I shook my head. She pulled me into a big hug, and Raquel embraced me from behind. I could feel their relief as powerfully as my own.

They were two of my dearest friends. They were vampire hunters. They loved me. They stood by while Balthazar was tortured. I was so angry with them I could scream, and I loved them so much it hurt. I knew they were doing wrong to kill vampires, and yet the vampire I had just tried to save had betrayed me. None of it could be untangled; I just had to live with it.

Without a word, I hugged them back and told myself that everything past this moment didn’t matter.

The next day, I was excused from patrol, which was nice enough, but Eliza went the extra mile and gave Lucas the day off, too. Well, “day off,” in this instance, meant “digging through the rubble of our old headquarters instead of hunting vampires.” Some others might join us later, she said, but for now the task was left up to me and Lucas, alone. As long as we were together, I’d take it.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” he said for the dozenth time. We were standing near one of the old train car cabins, knee-deep in broken stone. Both of us were as dirty as we’d been the day of the attack.

“I promise, I’m fine. Charity just scared me.”

“She wants to change you,” Lucas said. “And it sounds like she plans to hunt you down.”

“I’m safe while I have my bodyguard with me,” I joked, poking at his firm biceps. Lucas was shirtless, a concession to the stifling summer heat within the tunnels. Before, fans had kept the space livable; now, it was almost a hundred degrees and so humid that walking felt like swimming.

Lucas kissed me, a sloppy, sexy sort of kiss that would’ve made us both desperate for each other, if our surroundings had been any less grimy. When our lips parted, he said, “We really do have to find a way to get some time together.”

“It won’t be long before we’re alone together all the time.” I rested my hands against his bare chest. Shyly, I added, “I can’t wait.”

His eyes sought mine, eager and questioning. Voice low and deliciously rough, Lucas said, “Whatever you’re ready for—whenever you’re ready—I’d never rush you, you know that—”

I kissed him again, and this time the kiss went to my head. Dizzy, I breathed, “I want to be with you. Completely.”

Lucas leaned close once more, but the dizziness got to me—it was more than the kiss. I put out one hand, laughing from self-consciousness, and he took it as he lowered me into a seated position. “I said you were looking pale. Bianca, are you sure you feel all right?”

“It really is hot in here,” I admitted. “Plus I’m kind of hungry.”

“We can knock off any time, you know. They’ll be excavating in here for months. What we get done on any one day hardly matters.”

“There are some things I want to find.” I brushed my sweaty bangs back from my forehead as I looked at Lucas. Once again, I found myself being far too conscious of his heartbeat and the pulse just beneath his skin. “I could do with something to eat.”

“You mean blood?”

I glanced around us, though it was only force of habit; we were alone in the tunnel and could speak openly. “Yeah.”

“Then I’ll get you blood.”

“Not yours,” I said sharply. Right now I could get carried away.

Lucas shook his head. “There’s a hospital not far from here. I’ll make a little blood-bank run. I’ll bring cold water, too.”

“Sounds great.”

After he went up onto the street, I sat with my back against the wall for a few long minutes. All day I’d told myself that I was only woozy because I was hungry for blood and because yesterday had been so frightening. Now that I was working so hard in the heat, wasn’t it only natural for me to feel faint?

Yet the weakness I sensed seemed to go deeper than that—almost as if I were coming down with a virus or something. I so rarely got sick that I wasn’t sure I’d even recognize the symptoms. Probably this was nothing more than a nasty summer cold that just happened to arrive on a bad day.

Sighing, I pushed myself up. If I was going to feel crappy no matter what, I might as well get some work done.

I went into the old subway car, then flicked on the flashlight. Gravel and glass were thick on the floor, and almost everything inside was filthy. But when I saw a scribbled line drawing still taped to one wall, I smiled. That was Raquel’s work, which meant this was our old quarters.

Eagerly I began digging the rocks from beneath the bunk that had been mine. Reaching through the filthy dust, I was able to close my fingers around a scrap of cloth and pull hard, so that my bag emerged from the rubble. The few clothes I’d had would be ruined, but maybe, just maybe—

Yes! I pulled out the jet brooch Lucas had given me when we were first dating. Although its shiny black surface was murky with dust, the fine carving appeared undamaged. Thrilled, I tried pinning it to the cheap T-shirt I wore, but the fabric was too thin; instead, I put it on the waistband of my jeans.

“Hello?” Lucas called from above. I stood on one of the bunks and pushed myself up to see Lucas making his way toward me, paper bags in both hands.

“Look what I found!” I hurried to him, trying to ignore my dizziness. “It’s still perfect.”

His fingers found the brooch at my waist. “I can’t believe you’ve managed to hang onto this through everything.”