“Did you hear about the vampire who died of a broken heart?” Drew asks suddenly.
I try to summon a smile. “I’m sorry… I’m not in the mood for jokes right now,” I admit, feeling terrible even as I say it.
He acknowledges my words with a resigned shrug. “In a place like this, Charlie, you usually won’t be in the mood to laugh. That’s why you have to force yourself to find the humor, at least once every day. That’s the rule. Or you won’t survive here—I can promise you that. Now, I want you to tell me. Did you hear about the vampire who died of a broken heart?”
I can’t decide if I want to punch him or make out with him. We turn a corner, and there’s Nina up ahead, along with a petite blond I recognize from the boardinghouse. I tug my sleeve down over the tattoo—although they have marks, as well, I don’t want any commentary on mine. I want to mourn without an audience. “No, Drew, I didn’t hear about that vampire. Please, please tell me about his broken heart,” I say, smiling more freely now.
Drew gives a sad shake of his head. “He had loved in vein.”
For a moment, I’m trapped somewhere between a laugh and a sob. “You’re a strange human.”
He nudges his shoulder against mine. “Right back at you.”
The words make me frown. Because he’s right—I am human. At least, part of me is. Like it or not, this is my world now.
“It’s not all bad, you know,” Drew adds, drawing me from my thoughts. “The sewer sector. The weepers don’t get in very often, and when they do, we watch each other’s backs. Most of the job is just clearing blockages or cleaning trash off the bullet tracks.”
We’re close enough to Nina and the blond that I can make out their conversation now. The streets are getting busier, filling with cars and other slaves rushing to their sectors. We must be nearing Midtown—high above our heads, like a tragic imitation of New York City’s Times Square, now nothing more than a ghost city full of dry sobs, a giant screen lights the street. As I watch, my mother’s face appears on it. Beside her, New Ve’s most popular news anchor, Danielle of House Winter, stares out at the city with bright blue eyes. Her bleach-blond hair gleams angelically, but it’s just a skilled façade—I’ve seen her rip a feeder’s throat out with her teeth.
Her sweet voice echoes over the city as she urges citizens to report any sightings of Cassandra Travesty. I can almost forget how angry I am at my mother when I wonder what will the king do to her. Will he make an example of her in his bid for eliminating any future Lavenders?
The image on the screen shifts again, and my stomach tightens at the sight of Mother’s familiar dark gaze. There’s so much I wish I could’ve asked her. Who is my real father? Why was he worth the risk of what’s unfolding now?
Up ahead, Nina’s attention suddenly turns, and I follow it just in time to see a female vampire follow a human man out of a third-story window. Except, she doesn’t use the fire escape—she jumps. I forget Danielle’s broadcast and people stop to watch her slim form drop and hit the ground in a graceful crouch. Her boots make gravel fly. As the female straightens, I see she has several piercings on her face. She wears a t-shirt with a picture of a fanged smiley face on it… and it’s flicking everyone off.
“Who was that?” I whisper with wide eyes.
“No one you want to get noticed by,” Nina calls back, overhearing me. “If you do, you’re as good as dead.”
Drew rolls his eyes in my direction, a conspiratorial smile curving his lips. “Don’t mind her. She acts like that because people have let her down in the past, and now she doesn’t trust as easily.”
Nina hears this, too. “Why don’t you tell her my bra size while you’re at it?” she snaps.
“She’s a 34DD,” he informs me without missing a beat.
“Jesus Christ, Drew. How do you even know that?”
“Did you forget who does your laundry? Typical. This just proves how much you take me for granted. Oh, Charlie, that was Sylvia back there. She’s one of the best bounty hunters in the city.”
By this point, Drew’s twin has slowed to walk alongside us. The fresh slave marks on my skin hurt anew, as though agitated by her mere presence. “So how long are you going to be slumming it with us?” the girl asks me, shifting a backpack slung over her slender shoulder.
My mouth curls into a humorless smile. “Ada said I could only stay for two days, but I don’t exactly have anywhere else to go.”
Drew laughs, and I shoot him a questioning look. “Don’t worry about Ada—she likes me. I’ll talk to her.”
I blink at him. “You’d do that for me?”
“Why wouldn’t I?” he asks. There’s genuine confusion in his tone. He can’t be that naive, can he? That oblivious? A human like him wouldn’t have survived this long.
The human in question is still waiting for a response, and I struggle to find the right words. Nina observes our exchange with an expression I can’t put a definition to. “I just… I guess I’m not used to someone being so kind. Like, genuinely nice.”
“That’s because you’ve been hanging with royals your whole life. Don’t worry,” Drew adds with a playful head tilt, “we won’t hold it against you.”
My cheeks heat. Feeling like a song on repeat, I say, “Thank you, Drew. That would be amazing.”
As we fall silent, laughter drifts back to us, and I finally notice the group of air nymphs walking ahead of us. They’re not going to the sewers—they’re me, just two nights ago. Off to the next club. On the hunt for a one night stand. Drinking their weight in sugary cocktails.
There are moments like this, when reality hits me like a fist to the stomach, and I’m forced to grieve all over again. I resist the urge to tug at my sleeve and make sure no one else can see the angry marks staring out from my skin. The one on my neck, thankfully, is hidden by my wild hair.
As we walk along behind, though, Drew’s arm brushes mine and I forget about the nymphs. The touch is so brief, so casual, that I know he couldn’t have done it on purpose. I’m about to ask him more about what to expect when he says, “Shit, I’m sorry, you probably have no idea what we’re walking into. Okay, let me think… at the start of each night, we head to the warehouse right next to the Public Works office. First we grab our weapons, then Bill reads off the daily assignments as we change into our gear. After that, we head down into the tunnels.”
Weapons? Gear? Oh, god. “So I’m just diving right in, huh?” I ask, keeping my gaze on the busy street around us to hide how nervous I am.
Drew casts me a sideways glance. “Yeah. As opposed to what?”
“Well, there’s the small detail that I have no idea what I’m doing. I’m not a killer.”
He chuckles as we keep walking. “It’s simple, Charlie. You learn by doing, or you die. But don’t worry, we’ll make sure that doesn’t happen. Right, Nina?”
His sister just grunts. Drew turns off into an alleyway as I stare after him, speechless. I jog to catch up and see the short blond several yards ahead of us, heading straight for a thick, dented door on the left side. It’s obviously a back entrance, and it hits me again, how far I’ve fallen.