“Except they can replace it through me.” The impact finally sank in, and Skye felt a little dizzy. “Or are there other ways?”

“Your blood is the only thing I’ve ever heard of that would allow a vampire to truly feel alive again without surrendering our powers.”

“Which means they want my blood really, really badly.”

“Yeah.” Balthazar breathed out, half elation, half frustration. “Skye, your blood is like a drug for us. The ultimate high.”

“That’s not good.” Skye wrested her hands free from Balthazar’s and began pacing the nurse’s station; though she still felt shaken from the tumult earlier in the evening, she couldn’t let the tension boil inside her. She needed to walk it out. “Is there anyplace in the world vampires don’t go? Anyplace I can go?”

Grimly, Balthazar shook his head. “There aren’t that many of us, but we’re spread out. Besides, if Redgrave knows what you really are—and he does—he’ll chase you as far as he has to. Even to the ends of the earth.” He spoke as though from experience.

She put her hands against the wall, as if she could push her way through to escape. Only hours ago, Redgrave had stood by her side, polite and patient, while she composed a poem. “He said—he said he wouldn’t kill me. Because they need my blood. So they won’t murder me, won’t even try—”

“That’s not good news.” He stepped closer to her, more fully present than he’d been since drinking that sip of her blood, every word urgent. “You have to trust me on this—there are fates worse than death. I’ve suffered some of them.” Balthazar’s broad hand closed around her shoulder. “You don’t want to know what Redgrave would do to you, body and soul, to keep you captive.”

Skye wanted to scream. She wanted to hit someone, but what was the point? That fury and fear had no place to go.

“Home,” she whispered. “I want to go home.” It was the only place Redgrave wouldn’t come for her, she knew, but that wasn’t as important as climbing into her own bed, pulling the covers tight, and hiding from the whole world.

From the way Balthazar squeezed her arm, she thought he understood. “Come on. Let’s get you home.”

As it turned out, escorting a sick student home was just the kind of thing teachers were on basketball duty for, and Coach Haladki waved Balthazar off without even needing much of an explanation. Within ten minutes, they were sitting together on the crosstown bus, in the very back; the only other passenger was a man dozing in the front near the driver. Though there were lights within the bus, they weren’t bright, and the road outside wasn’t well lit or heavily traveled at this hour. Skye felt as if they were in a tiny shell of illumination and warmth, surrounded on all sides by endless cold and night.

Balthazar kept his arm around her shoulders, bracing her. Though his body didn’t warm her the way another human’s would have, the contact kept her own warmth close; it was like being wrapped in a blanket.

“I’ll have to get a car,” he said. “We can’t rely on this.”

“You don’t have one?”

“I haven’t owned one in a while. The past few years, I didn’t bother; I was living at Evernight, so I couldn’t have kept a car with me anyway. Time to remedy that.”

“I should’ve bought one last summer. I’d saved up the money.” All that lifeguarding at the pool. She’d earned enough for a clunker. “But I couldn’t take it to Evernight, and Mom and Dad said they’d chip in so I could get something nicer if I waited until I was headed to college. I’ll start looking for one right away.”

“Not sure there’s much point. Driving alone isn’t that much safer for you than walking. But we’ll think of something. Maybe you can work out a way to get a ride from Madison or some other friend.”

Skye’s phone chimed; she was so on edge that even that familiar sound made her jump. She lifted it to see a message from Clem: Plz tell me ur quiet b/c ur making out with Balty.

Hastily she sent back: Will you SHUT IT b/c he’s RIGHT HERE and he can read?! Skye glanced over at Balthazar, who was paying no attention to her texts. Instead, he stared out the window into the darkness. She would’ve thought he was keeping watch if not for the deep sadness in his eyes.

Clem texted back: Sorry!

It’s OK. Listen, lots of stuff is going on here. Crazy stuff. Will email 2nite or 2morrow and catch you up. Already Skye knew she needed a friend who could really talk to her about all of this; Madison might be fun to hang out with, but she didn’t understand anything about vampires or ghosts, this entire vast supernatural world that hid within the cracks of everything else they’d ever known. Clementine, on the other hand, not only went to Evernight Academy but also grew up with a haunted car. She’d get it.

As she slid her phone back into her pack, she stole another glance at Balthazar. If anything, he was even more absorbed in thought than before. The motion of the bus rocked them back and forth in one rhythm. She said, “Are you okay?”

“I should really be asking you that question.”

Her throat still hurt, but it was a dull ache now, like the sensation of trying not to cry. “I’m scared. That’s all.”

“That’s enough.”

“Definitely. But—something else is going on with you.” It was prying, and she knew it, but Balthazar obviously wasn’t the type to talk easily about his feelings. If she wanted to know more, prying was clearly in order.