Holidays are Hell

"You should not," she snapped. "All it means is trouble. I have just ruined my life for you."

Joseph was silent for a long time. The car engine hummed; fireworks crackled against the road. Six had to swerve to avoid hitting some children playing with sparklers.

"I'm sorry," he finally said, softly. "I am, truly. And I am grateful. But Six…" He stopped, and sighed. "Was it a life you really wanted?"

"It was the life I had," she replied flatly. "What more is there?"

A strong hand reached from the shadows to touch her shoulder. "You know the answer to that. I can feel it in your heart."

Her eyes burned. "People forget how to choose."

"Not you," he murmured. "Not you."

Maybe not, she thought. But choosing right was another matter entirely.

Chapter 5

At four o'clock in the morning the road to Suzhou was mostly empty, and Six gunned the Audi's A6 engine into a high-speed chase of nothing but ghosts. Just outside the city, though, she took an exit to a rest area and parked the car. Cabs idled on the other end of the lot. She could see the drivers playing mahjong on a makeshift table.

"There are some bottles of water back there," she said to Joseph. "You should wash off the worst of the blood. Maybe take off that shirt you're wearing, too."

"Why do I get the feeling that we're dumping this fine piece of machinery?"

"Because we are," she replied, and got out of the car. Inside the trunk she found some spare clothes, money, and a tool kit. All standard issue. She dug around for a screwdriver, and, after making certain no one was watching, removed the car's plates. She tucked them inside a plastic sack that had very recently contained maps, and then went around to take Joseph's bloody shirt. She tossed him a new one and stuffed the old inside the sack with the plates. There was a garbage can nearby. Six dumped everything inside. It would not stay there long. Someone would dig through eventually for scrap and find the contents of the bag, but hopefully the discoverer would keep his or her mouth shut—and if not—then she and Joseph would be long gone. Or as gone as finding that terrorist cell would take her.

She and Joseph. Six shuddered. She really was thinking of them as a team. And him, still a stranger. She knew nothing about Joseph. Nothing but what her instincts were telling her. It should not have been enough. And yet, here she was, breaking the law.

Not just for him, she reminded herself. There is a lot at stake here. Too much. Sometimes you must do the wrong thing in order to make right.

Six thought of her debriefing. The commander had not listened to her warnings about the terrorist cell. Not truly. Intelligence officers had already said that an attack might be imminent. And Six was saying nothing new. Nothing they could use. Nothing she thought she could share. Not without sounding crazy—or ruining Joseph's life.

So she had ruined her own instead.

Joseph approached. His hair was scruffy, his eyes hooded, but the blood was gone and the shirt strained quite nicely over his shoulders. The rough voices of the cab drivers and the rumble of engines drifted close.

"I was thinking," he said slowly. "Xiu only could have been possessed during a moment of close contact. Touching, even. Not only that, but her possessor wouldn't have been able to stay in her body for more than a day. Any longer would be dangerous. Lingering increases the possibilities of becoming… stuck."

"Xiu has been in Shanghai all this time. Her… possessor might be there, as well." Six's cheek hurt. She touched it, lightly, and felt dizzy. Joseph touched her arm.

"We need to take care of that," he said.

"The rest first," she replied.

"It can't wait," Joseph told her.

Six pulled away. "Xiu would not have logged her movements, though I can tell you that she was supposed to question some bankers who work with Chenglei. Their office is near the Bund."

"It's a start," he said. "But it can wait until morning. Right now, all that matters is taking care of you. Unless you want to end up like those creatures."

"No," she said, trying to ignore the pure fear that accompanied that thought. Talking helped. "I still do not understand what they are or what they do. It resembles magic, but I know it must be science."

Joseph looked at her as though he knew exactly what she was feeling. But all he said was, "Magic and science are not mutually exclusive. One looks much like the other, if you don't know the difference. In this case, vampirism is similar to a disease. It affects the appearance, although that can be maintained by choice. It gives strength, speed… but it also makes the victims… hungry."

Six looked away. "Are they evil? Would I… become evil?"