There was a mirror in the hall, and I meant to bypass it, I did, but I found myself stopping and peering into the glass. I saw...me. Just me. My face a little too thin for my liking, and there were bruises under my eyes, cracks in my lips, but my color was good, rosy, all health and no sickness.
I found Nana in the kitchen, cleaning up the mess she’d made while baking the cookies.
“Ali!” she exclaimed, running over and throwing her arms around me. “You look... Wow! The medicine worked.”
“Thank you.” I took a moment to absorb her love and warmth, basking in the sense of home. “Now, I need to borrow your car.”
She pulled back, frowned. “My car?”
“I’ll be careful with it, I promise.”
“I know you will, but you’ve never shown an interest in driving before. And I know you’ve had a few lessons, but you still only have your permit, and—”
I cupped her cheeks. “Trust me, Nana. I need to do this.” It was time. A girl on her way to war had no room for fear. I wasn’t going to tolerate this one anymore.
“I can drive you anywhere—”
“Please, Nana. Please. I’m not shutting you out. I just want to prove to myself that I can do this.” I needed to start this new journey with a victory.
“All right.” She nodded. “I’ll get the keys.”
*
Perspiration dotted my brow, and I struggled to draw air past the lump growing in my throat. On the wheel, my knuckles were bleached of color. Cars zoomed past me, and horns blared.
Someone gave me the finger.
What was the problem? I was only going ten miles an hour under the speed limit. If ten was the new word for twenty. And twenty was the new word for thirty. Whatever. I was motoring forward, and that should be good enough.
I managed to double the usual fifteen-minute drive before reaching Cole’s barn—and miracle of miracles, I didn’t crash. Several other vehicles were parked in the gravel driveway, so I knew a handful of slayers were already here, preparing for the night’s activities.
As I stalked to the door, I glanced at the sky and found a rabbit-shaped cloud directly overhead.
Emma was still looking out for me.
I smiled as I entered the building. Cole, Frosty, Gavin and Veronica were bent over a table, talking, probably planning as they looked over a stack of papers.
I took a moment to enjoy the utter normalcy of the moment. The savage beauty of Cole. The bond between the four. The determination they radiated.
Anima should run and hide.
“Ali,” Veronica gasped out.
All eyes lasered straight to me. I cared only about Cole, and— —he had me draped over his shoulder. Blood dripped from both of us, and I couldn’t tell if it belonged to us or someone else. I was panting, struggling to free myself from his hold.
“Let me go,” I demanded.
“Never again.”
“You keep saying that. What do you want with me—”
—as quickly as the vision had appeared, it vanished.
I blinked, shook my head. I’d asked Cole Holland...what do you want with me? As if he were a stranger?
Why?
“What’d you see?” Gavin asked, and I looked to him—
—we stood in the middle of a night-darkened road. Zombie ash was piled at our feet, twirling into the air, dancing away, and Hazmats surrounded us.
Kelly raised his mask. He was scowling. “Where is he? What have you done with him—”
“—this again,” I heard Veronica say, jerking me back into the present.
Gavin scowled at her. “Next time, shut your mouth and let the vision finish. We saw tonight’s battle. At least, what I think is going to be tonight’s battle, and it wasn’t pretty.”
She sputtered for a response.
Cole closed the distance between us. “How?”
I knew what he was asking and I wanted to lie. “Antidote.” No lies. I jutted my chin. “What we saw—”
“I don’t know what it means, and I’m not going to try to guess. I’ve never been right before. What matters—you were told not to use the antidote unless absolutely necessary. Today, it wasn’t necessary.” His eyes narrowed, and he took my hand, tugging me into the locker room. I expected him to turn and lecture me the moment the door closed, shutting us inside, alone.
He did turn.