Night of Never Page 17

  “How sweet.” Raina jumped up.

  “Let’s get you to Dr. Wynne,” Jeremy said.

  “Don’t bother the doctor. She just needs to wash up. The skin on her shoulder’s already healed. Try not to puke on anything on your way.” Raina headed down the tunnel, leaving Jeremy and Nola alone in the cool night air.

  “I’m not weak.” Nola stared into the shadows as Raina disappeared.

  Jeremy took Nola’s hand, ignoring the blood on her skin. “You’re the furthest from weak I could ever imagine.”

  They started down the hall. The wet slosh of Nola’s shoes resonated off the stone walls.

  “Then why do I feel like the world is going to swallow me whole?” Nola’s words came out in an odd spurt as she lost the fight to keep her breathing calm.

  “It won’t. The world won’t swallow you, Nola. It needs you too much.” He kept his voice low and steady. “We need someone whose heart can still care. Still hurt for people she doesn’t even know.”

  They walked in silence past the windows. Nola wanted to hum or scream. Anything to be sure she wouldn’t hear the sounds of the girl searching through the pockets of the dead.

  The door of the sparring room heaved open before they could reach it. Two men with empty crates squeezed past them in the hall.

  Lilly’s shoes will be worth something. Life in the domes won’t have given them much wear.

  Silence overtook the sparring hall in a deafening wave as Nola stepped into the room. All eyes found her, taking in her bloody legs, torn up shoulder, and deathly pale face.

  Nola kept her head high as she walked through the room, carefully avoiding looking anyone in the eye.

  “Her shoes.” The whisper prickled the back of Nola’s neck.

  She turned to see who had spoken, but the path behind her drove every other thought from her mind.

  Dribbles of blood stained the floor everywhere she’d stepped.

  Jeremy wrapped an arm around Nola’s waist, half-carrying her out of the room.

  “I have to clean it up.” Nola struggled against Jeremy’s grip.

  “Someone else can do it.”

  Tears blurred Nola’s vision.

  Raina’s voice carried through the library door as they passed.

  Jeremy didn’t stop at the door to his room. He led her farther down, barely knocking before swinging open the door to the shower.

  The small room smelled like damp stone and silt. A tap hung high on the wall.

  Jeremy took the bottom of Nola’s shirt, pulling it over her head before she could blink the tears from her eyes. She kicked off her shoes and socks, unwilling to touch them with her fingers.

  He turned on the tap. Cool was the only temperature Nightland had to offer. Nola stepped under the water, grateful for even that thin comfort as she scrubbed her hands.

  “I’ll go find some clean clothes,” Jeremy said.

  Nola grabbed his hand before he could reach for the doorknob.

  “Stay.” Nola pressed her forehead to his chest. “Please stay.”

  Her lips found his as she pulled him into the water, grateful for the racing beat of his heart. Proof she couldn’t ignore that life still existed.

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  “We need to know.” Jeremy stood in front of Emanuel’s red chair. “If there are Domers roaming outside the glass, we can’t afford to hide here anymore.”

  Nola glanced from Jeremy to Emanuel. The tension in the air pressed against Nola’s lungs. Emanuel sat with his fingers tented under his chin. Raina’s hand rested on the hilt of her knife. Kieran stood with his arms crossed, looking anywhere but at Jeremy. The only one who seemed at ease was Julian.

  “What would there be to find out?” Kieran asked. “If they’re coming for us, they’ll come. If they’ve kicked out some of their own people, it doesn’t affect us.”

  “It does.” Nola tucked her damp curls behind her ears. “Something is wrong with the domes. Salinger may be a demon, but he wouldn’t go around kicking people out. They’re needed to maintain the population. The guards that were killed threw off the numbers. Jeremy and I leaving did, too. They wouldn’t just let people leave.”

  “They’ve just brought in a massive amount of Outer Guard,” Emanuel said. “Perhaps they’ve decided they have no further use for a civilian population.”

  “Even in Nightland someone cleans the floors and does the laundry,” Raina said. “You’d have to be desperate to get rid of the guy who mops.”

  “Fair enough,” Emanuel said. “But if the domes have lost their minds and started getting rid of their own, it only gives me more reason to keep my people safe within Nightland’s walls.”

  “Not if Salinger has taken over.” Jeremy glanced around the room. “Is there someplace else we could talk about this?”

  Emanuel’s gaze traveled from Julian to Raina and Kieran before fixing on Nola. “We could go to my kitchen if you like, but all of these people will come with us.”

  Jeremy bit his lips together. “There’s a reason people don’t talk about Salinger. I barely know anything about him, and I was a guard. He’s the side of the domes none of the Domers want to talk about. He’s basically the boogey man. He’s vicious, was vicious enough with the outsiders at his home domes he got a reputation for being brutal. The Incorporation wanted to send him here a few years ago when the riots started to get bad. My father said no.”

  “What?” Nola stepped up next to Jeremy.

  “It was right after your dad died,” Jeremy said. “We needed help, but my dad knew Salinger would just make things worse. He told the Incorporation he had his own plans.”

  “Graylock,” Kieran said.

  “A way to keep the Incorporation and Salinger as far away from here as possible.” Julian leaned against a bookcase, mug in hand. “It’s rather brilliant. Where I come from, they welcomed Salinger with open arms. He was much younger then, though I’m not sure if time will have made him better or worse. He stripped down the community outside our domes to the bare minimum for keeping the useful factories running. Everyone else was given three days to clear out of the area or risk the wrath of the domes. I left the domes and blended in with the others who were fleeing. Most of those poor people didn’t last two weeks once the city had been closed to them. The man has no mercy.”

  “We already figured that out when he slaughtered a city full of people,” Raina said. “So why are we still talking about this?”

  “Because it doesn’t make sense,” Jeremy said. “Either Salinger is in control of the domes and is kicking people out, in which case we need to get as far away from here as we can. Or there’s something else wrong with the domes.”

  A knot of fear pinched between Nola’s shoulder blades.

  “What do you mean wrong?” Raina asked.

  “If the domes have fallen.” Julian set down his mug. “The domes are a delicate ecosystem. Everything must be in perfect order for life to continue. When I was part of the domes, I was an asset manager. Every item the domes utilized had been decided long before I took my post, and there was no room for error or short falls. Maintaining the operation of the domes was a worry constantly haunting all our dreams.”

  “The domes were built to run for generations.” Fear twisted a path down Nola’s spine.

  “Absolutely,” Julian said. “If everything goes well, the domes could be self-sustaining for hundreds of years. But if the population were to decrease or increase too drastically, there would either be a work shortage or a food deficit. A fungus could wipe out the food supplies, an issue with the cooling systems could destroy all of the seeds.”

  “If life in the glass is always on the verge of collapse, why didn’t they tell us?” Nola asked.

  “We were kids,” Kieran said. “Why would you tell kids they might not get to grow up?”

  “The domes demand certainty,” Emanuel said. “You started to doubt, and look where it led you.”

  “How much harder would it be to invest
yourself in the mission of the domes if you weren’t sure the mission would succeed?” Julian asked.

  “So the two theories we’re going with are a psychopath has taken over the domes,” Nola said, “or the domes have fallen?”

  “Can you think of another option?” Emanuel asked.

  Nola’s mind raced, searching through every possibility. “What if Lilly decided she couldn’t stay in the domes after they burned the city? What if she couldn’t live with the guilt?”

  “Do you really think Lilly would have done that?” Pity filled Jeremy’s eyes.

  Nola rubbed her hands over her face. “No, she wouldn’t.”

  “Emanuel,” Jeremy said. “Something is going on out there. We need to know what it is.”

  Emanuel stared at Jeremy for a long moment. “The five of you go. Take the sun suits and whatever weaponry you need. Find out what you can, and come back alive. Don’t let anyone follow you home.”

  “Nola should stay behind,” Jeremy said.

  “I’m going.” Nola laid her hand on his arm. “Don’t fight me on it.”

  “Not until you get your last dose,” Kieran said. “Dad won’t allow it.”

  “Then I’ll take it now.” Nola walked toward the back door of the library. “One day early can’t hurt, right?”

  “Nola, we don’t know what will happen if you take it early.” Jeremy chased after her.

  “You got a shot in the stomach when you almost died,” Nola said. “That was less than two weeks. They did it for you. Dr. Wynne can do it for me.”

  Nola strode through the door.

  Eden pouted at the kitchen table. Bea sat across from her, glowering at Eden as she pushed food around her plate.

  “Eden.” Nola stopped in the doorway, the desire to hold the child just to prove the little girl was alive pressed painfully in her throat. “What’s wrong with your food?”

  Eden looked at Bea, then back down at her plate. “Daddy said he would sit with me while I ate.”

  “We had to talk to him in the library.” Nola knelt next to Eden’s chair. “It’s hard when your parent has a lot of responsibility.”

  Eden’s bottom lip trembled. “I want daddy.”

  “I know.” Nola tucked Eden’s dark hair behind her ears. “But you know what we were talking about? Keeping you and everybody who lives here safe. I’m sorry he missed dinner, but he’s trying to take care of you as best he can. Okay?”

  Eden nodded.

  “You know how you could help him?” Nola asked.

  Eden shook her head.

  “Eat up all your food so you can stay nice and strong.” Nola pushed Eden’s plate toward her. “That would be a really big help.”

  Eden narrowed her eyes at her roasted mushrooms and squash. “I want to help.” She picked up a mushroom and tucked it into her mouth.

  “Good job.” Nola stood and walked out into the hall.

  “Nola?” Eden’s voice pulled her back. “My daddy will take care of you, too.”

  “He will.” Nola nodded, pressing her face into a careful smile.

  “Nola,” Jeremy whispered behind her shoulder.

  “What?” She stopped at the big metal door.

  “We could wait another day,” Jeremy said. “If you’re really determined to go—”

  “How many more people could take bad Vamp in a day?” Nola asked. “I don’t want to have to stab someone I know in the heart. You said I’m strong, Jeremy. I don’t know if I’m strong enough for that.”

  She knocked on the laboratory door.

  “Come in,” Dr. Wynne’s cheerful voice called back.

  Before Nola had pushed the door fully open, Dr. Wynne was on his feet.

  “Nola.” He held out his hands in greeting. “I was told you had been bitten, but I don’t think there’s anything I can do for you. Jeremy.” He added the less enthusiastic greeting as Jeremy stepped into the room.

  “I’d like my last injection.” Nola sat on the table. “It’s only a day early, and I need to leave for a little while.”

  “Leave?” Dr. Wynne blinked at her. “Leave for where?”

  “It’s a long story,” Jeremy said. “We shouldn’t be gone long, in fact we can wait—”

  “Jeremy.” Nola spoke his name as a warning.

  “I can give you the shot now.” Dr. Wynne moved to his table in the corner where a cold storage box hummed dully. “I’m not sure if it will reduce its effectiveness, though it certainly shouldn’t damage you.”

  “Reduce its effectiveness?” Jeremy asked.

  “Healing and the like,” Dr. Wynne said. “I’m not sure if the dose will remain as effective in the long run. I’m afraid I just don’t have the data to make an accurate assessment.”

  “We already know I heal just fine from zombie bites.” Nola unbuttoned the top of her shirt. “If I get really hurt, we can give me another dose then.”

  “Well, yes.” Dr. Wynne lifted a black-filled syringe from the box. “We are working with a limited supply, of course. We’ve only got two full doses after this. I’ve been using one to study the formula.”

  Nola gripped the edge of the metal. The bottom lip of the table hadn’t been filed down. The sharp edges dug into her fingers.

  “You can’t make any more?” Jeremy asked.

  “I could,” Dr. Wynne said. “It’s not that difficult, really. I could make more of it right here, if I had the formula. Right now, I’m working my way backwards. Think of it as baking bread, if you will. I know I need flour, leavening, salt, but the exact recipe is very difficult to find. That’s how we end up with so many bad batches of Vamp and Lycan. Without the exact details, the results can be deadly. In time, perhaps I would be able to come up with the right process, but it could take years.”

  “Then you can’t go.” Jeremy took Nola’s hands. “You have to stay here and safe.”

  Nola pressed her fingers to his lips. “I can heal. We’ve seen it. If someone ripped out one of our jugulars, we’d still heal. It would take time, but I could keep you safe. And I know you would do the same for me.”

  “But—”

  Nola leaned into Jeremy, pressing her lips to his.

  “This makes going to the city even more important than before,” Nola said. “The city is one small river away from the domes. Graylock was made in the labs there. If the domes really are falling apart, the formula could be lost forever. Let’s find the bread recipe and bring it back.”

  “And if Salinger is still there?” Jeremy asked.

  “We let Raina kill him,” Nola said.

  “I would suggest taking one spare dose with you and leaving the rest here for me to continue my work.” Dr. Wynne stepped up to Nola, needle in hand. “Then, if this doesn’t work as planned, you can give Nola the extra dose.”

  “I won’t need it.” Nola closed her eyes as Dr. Wynne opened her shirt.

  She didn’t gasp as the needle pierced her heart or scream as the ice raced down her veins.

  Her blood greeted the cold as an old friend, welcoming it into every part of her.

  “You’ll be as strong as the drug can make you now.” Dr. Wynne’s words floated from far away. “So do try not to break anything.”

  “Breathe,” Jeremy said.

  Nola inhaled. Air flew into her lungs, sending power through her muscles like zaps of electricity.

  The sound of crumpling metal came from beneath her.

  “Oh dear,” Dr. Wynne said.

  “Careful.” Jeremy’s hands touched hers. The texture of his fingers sent chills flying up her arms.

  She gasped and opened her eyes.

  Blood dripped from her fingers. She let go of the table. Handprints dented the metal, and blood stained the edges.

  “Here you are.” Dr. Wynne passed her a wet towel.

  She wiped the blood from her fingers with the cool cloth. The prefect skin on her hands held no trace of where she’d sliced open her fingers only moments before. She grabbed the edge of the table, squeezi
ng the place where she’d already left handprints until she felt the metal cut her skin.

  Holding her hands up to her face, she watched the skin knit back together as drops of blood trailed down her palm.

  “This is amazing,” Nola said. “I really am like a superhero.”

  “Superheroes can still get killed.” Jeremy caught her hands as she reached toward the edge of the table again. “You have to remember that, Nola. There are some things we can’t come back from.”

  Nola wiped the blood from her hands. “I know we can get hurt, just the same as vampires and wolves, but this is still amazing.”

  “Quite.” Dr. Wynne handed the black case to Jeremy.

  “Thank you.” Jeremy slid the case onto his belt.

  “Try not to need the dose, either of you.” Dr. Wynne waved them toward the door.

  “Dr. Wynne.” Nola turned back as Jeremy stepped into the hall. “Thank you for trying with the Graylock. Your helping us means a lot.”

  “Well”—Dr. Wynne fluttered his hands in the air—“it is my duty as a doctor, and it could help save many more lives. Besides, you’re both good people. The world needs as many of those as it can come by these days.”

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Raina had cleared the sparring room, sending the fifty-odd fighting vampires scurrying into the tunnels of Nightland.

  Julian pulled open the weapons cage, narrowing his eyes as he touched the hilt of each sword.

  Raina reached into the other side of the cage.

  “Here.” She tossed Nola a belt with two knives in leather sheathes and an Outer Guard gun hanging off the side. “Remember, the pointy end goes into the people we don’t like, and the bang bang stick doesn’t get pointed at our friends.”

  “Thanks.” Nola wrapped the belt around her middle.

  “You almost look a little dangerous.” Raina smiled.

  “I’ll take that as a compliment,” Nola said.