“I really don’t need anything,” I told the trio in a flat voice. “Thanks, anyway. I was just leaving.”
Caleb pouted. Zeke glared at Ruth, and she flushed, backing away. “It’s up to you, Allison,” Zeke said, glancing at me again. “But it’s not any trouble, really. We’re sort of used to picking up strays, isn’t that right, rug rat?” He tousled the kid’s hair, making Caleb giggle, before looking seriously back at me. “You’re welcome to join us, at least for tonight. Jeb doesn’t turn away anyone in need. In fact, if you want,” he continued, cocking his head in a thoughtful manner, “you can even travel with us for a little while. We seem to be going the same direction. You’ll have to get used to our weird hours, though. We sleep during the day and head out at night.”
I blinked, hardly believing my ears. “You travel at night?” I asked, just to confirm it, and he nodded. “Why?”
A shadow crossed Zeke’s face, and Ruth paled, glancing at Caleb. Both of them got very quiet for a moment. “That’s…a long story,” Zeke muttered, sounding uncomfortable, or sad. “Ask me again later.” He jerked his head toward the child clinging to his leg, indicating: ask me when Caleb isn’t around to hear it.
Definitely a story there. The grim look on his face spoke louder than words and made me curious. I wonder what happened to them? What was so terrible that he doesn’t want Caleb to hear?
“So,” Zeke continued as Ruth scowled, “the offer still stands, Allison. Are you coming or not?”
I shouldn’t. I should just turn around and walk away without looking back. According to Zeke, there were at least a dozen humans wandering around, smelling like prey and blood, blissfully ignorant of the vampire lurking so close to their little community. If I accepted his offer, how long before they realized I wasn’t human, especially with Ruth hovering like a suspicious vulture, waiting to expose me? And how long could I possibly go without wanting to eat them?
But then, if I stayed away from humans, isolating and starving myself, I’d eventually lose control again. And then I would kill someone. Maybe a child, like the boy on Zeke’s leg. What if I had found him first, instead of those two men? The thought made me sick. I couldn’t do that again. I couldn’t.
Maybe…maybe if I took just a little blood at a time, I could keep the demon bottled up. There had to be a way. No one could find out, of course, and I’d have to be really, really careful, but that seemed a better plan than stalking them through the darkness, waiting for the Hunger to overcome me again.
“Please, Allie?” Caleb looked at me with large, pleading eyes as I still hesitated. “Please come with us? Pleeeaaase?”
“You heard him.” Zeke smiled, handsome and charming in the moonlight. “You have to come now, or you’ll make him cry.”
Ruth pressed her lips together, glaring at me with darkest hate, but she was no longer important. I sighed, both because I felt like it and to give the impression that I still breathed. “All right,” I said, shrugging. “You win. Lead the way.”
Caleb grinned, skipped up to me, and took my hand. Ruth made a disgusted noise and stalked away into the shadows, muttering to herself. Shaking his head, Zeke gave me an apologetic glance and motioned us forward.
As I followed them, my fingers clutched firmly in the child’s grip, I couldn’t help but feel uneasy. This was probably an insanely bad idea, but I couldn’t stop now. The cards had been dealt, and I was going to have to bluff my way through.
Besides, I didn’t want to admit it, but I missed talking to someone. Those long, silent nights in the wilderness made me realize how much of a social creature I really was. Talking to Zeke was easy, and I wasn’t quite ready to be alone again.
Even though, just a few minutes into our trek, he started to ask the hard questions.
“So, Allison,” Zeke said quietly, as we picked our way over a stretch littered with nails, boards and shards of glass, sparkling in the moonlight. Caleb was in his arms, clinging tightly to his neck as he maneuvered through the debris, and Ruth lagged a few steps behind, her glare burning into my back. “How long did you live in a vampire city?”
“All my life,” I muttered. “I was born there.”
“What was it like?”
“What do you mean, what was it like?”
“I mean, I’ve never been to one,” Zeke answered, shifting Caleb to his other side, shaking out his arm. “I’ve never seen the inside of a vampire city—I’ve just heard the stories and rumors. And of course, no two are the same, you know?”
“Not really.” I looked away, wondering how I could get him off the subject. “What have you heard? What kind of stories?”