Chapter 29

Chapter Twenty-Nine

TIMING

T he only thing keeping me moving is the crush of people. I'm gasping, scanning the crowd for Kyle, for Michael, for anyone who might help me. But I don't know who are rebels and who aren't, and I can't take the risk. I'm swept in a river of people along one street, then another, elbows digging into me, feet trampling mine. We pour into another square, this one colonnaded along the side closest to me, a large building in the centre. The crowd parts around it. I manage to break free, stumbling to the nearest pillar and sinking to the ground.

The noise picks up again, a thud of running feet, and a surge of new people appear in the square. I huddle further back. Then an arm comes around the pillar, grabbing at me. I squeal and roll away, kicking out and connecting with something solid.

I roll again onto all fours, pushing myself upright before I'm trampled by the running crowd. A dark shape huddles next to the pillar where I was sitting, arms wrapped around their middle. They must be human, thank darkness – I'd have had no chance against a vampire.

I start to sob, unable to help it. I want Kyle, desperately. I turn my head one way, then another. Come on, Emelia. You're stronger than this. I gasp in a shuddering breath. Then a hand grabs my ankle. I shriek, stamping my foot. The dark figure is lying on the ground next to me, their bony fingers around my ankle.

‘Please.' The word is stretched, grotesque, like the squeak of a rusty gate. The face turned up to me is battered, teeth missing, dirt on their cheeks. And human. I stare in horror. ‘Please, pretty, help an old fella out with some cash.'

I manage to shake my foot free of his grasp, backing away as he grabs at me again. I pull the roll of bills from my pocket and throw them. He catches them, surprisingly deft, hugging them to him, and I hear him gurgling as I turn and run.

I shove through the people coming the other way, gasping and sobbing, not caring anymore if I'm found. I just want this nightmare to end. I fight my way back along the street, against the flow of the crowd, towards the clock tower poking its moon-face over the dark buildings. There's more shouting up ahead, the noise getting louder. I head towards it.

Then arms catch me, and I collapse.

A familiar scent of violets and something fresher twines around me. ‘Emelia. Thank darkness.'

Kyle.

Relief floods through me. He pulls me back, away from the crowd and noise. We're next to a shop, the large glass window dark. Kyle puts my back against it, keeping his body between me and the rioting humans.

‘Are you all right?' He cups my face in his hands. I can't speak, sobbing. He gathers me close and my hands twist into his jacket, melding myself to him as though I could disappear inside him. He strokes my hair and lets me cry it out, the noise from the square a swelling soundtrack to my sorrow.

When my tears slow he wipes my cheeks with his thumbs, his touch gentle. He's a dark silhouette, the glow of fire behind him. It's this surreal sort of quiet moment where the rest of the world doesn't seem to matter, as long as we're together. As though we're in a bubble of our own.

It bursts, quickly. There's a booming noise and Kyle's head turns. Quick as a flash, he scoops me up, holding me tight. ‘We need to go. Now.' He starts to run, the night becoming a blur. I hold tight. Then there's another loud boom, the ground shifting. Kyle skids to a halt. Things start hitting me on my head and shoulders, as though it's hailing. Kyle twists his body, trying to protect me, and I feel sharp pricks and scratches where the strange hail hits me. My hearing seems to have gone, as though I'm underwater. Time stretches out, everything happening in slow-motion. Then it speeds up again, my hearing gradually coming back. I hear screaming.

Kyle swears.

‘What's happening?' I whisper.

‘Quiet.'

I try to lift my head, but Kyle stops me. ‘What?'

‘You're bleeding.'

He murmurs the words, but I stiffen. Shit. I realise what the strange hail was. A shop window has blown out, shards of glass everywhere. My hand is covered with little puncture wounds and scratches, glass splinters glinting on my skin. My scalp feels sore, warm wetness on my cheek. Double shit. Kyle's strong, but it's mayhem out here. Humans are everywhere, some caught up in the stampede, others with fabric tied over the lower part of their faces, their clothing tattered. There are more vampires too, not all of them Raven guards, flashing through the crowd with no regard for anyone in their way. A young man is thrown to the ground, and there's a crack as a vampire steps on his arm, the bone poking through his skin. As more blood is spilled, vampires are starting to turn on the vulnerable humans. Across the square a cordon of Raven guards are roaring commands, fire blazing from several buildings turning the night golden red. There's no way Kyle can protect me in this. I feel his muscles bunch as he prepares to run. Then a voice says my name.

‘Emelia?'

It's my mother.