Hollowed (27 page)

Ruby
'
s arms fall away from me. She turns and begins walking again, heading for the convenience store on the corner.
"
You
'
re stupid if you don
'
t see what he
'
s doing.
"

This tug-o-war between them is worse than getting caught up in one of Mom and Dad
'
s arguments. A lot worse. I jog after her.
"
Okay, so enlighten me.
"

"
Noah
'
s not an idiot
. H
e
'
s been at this job for a long time. You
'
re the only thing leashing me to this city. If you die, I leave. Once he uses you to get to me, he
'
ll put a bullet in your head.
"

As her expression ices over, sending chills and goose bumps down my arms, I know she can
'
t be right about that. I
know
Noah. At least, I thought I did. And when I kissed him, he most definitely kissed me back. Quite a good actor if he
'
s pulling one over on me just to get to my sister.

Then again, Ruby has no reason to lie to me. If she could patch things up with Noah I
'
m sure she would jump at the chance, just like I would.

I shake my head and look away.

"
You don
'
t believe me,
"
she says.

"
I don
'
t know what I believe anymo
re. This whole thing is just...
stupid.
"
What better word for it? Like a vampire version of high school. So-and-so is going to get their ass kicked behind the water fountain for messing with such-and-such. Drama. I hated it then, and I hate it now when there
'
s so much more than
reputation and ego
at stake.

Ruby starts to say something and I hold up a hand to cut her off, grinding to a halt in my steps. Partly because I really don
'
t care to hear her bash on Noah anymore, but mostly because I have that itching sensation along the back of my
neck
like something bad is nearby.
"
Do you feel that?
"

She inclines her head, the frown between her brows smoothing out. I wish I could place who it is and how close they are.

A moment later, the convenience store door across the parking lot swings open. Out steps Joel, with a giggling dark-haired girl hanging off his arm. Next to me, Ruby
'
s breath hitches in time with my own.

See, self? This is why you stay at home. Good job.

Joel catches wind of us and swi
ngs his gaze around. H
is dark eyes lock with mine, burning a hole right through me. For a fraction of a second, his footsteps slow and I
'
m positive he
'
s going to come after us right here and now. He wanted Ruby and she
'
s right within his grasp.

Except he keeps walking. The girl with him doesn
'
t notice anything amiss. It isn
'
t until he tears his gaze away to look down at her that I can breathe again.

"
What is he doing with her?
"
I whisper.

Ruby
'
s voice comes out as cracked as my own.
"
She
'
s dinner.
"

Like all the other girls who were killed. Like Sherry.

I should go back to the hotel, grab Cole and Oliver. But Joel will be long gone by then. Ruby and I might be the last people to see that girl alive.

"
Run back to the hotel,
"
I tell her.
"
Ask for Cole Archer at the front desk.
"

"
Briar!
"

Ruby
'
s fingers graze my sleeve as I tear after Joel. He and
the girl
have already disappeared around the corner of the store and when I round the building, they
'
re nowhere in sight.

His green jacket catches my eye up the street. How he
'
s managing to keep ahead of me, I have no idea. But he knows I
'
m here; I
'
ll bet he
'
s enjoying this. Around another corner, just in time to see him slipping into an apartment building after his new friend.

I hit the door running and it holds fast. Locked. Glancing back, I don
'
t see Ruby. I can only hope she went to th
e hotel to do what I told her—
and I don
'
t see anyone else, for that matter. This side-street is devoid of human life this time of night, but I doubt that
'
ll last. I slam my elbow into one of the tiny glass window panes on the door. It gives easily, granting me just enough room to reach my arm through and fumble with the latch until the door swings open.

Lights flicker feebly overhead. Not one of the nicer
buildings
, that
'
s for sure. The paint is dinged and peeling and the carpet on the stairs is worn through in spots. No sign of anyone. Can
'
t exactly go pounding on doors in the middle of the night
.

A girl
'
s laughter floats down the stairwell. I follow it. Two, three flights of stairs
,
and to a door leading into a maintenance hall
,
hanging halfway open. If I listen hard enough, I can still hear the sound of the girl
'
s voice. More than that, I can
feel
Joel. His
suffocating
presence still lingerin
g in the hallway where I stand
.

Once I go up these steps, there
'
s no turning back. I have no one to back me up. And I
'
m not strong enough to fight him by myself.

The thought of that girl who has no idea what she
'
s in for spurs me forward and into the maintenance hall. To the right is a glass case
and
,
i
nside it, a fire extinguisher and a fireman
'
s axe. Some weapon is better than none, so it
'
s more glass-breaking. I snag the axe and
tromp
upstairs.

Just as I thought, the door at the top opens up to the roof. Joel has Girl with her back pressed to a hulking air conditioning unit, his lips on her cheek, her jaw. She stops giggling the moment she spots me, the humor draining from her face.
"
Hey—
"

"
I hope you
'
ll trust me when I say you need to get away from him.
"
  The axe feels so flimsy and small in my hand considering what I
'
m going up against.

The girl looks from Joel to me and back again. He straightens slowly, a wicked smile playing across his mouth.
"
Almost thought you weren
'
t going to follow for a second there. Did your darling sister ditch you?
"

"
No,
"
I say tightly.
"
She
'
s bringing back up. So I suggest you let the girl go and talk nice-nice with Cole when he gets here.
"
If
he gets here.
I should have more faith in Ruby to get to them in time, so why am I so worried?

Girl tightens her grip on Joel
'
s arm
. He seems to have forgotten she's even here
.
"
What the hell is going on? Who is she?
"
She gives his shoulder a hard shove. "You prick! You told me you didn't have a girlfriend!"

Joel rolls his eyes.
"
God,
always
whining
.
"
He takes her head in his hands and one resonating
snap
later, her body crumples to the ground. In that split second, her expression never makes it past
confusion
, but I see the light go out in her eyes.

The one thing I came up here to stop...
My legs threaten
to buckle.
"
...
Why did you do that?
You could have let her go.
"

"
Could have. Would
'
ve been more trouble than it
'
s worth.
"
Nudging her body aside, he pockets his hands and takes a step toward me.
"
You don
'
t realize it yet with those goody-goody friends of yours whispering sweet nothings in your ear, but this is how we gotta do things. The strong rule the weak. As vampires, we
'
re in charge, and there ain
'
t no point in sparing garbage that ain
'
t even worth feeding on.
"

"Garbage
.
" I refuse to let his approach scare me off. "She wasn't garbage. She had a name, a family, friends. People who will cry for her!"

"Those people will grow old and die. And this girl will be all but forgotten.
She didn't
give anything useful to the world.
She's survived this long by abusing the systems put in place to help people who really need them.
" He stops two, three feet in front of me. "I'll make you a deal. Why don't we put all this behind us? You can come with me
and I
'
ll show
you how we ought to be living. Got myself a nice family now, you see. And it's growing every day.
"

Go. With him.

Like he didn't kill Sherry, like he didn't infect me. To play along with his little group and toss humans aside like trash?

He's close enough. I swing without letting him finish that thought. It catches him off-guard,
and the
blade lodg
es
just below his ribs. Slow-motion. His pupils dilate, mouth opening without making a sound.
He staggers
back
,
tearing the handle out of my hands. Blood trickles from the corners of his mouth.

Run
. I need to run while I can. Nothing left for me to save here.

I whip around to bolt for the door, legs like lead, stomach heavy with the sensation of fear. Knowing before I've taken a single step that he's too fast and I'll never make it.

Joel's fingers twist into my hair and bring me to a halt. There's the sick sound of him yanking the axe out of his body with a pained groan. I'm wrenched toward him, my back to his chest. Too vu
lnerable like this, too exposed. I'm struggling, thrashing, but everything is happening too fast.

Where are the others? They should have been here by now.

"I'll take that as a no,
"
he rasps against my ear, and I feel his lips pressing a kiss just below it.

The axe blade in his hand splits my throat wide open. There is no time to scream.

He releases me. I'm vaguely aware of staggering, trying to get away from him. Clutching my throat like I might stop the warm wash of blood
spilling down
my front. The world blurs and darkens. I see nothing, feel nothing. All that exists is Joel, and the way he reeks of blood and cigarettes. His voice, almost a purr.

"I'll say hello to your parents for you."

A hand against my back, shoving me forward where my feet ca
tch the lip of the rooftop and—

Weightlessness.

"Lady?"

The words come in clips and pieces. Fractured
. Broken. J
ust like me.

"La... Can you...
me?"

There is no panic. No fear. I feel
like
I'm dying all over again, but I'm not afraid of it
this time
. I can't move save to open my eyes and stare up at the sky I
fell
from, and the scruffy face peering into mine. His voice
sharpens
, slowly but surely.