Twelve minutes later the cab pulls up to the curb of the convention center. Grateful, I throw a handful of money at the driver and leap out of the car. Racing into the building, I play Dodge the Tourists, taking the escalator stairs two at a time, pushing past whoever’s in my way and ignoring their angry glares.
At the top of the stairs, I take off down the hallway, as fast as my legs will carry me, praying over and over and over in my head that it’s not too late. I glance at my watch—eleven fifty-nine. Oh please don’t let the powers-that-be have watches that run fast.
Finally, after what seems a marathon distance, but is probably only about twenty yards, I arrive at the ballroom where the ceremony is taking place. I ignore the ticket takers’ protests (I mean, tickets? To a biting?) and barge through the double doors, careening into the room and tripping over an electrical cable that must have been part of the lighting setup. I go flying forward down the aisle, slamming into the rug, my palms skidding in a way that’s sure to leave the most horrific rug burns. But I can’t even feel them now as I scramble to my feet.
The whole room is completely silent and every vampire’s eyes are on me. Way to make an entrance, Sun. I can hear their thoughts, as clearly as if they were thinking them out loud. Human. Outsider. Interloper. But like it or not, they need me more now than they could ever know.
At the front of the room, Magnus stands on the stage, dressed in a fitted Armani tuxedo. He looks so handsome, I find I can barely breathe. (Though this could partially be due to the fact I just got the wind knocked out of me from my fall.) Beside him stands Jane—or should I say Sasha—glaring at me with a look that could definitely kill. Between them is a small pedestal, with a golden box sitting atop it. I know what’s in there. Two vials of Magnus’s blood. Enough to turn Sasha into a vampire forever.
“Sunny?” Magnus cries, an unbelieving look on his face. “What are you doing here?”
“Magnus, don’t bite her!” I cry, barely able to form the words, I’m so out of breath. “She’s not Jane. She’s an imposter!”
The crowd erupts in murmurs as everyone tries to figure out what the heck is going on. Jane turns back to Magnus, panicked, but determined. “She’s just jealous,” she hisses at him. “She’s a child; she doesn’t understand. Let’s get on with this.”
Magnus looks at her, then back at me, then out into the audience—a confused, torn expression on his face. I hold my breath, praying with all my might that he’ll hear me out. The clock on the wall ticks off the seconds, one by one by one. Time moving slowly, painfully. Please, Magnus. Believe me, I beg him silently. Your girlfriend. The one who loves you. After all I’ve been through—my investigation, Jayden’s sacrifice—I can’t lose now. I just can’t!
All vampire eyes are on Magnus, waiting for his decision. You could hear a pin drop in the room it’s so silent. Half of me wants to shout everything out from where I’m standing—to tell the whole auditorium who Sasha really is and what she and Cornelius have been up to. But I don’t. I need Magnus’s decision first. He needs to listen to me. To trust me. To take that first step off the stage and walk toward me, choosing me as the woman he loves and believes in. Without that, I could have all the proof in the world and it won’t make any difference.
And for a terrifying moment I fear that he’s not going to do it. That he’s going to dismiss me as he’s done so many times in the last week and tell the powers-that-be to continue with the ceremony anyway. Ignore the dumb human girl he used to toy with—she doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things. But then, to my overwhelming relief, he slowly and deliberately turns away from Jane, steps off the stage, and starts down the aisle toward me. My heart skips a beat as he approaches and suddenly I’m nervous about what I’m going to say.
“Sunny, tell me what’s going on,” he says, stepping up to me and peering at me with concerned eyes. Eyes I’ve lost myself in so many times in the past, but now seem to belong to a stranger. “What have you found out about Jane?”
I look over at the imposter onstage, who’s scowling at me, probably wondering what I know and whether or not I can prove it. “Jane’s dead,” I say flatly. “The girl on the stage, the one you’re planning to make your blood mate—her name is Sasha. She’s Jane’s identical twin.”
The audience gasps, looking from me to Sasha and back again.
“That’s why she was able to fool the researchers with the DNA test,” I continue, forcing my voice to stay cool, calm, and collected. “After Jane took all the initial tests and got her certification, the High Stakes Coven had her killed and put Sasha in as a replacement, knowing only the DNA test was left. After all, twins have the same DNA.”
Magnus looks baffled. “But why?”
“Look,” I say. “I admit, the real Jane was all you said she was and more. Smart, talented, accomplished. But she refused to be controlled and manipulated by the High Stakes Coven to act out their revenge.” I look over at Sasha. “Her sister, on the other hand, would pretty much do anything for the cash.”
I shove my folder of proof into Magnus’s hands as I explain about Tabitha’s brother wanting to avenge his sister’s murder. Getting back at the Blood Coven for the wrongs he believed Lucifent committed on his family.
“Sasha’s just a puppet for Cornelius. He hoped to rot your coven from the inside, just as Tabitha did while she was Lucifent’s mate,” I explain. “If you turn her, she’ll usurp your power, turn your people against you, all the while looking for chances to kill you in your sleep.”
“She’s lying!” Sasha cries from the stage, now looking more scared than angry. “How can you morons believe some human? It’s all one big lie.”
“I don’t think so,” Magnus says, looking down at the paperwork I’ve brought him. “In fact, I think she has some pretty solid evidence to back up her claim.” He thumbs through the documents, then turns back to Sasha. “I don’t think we’ll be needing your services after all, Ms. Star,” he says. “If you would be so kind as to step off the stage?”
Sasha glares at him and the rest of the vampires, not moving an inch. Doesn’t she realize she’s lost? Then, slowly and deliberately, she takes the golden box off its pedestal and waves it in the air. “You’re too late,” she snarls at my boyfriend. “I’m going to be a vampire and there’s nothing any of you can do about it.” She yanks open the box and pulls out the vials.
“Noooo!” I cry, realizing what’s going on. One sip and she’ll be a protected member of the Blood Coven forever—Magnus’s blood mate for eternity—and no one in the consortium will be able to do anything about it.
I dive for the stage, but I’m way too far away. She downs the vials like shots of tequila, then licks her blood-stained lips and cackles as she turns to the audience, an evil smile on her face. Everyone’s eyes are on her, wide and shell-shocked at what just happened.
“Now I’m one of you,” she informs them haughtily. “Co-master of the Blood Coven and of equal rank as your leader Magnus.”
The room erupts in chaos; no one seems quite sure what to do. They can’t kill her now; she’s protected. But they can’t very well let her walk away either. A roomful of deadly vampires and every last one of them is entirely helpless, hands completely tied behind their backs, due to complicated consortium rules and regulations. I can’t believe it. Where are the renegade vampire zombies when you need them?
Sasha seems to be enjoying the madness. “So,” she says. “My first order of business as Blood Coven Master is to—”
Suddenly, she cuts off, a look of horror flashing on her face. I follow her gaze, wondering what could scare her so much. Vampire zombies, hopefully? Perhaps ones bent on her destruction? But no, my eyes fall on something—someone—even better.
Rayne, the vampire slayer, flips across the stage in a series of roundoff, back handsprings I didn’t know she could do: a bolt of lightning, brandishing a pretty nasty-looking stake.
“Sorry to crash the party,” she quips. “But I heard there was a vampire
in need of slaying.”
“Get her, Rayne!” I cry, hope surging through my heart. “Stake the bitch!”
If this were a Buffy episode, Sasha might have some kind of catty comeback, but I’ve found in real life vampires aren’t usually all that quick-witted. In any case, it only takes a second for Rayne to make her move, thrusting the stake into the new vampire’s heart and reducing her to a pile of stage dust.
The crowd goes wild, as you can imagine. I let out a sigh of relief. It’s over. It’s really over this time. Sasha’s gone. For good.
My sister hops off the stage and dances over to me. I notice more than a few vampires dodging to get out of her path. I don’t blame them. She’s scary when she’s all slayer chick.
“Sunny!” she cries, throwing her arms around me in a hug. “Thank God I came in time.”
I squeeze her tight. “No kidding,” I say. “I thought we were in real trouble there.”
“Meh,” she says, pulling away from the hug and giving me a cocky grin. “Never underestimate the power of a slayer.”
“Right. Except when said Slayer is previously occupied at the World Series of Poker.”
“Well, you know, didn’t want to have to waste a good portion of my winnings on your funeral.”
I roll my eyes. “Whatevs.” Then I get serious. “Thanks, girl. I owe you one, big-time.”
“No.” Rayne shakes her head. “I owe you one. Or like, ten thousand, if we’re really keeping score. I mean, let’s be honest here—I haven’t exactly been the best sister since we got to Vegas. I abandoned you for those stupid casinos—and when you really needed me, too.” She grimaces. “Damn, Sunny, you could have died!” she cries.
“But I didn’t,” I tell her, quickly relating the short version of my awesome vampire slay. “Maybe I’m tougher than I sometimes give myself credit for. After all, I did single-handedly take down a big, bad vampire.”
“And I’m so sorry I missed that,” Rayne says with a grin. “You managed to save the day without any slayer powers whatsoever. You’re, like, a vampire hero. How many mortals can say that?”
I can feel myself blushing. “I don’t know if I’d go that far.”
“I would,” Magnus says, walking back over to us. He’d left to examine Sasha’s remains and console the other consortium members, who were totally freaking out from all the violence. Wimpy, soft vampires. “You’re my hero, at the very least.”
He grabs me and pulls me to him, hugging me fiercely. I hug him back, but find I can’t relax in his embrace as I usually can. I guess I’m still angry about all that’s happened. About the way this all went down. I mean, sure, everything turned out okay in the end, but this would have been a lot simpler if he’d just listened to me from the start.
I pull away from the hug. Magnus looks at me, confused. “What’s wrong?”
“Just because everything turned out okay doesn’t mean you’re off the hook,” I tell him, crossing my arms over my chest. “I’m still mad at you, you know.”
He looks completely baffled. God, men—even vampire men—can be stupid sometimes. “What did I do?” he asks, his expression worried and anguished.
Where to even begin? “You didn’t listen to me. You accused me of being jealous. You completely dismissed everything I said, treating me as if I were just some stupid kid. You never considered the fact that I might be right for even one second.”
His face falls. At least he doesn’t try to deny it. He knows he’s messed up. “Sunny . . .” he tries. “I don’t know what to say . . . I’m sorry.”
We stare at each other, silently, lost in whirling emotions. Half of me wants to forgive him. To let it all go and allow myself to be pulled into his strong, safe arms once again. It’d be easier, I suppose, at least temporarily. But somehow I don’t think it’d work in the long haul. I can push the resentment down, but I can’t make it entirely go away.
I need time. I need space. I need . . .
“I’m sorry, we’ll have to talk later,” I manage to choke out. “Right now, I need to get to the hospital.”
His eyes widen with worry. “Hospital? Are you hurt?”
“No,” I say, shaking my head. “But someone I know is. And I need to make sure he’s all right.”
“I’ll drive you,” Magnus says automatically. He knows something’s wrong and he’s desperate to make good. “Let me pull the car around.”
“Master, we need you here,” interrupts a tall, suited vampire with dark sunglasses covering his eyes. Looks like one of the Men in Black. “There’s a dead vampire, slain by one of your coven members. Who’s also a slayer, I might add. Do you know how much paperwork this kind of thing entails?”
“Hey, make sure you clarify that it’s an ‘evil’ dead vampire in your report,” Rayne butts in. “’Cause, I’m so not going down for an unauthorized slay. It was totally legit and necessary. Slayer Inc. will have my back.”
The vampire rolls his eyes at her, then turns back to Magnus. “Master?”
Magnus sighs deeply. “Okay,” he says, letting out a long breath. He turns to me. “Sunny, have Rayne take you to the hospital. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”
My heart sinks. Here we go again. See, this is why I can’t just push this under the rug. ’Cause it’s not going to change. Time and time again, no matter what, Magnus is going to choose the Blood Coven over me. I’ll never be his priority. I’ll never be his number one.
And I don’t know if I can live my life as second best anymore. Not now that I know what it feels like to have someone make me a priority, to go as far as risking death for me.
I need to get to the hospital. Pronto.
19
Rayne and I call a cab to take us back to the hospital and rush into the ER, asking for Jayden. It takes a while for the admissions nurse to find him—especially since I don’t know his last name. But finally she locates him in a room on the third floor and says if we hurry we can make visiting hours.
We race upstairs and I burst into his room. He’s lying on a hospital bed, tubes up his nose and an IV in his arm. He’s pale and his eyes are bruised, but he’s alive. Blessedly alive. And awake, too; his eyes light up when they find me at the door.
“Sunny!” he cries, his voice so happy it breaks my heart. “Did you make it?” he asks. “Did you get there in time?” Typical Jayden. Asking about others when he’s the one lying in the hospital bed.
I nod silently, my words caught in my throat. I have so much to say to him, I don’t know where to start. “Thanks to you,” I finally manage to blurt out. “I wouldn’t have been able to do it if it wasn’t for you.”
He smiles his sweet, crooked smile and beckons me over. I approach, sitting down on the side of his bed. My sister quietly leaves the room, closing the door behind her, giving us space. I tried to fill her in on the way here, but probably didn’t do a very good job. After all, even I don’t fully understand the connection between Jayden and me.
“Are you okay?” I ask, glancing at the heart monitor.
He shrugs, then winces in pain at the movement. “I think so,” he replies. “Cornelius helped himself to quite a large amount of my blood, but they gave me a transfusion. So as long as my body doesn’t fight off the new stuff then I should be okay. I might even be able to get out of here by tomorrow morning.”
“You shouldn’t have done that,” I scold. “Cutting yourself like you did. That was really stupid, you know?”
He reaches up and touches my cheek with light, feathery fingers, causing chills to run up and down my spine. “Maybe,” he says, with a shy smile. “But it was worth it, all the same.”
“Worth risking your life to save a vampire you’ve never met?”
“Worth risking my life to save you.”
My heart skips a beat at his words. “Oh, Jayden.” I sigh. “I don’t know what I’d have done if something had happened to you.”
He meets my eyes with his beautiful green ones, his expression solemn. “You’d be okay. Y
ou have your boyfriend.”
“Yeah.” I stare down at the floor. “I guess I do.” My boyfriend who’s more concerned with his job than he is about me. I mean, would Magnus have risked his life to save mine? Or would he have been too worried about leaving the coven without a leader? I’m not sure I’d ever want to bet my life on his loyalty to me. And that, I realize, is a huge problem.
“You okay?” Jayden asks. “Is something wrong?”
“No . . . yes . . . I don’t know.” I smile sheepishly. “It’s just . . . well, sometimes you go through life just accepting things as they are—even if they make you secretly unhappy. Then something—someone—comes along and shows you how things could be. If only you knew how to let go of the situation that you find yourself trapped in.”
“Have you been unhappy, Sun?”
I think about it for a moment. “Yes,” I say finally. “I have been. Though I haven’t wanted to admit it. I’ve been unhappy with things for a long time.” I bite at my lower lip as I remember the last few months. How lonely I’ve been, ditching my friends, waiting around for Magnus instead of living my life. One week in Vegas and I’ve had more fun than in the last three months back home—even if I did almost get murdered by a bloodthirsty vampire bent on revenge. What does that say about me and the way I’m living my life? And, more important, what should I do about it now that I’ve realized how I really feel?
“Sunny, you need to talk with your boyfriend,” Jayden says suddenly. “Let him know how you feel. Give him a chance to make things right before you make any rash decisions.”
I look at him, a knife twisting in my gut. “Why would you say that? I mean, don’t you . . .” I trail off, embarrassed. Here I am, ready to throw my long-term relationship away in order to be with Jayden and he’s telling me I should work things out with Magnus. Is he just being nice and unselfish, like always? Or doesn’t he want me as much as I want him? “Won’t you miss me?” I finally blurt out, unable to stop myself. “I mean, I know you and I haven’t known each other long, but I’ve felt this . . .”