Afterlife by Claudia Gray Read Free Book Online Page B

was there, I rode with the guys who burned the place down.”
    I remembered what Balthazar had said and clung to it. “You’re
a vampire now. If you ask for sanctuary, Mrs. Bethany has to give it to you.
They might not be friendly, exactly, but they’ll give you a place to stay, and
plenty of blood to drink, and advice about how to deal with the hunger. For
weeks or months, however long you need.”
    “Or years,” Lucas said. “Balthazar’s kept coming back for
years.”
    Balthazar had attended Evernight Academy for different
reasons, ones more focused on the school’s true mission: helping young — looking
vampires pass for human by keeping them up — to — date with the modern world. I
wasn’t about to point that out to Lucas, though. The last thing he needed to
hear was how well all the other vampires could manage.
    Lucas added, “Besides, it doesn’t matter how much they hate
me. We’re not going to Evernight Academy because it’s dangerous for you.”
    “For me ? ” I had hardly had a moment
to consider this, but Lucas was right. We knew from the events at school last
year that Mrs. Bethany was no longer merely the headmistress at Evernight; she
was also using the school as a means of finding — and perhaps capturing — ghosts
like me. Why she was doing this remained a mystery, but there was no doubt that
she loathed the wraiths. Whatever she was up to couldn’t be good for us.
    Seeing realization dawn on my face, Lucas nodded. His
expression had become truly grim. “I’vealready screwed things up so badly that
you died,” he said. “No way am I ever going back to the one place where that
situation could get even worse.”
    What else could we do, though? I forced myself to be brave.
“We’ ll figure it out.”
    “Don’t ask me to go there without you. I couldn’t take it.”
Lucas said it simply, like it was obvious; if he was parted from me, the thin
tether of will that kept him going would snap.
    “You’re going to Evernight Academy, and I’m going with you.”
    “Bianca, no. It’s too dangerous.”
    “Lucas, yes.” He always wanted to protect me against every
risk, but it was time for a reality check. “Is it more dangerous than my being
a vampire in a Black Cross cell? I made it through that, and I’ll make it through
this. Besides, there are wraiths who managed to be at Evernight without being
destroyed by Mrs. Bethany. Maxie’s one of them. It can be done. At least I know
to be careful.”
    Lucas didn’t look convinced. “We could do something else.
Lock me up someplace until I — “
    “Until you stop wanting blood?” I kept my voice low, to
soften the impact of my next words. “That’s not going to happen. And I’m not
turning you into a prisoner in some basement somewhere. I’m telling you, we can
do this. We can because we have to.”
    “I don’t like it.”
    “I don’t either, but I’ll be all right. You’ll have a
structure there, a blood supply, other vampires who can help teach you how to
handle this. Ranulf and Balthazar will go with you,” I promised. “And Vic’s
going back, too, remember?”
    His dark green eyes widened, and I knew that Vic wasn’t a
source of comfort for him; he wasn’t a friend. He was prey.
    Hurriedly, I added, “You’ll be able to be around Vic while
others are there to help you. Eventually it’s going to seem easy.”
    Lucas stared down at the floor, and I hated myself for being
so glib, so casual. Maybe he would learn to bear it, but it would never be
easy. It didn’t help either of us for me to pretend that it could.
    I remembered what Balthazar had said, about vampires walking
into a fire rather than going on. Lucas knew better than most how to destroy a
vampire’s body.
    “Okay. It won’t be easy,” I said. “It never has been. And
that’s never kept us apart.”
    He held out his arms, and I ran into them. Already his
embrace had cooled, but it was still Lucas, still us. Into my hair, Lucas
whispered, “Will