CHAPTER FOURTEEN
INTEGER
Bleeders are to keep their masks on to conceal their identity, even amongst their peers.
— Serun’s Law
The doors open,and a Bleeder tells us it’s time to shower. Fighting to keep my eyes open, I trail Cole and my friends downstairs. Distractedly, I eventually find myself at the back shower and turn on the water until it sputters out.
Stepping underneath the spray, I reach up to wash my face, but quickly cringe away in disgust. A sticky residue is smeared across my cheek. Taking a deep breath, I start scrubbing it away, reminding myself we are leaving soon. Whatever thefuckis creeping around in the airshafts can stay there, and the slayers can handle it when they arrive.
Was it one of the monsters from Manni’s dream? I want to ask her more about what she saw, but our lastconversation stressed her out so much that she almost alerted the Bleeders.
Hellsgate.That was what Emily called it—a fissure that opens and releases demons once every decade.
Someonemust have seen one before this.
“Hey,” Manni says, handing me the soap. “I’ve been meaning to ask about your tattoo. You said you got it when you were sixteen?”
Emily leans in closer to examine the art, her brows knitted. “A spur-of-the-moment tat?”
Gliding my fingers over my shoulder, I brush the blooming flowers. Vines spin along my flesh like splintered wood, sprouting white moonflowers that only bloom at night.
“In our village, every girl gets a tattoo when she first blossoms,” I say with an uncomfortable shrug. Mum thought I was never going to bloom. That the nightwalker within me had tainted my body. But, I did. Though what came along with it were fangs and a dark power that turned to light on a night I wish had never happened.
After scrubbing my face more thoroughly than usual, I pass Emily the soap as she asks, “Why did you sleep in Cole’s bed last night? It was strange waking up and seeing your face—not that I’m complaining! It’s better than your foot.”
My throat constricts, and an uneasy sensation travels up my spine.Should I tell them?
Manni panicked last time. We are leaving soon, and I don’t want to risk drawing attention.
“I was feeling light-headed,” I say.
Manni grabs the conditioner. “From giving double blood again, yeah?”
I nod through my lie.
The ache in my bones over the monster morphs into guilt over the irritation everyone feels about Cole. We live in a society where it’s everyone for themselves. Funny that we are also “donating” blood to nightwalkers.
“One minute left,” a Bleeder announces.
My movements are fatigued, but I manage to get dressed. I’m wearing pants and a long-sleeved shirt to cover the bruises, but it’s time to reveal them anyway as we head to the bloodbank.
We reach the doors as the men emerge from around the corner and fill the hallway. As I scan the crowd, my thumping heart sinks deeper into my acidic stomach. Cole is walking alone near the front. I search the crowd, hoping to catch a glimpse of Jax’s deep blue gaze or the curl of his dark brown hair.
Fuck.
I grab Cole’s arm when he nears. “Where’s Jax?”
With a tight, thin smile, he glances behind me. Warmth traces my hand, and as I turn, Jax’s hand closes around mine tenderly. “Hey, Saya,” he breathes, kissing my cheek. But as he pulls away, his smile falters, and his thick brows furrow. “What’s wrong?”
Shit.He can see right through me.
“Nothing…”
He opens his mouth to speak, but the doors to the bloodbank swing open, and the Bleeders by the entrance direct us to the seats inside.
I sit in the same chair as last time, with Cole on oneside and Jax on the other. However, Jax’s fierce questioning glare has me concentrating on Cole.
