The Night House (24 page)

“Do they know what you do?”

She waves her hand casually, like I asked her about the weather. “Oh no. I couldn’t do that to them. If Jon found out, he’d go after Finn with a baseball bat. It wouldn’t be pretty.” She grins, and I can tell how much she loves him in that moment. Despite his mistakes, she loves who he is.

“Hey,” she turns onto her side to meet my gaze. “Come back. When this is all done. Come back.”

“I’ll see you again, Alex.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.”

I want to ask her more about her brother, but there is another knock on the door.

“Bianca,” Finn calls to me. “We need to talk.”

James

The three of us are at the Vegan Tree—Ally’s idea—and we’re having a roundtable discussion on the word “spawn.”

“I have
no clue
,” Shiloh says. “Maybe that’s just a vampire insult for humans?”

“Maybe you’re a demon,” Ally suggests, shoving spring rolls in her face. “You know, like hell spawn.”

“Something tells me that’s not it.” Shiloh pats her shoulder. “But good effort.”

“I’m sure he’s just using a derogatory word for whatever it is that I am.” I remember the shock on his face. “He was totally caught off guard. Like he knew, but he didn’t want to know.”

“Well, ‘spawn’ usually refers to having unpleasant parents,” Shiloh says. “What if he knew your folks, and he just didn’t like them?”

“What if your parents were hunters, like Bianca’s?” Then Ally gasps. “What if you guys are actually brother and sister?”

“Good theory, except that Bianca doesn’t have a brother, and we look nothing like each other.”

“I’m just spit-balling here,” she says. “Don’t mind me.”

“Hunters might make sense, but that doesn’t explain my ability.” I can’t help but feel disappointed about it all. I thought I’d finally have answers, but now I just have more questions. Damn Finn.

“Seems like your only option is to ask the guy who said it,” Ally concludes.

“I don’t really want to get that close to him again. He scares the hell out of me. Besides, it would upset Bianca.”

“She’s got her hooks in you pretty bad, huh?” Ally wiggles her eyebrows up and down.

I shove some sweet potato fries in my mouth. “I don’t know what you’re implying.”

“Come on, you’re so in love, it’s stupid. Have you even kissed her yet? For real?”

I feel the embarrassment coming on. “That’s none of your business, you nosey little—”

“You have!” she screams, gasping for air. “You would have said no if the answer was no. I need to know
everything
.”

Shiloh shoves Ally’s arm lightly, but I see the surprise on his face. “Give the man some space. That’s private business.”

“Besides,” I say, “you are way too interested in this. I might start to think you want to kiss her too.”

She sticks her tongue out.

“So you guys are getting pretty serious?” Shiloh asks.

“Yeah, I guess we are. She’s just so different from anyone I’ve ever met before. It’s hard to believe I haven’t even known her a week.”

“Sometimes people are special enough that time doesn’t matter.” He is much quieter when he says this, and I know he is thinking of Ally.

She starts going off about how Bianca and I are soul mates, and I lean back in my chair and soak this in. This is the first normal moment we’ve all had since I met Bianca. This is how it should be: the three of us joking around. But I know, with a heavy heart, that this might be the last time we can do this. Tomorrow, everything will be different.

Bianca

It’s time to face Finn.

I’ve fantasized about this moment: the moment I tell Finn I’m not his. As I walk to his office with him, I wonder what took me so long. The nauth? The thought that I deserved to be there? I was weak. But now, I don’t feel quite so weak.

He opens the door for me. I’ve only been in here once before, when Finn first took me in. There is an empty desk positioned in front of the door, guarding Finn’s office. It takes me a minute to realize whose desk it is: Ash’s. He fired her right after he hired me. I wonder now if it was because she tasted my blood.

Finn sits down at his desk. I go to the lone chair in front of him, but I can’t sit down. Before I can say anything, Finn speaks.

“Since you have agreed to be joining Jeremiah tomorrow, I feel I should let you know what you’re getting into. It is his coronation. He has been elected the King of the Northeast. His power extends beyond this state’s border now. You thought he was needy before, but now it will be worse than ever.”

He doesn’t sound too happy about this. “I’m guessing he didn’t get your vote.”

“I’m telling you this for a reason. Jeremiah wants your blood all to himself, because he thinks you’re an heir to the original St. Germain.”

This information is dizzying, and now I have to sit down. “So what if I’m some dead person’s heir?”

Finn sits up a little straighter. “The St. Germain tied into our history wanted humans and vampires to coexist. He used his aptitude for alchemy to try and create an alternative to blood that vampires could live on. It was said that during his experiments, he changed his own blood by mistake. Created a new blood type. Humans can’t detect it—it merely shows up as AB negative on tests. But to vampires, it’s the rarest blood type. It was desired by many important vampires, and he was forced into hiding. Certain vampires have spent many years searching for the true heirs of St. Germain.”

I take a deep breath, wondering if I can trust his words. “So Jeremiah wants to live on my blood because it’s a rare type? Does it taste different?”

“It does not simply taste different. St. Germain’s blood was said to make those who consumed it more powerful, faster, and stronger. Jeremiah wants that power. He wants to become strong enough that no one can challenge him. He plans to rule us all, and he has already put his plan into motion. You’re a key part of that plan. He’ll steal you away and keep you locked up.”

When I speak again, my voice is too quiet. “I thought you said I was safe here.”

“You agreed to go with him. It was your decision, and now once you leave here, you’ll be his.”

I’m back on my feet, legs shaking under the weight of his words. “I can’t believe you. You could have told me!”

He leans back in his big chair, folding his fingers together. “I didn’t think I had to tell you. How did you think this was going to end? It was out of my hands, so I made the decision to profit off your stupidity.”

I’m going to be sick.

“Tomorrow night, security will be at its peak.” He taps a pen against his desk, punctuating his statement. “Everyone will be checked for weapons. And, as the circle master will be in attendance, the future king will be abstaining from drinking any tainted or enhanced blood. Certainly, no garlic for him. He must have full control for his big night and not be a bumbling mess.”

I’m so angry, I can barely handle his voice grating on my nerves.

“No,” Finn goes on. “It would certainly be afterwards, in the privacy of his own home, that he might indulge himself. After all, he wouldn’t want to make a fool of himself in front of his audience.”

And now, I see he is trying to tell me something. To warn me, in his own way.

He still wants me to have a chance.

James

Ally and I are walking home. I keep her close because I need her to steady myself. A long meal in a crowded restaurant makes me a little unstable. Not to mention that I can sense a building anger, even rage, inside Bianca. It weighs me down.

“Something’s happening with Bianca.”

Ally frowns. “Are you okay?”

“I’m fine. But I think she’s on her way here. I’ve never felt her this mad.”

“Come on.” Ally pulls my arm, and we hurry down the street. I feel Bianca heading straight toward me. As we turn onto our street, I see her walking toward us.

“What happened?” I ask her.

Bianca sighs. “Long story.”

“Come inside with us.” I go to open the door but she flinches.

“Can we stay out here for a little while?”

“Okay…”

Ally pats me on the shoulder. “I’ll be inside if you need anything.”

Bianca and I sit on our front stoop. She leans her head against my shoulder. I’m starting to forget all my problems. Then she kisses me. No, there’s nothing wrong with this world.

When the kiss ends, it all starts to chip away until I’m staring back at the mess our lives have become.

“Tell me,” I urge her.

She lets out her breath. “Jeremiah wants to keep me. For good.”

Bianca tells me about the original St. Germain, the alchemist who accidentally cursed himself with special blood. How Jeremiah wants to own her, and how Finn played his little part.

“Finn could have stopped it from happening,” I say, “and instead he just…” She pushes her fingers into her hair, gripping it tight.

I feel the pull on my scalp. “It’s not that simple.” I take her hands in mine. Her eyes are overflowing with emotions that keep spilling into me. “Finn is a monster,” I tell her. “He sells human women to vampires, to bleed them dry. He gets women killed and only ever thinks of it as a business problem. You could have died working for him. He’s the reason this is all happening. From the start, he’s done nothing but help your downfall.”

“He got me off the streets. Gave me a job and a room out of the cold.”

“He let you become a drug addict.”

“He saved my life,” she snaps. “You don’t know the whole story, okay? He does care about me. He just sucks at expressing it.”

There is confusion roiling inside her about Finn. I know I can’t dissuade her with words. I’ve said as much as I can without pissing her off. Still, this nags at me while we sit in the moonless night.

“I need to worry about Jeremiah,” she says. “He’s the big problem right now.”

I can’t stop myself from saying it; this is like an unreachable itch. “Finn is the
reason
Jeremiah is a problem.”

She glares at me. “
I’m
the reason Jeremiah is a problem.”

“How can you possibly say that?” My voice rises with every word.

“Jeremiah doesn’t want Finn, he wants me. Finn’s not even a factor.”

“Not even a…” I can hardly believe what I’m hearing. “Bianca, Finn is the puppet master. He’s orchestrated this whole operation so that if you ever got into trouble, he’d be conveniently off the hook. He’s a coward. You know it as well as I do. Why are you defending him?”

Her beautiful face has receded back into the hardness that masked her when I first met her. It’s like we’re strangers again.

“I’m not defending him. I’m just saying that he doesn’t matter right now.”

“If he gave a damn about you, then he would stop this. He doesn’t give a shit about you, Bianca. I don’t know what he said to you at the Night House to make you feel this way, but whatever he did doesn’t mean a thing. It’s too little, too late.”

The ground must have become very interesting, based on the way she keeps staring at it. “I didn’t come here to fight.”

“I’m sorry.” I put some space between us. “You have Stockholm Syndrome. You know that, right?”

She kicks her feet out only to pull them back slowly toward her body. “Yes, I know. It’s so complicated.”

Now I touch her back, just barely, so she knows I’m still there.

“Finn didn’t make me take the donor job. I was a hostess when I first came there. I
asked
him to start giving blood. He didn’t want me to, said it would be a waste. But I wore him down until he let me. I’m not some captive, you know? He didn’t force drugs into me. I made that choice. I ruined myself.”

She’s shaking like a leaf, and it’s bleeding into me. I feel cold as ice, and I know she is yearning for nauth, even now.

“Finn said something.” She takes a ragged breath. “I know everything you said is true, but he still said something. He warned me about what was coming. And now I have to deal with Jeremiah. He’s becoming more and more careless with every feed. I’m afraid. One of these days, he’s going to kill me.”

We are still for a moment more while she stares at me and I stare back. I take a breath, and I feel the rawness of her mind. She is on the brink. I am too. This is when she needs me most. I need to save her, or I’ll never see her again. Without her, I don’t know if I’d ever recover from losing her.

“I’m going to keep you alive. But first, we need a plan.”

Bianca

We stand together and step into his house. It’s so much quieter inside than it was outside. Everything is so much more serious. I only have one more day.

My life is on the line.

His parents and sister are in the kitchen. I want to tell them how amazing they are, and thank them for being so hospitable. I want to apologize to Ally that I didn’t know her mother. I want to say goodbye, but we can’t worry them now.

“Hello, Bianca.” His mom waves.

I wave back. “Nice to see you again.”

James hovers between the living room and the kitchen. “You guys good?”

His parents nod at each other. “Normal day,” his dad offers. “So we’re pretty normal. You?”

“Yeah, yeah. Shy and Ally and I went to dinner. It was nice.”

His mom smiles so warmly, it hurts. No one’s ever smiled at me like that, with such pride.

“I’m so glad to see you having fun.”

Ally grins at him and me. “Well, I’m still not sure he
can
have fun.”

He rubs his neck, embarrassed. “Yeah, me too. Hey, we’ll be upstairs, okay?”

“Be good,” his dad says as we turn to leave.

James flicks on a light in his room and sits at the edge of his bed. I sit beside him and take his hand. I won’t let go of him until I have to.

“I know that vampires have trouble with rust,” I say to him. “The officers wear pins of rusted iron, the same way policemen carry guns.”

“Your friend gave you one, didn’t he? Can you bring that, to use on Jeremiah?”

“They’ll check for weapons. It wouldn’t get past the door. But you should take it, to keep yourself safe. In case Finn sends another vamp stalker. Or if Finn comes after you.” I take the black bar out of my bag and give it to James. “And this way, you’ll have something of mine. You know…if I don’t come back.”