Patrolling the village about half a mile from the palace, Lucette stopped to scan the street for vampires. Over the past three months, she’d managed to convince her father to let her sleep without someone else in her room, but if he ever found out she was helping the slayers, he would surely revoke the privilege. Her door was heavily guarded at night, but she’d made friends with one of the slayers, and he’d given her a uniform, some weapons, a grappling hook, and enough rope so she could sneak out through her bedroom window to do her part to protect the citizens of Xandra from rogue vampires each night. She knew it wasn’t logical to blame herself for the increased attacks, but knowing that the vampire who’d broken into the tower had been after her specifically, she couldn’t shake the weight of responsibility and guilt.
Lucette adjusted her grip on her stake. Her new gloves were heavy and awkward, like tiny leather prisons, but she considered them her one small concession to her father. No way would she stop slaying just because she’d turned sixteen. It was her duty as a trained slayer to help. Plus, she couldn’t let her slayer skills deteriorate; someday, she might be patrolling alone.
Since her sixteenth birthday, twenty-four Xandran citizens had been bitten by vampires, but none more than once. She couldn’t imagine the terror of having a vampire feed from her blood, even if it took three bites to transfer enough venom to kill. It had been horrendous even to be threatened.
The sounds of a skirmish drifted over from an adjoining street, and she ran in the direction of the sounds. She jumped up onto the six-foot-high garden wall at the corner, landing in a crouch. Then, after making sure no one had seen her, she walked silently along the top of the stone wall.
Cautiously, stake ready, she approached the sound, but it was only a couple of dogs fighting over a bone.
The tension in her shoulders released, but Lucette decided to maintain her higher vantage point atop the wall. She stepped nimbly onto the next section, which was a few feet higher. This garden wall ended about fifteen feet ahead, at the side of a house. If she took a running leap, she could probably scramble up the house’s drainpipe and onto the roof. However, she wasn’t positive she could trust the grip of her new heavy gloves. She also couldn’t trust the drainpipe to be free from sharp edges or cracks that could cut her if she removed her gloves. But it was either try or lose an even better view of the street, so she took a deep breath and ran.
Her gloved hands slipped on the pipe, but the rubber soles of her shoes held tight and she scrambled until she could grasp the flat roof and pull herself up. Now, about twenty feet above street level, she could see the entire stretch of road.
Farther down, something moved in the shadows. Lucette crouched, then sprang forward, removing a stake from the quiver on her back. She heard a soft giggle, and as she got close enough to the shadow, she saw it was just a young couple. The boy leaned back against the wall and held the girl casually around her waist. The girl pressed against him in a way that made Lucette blush. The boy bent down to kiss the girl.
In a rush of movement, a vampire appeared out of the shadows, pulled the girl away from the boy, and bent his head toward her neck. The terrified boy shouted, but didn’t move. Lucette, stake in hand, leaped off the roof and landed with her weapon right against the vampire’s back, touching its point just behind his heart, but not penetrating his skin.
The vampire let go of the girl and spun around, a horrified look on his pale face. “Don’t kill me. Please. I wanted to know what human blood tasted like, but I couldn’t go through with it.”
Lucette kept her stake raised and aimed at the vampire. Only shock held her from plunging it into him. She hadn’t expected the vampire to plead for his life. Her heart thumped in her chest and she could almost hear the vampire’s heart thumping, too. The boy and girl ran off down the street, leaving Lucette alone with the vampire, realizing she could take this one down easily, if she chose to. He might be strong and fast, but he was also scared and didn’t have the eyes of a killer.
“What are you doing in Xandra?” she asked.
“I-I . . .” he backed away from her.“I’m starving.”
“Liar,” she said. “There’s blood in Sanguinia. The only reason you have for coming here is to feed off humans.” Lucette raised her stake again, and backed the vampire toward the stone wall, keeping the point of the stake aimed at his heart. One strong thrust and he’d be gone.
He knew it, too, and fear filled his eyes. “I just got out of jail,” he said. “I got caught sneaking onto a ranch and drinking from the livestock.” He licked his lips. “I was hungry and couldn’t afford to buy blood at the store.”
“You have to pay for blood?” Lucette felt her arm relax, so she tensed it again. She couldn’t lose her focus. He might be trying to trick her to gain advantage for his attack.
“Of course blood costs money.” He looked confused. “Don’t you pay for food?”
“But vampires are hunters, killers who thirst for human blood.” At least according to what she’d learned from her training, not to mention her mother.
He shook his head. “Not me. I’ve never even tasted human blood.” He looked down. “I-I couldn’t bite that girl, even though it’s legal now. I just couldn’t. No matter how much money they offered me.”
Lucette tensed. “Someone offered you money? Explain—if you want to live.”
The vampire’s already pale skin became even more white. “I’d been out of jail for a few days and hadn’t eaten—not even a drop. A guy approached me and said I could make some easy money if I went to Xandra and drank from a human.” He shivered as if the idea were repulsive. “Even more money if I drank the blood of the king, queen, or princess.”
Lucette felt a chill shoot down her spine. “Who? Who’s behind this?” She suspected it was the vampire queen, but needed proof.
“I-I don’t know. The person was in disguise, behind a heavy mask.” He clasped his hands together. “Please don’t hurt me.”
This vampire was clearly no killer, and Lucette’s mind reeled with the implications of what he’d told her. What if other vampires roaming Xandra were like this one—just down on his luck and desperate for food? The slayers’ policy was to kill first and ask questions later. Were they killing some vampires who didn’t deserve it?
Worse, since she had been attacked in the tower, her father had broken off talks with the Sanguinian diplomats and was considering war. At first she’d supported the idea, especially since she knew her vampire-hating mother would too, but now she wasn’t so sure. Her father could be making a big mistake if he chose to invade.
Fear for the future bit into her, but one thing was certain. Her father needed to know the truth. She turned to the vampire. “Listen, can you come with me? It would clear up a whole lot of misunderstandings if the king heard this firsthand.”
“The king?” Terror flashed onto his face and he slid along the wall as if planning an escape, but Lucette stepped over to cut him off.
“What?” she asked. “Why are you scared?” She’d been sure he’d started to trust her.
He shook his head. “If your king is anything like our queen . . .”
“He’s not. Trust me.” This vampire clearly feared his monarch. No one feared her father. Did they? Lucette knew all about the cruelty of the horrible vampire queen, but it was way too dangerous to explain that to the vampire. She couldn’t let him know who she was. He’d admitted he’d get paid extra for biting her, although it wasn’t clear how he’d prove he’d done it.
The vampire looked down. “How do I know I can trust you? You’re still pointing that stake at me.”
“How do I know I can trust you?” she shot back. “You’ve still got fangs.”
He grinned. “Good point.”
Lucette laughed in spite of the tension—or perhaps because of it—and while dropping her stake to her side, she backed away. “Behave—and I won’t hurt you, I promise. Assuming you promise the same.”
“I promise, but I’m not sure I should go with you,” he said warily. His hand trembled as he raised it to scratch his head.
The vampire glanced down at Lucette’s stake, then back at her face, as if considering his options. He nodded. “Okay, let’s go.”
Lucette felt a tiny bit of hope. If her father could find out who was behind the vampire attacks, he might be able to end these hostilities. She gestured for the vampire to follow her down the street, but before they’d taken ten steps, three slayers landed around them, stakes drawn. Horrified, Lucette shouted, “No!” But it was too late. One of the slayers swept the vampire off his feet and another drove a stake into his heart.
She staggered back, not wanting to reveal herself to the other slayers and lose her anonymity. It was bad enough that she’d spoken—the slayers had heard her female voice.
“Got it!” one of the slayers said to the other. “Since I got the kill, you’ve got to dump his body over the border in the morning.”
Lucette ran, hating that the slayers were so cavalier about killing. It was slayer policy to use the dead vampire bodies to send a message to others in Sanguinia to stay away. Clearly it wasn’t working, but no one seemed to notice. She couldn’t help but think that the slayed vampire corpses might have the opposite effect—inciting anger, rather than building a deterrent.
She didn’t stop running until she was back at the palace. Legs burning, they crumpled under her, and she fell back against the outermost wall of the courtyard. Tears sparked in her eyes and she struck her stake against the stone wall. The sound cracked through the night.
She struck the wall again. That vampire’s death had been her fault. If not for her, he’d have fled into the night and would be halfway to the border by now. Sobbing, she struck the wall again, and even with her glove on, the vibrations shot through her arm and up to her teeth.
Every time she tried to fix things, they only got worse.
Still shaken from seeing an innocent vampire killed right in front of her, Lucette stuck her stake under her pillow as she did every night. Her father wouldn’t approve, but she never slept without some kind of weapon. She no longer believed that every vampire deserved death, but if some had been hired to bite her, she wasn’t taking any chances. With any luck, brandishing her stake would be enough to frighten off any would-be finger-prickers or neck-biters.
She stared at her gloves. Many mornings, she woke with deep creases on her face from sleeping with her cheek on the leather seams, but it was worth it to stay safe. For years, her mother had let her sleep without gloves, and out of habit, she sometimes removed them in her sleep, but she’d kept them on all night for the past three weeks.
Moving over to her washbasin, she removed her gloves and carefully washed her hands and face. Staring at her reflection in the mirror, tears rose in her eyes and she swiped them away with the backs of her hands.
Slayers didn’t cry. Especially not at the death of a vampire. But the one she’d met tonight hadn’t deserved death, and she was sure that if he’d talked to her father, it would have helped. She couldn’t tell her father what she’d learned without revealing that she’d been out on patrol.
She put her gloves back on, brushed and braided her hair, then climbed into bed. She double-checked that her stake was in position, even though she no longer felt sure she could use it. She tried to sleep, but instead tossed and turned, haunted by images of the vampire’s violent and unnecessary death.