Hollowed (42 page)

"And I did it, because I hated
letting anyone down
. I gave up any semblance of a normal life, of going out with friends and having real boyfriends all because of what our parents wanted."

"You had friends," I whisper. "And boyfriends. You were always telling me about them."

She looks torn between wanting to laugh and feeling sorry for me. "You believed
me
?
When
did you ever see me go out with anyone? The only time anyone saw the inside
of
our home was for homework assignments, and the only boyfriend I've ever had was Noah. Why else would I keep him such a secret?
If anyone knew, they would
'
ve taken him away.
"

I try to think back. I t
ry to remember any of Ruby's friend
s. Their names or faces...
any of her boyfriends. Nothing comes to mind. She's right
. A
ll I have are the stories she told me while I listened with wide eyes and excitement about what high school would someday mean for me.

My eyes squeeze shut
while my
brain tr
ies
to process all this information and remain calm. "Why did you lie to me?"

"Please. I was telling you what you wanted to hear." She
scowls
. "You were the normal one, after all. You could do anything and fail miserably, and all you ever got was a pat on the head and told it was fine so long as you tried your best. If I couldn't have a normal teenager's life, then I wanted to pretend with someone. Even if that someone was my stupid
little sister
."

I can
'
t wrap my head around the idea that Ruby ever thought of me like that.
Did the lies really start so early on between us? Was there any truth to the sisters we used to be?

Ruby casts a glance to Noah, smiling. "Then I met him. All I wanted was for us to run away toge
ther, start a new life where I could
be
included in
this amazing world he was a part of.
"
There, her expression darkens again. "But he didn't think I was good enough. So I found a vampire who was willing to turn me, just to prove I
was
good enough. I was
strong
enough. I was willing to do whatever it took to create a new future for myself
.
"

"
T
hen you turned your back on the vampires that took you in.
"

She
'
s too clos
e to me now. If she reaches out
she can touch me, but she doesn
'
t. Noah is quietly trying to pull himself to his feet. I can
'
t tell if he
'
s as pale as I think he is, or if it
'
s the light playing tricks on my eyes.

"
You
'
ve met Joel. Would you want anything to do with him? Too many rules, and I became a vampire to get away from rules. So I left.
"
She shrugs.
"
Isn
'
t my fault Mav
'
s baby brother got in the way.
"

"
Kill or be killed, right?
"
I say, remembering what she
told me
that night at
the café
. How
stupid
was I? The Ruby I knew never would have dismissed anyone
'
s death like that, even if it was unavoidable.

"
Exactly.
"

"
Don
'
t let her think he was the first and last, Ruby.
"
Noah
'
s voice wavers.
"
What about the girl I watched you murder the night I found out you were turned? Or the ones you killed when I broke up with you? That wasn
'
t self-defense. It was cold-blooded murder
,
just to get revenge on me.
"

From across the room, his eyes meet mine and
,
for the first time, I
'
m distinctly aware of how much Noah really did care about Ruby back then
, and h
ow desperately he wanted to protect her.
H
ow much it must have hurt him to watch her spiral so out of control.

"
They weren
'
t the only ones, either. Some of the deaths pinned on Joel within the last few weeks were yours. Don
'
t think I don
'
t have my ways of figuring it out.
"

"
Shut up, Noah.
"
Her eyes narrow. For a long moment she says nothing, making my insides quiver with the weight of silence and the hope that she'll tell me none of it is true. She reaches her free hand out and her cold and bony fingers brush my cheek.
"
I came back to this miserable city because I wanted to see you again. My baby sister. Because the idea that you nearly died, discarded by the river like trash
,
broke my heart. Because as much as I resented you, I
loved
you. But you just wouldn
'
t leave with me, would you?
Even after you nearly died in that alley.
Even when Mom and Dad were out of the picture, would you have left if I came for you?
"

There
'
s something in that statement, the way she words it, that sends a cold chill up the back of my neck.

Something clicks
in my head
. Multiple somethings. Little gears and cogs finally lining up until everything in the last few weeks falls into place with amazing high-def clarity. And it makes me want to scream.

Without thinking
,
I grab Ruby
'
s wrist to tear her fingers from my face. Her bones feel so brittle under my grip and I twist her arm, overpowering her for only a second because I've caught her off-guard. It's just enough time for me to knock the gun clear out of her hand and send it clattering to the ground.

"
How did you know about the river?
"

Ruby hesitates, eyes wide, uncharacteristically startled.
"
What—
"

"
I never told you.
"
My
hold
tightens and I take a step forward. Ruby
moves
back, trying to twist free.
"
You never once asked me how I was turned, you just
knew
when and where and how. One of the guys could
'
ve been Fred, but right away you said it was Joel and Artie. You knew Sherry was with me. How?
"

But I don
'
t want to know. This is the one piece of the puzzle I could stand to never put my finger on.

Noah finds it with the same link of clues that I did, and slowly his face falls. He finds that piece, and he puts it in place:
"
It was you. You infected Briar.
"

Ruby looks from Noah to me and back again, like she
'
s contemplating denying what he and I now know is true. Finally she says,
"
I saved your life.
"

"
They came after me because of you,
"
I say.
"
What, did you just wait for them to attack and swooped in after?
"

"
It wasn
'
t intentional.
"
She wrenches her hand free from my
grasp
, looking ready to backhand me if I don
'
t let her go.
"
I came to see you at the bar and realized I was being followed. But they
'
d already seen you, realized who you were. So t
hey attacked and I was nearby. As soon as they took off, I stepped in. I
saved you
. Then those other two idiots showed up and I ran so they couldn
'
t accuse me of murdering your friend.
"

At this point, I wouldn
'
t be surprised if Ruby were guilty of that, too. Because there
'
s more she hasn
'
t fessed up to. The other pieces that all clicked when she said a little too much.

"
And you were nearby when I went after Joel. I thought you ran straight back to the hotel, but you didn
'
t. You followed to see what would happen. You were there when I fell.
"
At the time, I couldn
'
t sense her. Couldn
'
t sense anyone. Then again, I wasn
'
t trying and Ruby seems to have gotten the hang of cloaking her presence. But
—
"
How else would you have known about
the alley
?
I was all alone
. You could have come to help me, you could have kept me from
...
"
From killing John. She could have prevented the biggest mistake of my life, and she didn
'
t.

Barely, Noah manages to straighten up, a hand still pressed to his throat. I don't know where his
gun
has gone, if he's managed to retrieve it.
"
And afterward, you went to your parents
'
house, right? You set it on fire while Briar was dying. Is that where Joel caught you?
"

I hadn't even thought
about that, but it makes sense
. If Ruby wanted me to leave with her and she thought I wouldn't so long as our parents were around, then taking them out seemed like the logical solution. But of course I hadn't pi
nned that on her. How could I?
They were our
parents.

Ruby blows the bangs out of her face with a roll of her eyes. "Took you long enough to piece it together, I guess."

I'm trying so hard not to cry, but the hard look in her eyes, t
he way she just doesn't care...
it builds and builds inside my chest
, m
aking me want to claw it open for some kind of relief
from the pressure. I am a balloon ready to pop
.

"Mom and Dad? That was you?"

"Don't be a baby, Briar. It's not like I killed them. They weren't even in the state at the time."

W
hat I wouldn't give to latch onto that bit of information and cling to it. I'm not so sure that I can yet, though. Not with Ruby seemingly incapable of telling the truth without being cornered into it.

"It's the principle of the thing. You wanted me to think they were dead so I'd leave with you." The disgust in my tone is so blatant it surprises even me.

Everything Noah told me
is true
.

The weight of it is too much. After how hard I worked to get here to save her, how much grief I caused everyone... What was the point? What was it for? Everything I've known about my own sister has been a lie. As much as I would love to deny it, this isn't my Ruby anymore. I don't know who she is.

What I do know is that I don't want to be here. I have more important things to do. Like finding Oliver and Fred, making sure they're okay. Because if they aren't, I don't think I can ever forgive myself.

"We're leaving, Noah
.
"

Ruby's gaze flickers from confused to furious, mouth pulling up into a snarl. But she says nothing as I start across the room.

Everything happens at once: the explosion from across the street, the trembling beneath our feet that nearly
brings me to the ground
. I
twist
around and through the window I can see the warehouse. Smoke and flames lick out through the first-floor windows.

There was nothing flammable in that place. Not in the main building. Which means the fire had to originate from below, where Oliver and the others were. Where they could still be.

I start to yell for Noah and when I turn, I see
Ruby
lunging
while he scrambles
for his gun. I throw myself between them, locking my arms around Ruby's waist but unable to stop her momentum
,
which ends up
tossing
us both to the ground.