As they approached, he said, “Will your parents come outside? Do we need to cover who I am, what I’m doing here, anything like that?”
“They’re in Albany. Lobbyists, and their bill is under discussion, so—I’ve hardly seen them for more than ten minutes a day since Christmas.”
“That’s not much.”
“They have their reasons.” There was humor in Skye’s gaze as she glanced back at him. “And why wouldn’t I tell them the truth? You’re an old friend from school who’s come to say hi.”
“Do they know about Evernight? What it really was?”
“Nope. I figured I’d rather close out my senior year at my hometown school than a mental institution. Though I’m not sure I see any difference.” She sighed as she dismounted.
“Is anyone else at home? Do you have a sister or brother?”
Skye stiffened at the question, and he hesitated before getting off the horse, unsure why this was such a sore subject. Then she said, shortly, “My brother died last year. It’s just me.”
“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay. I’m on my own, but I can take care of myself.”
Clearly, this wasn’t something she wanted to discuss. So he dismounted without another word.
Balthazar led Eb into the warm stable and began unsaddling him. One other horse, a mare with a reddish coat, whickered as if welcoming them inside. Skye didn’t interfere, just watched him put up the tack and brush Eb down. Only when she appeared satisfied that Balthazar really understood how to care for a horse did she speak. “Okay, so, how did you know to show up in the woods like that? Do you just go around finding people in trouble like… Vampire Batman or something?”
He had to smile. “I wish. No, Lucas told me you were having some trouble and asked me to drop in on you, check things out. He didn’t mention any vampire attacks, though.”
“There haven’t been any. Not before today, I mean. I only wrote him about—” Clearly this was difficult for her to talk about. “About the visions. The deaths.”
“So, you’re still seeing them.” Lucas had said that she was being overcome by what appeared to be wraiths; instead of being haunted, however, Skye was witnessing deaths in vivid, graphic detail—constantly. First they needed to find a pattern. “Is it happening more frequently now? Does it happen at night, during the day, after you’ve done something or not done something…”
Skye shook her head. The lantern light burnished her dark hair, bringing out the hint of auburn beneath the brown. He’d hardly ever allowed himself to notice before, but she was a strikingly beautiful girl. “It’s not about anything I do or don’t do. It’s only about where I am. If I’m in a place where somebody died, I see it. But it’s more than seeing—I know how everyone felt. The victim and the killer, if it was a murder.”
“They aren’t all murders?” Wraiths were created only by homicide; if she was seeing other kinds of deaths, then wraiths had nothing to do with it.
“Sometimes they are. But sometimes they’re just—sudden. Violent. None of them are peaceful.” Skye folded her arms in front of her, unconsciously shielding herself. “The first one I saw was on the drive home from Evernight. We got caught in traffic on the interstate, and while we were idling there I saw this car crash—the aftermath of one—and this crumpled body… I thought I must be going crazy. Or that all that weird stuff at Evernight had me, I don’t know, not in my right mind. But when I watched that crash over and over—watched that guy die, heard it, even smelled it—I knew it had to be real.” A shudder rippled through her. “Did you know you can smell blood in smoke? You can.”
“Yes, I knew that.” Best not to get into how. “So you see the visions whenever you’re near the site of a sudden death.”
“It’s like the dead want me to pay attention. Like they want me to go through it all with them. When it’s happening, I have to fight to remember who and where I am. I want to snap out of it, but sometimes I can’t. Is this—did Lucas send you because you know a lot about this kind of thing?”
“Unfortunately, no.” Balthazar kept brushing Eb; he’d forgotten how much this simple, repetitive act helped him concentrate. Working on cars was fun, but it had nothing on caring for a horse. “Lucas and Bianca would’ve come themselves, but Black Cross has been giving them trouble lately.”
“Black Cross?”
“Oh. I forgot you didn’t know.” For the first time, it occurred to Balthazar that Skye was still an outsider in the world of the supernatural. Despite everything she’d seen and done, much of his world remained a mystery to her. “Vampire hunters. Don’t worry; Bianca and Lucas are fine. But they wanted me to find out more about what was going on with you, and make sure you were okay. Instead you’re being hunted by a vampire.”
Skye tucked a lock of her hair behind one ear, obviously trying hard to concentrate, though this had to be overwhelming for her. “Okay. Vampires are … everywhere, then. Not just at Evernight.”
“Not just at Evernight. A lot of us try hard to live normally and get by, but there are dangerous ones out there. And the one you ran into tonight, Lorenzo—he’s bad news.”
Bad news: What an understatement. But telling her the full truth right now was something Balthazar didn’t want to do unless it was necessary—it would only panic her. Above all, he didn’t want to get into the labyrinthine complications of his own long past.