Sloane Briallen

I froze when we walked through the entrance of the hospital, unable to take another step forward. I hadn’t been in one in so long, but everything came rushing back.

Hospitals made me uncomfortable under the best circumstances. I had spent a lot of time in them as a child, when my mother was dying from lung cancer. She had been in and out of the hospital for months before she finally died. The smell of disinfectant and medicine made my stomach churn. The beeps of monitors and announcements over the loudspeakers grated on my ears.

Annie took the lead, taking my hand and guiding me through a few doors until we turned from a hallway into a room. It was just me and Annie. Mira was in Observation until she could be released (they suspected a concussion, apparently) and they only allowed two visitors in that unit.

Mira was the only one in the room, though there was an empty bed meant for another patient. She sat in the bed with the TV mounted on the wall set to a kid’s channel. She was eating red Jell-O, a saline drip in her arm. A huge bandage covered part of her hairline, and I saw bruises on her neck and chest, where her hospital gown didn’t cover. A bag with her clothes was set on a chair next to her bed.

When we walked in, she sat up suddenly before having to sit back. She exhaled in pain.

“Don’t make it worse,” Annie growled at her.

“Where’s my baby?”

“School. When you weren’t back this morning, Mikko took her. We figured you were still with Karhi, knocking skulls or whatever.”

Mira exhaled in relief, setting the Jell-O down on a tray table that swung over her bed. She pushed the table away.

“Mira, what the hell happened to you?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

Mira looked up at me with trepidation, her hands shaking. “She hit us. While we were on our way back.” She pointed to the bag with her clothes. “There’s an envelope in there.”

I rummaged through the bag until I found the envelope in the pocket of her jeans, folded into quarters. My name was written on it in Ilona’s horrible, loopy handwriting.

I tore the envelope open to see the single sheet of paper with two sentences on it.

I read it and looked up at Mira helplessly.

Annie took the letter from me and read it. She handed it back to me, sitting next to Mira on the bed. “Mira, what happened?”

Mira inhaled shakily. “We were coming back from Lazarus. He was driving. A truck T-boned us. When I came to, she was dragging Karhi from the car.” Her voice shook. “I was in and out, but I remember her. Ilona. She was so . . . s-small. But I could feel her. Like old paper and . . . dead animals. She was disgusting.”

I took her hand and rubbed the back of it with my thumb. She squeezed it, looking up at me with wide eyes. “She reached into the car, and she dropped that envelope in my lap. Told me to give you her regards.”

“Bitch,” I said through gritted teeth. “Fucking bitch.”

Mira pulled her hand away. My emotions were too strong for her, and physical contact made it almost impossible for her to ignore what was in my head.

“When I woke up again,” she continued, folding her arms over her chest like she was cold, “I was here, and there was a cop waiting to ask me about what happened. I didn’t tell him about the letter or Ilona, but I told him that the driver was dragged away. I didn’t tell him much, and he bought it. Assumed I was unconscious for it. Then I called you. I guess I’ve been out for like eight hours. They tried to keep me awake in the beginning, but they couldn’t. I think my mind control went a little haywire when they put me on the pain meds. I kept making them leave me alone.” She grimaced.

“Are you okay?” I asked, realizing that I hadn’t actually asked that question.

“I hit my head against the seat belt holder and the seat belt gave me burns from holding me back. The car pushed us into the curb, and we hit a lamp post. It crumpled my side of the car and cut up my stomach. But they stitched it up, and I should be okay to leave later today. Once they’ve decided no concussion.”

“So . . . okay?”

She nodded. “I’m okay. I should be able to go to Samhain with you.”

“No,” I said flatly. “Absolutely not.”

“Sloane, I—”

“Mira, I’m only going because I have to, or else Ilona is going to hurt them. I don’t want you anywhere near that place.”

“Sloane, it’s safe. It’s neutral ground tomorrow. She can’t hurt me.”

“She wasn’t supposed to be able to hurt you now, either.”

“Yeah, and I’ve already called Hazel to let her know. She was my second call after you.” She glanced at the phone mounted on the wall next to her bed.

I didn’t have a reply for that.

“I’m going,” she said. “I know I can’t back you up because I’m over twenty, but I can be there as a reminder.”

“Fine,” I said. “But Lina, Genie, and Frankie are staying home.”

“Oh, absolutely,” she said.

And that all had led us to now. I was back in Mira’s room, primping for a festival I didn’t want to go to, to face a monster I was terrified of.

Samhain was a safe night. The festival was neutral ground and violating that was met with swift justice from any offenders’ courts. Anyone not covered by any courts (halfshifters, humans, etc.) were punished by whomever was in charge of the committee that year.

And Ilona was using that safety as a shield.

I glanced from the mirror, where I was putting my makeup on, to the letter sitting on the vanity. I read it for the hundredth time.

“I still don’t understand why we have to be on time,” Annie said from behind me. “You know she won’t be.”

“I know,” I said. “But it makes me feel better to get there early. Get the lay of the land.”

She glanced at me in the mirror before nodding.

The festival was the biggest event of the year. People went all out with costumes and make-up and décor. I was here putting on make-up because I knew that it might smooth Ilona over a bit. She was big on appearances and if I, as a fledgling, showed up to the festival in street clothes, she would have that much more to hold over me.

Any other year, I would have shown up in street clothes. Well, except for the years that I had been one of the opening dancers.

“Genie was invited to dance this year,” Annie murmured.

I glanced at her. “Oh?”

“The coordinators are the peacock queen and the elephant queen.”

I thought about it for a second. “India and . . . Africa?” I knew elephants were native to Africa and Asia, but I was pretty sure that the current queen associated with Africa.

She nodded. “Heavy percussion. Perfect for her to dance. She practiced for weeks with them.”

I winced. Poor thing. All that work for nothing. Annie and I had been dancers at the festival a couple of times.

“I guess, as long as none of the bestia take a liking to her.”

Annie grimaced. We had both had our experiences with bestia who took a little too much interest in the dancers. Hers had never come to fruition but mine . . .

“Do you think she’ll be there this year?” she asked. “Arachne?”

“God, I hope not.” I capped the mascara and stood up, turning to look at Annie fully.

Annie wore a grey skirt that went down to her ankles with a slit mid-thigh, and a matching belt slung around her waist, decorated in black flowers. Her top was little more than a scarf wrapped around her chest and held in place with some pins and clips.

Her eyes were rimmed in black to emphasize their jade. Her locs were bound back away from her eyes, and her dark skin glowed.

She looked beautiful, like a princess or something. Silver bangles hung around her wrist and ankles, jingling when she moved. A scar snaked around from the right side of her rib cage and disappearing behind her back, leftovers from a crazed ex-girlfriend of Mikko’s.

“You look good,” I said.

She nodded to me. “You, too.”

Mira had combed out my hair, straightening and gelling it back so it didn’t get in the way. It came out a little longer than the bottom of my rib cage.

My outfit was identical to Annie’s but off-white instead of grey. It bore the spoils from my very first fight, a zigzagging, crude scar that went across my ribs. That was ten years old at this point, from when Mira had first found me. There was also my newest scar going from my heart down to my pelvis, courtesy of those Scottish fuckers. They joined a dozen or so other white scars crisscrossing my body.

The strange thing was that the old scar on my stomach was faded, as would be expected of ten years. But so was the new one. They looked almost the same age.

Vampire healing, I guess.

“Why are you dressing up?” I asked. “You’re not dancing.”

She shrugged. “We always go dressed up together.”

I smiled. I appreciated her act of solidarity, even if I wasn’t going to let her meet Ilona. It helped me feel less alone in all of this.

We left Mira’s room and entered the living room where everyone was waiting.

I was surprised to find Mikko in nice, clean jeans. They weren’t ripped, and they were black. And his shirt was a bright teal button-up with short sleeves. His hair was swept back from his head in a high ponytail. I could see the scar where his ear had once been, and it made me smile. Mikko used to be so sensitive about his scar and the damage it had done to him. He only had about half of his hearing in that ear. But here he was, unashamed to have it out in the open.

Genie and Frankie were in jeans and T-shirts, sitting on the now-folded-up couch. There was a trick-or-treat bucket and plastic bags next to Frankie’s leg.

Mira had gotten dressed before we had. She was in a similar outfit to Annie and I except she had a proper shirt that covered her shoulders and stomach. Her skirt and shirt were black, a matching black ribbon tied around her neck. She had taken off her head bandage to reveal a stitched-up wound that went from her hairline down to just past her ear. There was a barrette in her red hair to hold it back from the wound while it healed.

Lina stood in the middle of the room in a Snow White costume with the red and blue top and yellow skirt. She wore white tights and black sneakers.

They were in the middle of an argument.

“But Mom, you take us every year!” Lina whined, her hands clenched into fists at her side as she glared up at her mom in indignation.

“Yes, honey, but this year it’s not a good idea. Look, Genie and Frankie are going to take you trick-or-treating. And this year, you can do it for longer than you normally do. You’ll get so much candy!”

Lina’s brow furrowed in frustration. She wanted to go trick-or-treating, but she also wanted to be where the rest of us were. “But you guys get to go.” She stuck out her lip.

“I could hang a dress on that lip, girlie,” I said, moving to crouch in front of Lina.

She looked at me and pouted. “Sloane, I want to go with you guys.”

“I know. But not this year. Can you be good and go trick-or-treating with Genie and Frankie?” I glanced at Frankie. “Look, Frankie is already prepared with your pumpkin bucket and some bags so that you can get as much candy as you want!”

“But I haven’t gotten to see you guys at all this week, and I wanted to dance at the festival with you after they finished the big opening dance!”

“We can do a dance party when this is all over. How does that sound?”

She eyed me suspiciously before nodding. “Okay.”

I kissed her on the forehead and stood up. “Get going before it gets too dark.”

She scowled again but turned to Frankie and Genie. She signed to Genie. “You ready?” She signed in that clumsy way that kids did with huge movements where they couldn’t quite move their fingers how they needed to.

“I’ve been waiting on you, princess,” Genie replied, smiling.

Lina stuck her tongue out at her, but she picked up her pumpkin. Frankie and Genie stood up, Frankie taking the bags. They left.

I waited until she was gone to let myself think, I don’t know if I’ll be here for a dance party. I hadn’t wanted her to catch that. She didn’t need to know that I was afraid that Ilona was going to take me away.

“Is it safe for them to go?” I asked, looking uncertainly at Mira.

“What you didn’t see were the two living vampires outside waiting to escort them,” Mira said. “I asked Hazel for protection while we were at the festival, and she delivered.”

My uncertainty disappeared, replaced with relief. “Good.”

“Alright, then we should get going, too,” Mira said.

I glanced around. “Where’s Mickey and Bell?”

“Outside. They were feeling cramped in the house. They also wanted to keep an eye on the vampires.”

We exited the house into the front yard. Mickey and Bell stood by Mira’s truck. They wore new grey sweatpants and T-shirts. Mira had told me they’d gone through about three pairs of clothes since they go here, borrowing from Mikko. This last time, when they had gone to attack Karhi, she had made them go buy their own clothes and pay her back when they had cash again. I guess they had both lost their wallets while they were transforming and destroying their clothes.

Bell smiled when he saw me. “Looking good, Briallen.”

I gave him a thumbs up. I was too nervous to respond any other way.

Mickey, on the other hand, was staring at me with wide eyes. It was unnerving.

“What?” I said defensively. I knew I didn’t wear “girly” clothes all that often, but I did sometimes. I didn’t like the attention.

He shook his head. “You look really nice.” He looked away, flushing.

I smiled, the nervousness easing just a little. “Thanks.”

He nodded, not looking at me.

“Hey, Sloane, if you’re going to have to deal with this bitch, why not just use your soulsilver?” Bell asked, ignoring his cousin’s awkwardness.

I tilted my head in confusion. “My what?”

He pointed to the cuffs on his wrists. The silver ones my mom had given him in our dreams. We hadn’t talked about them. I was still trying to understand what it meant.

“Soulsilver?”

He held his hand out in front of him, hand loosely cupped, as if holding a rounded glass.

A single green flame puffed into existence in his hand. It flickered for a moment before steadying.

He closed his hand, and the fire winked out of existence. “Yeah,” he said, looking at Mickey, who also held out his hand and repeated the same thing that Bell had done.

I stared at them. I glanced to my sides to see that Annie, Mira, and Mikko were also staring at the two of them. “What the fuck?”

Bell and Mickey exchanged confused looks. “What do you mean?” Bell asked. “Haven’t you done that?”

I reached for my necklace. I remembered my mother calling it soulsilver. I looked from the cuffs on Mickey’s arm to the cuffs on Bell’s wrists. “You can . . . those help you make fire?”

Mickey’s brow furrowed. “Yeah . . . soulfire. You haven’t?”

I shook my head. I remembered the green fire I had seen in my dream with my subconscious. I had said I wished I could use it on Ilona. My subconscious had said, “Soon enough.”

Is this what she had meant?

“How did you know what to do with it?” I asked.

“It’s a bit of a long story,” Mickey said, grimacing and looking away from me for a moment before meeting my eyes again. “I’ll tell you about it later. But we learned that strong emotions activate it. And it’ll kill any living creature. I guess, except for like plants and shit. I don’t know. But it’ll burn anything that it comes across down to the bone.”

“Which we saw firsthand when we first came to Phoenix,” Bell said. “We were trying to find Mira’s place, and we got stuck in a rough part of the city. A couple vampires came after us. We triggered the fire, and it left nothing but bones. So . . . not really a long story.” He glanced at Mickey with a raised eyebrow that Mickey pointedly ignored.

I pinched the bridge of my nose, trying to understand. Our new jewelry wasn’t just a gift from my dead mother. No. It was also a dangerous weapon.

Why hadn’t it activated when those two vampires were tearing me apart? I had been feeling some very intense emotions then.

“Maybe mine’s defective,” I murmured.

They didn’t have an answer for that.

“Wait . . .” Mira said. “With that—Sloane, you’re still nineteen?”

I glanced at her quizzically. She knew I was. “Yeah?”

“I . . . maybe have an idea?” Mira said, brow furrowed.

“Oh?” I said.