All the Tracker cadets sit in a circle in the center of the hall, dressed in our sparkling new uniforms. Sebastian’s second-in-command, the brawny black man with claw marks down his neck, gives me a cold, hard look from across the room. I tug at the collar of my jacket, trying to get some air between it and my skin, feeling claustrophobic in the expensive cotton. One of the other Trackers—a girl with wavy brown hair—flashes me an appreciative look. Whoa! Since I put on this uniform, everyone at school’s been treating me differently, like I’m one of them at last. It feels good to be respected, but it’s a bittersweet emotion. I shouldn’t have to go to these extremes to get respect.
Natalie’s sitting close by. She tucks a golden curl behind her ear, revealing a small freckle just above her collar. I wonder what it would be like to place my lips over that freckle, to sink my fangs into her neck . . . She turns and catches me looking. A small smile flits across her lips, and in that instant, my fate is sealed.
I want her.
Someone kicks my foot. Sebastian.
He gives me a warning look.
“What do you mean, we’re supposed to run?” Gregory whines, referring to Sebastian’s earlier comment. “I thought we were here to learn to fight.”
Sebastian nods at Claw Neck, who unbuttons the top two buttons of his jacket, revealing his upper body. The claw marks go all the way down his chest, and there’s a huge chunk of flesh missing where a Darkling’s taken a bite out of him. It has the desired effect—everyone’s paying attention now.
“Darklings are taller, stronger and faster than us. If you take one on without the odds being in your favor, which they rarely are, then they’ll kill you before you can blink,” Sebastian says. “If you want to survive, run. There’s no shame in coming back to HQ alive.”
“We hunt in packs,” Claw Neck continues. “That’s how we put the odds in our favor. Your unit is your family now. Your life is in their hands. It’s vital that you learn to move as one, anticipate one another’s movements and protect one another. This way, we’re unstoppable.”
“We have an added benefit, of course. The V-gene,” Sebastian says. “With training, it allows you to sense Darklings, giving you an edge over the enemy. Learning to hone this sense can mean the difference between life and death. But first, the essentials. Sword fighting. Get into pairs.”
I grab a sword from the rack and turn it over in my hand. It doesn’t feel right. There’s no way I’m going to risk stabbing another Darkling. I put the blade back.
“What are you doing?” Claw Neck growls at me.
“I don’t need a sword. I have my own weapons,” I say, flashing my fangs.
Natalie takes one of the smaller swords, giving me a shy smile. My heart pounds inside my chest, ba-boom ba-boom ba-boom. I can’t believe I nearly told her about my heart when we were in the museum. What was I thinking? She’ll say I’m crazy, a freak; she’ll never want to talk to me again. I can’t risk that, when I still don’t know how or why she’s doing this to me.
Gregory bumps into me.
“Get out of the way, mongrel,” he says.
“Sorry,” I say sarcastically. “I didn’t see you down there.”
Gregory’s nostrils flare. He takes the biggest sword on the rack.
“You know what they say about boys with big toys?” I say.
Natalie giggles, and Gregory narrows his eyes at me. Everyone pairs up, leaving just me and Natalie.
“I’ll try not to hurt you too much,” she says
Sebastian strolls over to Natalie, lightly touching her shoulder. Just that small familiar gesture makes my fangs hurt.
“Maybe you should sit this one out. I don’t want you putting too much strain on your heart,” he says.
Her cheeks flush crimson. “I need to practice, don’t I? Otherwise what’s the point of being here?”
“I’m just looking out for you—”
She lifts her sword threateningly at him. “I’m perfectly fine. My heart’s fine. Stop treating me like I’m a child!”
I stifle a grin.
Sebastian squares up to me, giving me attitude. “You hurt her, I’ll hurt you, got it?”
“Loud and clear,” I growl back.
“Sorry about Sebastian,” Natalie says when he’s gone.
“Your boyfriend’s a dick,” I say.
“Seb’s not my boyfriend.” She laughs. “I only told Chris that so he’d stop hitting on me.”
Hope flickers like a flame inside me, making me glow.
We run through a few basic strikes and parries, and it’s pretty clear Natalie’s done this before. Her movements are swift and precise, but even so, she doesn’t manage to strike me once.
“No fair. You keep moving!” she teases as I dart out of the way of another one of her attacks.
“That’s sort of the idea, isn’t it? A Darkling isn’t going to just stand there and take it.”
She beams that beautiful startling smile of hers, and I falter. She thrusts again and this time catches me on the arm, making a small rip in my jacket. I rub my arm dramatically.
“Wimp,” she says.
“You’ve done this before.”
“My father taught me,” she says. A shadow briefly crosses her features, and I wonder what dark memory she’s revisiting.
“How have you been since we found Linus?” I ask gently. It’s been two days since we discovered his dead body in the museum.
She shrugs. “I keep having nightmares about it. There was a short article about it in the paper. Did you see it?”
I nod. It was just a paragraph lost in the sea of news stories. They’d chalked his death up to a Haze overdose—and that was that. A whole life summed up in a few short lines. It’s not much. Would I get even that much coverage if someone found me dead?
“You’ve got your frowny face on,” Natalie says.
“Huh?”
She pulls a very serious face, mimicking me.
“Sorry, I was just thinking about Linus. That was a tough way to go,” I say.
“I can think of worse,” she mutters. “What do you think was in that Golden Haze? It must’ve been strong to kill Linus and his friend so quickly.”
“I’m not sure. Dealers often mix it with naturally occurring hallucinogens, so maybe something like that?” I reply.
We continue to sword fight, although her mind isn’t on it anymore.
“Ash, what were you going to talk to me about at the museum? Something about us bumping heads . . . ?” she says.
My stomach flips. Damn. I’d hoped she’d forgotten about that.
“I just wanted to make sure you weren’t hurt. I’ve got a pretty thick skull,” I say, tapping my head.
She narrows her eyes suspiciously at me. “I lost a few brain cells, but there’s no permanent damage. Is that really what you wanted to ask me?”
“Mmm-mmm. So, you looking forward to Beetle’s party tonight?” I ask to change the subject.
She grimaces. “Not really. Beetle hates me.”
“And Day hates me.”
“It’s going to be a fun night,” she says. “Anyone else coming?”
I laugh. “Nope. Beetle’s not exactly popular around here.”
Natalie bites her lip shyly. “So it’ll just be the four of us? Like a double date?”
I hadn’t thought of it like that, but . . . oh, fragg, are we going on a date?
“Uh-huh” is all I manage to say.
“Everybody circle up,” Sebastian calls out.
We gather back in our group, and I sit as close to Natalie as possible without being too obvious.
“Well, to say your sword-fighting skills are appalling would be a gross understatement,” Sebastian says. “Peter Gibb, you have to keep your eyes open when you strike. Gregory, you fight like you’re trying to hack your way through a jungle. Natalie . . . good work.”
She blushes slightly, and my fangs throb again.
“When are we going to learn how to control our V-gene powers?” Gregory says.
“You need a Darkling to learn how to do that, and you pathetic excuses for soldiers are in no position to be in a room with a Darkling.”
“What about Ash?” Gregory suggests.
“No way!” I reply.
Sebastian scratches his chin as he weighs this up. “All right, let’s give it a go. You’re all so awful at fighting, it might be your only chance of survival, and you’ll need to learn this before you go on your first hunt next week.”
“We’re going on a hunt? Awesome,” Gregory says.
“I’m not going to be anyone’s guinea pig,” I say, but no one’s listening to me.
Natalie stands up and gives me a weak smile.
Sebastian turns off the light, plunging the hall into darkness, and there are a few startled exclamations from the cadets. His voice drifts out from the gloom, moving around the room as he walks easily between us, even though he must not be able to see a thing. That’s one big advantage I have over him: I can see in the dark.
“Spread out around the room. I want you all to focus on Ash. Picture him in your mind’s eye. You should experience a faint electric shock when you sense him—this is your V-gene triggering. The sensation won’t be as strong with a half-blood, but you’ll still be able to detect him. I can.”
With a swift, deft movement Sebastian swings his sword and slices off some of my hair.
“What the fragg!” I say, leaping back. “You could’ve chopped my head off.”
He just laughs in response.
“Seb, we can’t run around a dark room swinging swords at each other. Someone will get hurt,” Natalie says.
“Fair enough. Everybody, place your weapons on the ground. When you find the nipper, just tap him on the shoulder and say, ‘Tag, you’re dead.’”
My fangs flood with venom, enraged at being called a nipper. Right, you asked for it. This is war.
There’s a clatter of metal as everyone puts the swords on the ground, then the cadets start to move around the room, their arms outstretched, searching for me like they’re playing a game of Blind Man’s Bluff. Only Natalie and Gregory remain still, both of them trying to channel their V-gene.
“Over here,” I whisper.
A number of cadets lurch toward me, but I deftly move out of the way, and they crash into each other. This is going to be fun! I silently patrol the room, occasionally knocking the wall beside one of the cadets to draw their attention away from the group. I tag three out within a minute.
I tap another unsuspecting cadet on the shoulder. “Tag, you’re dead.”
The cadet grumbles and sits out.
“Don’t underestimate your opponent,” Claw Neck says in the gloom. “Darklings will often try and lure you away from the pack so you’re easier to take down.”
Is that what I’ve been doing? I hadn’t realized—it was just instinct.
There’s movement from the center of the room, and Gregory starts walking roughly in my direction, slowly, deliberately.
“Come out, come out, wherever you are, nipper,” he says.
He veers off to the right, clearly not sensing me at all. Natalie, on the other hand, heads straight for me. I’m too stunned to move at first, and she’s almost upon me before I gather my wits and sidestep out of her way. She immediately turns and comes for me again. Even in the dark, I can tell she’s smiling.
“There’s no point running, Ash. I can feel you,” she whispers.
She almost gets me again. Bloody hell! She really can sense me!
Well, there’s no way I’m letting her get the better of me. I’ll never live it down. I pounce at Natalie, knocking her off her feet and pinning her against the wall.
“Tag, you’re dead,” I whisper mockingly in her ear.
Somewhere in the dark, Sebastian and the cadets move about the room, closing in.
I release Natalie’s arms and expect her to walk away, but instead her hand moves up to my face and she lightly traces her fingers over my lips, brushing across my fangs, making them throb with venom. My breath catches in my throat at her forbidden touch. What’s she doing? If they catch her doing this to me . . .
“You can run, but you can’t hide,” Gregory taunts somewhere to my right.
Shame squirms inside my gut, loathing how my body’s responding to her. A million reasons run through my head why I should push her away, but I don’t. Instead, I do the one thing I shouldn’t: I reach out my hand and gently touch her face. She lets out a soft, breathy moan as my fingertips explore the contours of her face. In a weird way, this is the first time I’ve truly “seen” her; my fingertips chart a map of her features, committing every tiny detail to memory. Desire and guilt wage a war inside me, and I’m torn between wanting her and my loyalty to my species. She’s a Sentry. This is so wrong! And yet I’m unable to control myself. My fingers brush over her smooth skin, running past the dimple on her left cheek before finding the soft fullness of her lips.
“Ash,” she sighs, tilting her head up.
Her lips touch mine. They barely make contact, but a force like a lightning bolt shoots through them and straight into my heart. An explosion of pain erupts inside my chest. Natalie stumbles back, and I know she’s as stunned as I am because that’s when I feel it:
A second heartbeat pounding inside my chest.
“Natalie . . .”
Rough hands grab me in the dark, and Gregory whoops victoriously. “Tag, you’re dead, nipper.”