Chapter 5

The woman shifts her gaze to Leo. He slowly lowers the map before raising his hands in the same fashion as me. Her eyes spark with approval before she slowly moves her focus to Bogdan.

"That applies to you too, vamp," she snarls.

I keep my eyes on her, but I can feel Bogdan stiffen beside me. He could easily attack this woman and take her down. No question. But there's no way he can outrun a bullet. If she shoots me, he won't be able to do anything to stop it. And if he steps in front of me, that'll make me even more of a target.

I may not be able to hear Bogdan's thoughts, but I've been with him long enough to start to understand his line of thinking.

"Don't test me," she growls. "These bullets will kill the humans on impact. But they're made of something potent enough to kill you, too."

Poison.

The bullets are made of poison. I start trembling with fear. Realistically I know Bogdan will be fine. He says my blood is strong enough to protect him. But what if there's a poison we don't know about? A poison strong enough to take him down too?

I bite my lip. The tears rising to my eyes begin to dribble down my cheeks. Ever so slowly Bogdan raises his arms into the air.

"That's better," the woman says.

The wind carries her voice to us, assisting her vendetta with ease. Her tone is rich like a vampire's, but there's a human quality to it as well. If I wasn't so terrified, I'd be fascinated. She takes a tentative step towards us. Never once does her arm quiver as she keeps the gun pointed at me.

Her eyes dance over the map before moving to Leo's motorcycle and the duffle bag full of clothes, supplies, and pineapple cans.

"It's not often I see a vampire traveling with two humans," she comments, her eyes still devouring our minimal belongings. "At least, not without them being kept as prisoners."

Her brown eyes shift over to me again. She studies me curiously, her gaze traveling down the length of my torso. Her nostrils flare, and I recognize the action as she gauges my scent. A bit of heat rises to her cheeks when she does. She grins slightly.

"What's in the bag?" she asks after a moment, nodding to the duffle bag a few feet away.

Bogdan opens his mouth to speak, but Leo beats him to it.

"Clothes and supplies."

The Secondary moves her eyes to Leo. Once again her nostrils flare, but she doesn't seem nearly as impressed with his scent as mine. My arms tremble with worry as she moves closer to us. The sun catches her face as she tilts her chin-up. Her cream-colored skin seems to radiate. Her features are feminine like that of a human woman, but pointed and harsh like that of a vampire.

The combination is hard to look away from, their stark contrasts creating an unsettling beauty.

"And who might you be?" she asks, nodding to Leo.

"I'm Leo."

She glances at Bogdan. "And you?"

Bogdan remains motionless. I can see the glow of his red eyes burning into her as he grits out his name. She grins and comes to a stop just five feet away from us. Sweat pours from my torso. My wool refuses to release any of the heat, and my head spins from dizziness.

The Secondary paces a bit at the invisible line in front of us before her gaze lands on me once again. Her lips curve into a smile, and I notice her fangs are very small compared to Bogdan's.

"And you," she says. "Do you have a name, pretty Nirv?"

Bogdan narrows his gaze on the Secondary. She knows. My hands become clammy, and my arms are so stiff they're starting to ache with pain.

"Finn," I whisper through tears. "My name is Finn."

"It's nice to meet you, Finn," she says. Her voice is a feigned pleasantry as we exchange introductions. "And I'm Tegan."

No one says anything. Leo shifts the weight on his feet, and Tegan flashes him a threatening scowl before he shakes his head slightly in surrender and raises his hands higher in the air.

"And tell me," Tegan says, her voice dropping to a threatening hiss. "What brings you to the humble town of Criston? Planning on pillaging this town, too?"

Something inside of me snaps. This woman could end us within seconds. But she hasn't. This is our chance. This is the chance we've traveled hundreds of miles to get. It might not be the best situation, but this is what we've been fighting and traveling for.

A chance.

Her brown gaze slithers between the three of us, daring one of us to answer.

"No," I say. The tears in my throat are thick, but I don't back down. "We're here...to find you."

Tegan's eyes widen just a fraction with surprise. She wasn't expecting this as our response. The look vanishes a second later, and her grip tightens around her gun. She points it an inch closer to me. My heart thrums in my chest, and Bogdan twitches with trying to keep himself composed.

"Prove it," she says evenly.

Her words sound muffled, muted even against the blood rushing against my ears. I try to respond but my speech sounds garbled. Or maybe that's just the noise it's making in my brain, because I don't think I actually manage to make a sound.

"Inside that duffle bag, there is a picture," Bogdan answers. "It is tucked beneath two sweaters. We believe it's a member of my family. A fellow Secondary."

Tegan tilts her chin up in defiance. "And who might this family member be?"

"According to the picture, Archer Robbins."

"According to the picture?" she questions and narrows her eyes.

"His name is written on the back. I lost my memory when I turned," Bogdan responds in a clipped tone. "I obviously can't be sure if the name is an accurate reflection of the person."

Bogdan is never afraid, and in moments like this, it becomes apparent. Sometimes I envy him for not feeling emotion. This is one of those times. Tegan's gaze slides over to the duffle bag. She jerks the end of her gun to the side and swivels her gaze to Leo.

"Get it."

Leo nods a single time. He glances at me, and the small action earns him a warning glare from Bogdan. With arms still in the air, Leo slowly walks towards the duffle bag. He kneels to his feet, and I notice him wince when his knees hit the ground. He unzips the bag, and Tegan squints to try and gauge the items he's moving aside to find the picture.

When Leo begins to lift his hand from the bag, Tegan turns the gun's barrel from me to Leo. She must suspect this as a set-up. Her shoulders tighten as Leo lifts the small, thin picture from the back, but her moment of distrust is all Bogdan needs.

Suddenly his arms are around her, forcing her to the ground. It's a chaos of pale and fast-moving limbs. The gun is flung to the ground, but not before not before a piercing gunshot resonates through the air. I yelp and jump at the sound. Leo groans from a few feet away from me and clutches his side. He got hit.

Bogdan pins Tegan to the ground, and I rush over to Leo's side. I smell the coppery blood before I see it and collapse beside him.

"Leo," I whisper.

Somehow I've managed to find my voice again. Our eyes lock for a split-second, and then we both drop our gaze as he moves his hand away from his side. It's covered in blood.

"No. No, no, no, no, no."

My voice comes out in a panicked staccato. I reach for the duffle bag and pull out the first piece of clothing I find and push it against Leo's stomach to staunch the bleeding. He groans and flinches away from the touch. His cheeks are already starting to pale.

A fresh batch of tears spring to my eyes, but this time it's out of fear for Leo. I sniffle and choke on a silent sob, but the sound is enough to snap Leo's attention back up to me.

"Hey, it's alright," he murmurs. "I'll be fine. Just a side shot."

He tries to laugh but winces again. I shake my head and stare down at the sweater again that's already a third of the way covered in blood. Leo starts to blink slower. I reach up and grab ahold of his shoulder. His blood rolls off my finger and seeps into his coat.

"Keep talking to me, Leo," I command with a trembling voice. Then an idea sparks. "Tell me the secret about Kelly."

Leo nods. He licks his lips and tries to remain sitting, but the struggle becomes evident across his features. I slide my arm around his back to keep him upright. The blood is covering almost half the sweater now.

"I went to him before I left," he whispers. "No one saw me. Made sure of it."

He pants in between sentences. A cool breeze kicks up on the distance, and Bogdan's angry voice travels with its silent whisper. I glance up and see he's successfully gained the upper-hand in his fight with Tegan. Her face has turned a shade of red, and she hisses an angry response to whatever Bogdan said first.

"Told him I was leaving. Where I was going," Leo continues, and I tear my gaze away to focus on him. "I've been ripping off pieces of cloth. Every 45 miles. Has my scent on it. He knows it. He'll find us."

My heart swells. I wondered why it was taking Leo so long to catch up with us today. As fast as Bogdan can travel, there's no way a high-speed motorcycle couldn't keep up with us. But now I know why. Bogdan was so focused on trying to get ahead of him that he didn't notice. Leo must have known it too, and he took the opportunity to continue leaving directions for Kelly.

I swallow hard and prop him up further, but I hold him a bit tighter so he knows I am trying to hug him.

"Thank you, Leo" I whisper. I know Bogdan might hear me, but right now I don't care. "I hope your scent stays."

Leo grimaces. The sweater is almost full of blood now, but he finds the strength to give me a feeble smirk before tilting his head to the side. I'm not sure what he's doing, but then the light catches on two, small holes that definitely weren't there months ago.

"Leo..."

"Let him feed from me," he explains through pants. His words are coming out slower now. "Knows my blood now. And has strength."

Hot, wet tears stream down my cheeks. I'm sure Bogdan's listening as we speak and is doubting every one of Leo's words. But I can't help believing him. He came all this way to help us. To help me. And he made sure to save Kelly first.

"Thank you," I mumble. "Thank you."

"For you," he mumbles and then his eyelids slowly close. "Anything."