The rest of the day passes like the unending moment in a car accident just before impact—a taffy pull of time filled with nightmares. I return to the food court, drinking one coffee after another, afraid to leave again before dark. The Brotherhood has already tried to kill me twice, and even if Viviane thinks she’s delayed a third attempt, she could be wrong. For all I know, when Salt-and-Pepper fails to report in, another team will be on its way before sundown—ready to break my door down and slaughter me in my kitchen.

It takes forever for the sun to drop, the sky going gray and then black before I take my first hesitant steps outside. I feel the vampires watching me, my skin alive with whispers, and it’s the strangest sort of comfort.

I don’t even know if I want to go home, if I can face a night alone under my own roof—worrying about my parents, hoping that vampires I’ve never invited inside can protect me from home invaders—but the alternative is bringing my troubles to someone else’s door. Ximena says she can protect herself … but can she protect both of us from the Syndicate, two cults, a group of gun-wielding Knights, and some ancient sorceresses? If either one us of woke up dead in the morning, Adriana would never forgive me.

Of course, figuring out where to go is the absolute least of my troubles. I’m running out of time, and I refuse to spend what I’ve got left just looking for the best hole to crawl into while I wait for the end. Maybe I can’t save myself … but I won’t go without a fight. I won’t go without doing everything I can to at least save the people I love.

My house is fully dark when I pull up on my bike, because I didn’t know to leave any lights on, and it already looks abandoned. I’m jumpy and nauseous as I hurry up the drive, rattled by a day of terrible revelations and missed meals, anxious to stash my bike in the garage and get inside where there are knives and locking doors. The police are useless against vampires, but if Knights broke in, maybe the police could help. If they got here in time.

“Auggie?” The voice comes from the shadows on the porch, and I nearly blast out of my skin. So far I can read minds, sense vampires, and see the future, but the destroying angel inside me doesn’t seem to come with any defensive capabilities.

Before I can start running—or dying—my visitor emerges from the darkness, and I relax just enough to start breathing again. “Gunnar?”