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“We have to go, Mercy,” Dorian said. “Please.”

“I can’t leave,” I said. “Jade, let me turn you.”

She shook her head, a tear running down her face. “Get out of here. Now, or I’ll put you both in that coffin.”

Dorian grabbed my wrist, yanking me out of the house as I resisted him the entire way. I’d force her if I must. She wasn’t going to sacrifice herself like that. I didn’t know why I cared so much, but I did. Nothing about this was right. Maurice would not be the cause of her life being taken from this earth.

I yanked free from his grip, running back to the house, but she was already on the porch, the sun beating down on her fair white skin. The sun would be the weapon to take her life.

“No!” I cried out as I watched her body burst into flames. It didn’t last long. Not for a vampire. She was ash before she could scream.

I fell to my knees. I had never seen a vampire die by the sun before. It was always so quick, with a flick of my wrist and the pierce of the stake through their heart. This was something else. This wasn’t a sight I was prepared for.

“Now, Mercy. We have to go, now.”

I felt Dorian’s hands on mine again, pulling me away from the prison they had held us in. A prison that, hours ago, I believed to be my home. I thought it to be the place I shared with a man I loved. An ugly lie. A fantasy created by a demented narcissist. He wouldn’t win today. Not with me. Not with Dorian. And not with Jade.

We took off down the road. We had no money, no phone. I had no idea where we were going to go.

We hurried down to the beach, and I spotted a couple sitting on the sand. “Excuse me. We have an emergency. Can I please use your phone? I have no money to give you. I’m sorry.”

The man shook his head, put his arms around the woman, and walked away.

Okay, I get it. We’re strangers. Not everyone will be that skeptical, though.

I pointed to a teenager. “There.”

This time, Dorian spoke. “Excuse me, we have an emergency. Can we borrow your phone for just one minute?”

She nodded and smiled. “Um … sure, here.”

“Thank you,” I said, grabbed the phone, and dialed Joel’s number, and he picked up right away. “Hello?”

“Joel, it’s Mercy,” I said, relieved to hear his voice.

“Mercy!” he shouted in reply. “You guys! It’s Mercy on the phone.” I heard shouts and commotion in the background.

“Who’s there?”

“Lily and Bradley came over tonight,” Joel said. “Oh, Mercy, we’ve been so worried.”

“Look, we don’t have much time,” I said. “Dorian and I are on the north side of the Huntington Beach Pier. We need you to teleport us home.”

“Give me five minutes. I need to grab a map to pinpoint the exact location.”

“Okay, see you soon.”

I hung up the phone and handed it back to the girl. “Thank you again.”

The girl continued down to the pier, and we waited for only a few minutes before the entrance to the vortex opened, and we stepped inside the portal. It zipped us through faster than it took for us to blink.

We landed in the front living room, but no one was there. I called out, “Joel? Lily?”

“I’ll check the kitchen,” I said.

Dorian eyed the back door. “I’ll check out back.”

We split up, and I called for them again but heard nothing. I looked for Dorian near the back door but didn’t see him, so I walked out to the backyard.

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