Ain't Your Bitch(26)

"An accident? Is she okay?"

James made a face as if he wanted to ask her what she was talking about, but Sarah held up her hand. He was going to have to wait for an explanation until she got off the phone. The voice on the other line took a moment to answer.

"She's stable." That seemed to be as much as they were going to say, even as she waited for a further response.

"Stable? What's that supposed to mean? What kind of accident? Where is she? Can I see her?"

"She was in a car accident, and now she's at Detroit Mercy. There appears to have been some serious injury, but the doctors have her stabilized. Once we know more, we'll be sure to let you know."

Sarah wanted to curse. This wasn't the night that she could deal with this.

"Can I come and see her?"

She watched James's lips purse. He wasn't happy about that idea, and she had a good idea why. It would be dangerous for her to be out at night, and tonight of all nights. But this was her mother, the woman who had raised her, and she wasn't about to leave her alone in some hospital bed. That wasn't an option.

"Well…" The voice on the other end of the line, a woman's voice, sounded as if she were weighing her response. "It's past visiting hours, but she's in the ER. If you talk to the desk security, they should be able to let you in."

"Thanks. Detroit Mercy, you said?"

"On Outer Drive, yes."

"Thanks."

She hung up the phone. James looked furious.

"You know as well as I do that you can't go. It's a trap."

"I have to go. It's my mother."

"What if they just lied to you? What if she's not even there?"

Sarah's temper flared. "What if she is? What if Isaiah is there, too, cold and hurt and alone?"

James's eyebrows knit together in frustration.

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into."

"And you do?"

"No, obviously not. I've only been doing this for—" He stopped, anger making his blue eyes look wild. "For as long as I can remember. You clearly know better."





3



Sarah's mind raced. Jason was supposed to be an expert at this stuff. Maybe his advice was better than she'd given it credit for? What if she was running into nothing, or worse, a trap?

The streets were colder, darker than she remembered them. Sure, she didn't usually come by the bad part of town. This part wasn't the worst she'd seen, though. Nobody stalking the streets, looking like they might rob you or do something even worse.

No, she realized now that the warehouses and factories that had once been such a big part of the city made it look like a ghost town, like a whole row of haunted houses, and behind any corner there might be someone waiting to pounce on her.

This was a mistake, but she couldn't go back. What if her mother needed her?

She closed her eyes and took a breath to center herself. This was what she'd decided, and she'd decided to go this way for a reason. As long as she remembered the reason, then she'd be fine. At least, she'd be in control of what she was doing.

It was absurd, she thought, that Jason hadn't understood why she wanted to leave. Maybe if he went with her, rather than arguing, then things would have been less scary, less of a risk. But that wasn't how he saw it. No, he had to be right, and that was all that mattered. She pulled her coat around, protecting against a chill.

There was only a few more miles until she could catch a bus. She turned the corner, finally off of the industrial back alleys that felt as if they were off-limits, and onto a mile road. Dark storefronts dotted the sides of the road, lit sporadically by street lights. Most of them just flickered, providing just enough light to show that they remembered, somewhere, what they were supposed to be doing.

She looked up and down the street. Had she been here before? What was the quickest way to the hospital? There was no bus stop sign in sight. It wasn't hard to believe, but what if this were a less-used corridor? There might only be one every two miles, maybe less than that. Maybe there was no bus route along this road at all.

Her phone was useless. The data had run out a week ago, too slow to bother with and too expensive to boot. The only question she had now was a relatively simple one. Left or right? She closed her eyes. She'd taken left before, when she got to the road with no idea where the right way to go was. She might as well trust left again. She turned and started walking.

She'd gone half a mile before she decided that she'd made the wrong choice. Going through an underpass she realized how dark it was. How alone she was. How anyone could get her here, and she couldn't see a thing. The lights that had lit up the street seemed less and less common as she walked, more and more of them broken or burned out.

She turned to look behind her. There was someone there. She didn't think it looked like Jason. Too thin, his hair a little too short. No, whoever that was, it wasn't the monster hunter.

Sarah started moving more quickly, locking her face forward and keeping herself moving as best she could. As long as she kept moving, everything could be fine. She could make it to a safe place, could find a 24-hour diner and go inside and whoever this guy was…

He'd just walk right on by, because they were just two people who happened to be walking the same direction at the same time. She wasn't being followed. That was absurd. She passed another mile road. She didn't know the area here. She'd heard the name of the street once or twice, which was more than she could say for 'Frazho.'

The street wasn't busy, but it wasn't abandoned, either. She tried not to look over her shoulder openly, but when she looked back to see if the man had followed her, there he was, still a few hundred yards back. Not getting any closer, but not getting any further away.

Could she get back to the warehouse from here? How? She couldn't double back, not with the man behind her. Not if he was a vampire.

When the thought came into her mind she almost laughed again at how insane it all sounded. Vampire? That was preposterous. There was no such thing as vampires. The fear that she was feeling now was childish. She'd just as soon run back and grab her blanket to keep her safe. No. She'd made her decision, and she'd stick to it.

The lights of an all-night convenience store shone in the darkness. She could go there, and let the creep by. Then she'd go back the way she came, find Jason, and either make him come with her or she'd stay with him.

That was the best plan, now that she was thinking about it. As long as she made it inside—she turned, supposedly watching a passing car, and tried to catch a glimpse of the man behind her. He was gone.

Sarah let her shoulders fall slack and sighed. Her pace slowed. See? Nothing to be afraid of. He'd just been walking home from a friend's house, or something. She'd assumed that there was danger for no reason. Now she looked like a fool.

She started to laugh. Stupid girl, scared of her own shadow. A man walks within a mile of you and he might as well have pulled out a gun and yelled 'boo.' She could see the bus coming down the street. If she waved her hands, this time of night, they'd stop.

It was only a half mile. Then a quarter. Then it was coming up, and she stepped up to the edge of the curb…

She never made it.

Strong arms encircled around her waist, pulling her back away from the curb. As soon as she felt them, felt the hands touching her waist on their way, she started fighting immediately. She'd come too far, gone through too much. There was no way she was going to let someone, whoever they were, get her.

The hands pulled her back, no words of warning, until she was out of the light from the streetlamp,, forcing her to confront the fact that no matter how she struggled she couldn't fight.

As she writhed and twisted to escape the strong grasp, she finally turned and glimpsed her attacker. Isaiah had seen better days. He had a bad cut on his cheek, barely held together with some light medical tape. His nose looked broken, though she'd seen worse before.

What was more, though, was that as her squirms died she saw the way that he winced whenever he had to put weight onto his left leg, the way that his arms stiffened when she twisted. He'd broken something. Multiple things. Badly, it seemed.

"Stop fighting," he finally said, yanking hard and throwing her to the ground.

"You—" Sarah couldn't believe her eyes. Vampires killed people. Killed them all the time. She'd assumed that if you were someone who hunted creatures like that, it came from… planning, from having leverage. Like hunting lions or tigers.

But Isaiah hadn't had any of those advantages. Hadn't had the drop, and he'd been caught in a straight fight without any time to prepare. Nobody should have been able to survive. How had he?

"What are you doing here? Why isn't Jason with you?"

"I—My mom was hurt. She's at the hospital. I have to go make sure she's alright."

"If she's not alright, then she's dead. Just move on." His voice cut like a knife. He looked at her with those smoldering eyes. She had the same feeling that she'd felt in the apartment, as if a laser was pointed at her, burning a hole through her. She shuddered. Nobody she'd ever known could look like that, could do that to anyone.

Never mind to her.

He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her waist, lifting her up like a sack. She could see that it hurt, could see him nursing his arm after he set her back on her feet. The pain didn't seem to hold him back, though. If anything, it seemed to make him angry. The anger only made him more determined.