Page 96 of Dark Embers

“We’d better get moving,” Tobias said, looking up. “It’s almost curfew. We don’t need anyone getting into any more trouble.”

We all hustled to the nearest subway station to hop the trains to the secret platform.

“Closed for maintenance?” Ashlyn complained when we stopped in front of the closed-off entrance.

“Ugh, we don’t have time for this,” Tobias grumbled.

“Too bad it’s not darker out, or the three of you could just fly back,” I mused, flashing Tobias a teasing grin.

“Or we could all just jump into Lake Michigan and you could swim us back,” he quipped, making me grin even wider.

“Yeah, I’d prefer not to do either of those things,” Niko interjected.

Tobias chuckled. “Alright, we’ll just have to call an Uber and have them take us right to the platform.”

“On it.” Niko pulled out his phone and started tapping.

In less than five minutes, a blue sedan pulled up and we got in. It looked like we were going to make it, and with time to spare. There was no official time we had to be back, but I figured as long as there wassomelight in the sky, we were safe. Although, I wished we weren’t cutting it so close.

After idling in the same place for several minutes on the Clark Street Bridge, it was clear that something was wrong.

“Any idea what’s going on up there?” Ashlyn leaned forward in the back seat to get closer to the driver, who looked like he moonlighted as a café barista.

“How should I know?” he replied, seeming more irritated by the traffic than we were. “Probably an accident. Stupid drivers.”

I sighed. “We’re so close to the station. The timing couldn’t get any worse..”

Tobias looked out the window at the darkening sky. Then he looked at us. “We’ll just have to get out and run on foot. It’s only a few blocks. If we take some of the backstreets, I think we can make it at least inside the platform before curfew, which’ll hopefully be good enough.”

We scrambled out of the backseat and filed through the motionless vehicles to the walkway on the outer edge, where we made a run for it.

The farther we ran, the darker it got. The street lights turned on, competing with the already-glaring Christmas string lights on every storefront. It soon became obvious that we weren’t going to make it anywhere by sundown.

Urgency and dread filled my stomach, pushing my sprinting legs even faster. I didn’t need any more heat coming down on me right now. I didn’t know what Caesar would do to me for breaking curfew. He might place me on house arrest—or go the other direction and kick me out.

Of course, I knew that was ridiculous, but the thought of leaving the only place I could call home flushed hot panic through my veins, causing my feet to stumble.

Luckily, Tobias was right beside me, and with quick reflexes, he caught my upper arm before I could fall. But he didn’t let go as we continued to run. He moved his hand to my forearm, his way of tugging me after him as he pushed ahead. He was running like his life depended on it, and I realized he was doing it for me. That realization warmed my chest, easing my anxiety ever so slightly.

As we rounded a corner to cut through an alley, Tobias slowed his pace. His tightened grip set off alarms in my head.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

“Look at the ground,” he said.

I looked down at the cracked pavement of the alley on which we ran, but I didn’t see anything amiss. I turned back to him and shook my head in a silent question.

“There’s a street light right at the start of the alley,” Tobias said. “And we aren’t casting any shadows.”

I looked briefly over my shoulder at the yellow light hanging on the corner, then back to the alley in front of us. Tobias was right. None of us had even the slightest shadow.

I frowned. “Huh, that’s weird.”

“No,” Niko said, his voice grim. “It’s vampires.”

Vampires? What do shadows have to do with vampires?

Behind us, the sound of smashing glass punctured the air, and the whole alley fell into darkness.

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