He held out one great, callused mitt. “I’m Luis. You must be the famous Dahlia. My brother had a lot to say about you.”
Her first instinct was to run, but even as her eyes scanned the crowd, looking for an escape route, she knew it was pointless. He’d catch her in a second.
That didn’t mean she had to shake his hand, though. Staring straight ahead, she bit out, “I don’t know who your brother is.”
He dropped his hand, but nothing in his tone suggested he’d taken offense to her snub. “That’d be Milo. He was in Felix’s office earlier when you came in like a demon on the warpath. We don’t look too much alike, so it makes sense you wouldn’t see the resemblance. I’m way more handsome.”
Dahlia grunted. The truth was that she’d barely noticed there was another person in the room when she barged into Felix’s office. The world had a way of narrowing to a pinpoint when he was around. Sometimes it was because he made her so mad she couldn’t focus on anything else, but mostly it was because he was just… him.
“So…” Luis leaned his elbows onto his knees and looked around the terminal. “What was the plan here, sugar?”
“Does it matter? You’re just gonna drag me back to Felix anyway.” She wanted to be angrier about that. Some part of herwas,but an even louder part was shamefully relieved.
I get to go home,that pitiful part of her sighed.Thank the gods.
“It matters. I’ve got to know why you ran so we can make sure that doesn’t happen again.”
“You going to put bars on the windows?”
Luis snorted. “Iknewit was a window. There was no way you could’ve gotten out of a door unseen.” He didn’t sound annoyed. Instead, he appeared more amused than anything. “Ballsy. But ifyou hurt yourself, don’t come crying to me when Felix is a terror. Speaking of — you realize how dangerous it is for you to be out at this time, right? You’re freshly turned, sugar. Sun sickness could actually kill you.”
She wasn’t sure what compelled her to admit the truth to him. Maybe it was because they weren’t looking at each other. Maybe it was because they were strangers. Or maybe it was because he reminded her of Felix.
Whatever the reason, she found herself whispering, “I didn’t think about it. I didn’t even remember. I… I don’t know how to be a vampire. I don’twantto be. I can’t take all of this at once.”
Luis was quiet for a beat. She watched his hands move between his splayed knees, one clawed thumb brushing over a scarred knuckle as he considered his answer.
“And you thought that hoofing it to New York on your own would help you figure things out?”
Dahlia stiffened. “How’d you know I was?—”
“You paid digitally,” he answered, not unkindly. “Next time, use cash.”
She bent at the waist to press her forehead to her knees and groan. “I hate all of you. I shouldn’t have to think about shit like that.”
A heavy hand patted her between the shoulder blades. “Running away to someplace where you’ll have no help, no allies, and no resources isn’t going to make the adjustment any easier on you. I bet it’s scary as fuck, so I don’t blame you for acting out, but you’ve got to be smart. We could help you. Wewantto help you.”
“And all I need to exchange for that is my future, my freedom, and all my goals,” she replied, bitterness bubbling up like acid.
“Who the fuck said that? I know for a fact Felix wouldn’t.”
Dahlia reared back up and gestured sharply to the room at large. “Everyone! Felix wants me to be his blood bride and lock me away in his house, and Alastair wants some weird fatherly version of the same thing, with the possibility that he might sell me off to the highest bidder for some fucked up syndicate allianceveryhigh.
“And even if neither of those things were true,” she continued, really on a roll now, “I’m a vampire! My entire future has been rearranged because of one awful night. I won’t ever be the normal me again. I— I never wanted to be more than I was. I just wanted to be happy.”
Luis was quiet for a beat. Leaning his broad shoulder closer to hers, he lowered his voice and murmured, “How about you take a look around?”
Dahlia sniffled. “Why?
“Because you might see something that interests you.” He nudged her shoulder, urging her to look at the people rushing around the terminal. “We aren’t the only vampires cutting it close to dawn. Look, sugar.”
She didn’t want to, but she did. “What am I looking at?”
“Did you know that the New Zone has the highest population of vampires in the UTA?” He nodded toward a cluster of people hustling toward a doorway. They all looked normal enough. A little pale, maybe, but normal. “Vampires. And over there, that mom pushing her stroller as quick as she can to get on the train — vampire. There’s dozens of them in here. Did you even notice?”
Dahlia looked more closely. It took her a second, but eventually she spotted a flash of fang, a bottle of synth peeking out from a bag, the telltale flash of green in the backs of eyes as someone glanced quickly in their direction.
Theywerevampires. Not all of them. But a lot of them.
