A new group of humans hit the tunnel, but this time, the vampires chasing them pulled up short. They looked at us, recognizing Adelina the Ancient, Salvador the Slayer, and me and Reg, the two former immortals who were supposed to be the planners of this party. I watched the questions surface on their faces as they noticed the former vampires behind us, now sitting up with slow, clumsy movements, their chests heaving with deep human breaths.

The immortals hovering just outside the tunnel began to slowly back up, even as another vampire sped our way, a blur of movement I could barely make out until he froze, instantly, as if suspended in midair.

Adante.

His feet were still on the grass, but his body was half arched over the fence posts, eyes locked on them in suspicion. Inch by inch, he pulled back, as realization dawned. The other vampires had halted their retreat with Adante’s arrival, and they watched the scene now with a mix of curiosity and fear. But Adante’s face was pure murder. He raked his gaze from the stakes to Sal to Lina and, finally, to me.

“You betrayed us,” he snarled.

“I believe it was you who put us on this side of the fence.” I lifted my chin, even though my heart was hammering.

“As punishment for a crime!” Adante was spitting, fangs bared. “What you’ve done to your kin is—”

“You want them?” I stepped to the side, offering him a clear path to the pile of former vampires. “Come and get them.”

He did not even spare them a glance. “How dare you?!”

But the rage he felt was clearly not for them. It was for himself—at having been outplayed. He hissed, tongue darting through his fangs, and for a moment, it looked like he might risk crossing the fence just to rip out my throat.

But then he carefully reorganized his features, dabbed away the blood at the corners of his mouth and tugged on the ends of his sleeves. With effort, he turned his stare away from me to address Lina.

“Adelina,” he said, voice strained. “At your convenience, the Elder Seat requests a word.”

She nodded once in response, and I saw Sal’s shoulders tense.

Composed now, Adante gestured to the vampires behind him, waving for them to leave. With grateful faces, they turned and ran. Adante followed, and soon, all the remaining vampires were doing the same.

One by one, they disappeared into the shadows of the night, until only mortals remained under the sun-bright glare of the Hope High stadium lights.

Thirty-Eight

Déjà Vampire

It took only a few minutes for word of the vampires’ departure to spread, and Nowhere shifted quickly into a new mode. Incredibly, very few people ran away. Instead, they worked together to smash open the barricaded gym doors and to locate fallen friends and family.