the hordes chasing her, and in the distance, she could see a great black mass gathering on the horizon. She could see shadow after shadow, vampire after vampire, streaming out of the Aqueduct, on the far side of Jerusalem. It looked like a flock of bats surfacing from the bowels of the earth, spreading everywhere. Scarlet’s heart stopped in her throat, as she feared they were coming after her.
But then her stomach dropped as she looked down and realized they were plummeting down, in a dive, straight towards the earth. She held on with all she had, screaming.
“HOLD ON!” Blake screamed.
They dove straight down, landing behind a large wall in another quarter of Jerusalem. Soon, they were back on the ground, in a remote alley, unseen. Blake carried them into a far corner, hiding, so that they would not be seen from overhead.
The three of them squatted there, waiting, watching the sky. Scarlet heard a great humming and buzzing noise, then a great commotion, like a flapping of wings. She looked up and saw hundreds, then thousands, of black wings covering the sky. It looked like an enormous flock of birds. When she was younger, she had once watched a never-ending flock cover the sky, migrating from one end of the earth to the other. She remembered watching for what felt like hours, as the world seemed to turn black. She had thought it would never end. This reminded her of that.
They crouched there silently, waiting for Scarlet didn’t know how long. Scarlet held her breath the entire time, and she could feel how tense Blake and Ruth were, too. She prayed they remained undetected.
Finally, the vampires passed by. All was still. They were undetected. Blake had saved her. Again.
Blake stood, and Scarlet did, too. She looked up at him, more grateful to him than she had ever been. She was also happy to see him. A friendly face. Someone who she actually recognized and who was actually on her side. Someone who was friends with her mommy and daddy. She wondered if he could help lead her to them.
“Have you seen my mommy?” Scarlet asked without hesitating.
Slowly, Blake shook his head.
“I was going to ask you the same question,” he said.
“I’ve been looking for her everywhere,” she said.
“Me too,” he answered.
Scarlet’s eyes opened wide as she realized. She hadn’t really considered it, but she could see now how much this man loved her mommy. It made her feel uncomfortable, as she thought of her daddy, and suddenly felt protective of him.
“She’s married, you know,” Scarlet said suddenly, with a touch of defiance.
Blake seemed taken aback by that.
“I…I…know,” he stammered.
“So why do you want to see her?” Scarlet pressed.
She knew it was none of her business, and that she should be thanking him, not interrogating him—but still, she had to know.
“I…” Blake trailed off. “I know she’s married,” he said. “But I…”
He turned away, and Scarlet thought she could see tears in his eyes.
“I just have to see her,” he said finally. “I’ve searched for her everywhere. I’ve been circling Jerusalem for days. I sensed a great disturbance in this time and place. I sensed that she needed me. That the others did, too. And then, today, I sensed your presence.”
“I don’t even know where to look for her,” Scarlet said. “And I think I’ve done something terrible.”
Blake narrowed his eyes.
“What?” he asked.
“All of those mean vampires…I think I lead them to something. The old one, he took my bracelet. I think it helped them. I didn’t mean to. You have to understand. I didn’t mean it. Now they say they’re going to hurt my mommy. Is it true?”
Blake narrowed his eyes further.
“Where did you lead them?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” she said. “They took me down this long alleyway, underground. And then they found this golden door. And when they opened it, they took out this thing…it looked like a shield.”
Blake opened his eyes wide in shock.
“A shield?” he asked. He seemed afraid to even pronounce the word.
“It was awful,” Scarlet said, shaking her head. “All of these mean vampires came back to life. That one they called Kyle.”
“Kyle?” Blake asked, sounding even more surprised.
“Is it true? Will they hurt my mommy?”
Blake looked away. He looked as if he’d seen a ghost, and stared into space.
“There is no time to lose,” he said, gravely. “We have to find her. We have to find her immediately.”
“But I don’t know where she is,” Scarlet pleaded, feeling worse than ever.
Suddenly, Ruth turned