hunters got a bounty fromthe government for each vampire they put in a Coldtown, but they could give up the cash reward in favor of a marker for a single human’s release. One vampire in, one human out.
Even amateur hunters who turned in a vampire could get a marker. If Aidan got one, then he could go into Coldtown and, if he stayed human, if he beat the infection, he could get out again.
“Not for a marker ,” Aidan said, his eyes still on the screen. “For the cash . We could get some serious money from the bounty on a vampire. Enough for me to hole up for a couple of months in some crappy hotel and ride this thing out.”
“I think I got—not bit, exactly.” She blurted the words that she couldn’t tell Pauline, that she’d been afraid to say out loud. He needed to know if they were going to make real plans. “Scraped. With a tooth.”
That made him look at her, really look at her, his eyebrows drawn together with actual concern. “And you don’t know if you’re going to go Cold.”
“I have to assume I am.” She tried to not let him see how scared she was, how her heart thundered to say the words. “ We have to assume.”
He nodded. “It’d be enough money for both of us to hole up for a while. Two rooms, two keys. We could pass them under the door to one another when we were done. But we’ve got to do something. I’m hungry, Tana.”
“Gavriel helped us—” She stopped herself, unsure. The farther they got from the farmhouse, the more Gavriel seemed like a monster all on his own. She thought of his eyes, red like spilled garnets, red aspoppies, red as the bright embers of a fire. She thought of what they taught in school: cold hands, dead heart . Plenty of vampires had forgotten how to feel anything but hunger. He’d helped her, sure, but that didn’t mean she could trust him not to turn on her now that they were out of danger. Vampires were unpredictable. “At least that gives us a direction to head in. I’m going to grab some food. You should try to eat, too, and see if it cuts down the craving.”
She waited for Aidan to make some comment, but he turned to watch more images from Coldtown on the tiny television, his lips slightly apart, his cheeks flushed.
If she was a good person, she’d take him there. In case he gave in to the hunger. He might. And if he did, he’d be ageless, eternal. He’d be charming girls with his flipped hair until the Earth crashed into the sun.
If she was a really good person, she’d take herself there, too.
Tana walked around the store, picking up a map with numb fingers. There were notices tacked to a board near the coolers: photos of teenagers with MISSING underneath and phone numbers, advertisements for guaranteed homeopathic remedies to ward off vampires, kittens free to a good home, and one notice reading only CALL MATILDA FOR A BAD TIME .
Tana grabbed a root beer and then a bottle of water for later. At the deli case, she selected the least scary-looking sandwich—turkey and yellow cheese on white bread—and picked up two of them along with half a dozen packets of brown mustard, an apple, and a bottle of ibuprofen. Then she made herself a jumbo-size coffee, emptying in a packet of hot chocolate for good measure.
Dumping her feast in front of the guy behind the bulletproof glass, she paid for that and the gas. She had about forty dollars left, the remainder of her last paycheck from her part-time job at the movie theater concession stand. Forty dollars and a very sketchy plan.
Tana wasn’t sure how much Aidan knew about what going Cold was actually like, but if he was picturing himself in a hotel room, watching television, and sweating through it as if it were some kind of drug withdrawal, then he was picturing it all wrong. Once he was in the grips of the hunger, he’d break down the door if he could. They’d attack each other. And then they’d attack other people, maybe even kill them. Spread the infection even further.
But if they
Even amateur hunters who turned in a vampire could get a marker. If Aidan got one, then he could go into Coldtown and, if he stayed human, if he beat the infection, he could get out again.
“Not for a marker ,” Aidan said, his eyes still on the screen. “For the cash . We could get some serious money from the bounty on a vampire. Enough for me to hole up for a couple of months in some crappy hotel and ride this thing out.”
“I think I got—not bit, exactly.” She blurted the words that she couldn’t tell Pauline, that she’d been afraid to say out loud. He needed to know if they were going to make real plans. “Scraped. With a tooth.”
That made him look at her, really look at her, his eyebrows drawn together with actual concern. “And you don’t know if you’re going to go Cold.”
“I have to assume I am.” She tried to not let him see how scared she was, how her heart thundered to say the words. “ We have to assume.”
He nodded. “It’d be enough money for both of us to hole up for a while. Two rooms, two keys. We could pass them under the door to one another when we were done. But we’ve got to do something. I’m hungry, Tana.”
“Gavriel helped us—” She stopped herself, unsure. The farther they got from the farmhouse, the more Gavriel seemed like a monster all on his own. She thought of his eyes, red like spilled garnets, red aspoppies, red as the bright embers of a fire. She thought of what they taught in school: cold hands, dead heart . Plenty of vampires had forgotten how to feel anything but hunger. He’d helped her, sure, but that didn’t mean she could trust him not to turn on her now that they were out of danger. Vampires were unpredictable. “At least that gives us a direction to head in. I’m going to grab some food. You should try to eat, too, and see if it cuts down the craving.”
She waited for Aidan to make some comment, but he turned to watch more images from Coldtown on the tiny television, his lips slightly apart, his cheeks flushed.
If she was a good person, she’d take him there. In case he gave in to the hunger. He might. And if he did, he’d be ageless, eternal. He’d be charming girls with his flipped hair until the Earth crashed into the sun.
If she was a really good person, she’d take herself there, too.
Tana walked around the store, picking up a map with numb fingers. There were notices tacked to a board near the coolers: photos of teenagers with MISSING underneath and phone numbers, advertisements for guaranteed homeopathic remedies to ward off vampires, kittens free to a good home, and one notice reading only CALL MATILDA FOR A BAD TIME .
Tana grabbed a root beer and then a bottle of water for later. At the deli case, she selected the least scary-looking sandwich—turkey and yellow cheese on white bread—and picked up two of them along with half a dozen packets of brown mustard, an apple, and a bottle of ibuprofen. Then she made herself a jumbo-size coffee, emptying in a packet of hot chocolate for good measure.
Dumping her feast in front of the guy behind the bulletproof glass, she paid for that and the gas. She had about forty dollars left, the remainder of her last paycheck from her part-time job at the movie theater concession stand. Forty dollars and a very sketchy plan.
Tana wasn’t sure how much Aidan knew about what going Cold was actually like, but if he was picturing himself in a hotel room, watching television, and sweating through it as if it were some kind of drug withdrawal, then he was picturing it all wrong. Once he was in the grips of the hunger, he’d break down the door if he could. They’d attack each other. And then they’d attack other people, maybe even kill them. Spread the infection even further.
But if they
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