threw my arms around him. He wasn’t crying anymore, but his eyes were all red and blotchy looking.
“We’ll get her back,” I told him firmly. “We’ll get our Rita back no matter what.”
He didn’t respond, only hugged me tighter. Gabriel seemed relieved that I’d given Alvie hope of somehow saving Rita from the dark magic that had consumed her, changed her. I wished I’d paid more attention to her these past few weeks, spent more time with her than I had. Perhaps then I could have done something to prevent her from losing herself.
She told me of her fears that she would go bad and let Theodore’s darkness take her over one day. I’d brushed off the idea, too wrapped up in my own problems. I’d told her that if she just made sure to hold onto her good side, the side that came from Noreen, that she’d be okay. In my deepest fears, I’d never anticipated that anything would happen to the woman, or that Whitfield would end her life so callously.
Noreen had been Rita’s rock, the one who taught her about benevolent magic and using it only to achieve positive results and to make the world better. Perhaps it wasn’t simply the grief that turned her. Perhaps it was the fact that her rock, her anchor, no longer existed in this world. Without Noreen, Rita’s potential for evil took over.
I wasn’t even listening to Finn as he spoke, explaining some detailed plan to everyone. I only paid attention when I heard him say, “So, we’re all agreed that getting out of Tribane is the best idea?”
“What!?” I exclaimed loudly. “We can’t just leave. What about Rita? What about all the people here?” I gestured frantically to the street below us.
Finn locked eyes with me. “Rita made her choice, and the people can’t be saved. You saw how the extinguishers did nothing to deter the mist. It’s evolved. It’s harder to kill now, and the humans are all infected. Just take a look down at the streets and see how they’re murdering each other for no reason. Pamphrock’s dead. Practically all our slayers are dead, too. There’s nothing left for us here. Leave Theodore and Whitfield to battle it out. Tribane isn’t going to be saved. We’ll only end up sacrificing our lives by trying.”
A heavy brick settled in my gut because Finn was right. I couldn’t see any way of making things better here. There were only twelve of us. What could twelve people do against Whitfield and hundreds of his vampires, against Theodore now that he had Rita on his side?
“You’re right,” I mumbled reluctantly. “I hate to admit it, but it’s not going to be long before this place is a wasteland.”
“The city has finally come to its bursting point,” Ethan said sadly. “Now it’s going to tear itself apart. Let’s not allow it to take us down with it.”
We all made noises of agreement and began gathering our things. I might agree that we needed to get out now, but I had no intention of staying away for good. I’d make a plan and come back for Rita no matter what.
As we made our way back to the fire escape, a head popped up over the roof. A head with fangs and eyes of midnight.
“There they are!” the vampire screeched, just as the last person I wanted to see climbed up behind him.
Whitfield.
He slinked up onto the roof with catlike grace, eyes flicking over our group. More vampires followed behind him.
“Jack-POT!” he shouted in delight. His facial expressions were all over the place. For a second I thought he might be drunk, but then I recognised what it really was, bloodlust—or maybe blood-drunk. I didn’t know what it was about seeing him, but my entire body tensed up.
Whenever I’d come across an adversary in recent weeks, I’d been determined to defeat them, but now I just felt tired. Why did Whitfield have to find us here when we’d been about to leave the city?
Way too much had happened today. I didn’t have the energy to face Whitfield.
“We’re leaving, Jeremy. You’ve won,” Ethan informed him in a hard voice.
“Leaving?” Whitfield pouted as though we’d just told him we were leaving his birthday party early. He had his sword with him, the one he’d used to kill Noreen. I wished for the strength to take it from him and shove it through his heart.
“Leaving?” he repeated, and now he sounded amused by the idea. His voice sent