"So this Raina, she's the leader?" Damian asked as they walked up the driveway to Raina's house.
Jenny grimaced. "Yes, for now. She and I don't exactly get along."
"Is she a good fighter?"
"Yes, unfortunately." Jenny couldn't help being spiteful toward the conniving bitch.
Damian shook his head. "Not unfortunately. We're going to need all the help we can get."
Jenny led him around to the side of the house where she knew Raina's window was located. It was, after all, almost five in the morning. They weren't going to go ringing the doorbell. Jenny hid a yawn behind her hand. She hadn't been tired before; the excitement had kept her adrenaline up. But now, she could feel the exhaustion closing in on her.
Damian, on the other hand, seemed wide awake. Did vampires need to sleep? she wondered. He had a bed in his room, but that didn't mean that he used it for sleeping.
Raina's window was on the ground floor. Jenny tapped on it and waited. Nothing. She tapped again. Maybe they had gotten Raina too. It was possible. Jenny couldn't help thinking that she'd be glad if Raina was missing.
She was turning around to tell Damian that they should go when the window slid open.
"What the hell are you doing?" Raina hissed. Jenny swung around. Raina leaned out the window. She wore a slinky nightgown, her hair tumbling wildly over her shoulders. Even after being awaken from sleep, she shone with exotic beauty. Jenny's self-confidence dropped a notch as it always did in the presence of Raina. It didn't help that Jenny saw the appreciative glances Damian gave Raina. Raina glared at her, waiting for Jenny to answer.
It took Jenny a minute to gather her thoughts. Awkwardly, she blurted, "They've got them."
Raina sighed and rolled her eyes. "What are you talking about?" Her tone of voice let them know how much she liked Jenny.
Jenny shook her head. "The vampires. They've gotten everybody else. Michael, Gunther, Ashton."
For once, Raina looked surprised. Her eyes widened momentarily. Then she seemed to remember herself and said, "Oh great. That's just wonderful, Jenny. Thank you so much for waking me up to tell me that."
Jenny felt anger welling up in her. "Don't you even care?"
Raina looked at her fingernails. "I care. Just not at 5:00 in the morning!"
Jenny clenched her teeth. "Raina, you are a cold-hearted bitch." Raina's mouth dropped slightly. Jenny continued, "But, we need your help. We have an idea where to look for them and we want you to come with us."
"Who's we?"
Damian stepped out of the shadows Jenny didn't know he'd been hiding in. "Jenny and I. Are you going to come with us or not?"
Once again, Raina's jaw dropped. "Who are you?"
"He's Ashton's brother," Jenny said. "Remember her? The vampire?"
Raina's eyes widened. "Jenny, why are you running around with a vampire?" She sounded genuinely surprised.
"He and Ashton were going to help us. Until Ashton got kidnapped, anyway. They're with Daybreak."
Damian stepped up to the window, staring down Raina until she looked away. "Look," he said. "Either you come with us or you don't. If you don't, you're likely going to be next. These people aren't playing games. I guarantee you'll be gone within a day. And we don't know what they'd do to you."
Jenny felt a twinge of satisfaction to see Raina's confidence slipping away. She looked uncertainly at Jenny, then back to Damian.
"Come with you where?" she asked.
"Chicago," Jenny said. "Damian knows some people there who might be able to help us." Despite her dislike of Raina, Jenny found herself pleading with her. She may not like Raina, but Damian was right – they needed her help. "Come on, Raina. Remember what you said about the gang watching out for each other."
Raina looked nervously at Damian, then rolled her eyes and sighed. "I can't believe I'm doing this. Alright, give me a minute." She started to close the window, then paused, looking at Jenny. "But if you do anything – and I mean anything – to piss me off, I'm gone." She slammed the window and the curtains fell back into place.
Jenny looked at Damian and raised her eyebrows.
Damian smirked. "Nice girl."
***********
Three hours later, they were on their way to Chicago on the South Shore train line. Jenny stared out the window of the train, not really seeing the trees and occasional towns fly by. The train car was full of men and women in business clothes, commuters on their way to work.
Because of the number of passengers on board, there wasn't room for everyone to have a seat alone. Jenny had to make a decision – sit with Raina, her mortal enemy, or Damian, her immortal enemy. She didn't trust Raina to sit with Damian. She chose Damian, only because she didn't think she could spend the two and a half hour trip breathing in the choking scent of Raina's perfume.
Raina sat in front of Jenny and Damian, tossing her hair and flirting effortlessly with a young-looking businessman. Jenny tried to ignore her.
Damian sat silently next to her in the last seat of the car. Although his head didn't move, Jenny could see his eyes moving back and forth, taking in the scene. Like a predator, she thought as she leaned against the window and tried to watch him without being obvious.
How did I get into this situation, she thought. I should be disgusted just to share a train car with him. She had spent her entire life since learning about the Night World hating the vampires – all of them, without equivocation.
With Damian, somehow it was different. She felt like she should hate him, like she had hated all vampires before him, but she couldn't. She knew it had to be the whole soulmate thing, but she preferred not to think about that. It only confused her more.
She sighed and turned back to the window. Michael, she thought. I hope you're okay.
Her eyes suddenly felt like weights were tied to them, dragging them down. Jenny realized she hadn't slept in almost 24 hours. With all the fighting and stress she'd dealt with in that time period, she was surprised she hadn't passed out earlier. Feeling safe on a moving train that the enemy didn't know she was on, she let the sleep overtake her.
***********
Jenny woke when the train pulled into the Randolph Street station, the last stop on the South Shore's route. She was startled to discover that sometime while she had been asleep, she had moved over and leaned her head on Damian's shoulder.
She glanced up at him, expecting him to be watching her or glaring at her or something. Instead, he was still staring straight ahead. Except he looked different somehow. Jenny couldn't quite place it.
Jenny was the last one off the train. Raina stood outside waiting for her, looking more like her normal snobby self.
"Come on, Jenny," she said, her hands on her hips. "We've got things to do."
Jenny rolled her eyes. "Why don't you tell that to the twenty people who shoved in front of me to get off, Raina. Besides, we don't even know where we're going."
Raina turned her scowl on Damian, who was beginning to look severely out of it. "Well, bat boy, this is your show. Where're these friends who might know something?"
Damian leaned against the wall and pulled out a cigarette, causing Jenny to wrinkle her nose and disgust to wash over Raina's face.
"That's a disgusting habit," Raina said. "Do you know what that's doing to your lungs?"
For once, Jenny agreed with her.
Damian puffed on the cigarette, then turned to Raina, meeting her eyes until she looked away. "What's it going to do, kill me?" he asked, and turned his back on them. Raina scowled.
Then Jenny noticed his hand was shaking as it held the cigarette. "Damian, are you alright?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he growled, suddenly irritable.
Raina looked at Jenny, her eyes seeming to say, "Look what you got us into."
Jenny sighed. "Well, my guess is we're going to be here for a while, so we better get a hotel room or something."
"I know a place," Damian said, his voice gruffer than usual. "We might as well go there. We can't talk to my friends until tonight anyway."
He stepped onto the sidewalk and hailed a cab.
Ten minutes later, the three were standing in front of a plain, five-story brick apartment building. A sign in front called it the "Sunrise Building."
How cheery, Jenny thought.
"So what is this place?" Jenny asked.
Damian began climbing the front steps. "I used to live here," he said, turning back to them. "Stay here a minute. I'll arrange things." He disappeared into the building.
While he was gone, Raina turned to Jenny. "I swear, if he goes nuts and tries to eat us, I'm blaming it on you," she said. "I can't believe I'm doing this."
Jenny sighed. "Raina, our friends are missing, and Hunter Redfern is behind it. Can't we please at least pretend to get along for now?"
Raina frowned and stared down the street, her arms crossed in front of her chest. Then she looked at Jenny. "You're right. I may not like you, but we have to get the rest of the gang back. Let's put this behind us for now." She stuck out her hand.
Jenny blinked. She hadn't expected Raina to agree to that. "Agreed," Jenny said, taking Raina's hand.
Unexpectedly, Raina tightened her grip, and yanked on Jenny's arm, at the same time sweeping Jenny's feet out from under her. Caught off guard, Jenny hit the cement sidewalk on her tailbone.
"Shit! Raina!" she exclaimed automatically as pain pulsed up her spine. "What the hell did you do that for?" Slowly, she dragged herself to her feet again.
Raina smiled snidely. "Oh, I'm sorry, Jenny. My foot must've slipped."
Clenching her fists, Jenny advanced on Raina. "Raina, I swear ..."
"What's going on?"
Both girls stopped and turned. Damian stood at the top of the stairs, frowning. He looked particularly pale in the bright sunlight, contrasting with his black hair and clothing. The pale blue of his eyes seemed lit up in the sunlight.
"If you two don't cooperate," he said, "I'm just going to have to do this by myself." He glared at them until they both looked away nervously. Then he turned back to the building. "Come on. Let's get off the street."
They followed him upstairs to the third floor, where he unlocked a door. They entered a small living room, with one window facing an alley. A black leather couch sat on one wall facing a big-screen television. A red velvet chair sat in the corner.
This looks like a spider's trap, Jenny found herself thinking for some reason. A shiver escaped up her spine. Something about this place gave her the creeps, but she didn't know what.
Damian led them down a hallway. "This is the kitchen, the bathroom, and my bedroom," he said, motioning with his hands as they walked by each room. He turned around in front of the bedroom at the end of the hallway. "Nobody goes in my room. Understand?"
Jenny nodded without thinking. She'd agree to anything Damian said at the moment. She still felt creeped out.
They walked back to the living room, where Damian collapsed on the couch. Jenny sat delicately on the chair, looking at him.
"Isn't there anything to eat in this place?" Raina complained from the kitchen. Jenny could hear cupboard doors slamming.
Damian sighed. "What do you think?" he said. "Why don't you go out and get some food, so I don't have to listen to you whine all day."
Raina appeared in the doorway, a sullen pout on her lips. "That sounds like a great idea," she said, her voice oozing with anger. "I think I'll go shopping too, since we're stuck in this godforsaken place until tonight."
"Good," Damian said. "Maybe then I can get some sleep."
Raina grabbed her purse and stalked out the door, glaring at the back of Damian's head as she went. The door slammed behind her.
"What a bitch," Damian grumbled.
Jenny stared at him. He really wasn't acting like himself today. Even when he had caught her in his house, he hadn't been this mean-spirited. Something was up.
"Damian, I know something's wrong," she said quietly.
He sat up and stared at her. She shrank back into the chair; she didn't know what he was going to do.
"You're not acting like yourself," she continued, somewhat hesitantly.
"How do you know what acting like myself is," he said, a tone of danger suddenly slipping in under his words. Jenny's heart quickened and she instinctively reached for the knife on her wrist. It wasn't the same knife she usually used – she had lost
that when she followed Damian through the woods the night before – but it was sharp and it would do the job if she needed it to.
I wonder what would happen if I killed my soulmate, she found herself thinking. That's most definitely got to be against the rules. Would I go crazy?
Suddenly, Damian stood and started toward her. "Just because we had a few minutes of ... something, doesn't mean that you're suddenly an expert on me." His canine teeth began pushing at his lips, and the blue of his eyes lit up with an unearthly silvery glow. "You're know what you are? You're a vermin tease," he continued, advancing on her with eyes narrowed. "You pretend to care about me, but all you really want is that human Michael. You'd sooner stake me than kiss me."
Jenny set her jaw, suddenly angry. She didn't know what was wrong with Damian, but she didn't have to sit and take this. Lightning fast, she leapt out of the chair, drawing her knife at the same time. Surprisingly, Damian was no match for her. She had her knife to his chest before he could even attempt to ward her off.
She stood in front of him, one hand holding the knife over his heart and the other poised flat on the end of the handle, ready to drive it in. She couldn't do it, though. Instead, she stood and stared at him, still seething with rage on the inside. A look of desperation came over Damian's face, and Jenny suddenly noticed that he looked paler than usual. His eyes, still glowing but dimming by the minute, seemed sunk in and hollow. He was taking deep breaths, something a normal vampire didn't need to do.
It clicked in her mind then, and she lowered the knife.
"Oh my God," she breathed. "You need to feed, don't you?"
He turned his head, suddenly looking ashamed.
"That's it, isn't it?!" Jenny exclaimed. "I know for a fact that you haven't fed since at least last night, and I'm guessing even before then."
He looked at her, and Jenny could see the hunger deep in his eyes. She didn't know how she had missed it before. She should have recognized it – she had seen it in the eyes of just about every vampire she had killed.
"I was going to feed last night, when you followed me in the woods," he said in a strained voice. "It was almost a day then. I didn't want … you to see it."
Suddenly, he reached up and grabbed her arm, gripping it tightly and pulling her close. "I think you better leave now, before it's too late," he breathed in her ear. "It won't be much longer before the bloodlust takes over. I don't know what I might do to you."
She could sense how helpless and desperate he was beginning to feel, and how tasty she looked to him. His hunger emanated from him in waves, barely under his control. She guessed she could feel it now because of his hand around her arm. Jenny met his eyes and immediately felt herself being drawn in. And then she knew what she had to do.
"No," she said firmly.
Damian blinked.
"No?"
Jenny nodded. "No, I'm not leaving." She pushed her hair back, exposing her neck like she did when hunting. Only this time she wasn't planning on leaving with a kill.
She could feel Damian's body responding to the invitation and him fighting it.
"What are you doing?" He sounded out of breath and anxious. "Jenny, don't do this. You don't want this."
She put her knife away and took his hand, bringing it over to touch her neck. "I want to do this," she said. "You need it, and …" She paused, making sure he was looking at her. "I trust you."
Funny enough, she really did. And stranger yet, she felt this was something that she needed to do. Like she needed to understand the vampires first hand. She didn't know what it was, but she knew she had to do it.
Behind the hunger and strain in his eyes, something flickered and he leaned toward her. Subconsciously, her body stiffened.
A voice in her cried out. Jenny, what the hell are you doing? Are you insane?
Damian stopped. "Are you absolutely sure?"
She stared at him for a moment, then nodded. "Yes."
He nodded, and she could sense the raw animal inside him breaking loose. He grabbed her roughly and sank his teeth into her neck.