“I’m fine,” I said roughly, wiping the blood away with my hand. It was just like Cora to be worried about my discomfort when she was struggling with so much.
“Let me help you.” Cora reached into the sleeve of her dress and pul ed out a handkerchief. She tenderly rubbed it against my skin. “I’m worried about you, Stefan. You have to take care of yourself, because…” She trailed off, but I knew what she was thinking. Because at this point, you’re all I have. I nodded, knowing there wasn’t much else Cora or I could say.
I boosted Cora up so she could climb through the Asylum window, and together, we slowly trudged westward to our temporary home.
Above us, clouds and mist obscured any stars, and the streets were practical y empty. People were terrified of the Ripper, and the eerie wind whistling through the al eys was only adding to the evil tone of the evening. The only heartbeat I could hear was Cora’s, but I knew from the papers that policemen were hiding in every shadowy al ey, on the lookout for the Ripper.
Of course, the police presence was useless. While they were shivering on the streets, on guard for the Ripper’s next attack, the murderer was preoccupied with a prime distraction: plotting to torture my brother.
At least, I hoped he was stil plotting, not already tormenting Damon. Was my brother even now crying out in agony? Or had Samuel simply staked him and thrown his lifeless body in the Thames? Tortured or kil ed? It was a lose-lose situation, but I found myself wishing Samuel’s sadistic nature had won out. While it would prolong Damon’s pain, it gave us a chance at rescuing him, boosting our slim odds.
Cora stumbled and I reached out to steady her. We were almost home. I paused to make sure we hadn’t been fol owed, but no one was chasing us. In fact, no one seemed to be here at al , perhaps put off by the signs that surrounded the work area above the tunnel, al clearly stating that trespassing was strictly prohibited by the Metropolitan Police.
I jumped down into the tunnel, unfazed by the drop. That was one of the advantages of being a vampire: My innate agility ensured I’d land on my feet.
I helped Cora down, and the two of us faced each other.
Despite the darkness, I could see everything, from the packed dirt wal s to the pebbles scattered on the ground.
Meanwhile, Cora blinked several times, her eyes adjusting to the lack of light.
Suddenly, a creature darted past our feet. It was a rat, almost the size of a smal cat. Instead of scrambling away in surprise, Cora grabbed a large stone from the tunnel floor and threw it at the creature. The scuffling stopped.
“You need to eat,” she urged.
“Thank you.” I reached down, grabbed the stil -warm carcass, and placed my mouth to its fur, piercing the thin skin with my fangs. The whole time, I was aware of Cora’s unflinching gaze. But what did it matter? It wasn’t like my drinking blood was a surprise to her. She’d seen me bare my fangs to feed, and she’d seen me battle Henry and Samuel. I felt the rat’s blood calm my body as it ran through my veins.
Once I’d drunk al I could, I threw the carcass to the ground, wiped my mouth with the back of my hand, and smiled tersely at Cora. Our friendship was unlike any I’d ever experienced with a human since becoming a vampire.
Even when Cal ie had discovered my identity back in New Orleans, I had never fed in front of her. I had concealed my fangs and masked my yearnings, wanting her to only see the best in me. But Cora was different.
“Was that enough?” she asked, sliding into a seated position and crossing her legs under her gray dress, now spattered with dirt and blood. Dark shadows surrounded her eyes, and the smudges of grime on her cheeks blended with the smattering of freckles on her skin. Her teeth were chattering. A cold snap had hit London in the past few days, and it was especial y frigid in the tunnel, where the wal s were beaded with condensation and a misty gray fog swirled around the darkness.
“It was, thank you. How are you?” I asked, feeling stupid as soon as the words escaped my lips. How was she? She was in the tunnel of an al -but-abandoned construction site.
She’d just kil ed a rat and watched it be drained of its blood. She’d been betrayed by her vampire sister. She’d witnessed vampires torturing one another, seen a body burned to ashes. And although she did so wil ingly, she’d been used as a pawn in our war against Samuel. But he’d escaped, and had brutal y kil ed two of Cora’s friends, then left their corpses in Mitre Square. How did I expect her to feel?
“I’m alive,” Cora said. “I believe that counts for something.” She attempted a laugh, but it came out as a sputtering cough. I patted her on the back and was surprised when she leaned in and gave me a hug.
“I’m sorry I put you in danger,” I said hol owly. “I should have known that we couldn’t reason with Violet. I should never have brought you to see her.” We’d gone to see Ephraim, a witch, and had him cast a locator spel to help us find Violet and persuade her to leave Samuel. But when we’d found her, she hadn’t listened to anything we’d said and had kidnapped Cora, which is how she’d ended up back at the Asylum the same day Damon and I had snuck in to ambush Samuel.
“You wouldn’t have been able to keep me away from Violet,” Cora said firmly. “You told me she wouldn’t be the same. But deep down, I believed she’d stil be my sister.
Now I know I was wrong.” Cora shuddered. I nodded, sad that my prediction had been true.
“I was so stupid,” Cora said, her face twisting in anger. “I thought I could get through to her. I thought she could change. But there was nothing of Violet left in her. She fed on me, Stefan. Then she brought me to the Asylum and asked that groundskeeper, Seaver, to lock me in that room.
I tried to escape, but Seaver started chanting and al of a sudden, I was completely trapped.” Cora’s lower lip wobbled as tears spil ed down her cheeks. She wiped them away with the back of her hand and set her mouth in a firm line.
“He must have used some sort of spel ,” I said slowly. I remembered how smal and helpless Cora had looked in that room in the Magdalene Asylum. She must have been terrified.
“We need to see Ephraim,” I decided. The only thing I knew for certain was that if Samuel had witches under his control, we’d need a way to counter their spel s.
“No!” Cora yel ed. “Not Ephraim. I had a bad feeling about him. His locator spel may have taken us to Violet, but what if that was a trap he set up with Samuel? What if he’s been working for Samuel al along? We know Ephraim used to do jobs for the highest bidder—who’s to say he ever stopped? We can’t trust him,” Cora said, setting her jaw. “We need to come up with another plan.”
“Wel , we need someone on our side who can perform magic. Otherwise, Samuel wil always have that advantage over us,” I said. I stood up and paced back and forth, wil ing my mind to come up with a clever way to ensnare Samuel and free my brother. But I stil felt weak and shaky and utterly unable to concentrate. The rat’s blood had only taken the edge off my hunger.
“I think you should drink real blood,” Cora said quietly, as if she could read my mind. “Like your brother. Like Samuel.