Once Bitten Page 38

Page 38

  Author: Kalayna Price

  He shook his head. “You need those. "

  "I can't feel the cold. "

  "You're trembling. "

  I looked at my hands. He was right, they were shaking.

  "She would not be cold if she would feed,” Nathanial said from my other side, and Bobby's eyes pinched.

  "Kitten, I told you if you need—"

  "Don't you start. ” I tossed the scarf and hat at him and then altered my pace so I was walking beside Gil. Her lips were tinted blue. I still didn't see a subway opening. “Are we almost there?"

  "We were. Now we have passed it. ” Nathanial whispered the words.

  "We what?"

  He glanced at me over his shoulder. His expressionless mask had slammed into place sometime after I'd dropped back to walk with Gil. “Shhh. Listen. ” But he didn't say anything.

  Probably because words weren't what he wanted me to hear. Two pairs of footsteps sounded on the sidewalk behind us.

  "How long have they been back there?” I whispered, trusting Nathanial would hear me.

  He did.

  "In this weather? Too long for us not to be suspicious. "

  "What's g-going on?” Gil asked, her words choppy as she trembled.

  I shook my head and motioned her silent. The need to look back itched at my neck, but I ignored it. Whoever was behind us, the wind and the snow were in their favor as it beat down hard against us, preventing any chance of catching their scent. Nathanial made a small hand motion at the next street and we turned. Three more right turns and we'd circled the block. The footsteps were still behind us.

  "Okay, so we're being followed,” Bobby said. Like I hadn't figured that out. “And because of this brilliant let's-go-right-until-we-make-a-circle plan, they have to know we're on to them,” his voice dripped with sarcasm.

  Nathanial scoffed and motioned for us to turn again. Bobby was right, we'd just made a full circle in the middle of a small blizzard—whoever they were, they knew we knew they were following. I gave in to the urge to look over my shoulder. Less than a block behind us were two figures striding through the snow. I wanted to say a man and a woman, due to the size difference, but I couldn't tell the gender under all the winter gear they were wearing. A woman wouldn't be a hunter, so who were they? We'd been downwind for that last street, and I hadn't picked up any unusual scents. Of course, as Nathanial kept pointing out, I hadn't fed. My nose wouldn't be working up to par.

  "Hunters?” Gil asked, also glancing over her shoulder.

  Nathanial's hand clenched at his side. “Let us hope so. "

  Bobby shook his head. “I don't think so. "

  Gil looked between them. “What's the alternative?"

  "Nothing I want to consider,” Nathanial all but whispered, then indicated us to turn down another street.

  The footsteps paused, then turned and continued to follow. “Where are we going?” Bobby asked moments before I did.

  "Somewhere public to confront them, and away from our destination so that they will not know what it is. We. . . ” Nathanial stole a quick glance over his shoulder. “They stopped following us. "

  "Think it's a trick?” I asked, turning to double check that our tail was well and truly gone. What was the likelihood someone who hadn't been following us would have walked in the same circle we had? I was guessing pretty damn slim.

  "It is probably safer to assume so. ” Nathanial motioned for us to turn up another street.

  My sense of direction was completely screwed by this point, so it surprised me when we turned onto a busy road. The sidewalks were barren, but the street teemed with vehicles. The citizens of Haven had forgotten how to drive since it started snowing: half the cars inched along at a terribly slow and careful pace and the other half drove super fast as if to get out of the snow as quickly as possible. The result was a lot of horns blaring, screeching brakes, and dangerous lane changes. All and all, I was happy to be on the deserted sidewalk. Gil and Bobby did not look like they agreed with me.

  "Can't we get out of this weather? We're not being followed anymore. "

  Nathanial shook his head. “I want to make sure that is true. We need. . . ” He stopped and looked at the face of the building next to us. “This could work for us. "

  Tacky sign boards and brightly lit posters lined the walls of the building. A theatre? I raised an eyebrow at Nathanial, but he walked inside before I could say anything. Bobby and Gil followed quickly, most likely happy to go somewhere, anywhere, warm. Not that I blamed them. I wished it would have helped me warm up too.

  I caught up with Nathanial. “Why are we here?"

  "Give it a couple of minutes. There is an arcade. Let's wait in there. ” He led us into the arcade.

  Several games featured large guns mounted in front of screens, others had floor pads with buttons players stepped on, and one had an entire fake motorcycle that simulated riding. Everything flashed, or buzzed, or called for players. Gil paused in front of a screen featuring a medieval wizard flinging fireballs at zombie knights.

  I put my hands on my hips. “We're wasting time. "

  "A minute or two more. Here, play a game. ” Nathanial dropped a couple quarters in my hand. I rolled my eyes but took the money.

  I chose a game with an animated dancing girl and a real microphone. The objective was to sing along with popular songs and earn points. Halfway through the first song, the in-game audience started booing and hissing at me and my character blinked bright red. I kicked it up a notch because, obviously, louder meant better where singing was concerned.

  Bobby grabbed the microphone from me. “For the love of the moon! Please, Kita. I think they're going to kick us out. "

  He put the mic back on its holder, and the game cried out as the animated dancer crumpled. You Fail scrolled across the screen in large, red letters. Well, that was nothing new. I sighed and glanced at Nathanial.

  "Almost time. ” He motioned us to where the mouth of the arcade met the theatre lobby.

  Gil, still watching the demo wizard, didn't notice. I tapped her on the shoulder, and she pressed her lips together—they were almost pink again.

  "Back into the storm?"

  I looked to Nathanial for the answer. He only indicated we should hurry, but held up an arm before we could enter the lobby.

  "Wait for it,” he whispered.

  A door opened, and an excited murmuring bubbled into the theatre hall. People poured into the lobby: couples, people alone, small groups, and all of them rushing for the exit. Nathanial nodded after the first handful passed us, and we joined the larger mass. At the main doors, people ran for taxies lining the sidewalk. On a night like this there were more people than cabs. Someone elbowed by me, determined to claim a cab. I glared at his back, but didn't dare stop—I'd have been trampled. Nathanial wrenched open a cab door and shoved me inside before another small group could claim it. Bobby slid in after me, and Nathanial after him. Gil took the front passenger seat.

  The group from whom we'd snatched the taxi cursed, but the cabby ignored them. “Where too?” he asked in a gruff voice and hit the button to start his meter.

  Nathanial made a vague motion to the street. “Merge into traffic and head north. "

  The cabby pursed his lips, frowning. Then he merged into traffic one-handed while he bumped a cigarette out of a pack with the other. Red lights flashed in front of us, and the cabby slammed on brakes. Only the seatbelt kept me from flying out of my seat. With a curse, the cabby jerked the wheel. I toppled into Bobby as the cab nosed into the next lane. A chorus of horns sounded.

  "So, you folks from around here?” the cabby asked, as he slammed on brakes again and executed another death-defying cut in traffic on icy streets.

  My head bounced off the back of his seat. “Please, watch the road and don't kill us. "

  The cabby grunted.

  Nathanial reached over t
o squeeze my shoulder. To do this he had to put an arm around Bobby, who was sitting between us. Bobby stiffened and gave Nathanial a glare that could have burnt through metal. Nathanial ignored him.

  "Calm down,” he whispered. “Getting all worked up is not good for your . . . blood pressure. ” He shot a meaningful glance at the cabby.

  I nodded, but couldn't pry my fingers from the armrest.

  "This is good,” Nathanial said suddenly. “Pull over anywhere here. "

  The cabby's eyes flicked to the meter; it wasn't at ten dollars yet. He made a sour face, but zipped out of traffic to idle by the sidewalk. I jumped out of the car as soon as it stopped, with Bobby at my heels.

  "I'm never, ever, getting in one of those again,” Bobby said, as the taxi merged back into traffic and disappeared.

  Gil huddled under her coat. She nodded at Nathanial. “It was a good plan. No one could have followed us through that. "

  Nathanial didn't say anything, but he smiled as he led us to the subway.

  I settled on a bench while waiting for our train. I'd intended to sit alone, but somehow I ended up in the middle of the boys again. I had Nathanial, who sat so still I wasn't sure he was breathing, on one side, and Bobby, who trembled violently, on the other. It was a disturbing mix. Gil was off to the side, leaning on a support column. She had the right idea. I wriggled free of the bench and picked my own lonely column.

  "Maybe you should change, Bobby. You're soaking wet and—” I stopped, my mouth hanging open.

  Nathanial stood. “What is it?"

  Two people I hadn't heard enter the station huddled near the entrance, pretending like they weren't watching me. We hadn't been able to see that spot from the bench, but because of the angle, they would have been able to tell if we boarded a train. It couldn't be our followers from earlier, could it? There were definite similarities. For starters, there were two of them, one tall and one short, though it was the woman who was tall, more than six feet, and the man who was short, only around five-five. The woman smiled at me like she'd only now noticed me gaping at her. They crossed the station.