Neither

  I resist the urge to dive behind Peter. Really, they can't touch us, but that doesn't make me feel any better. I wait for the shit-storm to start.

  “You should change her soon, Viktor. She would make a wonderful noctalis,” Rasha says, smiling. I wait for the 'but.' “So impatient, you humans. Did you not think that we might want to visit first?”

  “Yeah, I'm not buying that. You came for a reason,” Tex says, pulling her hand out of my grasp and crossing her arms. Dear God, we've created a monster.

  “You are smart, young one,” Rasha says, pointing at Tex. Nothing seems to faze her. Unlike Di who would go ballistic at the drop of a hat. Well, Di is a special case. Insane and special.

  Rasha looks at Kamir and they have another silent chat.

  So there is more to the story. I look at Tex, and she has a satisfied smirk on her face. 'Told you so,' she mouths at me. I want to punch her now.

  “My brother was Di's father,” Kamir says.

  Ten

  Peter

  Tex and Ava gasp, and Ava's shock runs though me, causing my shock to intensify.

  “We were not sure if we should tell you or not, since we have little knowledge that would help you,” Kamir says, stepping forward. He is a noctalis of few words.

  “He was my younger brother, and he was first turned by the one who turned me. I never knew his name or why he changed us. It was a very long time ago, you see.”

  He continues with his story, telling us that he was twenty-four and his brother only sixteen when they were changed. His brother took to the change more readily than he did and had no qualms about killing for sport. As soon as he found out about the binds, he used them to his advantage. He even stole a princess and made her a slave to his whims.

  “We never got along, my brother and I, but I ignored his behavior until I met Rasha. We tried to stop him, but it was his own greed that brought him down. He made a binding promise that backfired. One day he was there, and the next he wasn't. Many of his children died, but a few found us. We adopted them and helped them, but it was no use. The binds he made destroyed all but two of them. Our daughters, Helena and Di.”

  “Helena?” Ava says. I glance at her. I have never heard of Helena.

  “Yes, Di has a sister.”

  “Shut the front door,” Texas says.

  Rasha giggles. “That is not an expression I am familiar with. Is it new?”

  “Uh, yeah. I guess,” Texas says, taken aback.

  “Di has a sister? As in present tense?” Ava says.

  “Yes. Would you like to meet her?” I have not smelled her, so she must be farther away. Or else she is very good at hiding her scent.

  “Depends on if she's like Di or not,” Ava mutters.

  “They have a complicated history,” Rasha says, whistling like a bird. A whistle sounds back and moments later a girl steps from the woods. Her hair is long, past her waist, and very light. She walks at human speed, and a smile spreads on her face as if it is natural for her.

  “Hello, I'm Helena.” She stands beside Rasha, her hands tucked behind her back. She is the same height as Ava, but more delicate. Her skin is crystal clear, and it is easy to see her veins.

  “This is Peter and Viktor and their Claimed, Ava and Tex.” Rasha nods to each of us. I bow my head, as does Viktor.

  “You all look like I'm going to bite you,” Helena says, laughing.

  Rasha smiles at her. I can see she is a favorite. Helena could not have been very old when she changed, perhaps fifteen or sixteen. She speaks the modern language with an ease that makes me wish I could be the same.

  “You can all stop worrying,” she says, putting her hands up. “I come in peace.”

  Ava and Texas laugh, albeit nervously. The tension from Ava slams into me, and I try to pump some calm toward her.

  “Live long and prosper,” Texas says, splitting her fingers in a strange hand gesture I do not understand. Helena duplicates it and smiles. She has dimples in both cheeks. I glance at Ava to see her reaction. From our connection, I am now getting confusion and uncertainty. Her face tells me the same thing.

  “What the what?” she whispers to me.

  “Nobody minds if I get some sun, do you?” Helena glances around, waiting for someone to say something. I do not know what to say, nor does anyone else.

  “I usually do this naked, but not in a group.”

  Ava's face goes red and she looks at the grass. So modest, my girl.

  “We will leave you to talk,” Rasha says, taking Kamir's hand.

  They vanish into the woods. I hope they stick to their word about not feeding from anyone in Sussex, for Ava's sake.

  Helena looks around at us. “So, Di.”

  Ava glances at me.

  “Are you going to talk about her, or...” Ava says.

  “Oh yeah. I've got lots of Di stories.” Helena strips her shirt off and slides her shorts down, revealing a hot pink bathing suit that does not quite fit her and I'm sure is stolen. She lies on her back and speaks to the sky.

  “Di is older than me, but not by much. She turned two years before me, I think. She was actually the one that found me and brought me to Akash. That's our father. He used his children as scouts to find more. Told them he was building an army, but really he just wanted more noctali because he was losing so many so quickly. He was insane.

  “I was sitting outside with my mother; I think we were spinning wool. I remember the sun on my face and the soft ocean breeze. I remember I was thinking about the boy who lived up the road and how much my youngest sister annoyed me. Somehow I remember so much from that day.” She puts her arms under her head.

  I glance at Ava, who is watching Helena, hanging on every word.

  “Di came up to us, pretending to admire our work. My mother was friendly, asking her what her name was and where she was from. Her Greek was flawless; we couldn't tell she wasn't a native speaker. She told us a story about traveling with her family, not giving us much information, and asked me if I would take a walk with her. I was eager to get out of my mother's sight and dazzled by my new friend. Her hair was such a rare color. I watched it glitter in the sun. Di took my hand and we walked down the road. I chattered at her, telling her about my family and our small school. I asked her if she would attend. She said she would.

  “Di smiled at me, and I couldn't help but smile back. There was something about her eyes. I had never seen someone with two different-colored eyes. I thought she had been blessed by the gods. She started laughing at nothing in particular and I couldn't help but join in. She pulled me into the bushes and started kissing me. I had never kissed anyone before, but I couldn't help myself. Di was strong and pulled me to the ground, kissing me harder. It was only then that I felt the bite on the back of my neck.” Helena pauses.

  I think back to my own transformation, and what a confusing time that was. I did not want to remember it.

  “I woke up three days later like this,” she says, gesturing to herself. “Except I had a mermaid tail.”

  “No freaking way,” Texas says.

  “Way. I'll show you sometime. I have to get naked from the waist down to do it, and it's more impressive if I do it in the water.”

  Texas' jaw hangs open.

  “So there I was. It was dark and I was alone, or so I thought. The first face I saw when I woke up was Di's. She smiled at me and called me sister. It wasn't until three days later that I met Akash. We were in Romania, I believe.”

  Texas snorts a laugh. “What? Vampires, Romania? Oh, come on.”

  “We understand the reference, Tex,” Ava says, turning her attention back to Helena.

  “Anyway, we went on a killing rampage and had a lot of sex and caused mayhem,” Helena says.

  “Wait, you didn't tell us about your bind,” Ava says. We all knew Helena had left it out on purpose.

  “You're right, I didn't. The bind is irrelevant now, because my father is dead. But I made a bind to someone else, and I will not tell you about tha
t, because part of the bind is that I never talk about it. So don't ask me.”

  “Okay, point taken,” Tex says, glancing at Ava. Many noctali are hesitant to talk about their binds.

  “So, back to Di. The one thing you need to know about Di is that she'll do anything to get what she wants, and once she decides that she wants something, she won't stop until she gets it. I'm sure you know that already. The thing you probably don't know about Di is that what she wants more than anything else is to be loved. She just goes about it in the wrong way.”

  “Obviously,” Ava says. Helena looks away from her.

  “When I was first changed, Di and I were inseparable. We did everything together. We even shared our meals.” Ava shudders next to me. “She loved me. I loved her, too, in a way. She was the first face I saw when I changed, and I think that affected me. Di was sweet and caring and she adored me. We were both young and wild, and there are stories I could tell you that would probably make your ears burn. Di and I were happy, crazy and stupid. Akash let us run wild. I didn't see him much and I didn't care. Di consumed my world. It wasn't until I went back to Greece that things changed.

  “I found the boy I had a crush on as a human. His name was Theo, and he had been searching for me. Di found him and brought him to me to feed on. She didn't know that he was the Theo I had told her about. The minute he saw me, he told me how much he loved me and missed me. Di bent his head back to feed, but I stopped her. We fought and she broke his neck, tossing his body over the garden wall. I threw myself at her and we fought. I told her I never wanted to see her again, and that I didn't love her like I loved Theo. She ran down the hill and into my house. She was always faster than I was. Before I could stop her, she killed my whole family. I was so angry that I attacked her. We couldn't do any damage, but I got a few punches in. She said she hated me and wished I would die. I stayed with the bodies of my family and she left. I didn't see her again for many years. By then she had made you and had become the noctalis you know today.”

  No one says anything for several moments.

  “Holy shit,” Ava says finally. “So you're the reason Di is the way she is?”

  Helena doesn't shy away from Ava's accusing gaze. “You could say that.”

  “Shit... Shit,” Ava says.

  “Is that all you can say?” Texas asks. Her eyes widen as something new occurs to her. “Shut the front door, so you guys were like, together, together.”

  “Yes. Like the song, I kissed a girl and I liked it.”

  Ava and Texas burst out laughing. It must be a pop culture reference I have not learned yet. Viktor also seems puzzled.

  “So Di is...” Texas says.

  “Unbelievable,” Ava whispers. “It makes so much sense now.”

  “Di is like a drug. Or at least she was. She goes full-forward. No regrets, no looking back.” Helena's assessment of Di is correct. We had good times. I told Ava about some, but not all of them. Unlike Helena, I never had a sexual relationship with Di.

  “What's Di's bind?” That is what Ava and I need to know above all.

  Helena pauses. “The bind she made with our father is done, but she did make another. That she would always have to love someone. Or she would die.”

  There is another silence as we all think about that.

  “Is the noctali she made that bind with still alive?”

  “Yes,” Helena says.

  Ava and Texas ponder and Viktor and I share a moment.

  “Was it you she made the bind with?” Ava asks hesitantly.

  “I wouldn't tell you even if I could,” Helena says. “Part of my own bind. Sorry.”

  Texas snorts. “You can't talk about Di's bind? Well, that means that you were the one who made it with her.”

  “I cannot say,” Helena says.

  “So you made a bind with Di that she would always love you, or she dies. She must still love you then,” Texas says.

  “I cannot say,” Helena says with a sharp tone.

  “Well, that makes a lot of sense,” Ava says. “This, we can use.” Her voice is fierce and I get a glimpse of that bright sharpness inside of her that I always knew was there. “Couldn't you agree to take off the bind if she'll leave us alone and retract the binds of the boys?”

  “I cannot. Even if I were to admit that we had a bind, which I am not, binds made between noctali that aren't parent and child cannot be undone. Since they are equal, there is no one who has the upper hand.”

  “Shit.”

  “Damn,” Ava and Texas say at the same time.

  “Do you still love her?” Ava asks.

  Helena looks at the sky. “I think I'll always love her a little, even though she killed everything I loved. You can't just shut things off like that. A little piece of my heart will always belong to her.”

  “Wow,” Texas says. “What is it with you people and love?”

  Helena rolls her eyes like a human teenager. “Isn't everything about love when you get down to it?” she says.

  I look at Ava and she meets my eyes.

  “Yes,” we say at the exact same time.

  Eleven

  Brooke

  I was insane. Absolutely nuts. Because that was the only reason that I was standing outside Jamie's house, waiting for him to come out to his truck. I'd spent the entire night swimming, trying to get him off my mind. When the sun came up, I put my clothes on and ran to his house, not even caring that my hair was still wet. I didn't care that my clothes didn’t fit, or that I wanted his blood. I only cared about seeing his face and hearing him say my name. Such a simple thing, hearing someone say your name.

  The door opened and he walked down the rickety porch, avoiding a few rotting boards. He glanced up, saw me and stopped.

  “Brooke. What are you doing here?”

  “I don't really know,” I said, shrugging. “I was just... thinking about you.”

  “How did you know where I live?” Careless, I had been careless.

  “I have my ways,” I said, trying to be coy. His eyes shifted around. He was still scared of me. I could do that thing that Ivan taught me to do with my eyes, but I'd rather not. “Will you just hang out with me? I just don't feel like being alone. We can do whatever you want.”

  “I can't just skip school,” he said, adjusting his bag. I heard his resolve weakening. Not that he had much. I could make him do what I wanted, but I wasn't going to do that. I wanted him to want to hang out with me. It was a relic from my human life. I was a girl and he was a boy, and I wanted him to like me. Even though I also wanted to suck his blood.

  “Why not?”

  He opened his mouth as if he was going to protest, but then I tipped my head to the side and gave him a flirty smile.

  “I don't know,” he said, shaking his head. My heart, which didn't beat anymore, still somehow jumped in my chest. He laughed and the sound made my knees go weak. Yes, I was an immortal. Yes, a cute boy still made me want to swoon.

  “Okay, okay,” he said, holding his hands up like he'd surrendered.

  I couldn't help the smile that busted my face open. I had to slow my movements so I didn't leap into his truck.

  “Your hair is wet,” he commented as he turned the key. The truck struggled to start. The ignition finally caught as I pushed my hair over my shoulder. I'd been flying and the morning dew had coated my hair. My wings were sad that I had to put them away.

  He looked sideways at me and pulled onto the road. Back when I was human I used to care what I looked like. I'd get up every day, straighten my hair and put on massive amounts of lip gloss and mascara. Now, I don't really think about it. People stare at me anyway, with or without makeup.

  I turned on the radio, smiling because it was already on the country station. A familiar song came on and I wanted to sing along. That was the one thing that hadn't come so easy. I could make the sounds, but they weren't pleasant. When I was human, I'd had a pretty decent voice and had been in chorus at school. It was all a matter of practice and I hadn't
had the chance yet.

  “So, uh, where do you want to go?”

  “I don't care,” I said. “Take me anywhere.”

  He looked down at the steering wheel and ran his hands around it as if he was trying to think of the right place.

  “You got it,” he said, glancing in the rearview and making a U-turn, which would have thrown me into the passenger side door if I was human. Luckily, I wasn't.

  ***

  “Where are we?” I said as Jamie got out of the truck and came to open my door. We were in the middle of nowhere, which was saying a lot, because I was from the backwoods of New Hampshire.

  “My little slice of heaven,” he said. I stared, but all I could see was woods. And more woods. A little glimmer of light told me there must have been a clearing in there somewhere, but I pretended I didn't know what he was talking about.

  “All I see is trees.”

  “Come on,” he said, holding out his hand. I hesitated for a moment before I slid my hand into his. Jamie's hands were rough, calloused, and they dwarfed my fingers. I'd always had small hands, but it looked even smaller in his.

  “Shall we?” He quirked one of his eyebrows up as he asked.

  “We shall,” I said, and we started walking.

  Walking beside Jamie was difficult at first. He was human, so he was slow. I had to keep reminding myself to slow down and not hold him too hard. It was harder than it sounded. Being a noctalis with noctalis strength was natural, as was using that strength. I hadn't had to tone it down with Ivan. We'd wrestled and thrown each other around in wild tumbling fights that destroyed several trees, or walls or whatever else we were near. There was such a freedom in using my strength, but there was a freedom in walking beside Jamie. It was a different kind, a sweeter kind. More innocent.

  “Will you tell me one thing?” Jamie said after a few minutes of walking.

  “Depends on what that is. I may or may not answer.” Jamie's hand throbbed in mine. Full of beautiful red blood. I could rip his vein open quicker than he could blink.