Page 96 of The Last Vampire
“Who isLenny—?”
“We have to go now,” says Nate, and he and Cisco get to their feet. “Enjoy the blood. We’ll be back soon.”
Everything suddenly feels like it is moving too fast. William can hardlyfathom what the vampires have been reduced to—just fifty-four survivors leading secret lives, cut off from Familiars and human society, scrounging for discarded blood, and all for…what?
What are they hanging on for?
“What is the point?” William asks in a low voice. Nate and Cisco are by the door, but they stay and listen. “We just go on living in the shadows, until when?”
“Until—”
“Cisco,” warns Nate, and he opens the door to go.
But William reaches the entryway in a fraction of a second, blocking their path. “Until…?” He looks from Nate to Cisco, his firm stance making it clear that he is not moving.
“Their return,” blurts Cisco, then he shoots a panicked glance at Nate, who clenches his jaw.
“Whose?” asks William.
“Thevampires,” says Nate, staring William in the eye and studying him more intently than before. “We believe the rest of our kind is still in death-sleep, somewhere just beyond our reach. We’re waiting for them to wake up and rejoin us.”
William does not understand, but he does not let Nate see that. His stare does not waver. “And then what?”
A cold grin twists Nate’s lips.
“And then,” he says in a happier tone, prompting Cisco to laugh nervously, “we take our rightful place at the top of the food chain.”
CHAPTER 28lorena
By some miracle, Director Minaro misses the fact that William never returned to the bus.
Since the vampire told my friends he doesn’t live far from the school, I make up a story that he ran into his cousins, and they offered to drop him off later. But what will I say when he doesn’t return at all?
The ride back is miserable. Salma offers to split her time between Tiffany and me, but I’m in such a sour mood that she just stays with Tiffany most of the trip.
My brain feels like it ate too large a meal, and now it’s having a hard time keeping it down. Did we really just run into two vampires? And did William really leave with them?
Did he hurt Zach?
It’s even harder having to stomach his betrayal on my own, and this part I know is my fault. I chose to keep all this from Salma. How am I going to explain any of it to her now?
How is she going to feel when she learns I’ve been lying to her since we got here?
Once we turn past the gates into Huntington Manor, Salma leaps back onto my bench. “So,” she says in a conspiratorial voice, “when’s he getting back?”
I’m afraid if I try to speak, I’ll start to cry. Instead, I give her a shrug-and-shake combo with my shoulders and head. She blows out a hard breath and goes back to Tiffany’s side for the half a second that’s left of the bus ride.
She wants me to know she’s annoyed.
Not eager to face more of my roommates’ questioning, I head upstairs to the computer wing. It feels impossible that William won’t be there as I enter the library, and motion-activated lights pop on.
I climb the stairs to the top floor, and when the ticking of keys makes it to my ears, my heartbeat rallies, as do my footsteps.
“Hey!” I call out to him upon entering the computer wing, and he spins around from the monitor.
“Zach?”I say in surprise.
“Hey, you’re back.” He looks past me to see who else is here.
