Hourglass

“No big,” Dana said. “They know where we’re going.”

Lucas lunged forward, grabbing Dana across the neck. He snarled at Milos, “Get outta the van or I slash her throat.”

Dana screamed. My mind went blank with panic.

Where did Lucas get a knife? With shaking hands, I kept working with the handcuff key, and finally the metal cuffs snapped open. Milos nodded once, at Dana, and she pulled the van over with a jerk.

Milos got out, but he said, “You aren’t getting far.”

“Wait and see,” Lucas said, leaning forward to pull the van’s door shut. Instantly Dana slammed onto the gas. The van’s tires squealed against the pavement. Lucas said, “You think they bought it?”

I wanted to ask what they were supposed to have bought, but it was Dana who answered. “Maybe. Maybe not. We gotta move.”

“What’s going on?” I demanded. The van bumped along the pavement, jarring us all.

Lucas gave me a quick hug. “Dana slipped me the handcuff keys. I knew how to play it from there. What I don’t know is whether she’s got any plan beyond this.”

“Nope,” Dana said. “This is pretty much it, plan-wise. Sorry, but I didn’t have a whole lot of time.”

“Why are you doing this?” I demanded. “Why turn us in and then get us out? Did your conscience finally get to you?”

There was a brief pause, during which all we heard was the music on the radio. Dana finally said, “Bianca, I didn’t turn you in.”

Raquel.

Betrayal burned like fire. I should’ve felt angry, but I didn’t. All I could think about was the picnic we had on the Evernight grounds, the one Raquel had put together to cheer me up. We’d eaten sandwiches together on the grass and pointed out the new yellow starburst blooms of dandelions. It had been springtime. She had done that for me, and then in summer she’d given me up to die.

“Don’t be mad at her,” Dana said. “She’s new to all this. She got confused. I know she’s going to regret it.”

Lucas said, roughly, “Later. What are we doing now?”

“I’m dropping y’all around Grand Central,” Dana said. “From there you can catch a train to anywhere.”

“Not if we’re broke.” My voice sounded unbelievably harsh, even to me. “Did you think to bring money?”

Dana winced. “No. No time. This isn’t going in the Rescue Hall of Fame, is it?”

“You’re doing great,” Lucas said. “Just let us out and I can take it from there.”

She pulled over on a side street. Skyscrapers loomed here, their lights blazing even at this hour. It wasn’t yet dawn, but the sky had begun to lighten. Nobody much was on the roads, just a few taxis. To my surprise, Dana got out of the van when we did and walked around to us. She and Lucas faced each other squarely.

“You still don’t know what to think,” Lucas said. “Do you?”

She shook her head. “Nope. But, Lucas, you’re as close to a brother as I’m ever gonna have. I’d rather be wrong to set you free than be right to do you harm.”

Lucas made this weird choking sound in his throat, and then all of a sudden, he and Dana were hugging each other tightly. I saw a tear roll down Dana’s cheek.

When they let go, I wanted to say thank you, but I was still angry with her. The fact that I was wrong to be angry with Dana instead of Raquel didn’t seem to have much to do with anything. I managed to say, “What will you tell the others?”

“That Lucas took me hostage.”

“Will they believe that?” I said. Milos was already suspicious of Balthazar’s “death.”

“He will once Lucas makes it convincing,” Dana said, squaring her shoulders.

I didn’t get what was going on, but Lucas apparently did. He grimaced. “I really don’t want to.”

“Let me refresh your memory on how this works,” Dana said. “I save your butt, you save mine. Do it!”

Lucas punched her in the face so hard she slammed into the back of the van. I gasped. Although Dana staggered, she managed to stay on her feet. Lucas said, “You okay?”

“Will be,” she said thickly. Blood dripped from her lip onto the pavement. “Why do you have to be so good at your work?”

“Dana,” I began. “Are you sure—”

“Why are you still here?” she demanded.

Lucas grabbed my hand, and the two of us began to run. My breath caught in my throat, and the sidewalk jarred my feet, but I pushed myself to go faster and faster. All I could hear was Dana’s voice behind us, shouting, “Get out while you can!”

Chapter Twelve

ALTHOUGH THERE SHOULD’VE BEEN AN AGENT IN the subway booth, it was empty; maybe somebody thought 4 A.M. was as good a time as any to take a break. It gave us a chance to jump the turnstiles and wait for a train.

We sat together on one of the old wooden benches, which was layered thick with graffiti. Neither of us said anything at first. I felt like everything around me was very far away, and it was hard to remember that this wasn’t some bad dream or a terrible memory. It was like my brain wanted to trick me into thinking that it couldn’t be happening here or now.

The first thing that intruded into my consciousness sharply enough to goad me into speaking was the sign hanging overhead.

“‘Downtown,’” I read. “That’s the direction we want to go, right?”