Mickey
'
s autograph. It was too much for my tiny heart to handle.

I hiccup and rub at my eyes, realizing there are a number of people watching us. Ruby ushers me into the opposite side of the booth and we both sit. Now I
'
m wishing she
'
d chosen somewhere else for our meeting, someplace less public. I have so many questions to ask and Crew
'
s isn
'
t open all night.

Ruby takes one of my hands from across the table in both of her own, squeezing it.
"
So, how are you?
"

I stare at her.

"
How...
am I? Are you kidding me?
"
Oh,
there
'
s
the anger. Just a little surge of it making its way through my veins.
"
What the hell kind of question is that?
"

Ruby
'
s expression falls a little.
"
The kind you answer.
"

I jerk my hand away from her grasp.
"
What
'
s going on, Ruby? Where have you been? Do you realize we thought you were
dead?
"

"
Of course I do.
"

"
Do you
care?
Maybe that
'
s the question I should be asking.
"
My whole body is hot. She doesn
'
t realize how many afternoons Mom has spent in
her
room, crying over pictures. Or the nights Dad couldn
'
t sleep and would stay up until the early hours of morning with home movies playing on repeat.

Or the letters I wrote. Sometimes ten a week. Asking for Ruby
'
s advice about school and boys and friends. There must be hundreds of them buried in the backyard, because I was determined that God would deliver them to my dead sister.

And all this time she was alive and couldn
'
t be bothered to tell us.

Ruby
'
s expression sobers.
"
Don
'
t be stupid, of course I cared. I wasn
'
t in a position where I could contact you guys.
"
Her eyes lock onto mine, something distant in them that makes me shiver.
"
You should know why now.
"

"
Why would I know?
"
But even as I
'
m saying it, things start making sense. Her disappearance, the vampires looking for her, and the fact she was able to look me in the eye without so much as flinching.

"
We
'
re alike now,
"
Ruby whispers.
"
That
'
s why I couldn
'
t tell you. But when I realized
what Joel and Artie had done
, I came as fast as I could.
"

I don
'
t know whether the feeling in my chest is a laugh or a sob
waiting to break free
. Ruby was just like me. Scared and alone, trying to adapt to her new life. Being so close to her family but so far away. This time, I
'
m the one grabbing her hand and squeezing it tight. Ruby lets me sit in silence while I roll all this over in my head.
"
What happened...?
"

She lowers her gaze, lashes at half-mast.
"
I was dating this guy for a few months. I didn
'
t think Mom and Dad would approve, so I snuck out to see him.
"

Surprised? I guess I am. But just because we were close sisters doesn
'
t mean she had to
tell me everything
. I probably would
'
ve let it slip accidentally if I had known.
"
He was a vampire?
"

"
No.
"
She plucks her spoon from the table and stirs her coffee.
"
He wasn
'
t, but he didn
'
t show up to our meeting spot one night. I was attacked on my way home.
"

It makes me think of Noah, and how if he
'
d been back sooner, Sherry and I never would
'
ve been walking across that bridge alone. I can
'
t find it in me to blame him, though. It wasn
'
t like he
knew
. Besides, who
'
s to say he could
'
ve stood up against two vampires anyway?

Granted, he stood up to Oliver pretty well. Just the memory of it makes the back of my neck prickle uncomfortably.

"
Do you know who it was?
"
I ask.

Ruby stops stirring, giving her drink a long and purposeful look. As though she has to question herself whether or not to tell me.
"
His name is Maverick. I stayed with him for awhile because I had nowhere else to go.
"

Maverick.
The vampire I can
'
t put a face to yet. The one Cole and Oliver are hunting.

This is getting better and better.

"
He
'
s mad that you left, isn
'
t he?
"
What other reason for sending his idiot brigade after me, trying to get to her? Ruby blinks and tilts her gaze to me.

"
How would you know that?
"

"
Because
those friends of his
have been after me, wanting to know where you were.
"
There
'
s really no way for me to say it without sounding accusatory, so I don
'
t bother trying.
"
I ran into Joel and Artie at
home
, of all places. And dumb and dumber found me at the park.
"

"
Alex and Fred,
"
she offers. Great. More names to faces I never want to see again.

"
Yeah, well, whatever. Point is,
"
I catch my voice raising and force it back down,
"
...
t
he point is, they were at
home
, Ruby. What if they go after Mom and Dad? What did you do that pissed them off so much?
"
There
'
s more to it than her simply leaving. Besides, whatever information she can give me on Maverick might come in handy for Cole and Oliver.

Ruby sighs.
"
Mav had a brother. I may have killed him when I escaped.
"

I stare at her.
"
Gosh, that
'
s no reason to hold a grudge.
"

"
It was either kill or be killed,
"
she snaps.

I hold my hands up.
"
Not judging. So, what, he wants revenge on you? Going to kill you or something?
"

Some of the defensiveness slips out of Ruby
'
s face.
"
I guess so. But if I ever thought he would have used you to get to me...
"
She shakes her head
and
looks back down at her coffee.

Honestly, if some guy turned me into a vampire and held me captive, not so sure I would put it past him to hurt my family. But maybe that
'
s just me.
"
You don
'
t have to worry about me now, I
'
ll be safe. But if you have any info about where this guy and his group might be...
"

"
You
'
ll burst in there with guns blazing?
"
She arcs an eyebrow.
"
Or those friends of yours?
"

My chest tightens. Makes sense she would know about Oliver and Cole if she was paying close enough attention to know where I
'
m staying. Still, I don
'
t know how much of the truth to tell her. Pretty stupid, considering she
'
s my sister, and I guess it
'
s fine since Cole didn
'
t tell me
not
to say anything.
"
They
'
re after Maverick, too. He
'
s in trouble for something or another. So if you know anything...
"

"
I don
'
t.
"
Ruby sighs against the rim of her cup and takes a drink. It has to be cold by now.
"
I
'
m too busy trying to keep away from him. That
'
s why I sent you the note, you know. In case you were being watched, I didn
'
t want to just walk up to you on the street. Plus, I didn
'
t know if those two you
'
re hanging out with were Mav
'
s.
"

"
They
'
re nice guys, I promise.
"
I hesitate.
"
Why don
'
t you come back to the hotel with me? I
'
m sure Oliver and Cole will be more than happy to help.
"
In exchange for whatever information she can give them about Maverick, of course.

Something flickers in Ruby
'
s gaze.
"
I don
'
t think that
'
s such a good idea. You shouldn
'
t be getting caught up in all this.
"

Oh, come on. I roll my eyes and gesture to myself.
"
Uh, hello? I
'
m pretty wrapped up in it already. We
'
re sisters. We should be sticking together. Let me
help
.
"

Ruby shakes her head, pushes back her cup
,
and slides out of the booth.
"
No. Your friends can keep you safe, but they
'
re only two. If Mav sends his whole group after you guys to get to me, you won
'
t stand a chance. I can
'
t risk that.
"

There
'
s more to it than that, I can feel it. Maybe she still doesn
'
t trust Oliver and Cole. I guess I can
'
t blame her. But the thought of Ruby leaving me again is too
much
. Why can
'
t it just be us? Why can
'
t she stay close? I grab hold of her arm, ready to beg her if I have to.

"
Ruby
—
"

"
I need you to trust me on this. When everything is settled, you and I can go somewhere, just the two of us. But I can
'
t do that until I know you, Mom
,
and Dad will be safe.
"
She sighs, gently prying my fingers away.
"
Please don
'
t make this harder than it has to be.
"