Outside, Adena was waiting by a black Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows. The SUV’s exterior was spotless, as if fresh off the assembly line. She looked old enough to drive, but with all the city’s public transit options, hardly any teenagers he knew even owned a vehicle, let alone one this high-end.
Rodrigo’s eyes widened. “This yours?”
Adena nodded. “It’s not my best, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t one of my favorites.”
Raquel was staring at her with knitted brows. “Are you actually taking us shopping or is this a kidnapping? That why you told our brother to make us leave our phones?”
“There’s a mall not too far from where I live,” Adena said airily, ignoring the accusation. She took out a small remote and pressed a button twice, simultaneously unlocking all the car’s doors, then got in.
Reluctantly, Rodrigo opened the door and slid in next to her up front, separating himself from Raquel and Carlito in the back. Maybe because, for the first time, he didn’t have the luxury of keeping his distance, he couldn’t help admiring Adena’s high cheekbones and pointed chin. She wore a small amount of dark makeup, like purple smokey eyeshadow, that added to her air of intimidation, while also emphasizing how striking she was. Seeing her at night, right after nearly being killed by the creature, he hadn’t noticed.
“Listen, you two,” Adena said as she began driving. “Your brother and I need to chat. There’s a foldout television back there, so turn it to any channel you want.”
“You’ve got a TV back there?” Rodrigo asked, spinning in his seat to look.
“Stay focused,” Adena chided as she brought up a limo-style partition, cutting Raquel and Carlito off from them. “It’s soundproof. They won’t hear a thing.”
“Where do you get the money for this stuff?”
“Never mind that.” She jerked her chin at the half-open drawstring bag on his lap. “You’re going to want to be less lax when carrying around clothes bloody enough to be mistaken for a killer. Leave it here. I’ll burn them later. Anyway, let’s work on making you less ignorant. What’s on your mind?”
“I’ve got loads of questions, but I bet you can guess the one that’s really eating at me.”
“You’re still sore about the house?”
Rodrigo glared at her. “Considering I lived there all my life and then, out of nowhere, you just nuke it. Yeah, that’s gonna take some time to let go of. But I want...no, I need to know you didn’t do it for giggles. Maybe I’ve got you all wrong and you’re just some well-to-do ice queen who doesn’t get how much something like that means to a normal person, but I’m thinking there’s more to the story than ‘collateral damage.’”
“So predictable.” Adena blew out a breath. “I wanted to keep this hidden for as long as possible to avoid panic, but with the reckless way you behave, a dose of fear would benefit you. From what my contact told me, Heinrik, the demon who brought Resent to the human world, was tailed under Misery’s orders. Despite his roundabout methods, his pursuers still realized he had singled you out to become the prince’s vessel, and they decided to observe you. In other words, Misery knows you, he knows your family, and most importantly, he knew where to find you.”
“I don’t get it. Why me?” It was only the second time Rodrigo was voicing the concern that plagued him since meeting Resent.
“Most demons that choose to possess humans long-term are seeking a young host with a long life expectancy, but old enough that they can use the body to fight back if necessary.”
“I guess that makes sense,” Rodrigo said, though it still didn’t answer why the potential candidates had been whittled down to him. “But if Misery knew about me before Heinrik reached out, why not have me killed before we met up?”
“Oh, he tried. Do you remember seeing me in the subway before Resent was even in the picture? You noticed me killing the homeless man, but didn’t realize he had been following you since you cut school. He was possessed, an energumen. And unlike your unique situation, possession is typically total, the host completely in thrall to the demon. He would have slit your throat the second I took my eyes off him. So, I dealt with him like I dealt with other demons before and after.”
As Rodrigo flashed back to his first encounter with Flint and thought beyond his fear at the time, he was astonished. He’d seen that man, seemingly in a drunken stupor, and disregarded him until his murder. This girl, who only yesterday he believed was his worst enemy, had actually saved his life a bunch of times prior to them even meeting. But he knew better than to think she went to so much trouble without an ulterior motive.
“While I’m grateful you’ve been watching my back before I could do it myself, you didn’t play guardian angel for no reason. Yesterday, you said you were testing Resent to see if you could use his help to survive the invasion. But I feel like you could do that much alone.”
“You don’t think I could have done it out of the kindness of my heart?” Adena asked.
Rodrigo raised an eyebrow, but her expression remained deadpan.
Adena lapsed into silence while she drove across the Brooklyn Bridge. Sitting upright in his seat to look through the passenger window, past the bridge’s steel beams and cables, Rodrigo glimpsed part of the East River drifting by below them, sunlight gleaming off its greenish waves.
By the time they entered Manhattan and its congested traffic, he was convinced Adena had tired of sharing, when she continued, “I’m not exactly in the mood to re-visit the worst day of my life, so I’ll get to the point. Misery’s existence has caused me nothing but grief. Because of that, Resent and I share a common goal. We both want him exterminated.”
Rodrigo shook his head in disbelief. His high threshold for madness had finally been crossed. “You’re not talking about taking down the schoolyard bully here. You want to dethrone someone who has ‘legions of demons’, your words, at his command. And you call me reckless?”
Adena took a sidelong glance at him and scoffed. “Did you think Resent was going to pal around with you until you grew old and died? If the prince ever wants to become king, Misery has to go.”
“Though her avoidance in explaining where it originates from is dubious, I can see in her eyes that her hatred for that wretch Misery is genuine,” Resent said. “In my current state, I’m not confident I can kill him alone, so I shall tolerate her. For now.”
Adena pulled the vehicle to a stop in the cacophony of Midtown. Honking car horns, chattering voices in various languages, and aggressively colorful Christmas decorations assaulted his senses. Not that Rodrigo was going to complain about a free ride to someone who could immolate him with her bare hands, but if he knew she was bringing them to this tourist trap, he’d have requested to stay in Brooklyn.
“Now that you have a better understanding of things, I’d bring the kids up to speed, but I left it up to you,” Adena said. “At least that way they won’t be blindsided like the rest of the population.”
“Shouldn’t we tell everyone?” Rodrigo asked. “If the government and military knew what was coming, maybe we could stand a chance.”
Adena stared at him for so long, he became uncomfortable and broke eye contact. “Are you soft in the head? Even if they believed us, which they wouldn’t unless we showed them what we’re capable of, there’s no way they could do anything significant before it started. Just accept it. The invasion is inevitable.”
Raquel and Carlito, at least, were pleased with what they saw as they got out of the car. Surrounded by skyscrapers, the square mall building covered in windows was five stories tall and took up the entire block. Without waiting, they ran up a short flight of steps and through the automatic doors.
Rodrigo made to follow them, but Adena hadn’t gotten out of the car. “You coming?”
“I’ve always preferred online shopping myself. Here.”
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As he took the Chase Sapphire Preferred card she held out to him between two fingers, several questions popped into his head, but he led with, “Who the hell’s Ryan Alexander?”
“Your alias for the foreseeable future. Consider it an extra layer of security against any demons trying to find you. There’s enough on it to tide you over until New Years if you don’t splurge like a high-roller. When you’re done, go to the Bloodstone.” Rodrigo’s furrowed brow must have sufficiently expressed his confusion, because she said, “It’s a hotel.”
“For who? Vampires?”
Adena’s lips twitched upward on one side, but the flicker of humor was snuffed out so fast he might have imagined it. “The arrangements will be taken care of. I’ll be in touch.”
And then, just as abruptly as yesterday, she departed, her vehicle merging into the traffic.
When Rodrigo entered the mall, he found Raquel and Carlito sitting on a wooden bench. He was glad they hadn’t wandered off. Thanks to the last-minute Christmas shoppers, the mall was packed with people of all ages, and it made him feel claustrophobic. Distantly, he was aware of the absurdity of going shopping as a runaway with a demon prince in his head and a potentially catastrophic attack imminent. But he felt like a man drowning in a sea of the bizarre, desperately clinging to any piece of passing driftwood that resembled normality.
“Isn’t she a bit tall for you?” Raquel asked.
“Huh?”
“No, I guess that’s not important. You, managing to get a girlfriend that’s not only good-looking but wealthy, too, is mind-blowing. Even if she did torch our house, I guess beggars can’t be choosers. Where is she, anyway?”
Rodrigo couldn’t help but toy with the idea of letting the misunderstanding be for a while. Maybe Raquel would start showing him a little respect. But if Adena got wind of it, her reaction probably wouldn’t be pleasant. “She has her own stuff to deal with, and we’re not like that.”
“Oh? Then what were you two talking about when the window went up?” Raquel asked, springing to her feet.
“I’ll tell you later. We came here to shop, didn’t we? First stop’s Target.”
Inside, it didn’t take Rodrigo long to find an ATM to get a cash advance of a few hundred dollars from. He blinked and had to strangle a triumphant whoop as he saw he had a credit limit of $10,000. Regrouping with Raquel and Carlito, who ran off in opposite directions as soon as they entered the store, was the real time waster. He didn’t argue with them about the various items spilling out of their arms, only insisting they picked out backpacks as well, then went over to the checkout area.
About twenty minutes later, after a frustrated man squabbled with the cashier over his expired coupon, and an old woman took her sweet time finding her debit card, Rodrigo at last reached the register. With all the “necessities” Carlito had thrown in like Yu-Gi-Oh cards and a Rubik’s Cube, $249.25 was less than expected.
During the next few hours, they went to an assortment of shops on the first four floors. When they were done, Raquel looked like a fashionista wearing a fur-trimmed pink pea coat with white buttons, white skinny jeans, and light brown boots. Carlito was in a lime green jacket, blue jeans, and dark green snow boots. Rodrigo was dressed in a gray wool coat, black pants, and a pair of biker boots Resent had chosen after making him sample a wide variety. Each of them had a couple of bags of things.
“I’ve endured enough trivial ‘shopping’. I demand sustenance,” Resent said.
Rodrigo agreed. “All right, guys, let’s go eat something upstairs.”
“What about all the other stores we passed?” Raquel asked, pouting.
“I think we’ve bought enough for one day.” He had lost track of how much they spent, but knew it was closing in on $1,000.
“Fine. I am pretty hungry since we skipped lunch.”
It was nearly 8:00, so the crowds were thinning as stores shuttered for the night. Rodrigo had considered taking them to a fancy restaurant for the first time since Edward left. But at the food court up on the fifth floor, everyone could eat whatever they wanted.
“What should we get, bro?” Carlito asked.
It was then Rodrigo remembered he needed to invent an excuse for why they couldn’t go home. “Listen, guys, I’m going to call Mom. Grab me a cheeseburger and fries from Nathan’s.”
After that, he walked away and pretended to be talking on his phone for a few minutes, in case either of them looked in his direction. He didn’t even turn it on, dreading the text and voicemail messages from the rest of his family that had likely piled up in the hours since his escape. How long would he be able to get away with this before his face was on the news?
“What did Mom say?” Raquel asked as Rodrigo rejoined them on line.
He sighed, doing his best to look dismayed. “Sounds like the guest room’s crawling with bedbugs. She said we should stay away for a couple of days.”
Raquel gagged. “Gross! Thanks for putting that image in my head before I eat.”
“Wow. So, we’re not going back to Jett’s at all tonight?” Carlito asked.
“Well, once I heard from Mom, I called Adena, and she set us up at a hotel until an exterminator can disinfect the room,” Rodrigo said.
“If she thinks she can just buy our forgiveness...she should keep it up,” Raquel said as she paid for her two hot dogs, and went off to find a table.
“Did you order already?” Rodrigo asked his brother.
“Yep. Mac and cheese,” Carlito said, watching him carefully. “Is something wrong?”
“What do you mean?”
“It’s just that you haven’t stopped lying since your fight with Mom.”
“Lying? About what?” Rodrigo asked, unsure which particular lie he had been caught in.
“Tía not cleaning enough to have bed bugs? No. There’s no way that’d happen. And even if I believed that, why wouldn’t Mom meet us somewhere? Because, for some reason, you don’t want us around her. Don’t want us calling her or being tracked by her, either, so you made us leave our phones.”
“Why would I want that? The fight we had? She goes off on me all the time. It’s nothing new.”
Carlito’s eyes took on an unusual intensity. “Maybe, but the rip on the left sleeve of that shirt you threw out earlier was. Doesn’t take Batman to put the pieces together.”
“How the...” Rodrigo stopped talking. His ten-year-old brother had already unraveled most of his story simply by observing him. If the conversation continued, he might figure out the rest. How he’d let a demon and an arsonist convince him to leave their mother bleeding in the grass. He dramatically threw his hands up in defeat. “All right, bro, you caught me. There’s no bed bugs. I just think Mom needs a vacation from us for a bit. I mean, you’ve seen how out of it she’s been lately. Don’t tell Raquel anything about this yet, okay?”
Carlito studied him for a few more seconds before paying for his food and walking over to the small wooden table by the window Raquel was sitting at. Rodrigo paid quickly and joined them just in case Carlito blabbed.
“So, what hotel are we going to?” Raquel asked, stealing some fries from Rodrigo’s plate to go with her hot dogs. Resent growled internally, and fearing what he might do, Rodrigo swatted her hand away as she reached for more.
“The Bloodstone,” Rodrigo said before picking up his burger and taking a bite.
“What...what is this?” Resent asked.
“It’s a cheeseburger. Something wrong?”
“This is merely meat, bread, and cheese. There is no conceivable reason it should taste this good. At this rate, I might need to have my castle’s chefs advised by humans.”
When they finally made their way out of the mall, daylight had long since faded. Still, with people all over and busy stores as far as Rodrigo could see, the night was just starting for many. A few blocks from here, Times Square, with its neon lights and giant screens, would be a madhouse right now. He watched the ball drop on TV every New Year’s Eve, and always questioned the mindset of the hundreds of thousands who waited hours in the cold to see it live. This year, his only concern would be whether the demons would descend at that exact moment.
Rodrigo had been standing on a corner, flagging down cars the old-fashioned way for several minutes, when a black cab jerked to a halt.
“Thanks. Do you know how to get to the...uh, Bloodstone Hotel?” Rodrigo asked the salt-and-pepper-haired driver, feeling like he was requesting to be driven to a seedy nightclub they both knew wouldn’t let him through the door.
“That’s where I’m headed, but sorry, didn’t stop for you. Got a call.”
A young woman in a flared orange coat and a slouchy, black beanie with her hands full of shopping bags passed Rodrigo by to get into the car. Seeing her through the window, her face, framed by chestnut brown curls that fell to her chest, was so familiar. But she was older than she was in his memory. When their eyes met, he remembered, backing away slowly, hoping she wouldn’t recognize him. Then her eyes dipped to his scarf, the one she’d given him, and widened.
“Hey, isn’t that Hannah’s sister?” Raquel asked, nudging Rodrigo. He hadn’t seen her in over five years now, but no longer needed the reminder. As soon as he saw the amber eyes of the girl who had once been one of his best friends, it hit him. Along with the violent incident that had torn them apart.