Take Courage, My Heart

Chapter Thirty-One

The car that stopped before us was sleek black with tinted windows. The passenger door opened, and a huge guy dressed in combat clothing climbed out and opened the back door of the car. Frankie pointed at him the screen of her phone, where he could check her invitation, and with a nod of his approval, she urged me to get inside and then climbed in herself.

The driver didn't turn to address us, but he was also burly and dressed in combat clothing. I looked at the side of his face and tried to memorize the line of his jaw and the sharpness of his nose. It would be hard, trying to remember every face we came across, but I was going to do my best.

Frankie and I had arrived in New York the previous night, alone and in her car. Leander and Annerose had followed this morning, but we hadn't contacted each other. We doubted that Frankie's phone would be tracked, much less that we would be watched, but we didn't want to risk it.

We both had put on our formal wear. Frankie wore a forest green Cami dress that exposed one of her legs and accentuated her waist and chest. Meanwhile, I had taken a page out of Leander's outfit guide, and I was matching Frankie as I wore a dark green suit with a sheer lace top. The point was to appear wealthy and confident, something that in the few days I had known Frankie I had realized was her default setting.

Ezra had only contacted us twice since he arrived in Maine. The moment he landed he called us to say he was on the way to my family house. And then he had sent Leander a couple of texts, informing us that my family was alright but that he would be sticking around a little longer to make sure nobody decided to pay them a visit. 

The car ride was long and slow, traffic working against us. I was trying really hard to not let my nerves get the best of me. The vampires in the front of the car would be able to pick up on the fact that my heart rate would spike up and I had no intention of blowing this operation up.

We came to a stop at the mouth of a dark alleyway, and we waited for the vampires in the front to open the door for us. Once we were out he told us to follow him, and we went deeper into the dark alleyway. The traffic could still be heard in the distance but for the most part, my senses were overwhelmed by the environment around us. Mildew, mold, and sewage were the most prominent smells, close to suffocating. Broken glass and trash were a conglomerated pile at the edges of the alley, making me feel all the more disgusted with each approaching step I took.

We reached a flickering green neon light that wrote Beer and the door by it opened the moment the vampire leading us stopped walking. Another man appeared as muscular and intimidating as the other two. 

"Invitation?" he asked, and Frankie offered her phone to him. "And him?" he pressed tilting his head towards me. I met his gaze and gave him a tight smile.

"He's my plus one," Frankie answered for me.

"Name," the man said.

"David Walker," I replied.

"Show me your eyes," he went on, noting down the name I gave him on the tablet he was holding.

I bit into the inside of my cheek, letting blood spill on my tongue and the now-familiar pressure behind my eyes overtook me. Thirst. The vampire before me appeared satisfied as my eyes flashed red and he let us pass inside.

Once we passed the door all the unpleasantries from the outside disappeared. The hallway before us was small and doused in a red light. It smelled heavily of some spicy and warm cologne, but it wasn't stuffy. Frankie took my hand in hers and we intertwined our fingers as we reached the end of the hallway and a spiral staircase. We went down, and my nerves started to get the better of me. We reached a door with a vampire standing before it. This time it was a woman with a high blonde ponytail and a very short navy blue dress.