“Don’t do it, Josh,” I agree.
“I’m tired of themmockingus, Braden! We can be strong when it’s required of us!”
“That isn’t real strength, Josh!” Braden and I say at once.
Braden waves his gun at me, losing his temper. “Why didn’t you glue his mouth shut?!”
The Vegas vampires look bored. Some of them are still laughing. Lamb has got Baz by the arm again—he’s trying to keep him away from Simon, but Baz won’t be kept. He’s leaning over Simon’s body, pulling his own hair in his fists.
“I’ve got this,” Josh says, yanking me back into his chest. He takes a heavy breath, and then clamps his fangs into my neck—
And then he falls over, oily smoke spiraling from his mouth.
“Josh,” I say, swooning forward. “I told you this wasn’t going to be good.”
On my way to the ground, I see Baz running for Braden, his arms flying around the other vampire’s neck.
60
BAZ
It’s a dead spot. We should have—I should have—
Simon’s lying on the ground. His wing is bent the wrong way.
Lamb: “Yes, all right, I’ve betrayed you. Just keep your cool, Baz, and you’ll live to hate me for it.”
I’ll live…
Simon.
We heard gunshots. On the other side of the hill. And then we didn’t.
Simon’s on the ground, his wing is bent the wrong way. Someone should fix it for him. Someone should cast a spell. I’d cast it, but I’m in a dead spot. I’m in a Quiet Zone. I’m keeping my wand a secret, I’m pretending to be a vampire.
“Simon…”
Simon Snow.
The way you were. There wasn’t a day when I believed we’d both live through it.
(Through what, through what, through what?)
Lamb: “The treaty holds!”
Simon:
Simon is on the ground. There were gunshots, and then there weren’t. His wing is bent the wrong way. His hair is a mess. He doesn’t have a sword.
I told him it would be all right.
I told him…
I didn’t tell him, I never told him. Not in a way that he believed. Not in a way that he could let in and hold on to. Everything he was to me. That he was everything.
Simon, Simon…
You were the sun, and I was crashing into you.
