“You must know where the humans are kept in this place, right?” I asked. “Do you have any idea where my sister might be?”

He took a seat on the edge of the bed, still keeping his distance from me, and breathed out slowly. “Humans are kept in the basement beneath the atrium. But simply knowing this isn’t going to be of much use to you.”

My heart lifted a little, even as my anxiety increased. “The basement? Can you take me there?”

He furrowed his brows. “What’s your name?”

“River. River Giovanni.”

“River,” he said, a deep frown still on his handsome face. “Even if I knew exactly which cell she was being kept in, and you managed to get her out of the prison without alerting anyone, and then up through the many levels of the atrium which is swarming with vampires who can detect human blood miles off, you still couldn’t escape. The boundary surrounding The Oasis won’t let you out.”

“C-couldn’t you help us through the boundary? You’re the only sane person I’ve come across so far in this place. Could you not find it in yourself to help us?”

He breathed out impatiently. He shot a glance toward the door, as if to check nobody was standing there, and then spoke in a low voice. “If I knew a way out, I wouldn’t be here myself.”

His answer took me by surprise. “What do you mean?”

“I can’t pass through the boundary either.”

I stared at him, wondering if he was just lying to me. “But you’re a vampire?”

“Yes. And not all vampires have permission to come and go as they please.”

I was trying to wrap my mind around his words. “So you’re… you’re a prisoner here too?” I asked disbelievingly.

“You could put it like that.”

“How long have you lived this way?”

“I’ve lost track of time down here, but it hasn’t been long.”

I leaned a little closer toward him. “Have you tried to escape?”

“How else would I have discovered I couldn’t pass through the boundary?”

His words dealt my hope a crushing blow. If he, a vampire, couldn’t figure a way out of here, what chance did I have?

“So there’s really no way out of here?”

“There is no immediate way out.”

“What do you mean?”

“An escape will require time and planning,” he replied so quietly he was practically mouthing. “And even then, of course, there’s no guarantee.”

“And have you been planning to escape? Surely you can’t be happy living here forever. What have you discovered so far? Is there anything I can do to help—”

I jumped at a banging on the front door. My eyes widened in panic.

Joseph froze, staring at the door, then looked back at me.

I scrambled off the bed and rushed over to him, gripping his shoulder. I dared not speak but mouthed instead. “Please, if that’s Michael, hide me. Keep me here. I beg you, don’t let him take me.”

He looked reluctantly from me to the door again. It was impossible to know what was going through that mind of his.

There was another round of banging and then Michael called, “Open up, Joseph.”

Somehow he’d managed to find me. Perhaps one of the half-bloods had told him that Joseph had taken me away.

I was relieved when Joseph grabbed my arm, pulled me out of the bedroom, and led me along the corridor toward the farthest room, which happened to be… a sauna. I knew by now that vampires didn’t need saunas, so I wondered whether Joseph had a half-blood of his own already.

Silently, he pushed me inside and closed the door. I pressed my ear against the wood, listening to his footsteps disappear down the corridor.

The front door opened.

“You have my half-blood,” Michael said.

“Your half-blood?”

“Yes, my half-blood,” Michael replied irritably.

“The same one you left to be beaten by a gang of men?”

“Just hand her over, Joseph,” Michael snarled. “She brought it on herself by running away from me.”

“And what made her run away?”

“That’s none of your business… You seem to forget, vampire, that I am one of the rulers of The Oasis. I suggest you hand over the girl now lest you sorely regret it.”

“Please,” Joseph said. “We both know who really runs this place.”

I heard a scuffle, the banging of a door, something smashing against a wall. Then Michael swore loudly, and Joseph spoke again. “Come on, Michael. We’ve never been the best of friends, but surely we can settle this like gentlemen. Why don’t we go to Jeramiah and see what he has to say.”

I froze.

Jeramiah?

The same vampire who let Michael have me to begin with?

What is Joseph thinking?

“Agreed,” Michael said, his voice strained.

“Wait here,” Joseph said. “I’ll get her.”

No. No. No.

Footsteps approached, and Joseph opened the door to the sauna.

His shirt was ripped and rumpled, as though he’d just been in a fight, though there were no signs of cuts or blood anywhere.

He held out a hand for me to take.

“No, Joseph. You don’t understand. Jeramiah is going to choose Michael.”

“River,” he said, looking at me sternly, “if you want my help, then you’ll come with me.”