The Scarlet Dagger (The Red Sector Chronicles, #1) (27 page)

“
Leo,” I whispered.

He slowly smiled, and I laughed as I ran to him, throwing my arms around his neck as he clutched me tight.

“
It’s really you,” he said, running a hand through my hair. “I thought… we all thought…”

I pulled away and smiled up at him. “Yeah, me too, for a while.”

His eyes were always fierce – Leo didn’t know how
not
to fuse passion into anything – but something about the way he looked at me now made me tremble.

“
I’ve been helping the Scarlet Guard search for you,” he said. “McGuinness even had the Guild out looking.”

This surprised me. I had always thought McGuinness hated me. Then again, McGuiness didn’t really seem to like anyone.

I tensed at the mention of the other hunters, but Leo didn’t notice. “Are you hurt?” he asked, examining me.

“
No,” I said, blinking. “I’m fine, for the most part.”

“
For the most part?” A sharp edge crept into the question.

I bit my lip. When I’d come here, I had every intention of telling Leo about the underground city of vampires. But for some reason, Angel’s face, all innocent and naïve, flashed through my mind’s eye, followed by Aden, his stormy blue eyes burning into my own. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t erase him from my thoughts.

I can’t tell Leo about them. Not yet.

Shock and confusion rolled through me as I began weaving a lie. “I was chased by vampires,” I heard myself say. Leo took a sharp breath as I continued. “I fought them off, but they followed my trail. I’ve been outrunning them, trying to find my way back. By some miracle, I found an old house that still had some electricity and a computer.”

“
How did you get back in? To the White Sector, that is.”

“
I used the same code.”

Leo looked at me hard. “Did they… hurt you, Sloane?”

The air thinned between us as I stared back at him, unblinking. “No,” I finally said. “No, they didn’t.”

He let out a long sigh. “Thank God you’re alive,” he said, pulling me to him again and resting his cheek against the top of my head. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I lost you.”

I hugged him back, breathing in the scent of mint soap on his skin.
Leo. My Leo. I’ve finally found you.

We stayed like that for a few minutes, neither of us speaking, before Leo pulled away and said, “Do you want to tell your mother? I assume she doesn’t know you’re back.”

My stomach churned at the thought of facing her. “No,” I said quickly. “Not yet.” I didn’t think I’d ever be ready to face her after what I’d done. I had broken so many laws and restrictions by going into the Red Sector. Those actions alone were going to come with a heavy punishment. I especially didn’t want to think what she’d do if she found out I was now a vampire.

To my astonishment, Leo grabbed my hand and smiled at me. “Come on. I have a surprise for you.”

“
Where are we going?” He led me toward his blue Jeep Compass, which was parked in the school parking lot.

Leo lived with his uncle, who had more money than he knew what to do with, and often doted on his nephew. He had bought the Jeep for Leo as a Christmas present less than two years ago, right after Leo had turned sixteen.

He grinned as we got in. “You’ll see.” He gave my hand a squeeze, and I squeezed back. It wasn’t romantic. We had always held hands, since we were kids. Leo was closer to being a brother to me than anything else, my best friend in the entire world. I wasn’t even sure I could think of Leo in that way. Or rather, I was afraid to, as if by doing so I would be sabotaging our friendship. I didn’t think it was worth the risk.

Leo sped off and filled me in on what had been happening since I’d been gone: school, training, etc. A whole month had passed, but the world had continued marching on as it always had.

After a short drive, we pulled up in front of a sketchy looking, aluminum sided warehouse. I slowly got out of the Jeep after Leo. “Where are we?”

He didn’t answer, but his lips were curved into a mischievous grin. He pulled something from his pocket, dangling it in the air for me to see.

“
A blindfold? Really?” Normally, I would’ve been ecstatic about surprises. Call me crazy, but after spending time in the Red Sector, I’d had more than my share of surprises for this lifetime.

“
Trust me,” he murmured, wrapping the strip of black cloth over my eyes and tying it behind my head. I gave him a nervous smile as he took me by the shoulders, guiding me as we walked into the building. He paused, warning me of some approaching stairs, and we slowly descended. Blind, I reached out with my other senses. It felt like concrete flooring. The air smelled of sugar and dust, and there was so much alcohol riding the draft that I could literally taste it.

“
Leo, I’m not sure –”

“
Trust me. We’re almost there.”

In front of me, there was a muffled giggle and a few gasps right before Leo ripped off the blindfold and I faced a throng of people yelling, “Surprise!”

My nervous excitement quickly turned to horror as I looked at their wrists, seeing one black tattoo cross after another.

This wasn’t just a surprise party.

Leo had deposited me in a room full of vampire hunters.

Chapter
24

Don’t. Panic.

Pasting a bright smile on my face, I welcomed the crowd as they closed in, hugging and welcoming me back with warm sentiments. My body tensed as they surrounded me, but as far as I could tell, they didn’t suspect anything amiss.

Yet.

Old friends and new faces alike spoke to me. In just the short month I had been gone, the Guild had already doubled in size. McGuinness always had been an ambitious recruiter.

I was hardly able to meet their eyes, knowing what I was and how naïve they were. Not too long ago, I was just like them. We thought all vampires were like the wild Rogues, that they were nothing more than blood thirsty monsters incapable of turning a victim, though we knew it was possible. But the Rogues always killed their victims before turning them; making a vampire was practically impossible in our books.

Oh, how we had been so very wrong.

“
All right, all right.” Leo pushed them back. “I know you’re excited, but give her some space.”

Silence fell over the crowd as they parted, and a giant-of-a-man sauntered up to me. For the most part, he looked like a G. I. Joe, complete with rippling pectorals and a buzzed haircut; he even had a set of dog tags dangling from his neck, a souvenir from the time he’d spent on the frontlines of the U.S. Army in his early twenties (he was twenty-eight).

“
So the rebel returns,” McGuinness cawed. His shadow fell over me, but I kept my spine straight as I met his beady eyes. “Welcome back, McAllister.”

“
Thank you,” I said, unflinching. “It’s good to be back.”

Truthfully, I was glad to see everyone, despite my nausea at being surrounded by vampire hunters.

Then McGuinness did something I never would have expected: he opened his arms, inviting me in for a hug.

I stared at him.
Is he serious? He barely shakes hands with people.

Beside me, Leo looked as shocked as I was. The whole room seemed to be holding their breath, waiting for my reaction.

“
Well?” McGuinness barked. “It’s not like I have damn fleas.”

Speechless, I slowly stepped into his embrace. He immediately grabbed a fistful of my hair, painfully jerking my head to the side. “I knew it.” He dug his nails into the scars on my neck, where Aden had first bit me. “She’s been bitten, fed upon.”

Leo paled, shooting me a questioning look before turning back to McGuiness. He steeled his gaze. “It doesn’t mean anything.”

“
Ha!” McGuinness spat on the floor. “Like hell it doesn’t. You heard about the experiments, what could happen to a human if they’ve been drained dry. All it takes is one drop…” He brought his face close to mine, and I nearly gagged from the smell of beer and tobacco on his breath. “Did you have any of their blood?”

“
No,” I hissed, forcing myself to look him in the eye. “I’d rather die.”

The look in McGuinness’ eyes made me cringe. “
Vampirism
wasn’t classified as a virus for nothing. If you’ve been fed upon, you could still be infected.” His gaze snapped to Leo. “Rinaldi,” he barked.

Leo stiffened at the use of his last name.

“
Bring me your dagger.” McGuinness’ voice was sharp as a blade.

Leo’s fist clenched by his side. I barely made out the edge of a hilt. Squinting, I saw the outline of a sheath tucked into his belt. “For what?” Leo hissed.

“
So I can test her, see if she’s still human.”

My heart began to race, the memories of being chained and shot by Scarlet Steel fueling my terror.
You have nothing to worry about
, I consoled myself.
Leo doesn’t have his dagger.

But maybe they’ve found more Scarlet Steel
, another voice countered.
It’s been a month.

My eyes roved to the sheath at Leo’s side. Had he managed to accrue another dagger? Or was this one a fake, meant to trick his father into thinking he still had it?

For my sake, I sure hope so.

Leo’s face was murderous. “Over my dead body.”

Everyone froze, not saying anything. No one was stupid enough to contradict McGuinness, not with the look he was giving Leo. “That was an order.”

“
And I have the right to say no way in hell,” Leo shouted. “If Sloane was different, I of all people would know. She’s just as human as you and I am.”

Guilt gnawed at me. What would Leo do when he found out the truth? Would he be so quick to defend my honor then?

“
If you won’t give it to me,” McGuinness hissed, “then I’ll have to take it.” He made to swipe the dagger, but Leo threw a punch to his face that sent him reeling backward. His grip loosened enough that I squirmed away from him, my scalp raw from having my hair pulled. McGuinness staggered and regained his footing, wiping blood away from his busted lip. His eyes burned with rage. “You’re going to regret that, boy.”

Leo held up both hands, as if saying “bring it on,” when I stepped in front of him. I placed my hands on his chest, pushing him back. “Please, don’t make things worse,” I pleaded.

Leo glared at McGuinness, sucking in a tight breath, before turning sharply on his heel. “Let’s get out here,” he muttered.

I followed him out while McGuinness shouted at our backs. “Don’t come back ‘til you’ve learned to reign in your emotions. Think with your head and not your penis, Rinaldi! It’ll get you killed someday!”

My blood ran cold. It was a very real possibility that Leo could die because of me.

What have I done?

Once we were outside, Leo punched the side of the building, fuming. I stayed back, awkwardly watching him with my arms crossed. Leo always did have a bit of a temper, and I had learned the best way to deal with that was to just let him get the anger out of his system. “Riding out the storm,” I called it.

At last, Leo turned to me, running a hand through his hair. “I’m sorry you had to see that. McGuinness has been edgy ever since you disappeared. I guess he was afraid if you did show back up, you’d attract the Scarlet Guard.”

The Black Cross Guild operated “under the radar,” since hunting vampires was illegal. The government was struggling to maintain control as it was; they had enough problems to deal with without the rest of the human population going all medieval by raiding the Red Sectors in hopes of slaying every vamp they came across.

Leo looked at me, his eyes softening somewhat with sympathy, and I knew what he was going to ask before he spoke.

“
You ready to tell your mom?”

I chewed on my lip.
The snowball’s started rolling down the hill. Might as well go with it, at this rate.

“
Ready as I’ll ever be,” I grumbled, getting into the Jeep.

We didn’t talk during the drive, not that I would’ve had much to say. My glamour barrier, as I called it, was so strong now I didn’t even have to think about holding it up. It came naturally, and I could let it slip at a whim, controlling how much of one’s emotions I tasted. Leo’s were hot, and I felt guilty for probing, so I backed off. I could tell he was still angry, partially at me for not telling him the truth. But he was trying very hard to withhold that anger and talk to me later when he knew he wouldn’t bite my head off. It was one of the aspects I loved and respected about him. He would call me out on my stupidity, but he would also give me time to open up to him on my own terms.

It was just as well we didn’t have this argument now, about why I had lied to him in the first place. I had other problems stewing in my mind.

Home, sweet home, here I come.

Chapter
25