Charity was in danger.Chapter Thirty-SevenCharity had just finished reading the assigned chapter in the most boring textbook imaginable when a scream tore through the night. Her head jerked up, the haze of too much studying clearing in an instant. She stumbled to the window, staring out.
Dark trees gently swayed in the breeze and moonlight speckled the ground. Round and jagged shapes squatted within the yard, silent and still. Just rocks. Nothing else moved.
A second scream shattered the quiet. She sprinted through the rooms to the front of the house. Hands pressed against the sides of the window, she leaned forward and looked out.
Her heart stopped.
It was Samantha!
Sam had turned into the long gravel driveway. Her dress flew behind her in tatters. Although it was too dark and far for Charity to be certain, she had the impression Samantha was terrified. Her limbs were jerky with panic and her shoulders hunched.
“Help!” Samantha screamed. She fell to the ground and skidded along on her knees.
Charity pulled open the door without thinking and ran out, breathing heavily.
She’d never seen a vampire look afraid. Nor had she seen one look as disheveled as Samantha did. Vampires were beings who inspired fear.
Samantha got to her feet, stumbled forward, and staggered. Loud sobs racked her body. She fell again, her bare knees embedded with gravel. “Help!”
Charity stopped at the edge of the grass, just inside the ward. She looked down at the invisible line that meant safety.
Donnie weighed heavily on her mind. She’d made a mistake once, and had nearly paid with her life. She might not survive this time.
“Oh thank God, Charity!” Samantha reached up for her, still five feet away. “Thank God. They’re chasing me! Help!”
Charity paced at the invisible line, her promise to Devon at the forefront of her mind. Samantha’s sobs tore at her heart.
She’d been changed, though! Devon and the others had been so certain of that. Besides, Charity herself had sensed that a vampire had torn through the house she’d once shared with Sam.
But vampires never cried and carried on. They didn’t hunch and jerk. Donnie certainly hadn’t. Could they have been wrong about Sam?
Indecision eating at her, Charity continued to pace, not stepping over.
“How’d you get out of the party?” she asked, her voice wavering.
“I woke up when someone bit my neck—they’re vampires, Charity! How is that possible?” Samantha bowed with a sob. She shuddered, like she was too weak to lift her head.
Charity’s throat constricted. She wanted to help Sam so badly that her palms itched.
“But I saw you drink the punch,” she shouted, trying to override her need to cross the line. “You turned! They turned you…”
Sam shook her head. “I drank it, but they didn’t give me their blood. I ran out when I woke up. There was confusion in the house. Pandemonium. I don’t know how, but I got out. They were chasing someone else, I think. And there were wolves. This all sounds crazy, I know.” Sam sobbed again, lying on the ground now, unable or unwilling to crawl the few feet to Charity.
Charity paced faster. Obviously it sounded crazy—Charity had thought the same thing, hadn’t she? Hearing those words spoken aloud made her feel sane. She’d spent the last several days in the company of people to whom this magic thing was old hat.
“Come across the line,” Charity said, searching her friend’s face through the speckled moonlight. All she saw was dirt and Sam’s usual beauty, pretty enough to give Yasmine a run for her money.
Charity hesitated. Had Sam’s looks changed? She’d always thought her beautiful…but Yasmine beautiful?
Charity turned toward the house and waved her arm over her head in a large arc, trying to trip the sensor. She needed more light.
Nothing happened. She was out of range.
Turning back, she squinted through the moonlight. Was an unnaturally flawless face waiting under all that dirt and shadow?
“Help me!” Samantha cried, pulling Charity’s heart strings. “I’ve been running. They can still change me if they catch me. They’ve been chasing me, trying to get me. Please, Charity. I need you.”
Charity practically danced with the need to walk those five feet. “I can’t cross this line, Sam. I’m sorry, I can’t go to you. You’re going to have to come to me.”
A shape appeared down the lane, gliding noiselessly. He smiled pleasantly at Charity.
Her BFF.
“Oh no!” Samantha wailed. “That’s him!”
She rose and toddled forward like a child, her balance all over the place. She reached out for Charity. At the last moment, her foot struck a rock and she fell.
Charity stepped forward to catch her and then dragged her back across the line.
“It’s okay, I’ve got you! You’re safe,” Charity said, her eyes fixed on Vlad walking up the lane.
A blur of movement and suddenly he was standing right in front of her.
“Whoa!” Charity staggered backward, half falling over Samantha.