Page 69 of Voyage of Fury and Fate

“What is it, Alex?” I ask, moving to his side.

“There’s someone outside. Someone like us.”

“A vampire?” I ask. He shakes his head.

“Someone with abilities?” Amelia asks, joining us at the window.

“There.” He points at a boy around his age, standing next to what I assume are his parents. “He’s human.”

“There are humans with special abilities. That’s been proven for many years.” Fran joins us.

Alex turns toward me. “Patrice is following him.”

“She’s outside? Are you sure?” I ask.

“No, but she’s nearby.”

I move to the door at vampire speed, only to run into a petite hybrid. “We need to follow her, not kill her.” Amelia stops me. “She’ll sense you and run. She needs to continue to think she’s smarter than us. The only way to find the girls and stop Kragen is by you and Alex staying away from her.”

“We can’t let her get that boy. You know what she’ll do to him,” I retort.

“I’ll go,” Fran says. “She won’t recognize my energy. To her, I’ll appear as an aging, useless, New Orleans vampire.” She moves through the door. “I’ll report back soon.”

EIGHTEEN

fresh blood

Fran movesout of the house at vampire speed. Amelia’s right, Patrice will recognize my energy, but I’m not a fan of not being in control.

“Anyone want to play a game while we wait?” Luna breaks the silence.

Alex moves beside me, squeezing my hand. “Fran found her already. She’s talking to me.”

“How is she doing that?”

He shrugs. “She’s thinking really loudly.”

“Can you talk to her?”

“I tried. I don’t think she hears me.”

I move toward the window overlooking the street, searching for anything that might provide answers. The young boy Patrice was stalking is still on Bourbon Street, a block further down. I turn toward the audience. “I’m going down there.” I hold my hands upproactively. “No one panic. I’m not going to do anything dumb. I just want to try to talk to him.”

“I’ll come with you,” Alex says, lacing his fingers through mine.

“Me, too.” Thorne joins, making us look like a young family as we exit the loft.

“There they are.” I nod toward the family a few blocks away. “How can we do this without looking like stalkers?”

Alex pulls a plastic dinosaur from his pocket. “I found this earlier. We can use it.” We close the distance, practically bumping into the family.

“Hey!” Alex says to the boy. “Did you drop this? I found it back there?” He points behind us.

The boy stares at the tiny toy. “No, but it’s super cool.”

“Yeah, I thought so, too,” Alex continues. “My name is Alex. What’s yours?”

“Brayden,” he answers. “Mom?” he looks up to his mother. “This is Alex.”

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