“Wel , now you’ve apologized so I think—”
“And there’s something else,” she quickly interrupted. “I think Savannah’s involved in al this somehow.”
For the first time since arriving, I felt like I was seeing a little bit of the old Trinity—the grand manipulator, the vicious, spiteful girl I’d always known. That had to be it, because there was no way Savannah was involved. No way.
“Don’t even try it, Trinity. Savannah isn’t involved in any of this. You’re just jealous because—”
“But I’m not,” Trinity said, coming to her feet and walking to me. When she reached out to put her hands on my arms, I flinched, backing away from her. She jerked her fingers back, her expression crestfal en. “Okay, I deserved that, but I’m tel ing you the truth, Ridley. This has nothing to do with Devon. If I stil wanted him, I wouldn’t have let him go.”
“You let Devon go?”
“Yes, even though I knew he’d go straight to Savannah. I realized that I just couldn’t go on like this anymore. I can’t live with myself, with al that I’ve done. I thought bringing this to you, helping you in some way, might make it so that you could forgive me.”
She seemed so desperate for me to believe her that it made it hard not to. Desperation in any form was so unlike Trinity, it was difficult to doubt her sincerity.
“Why do you think Savannah is involved?”
“I actual y found out when I went looking for Devon. I knew he’d be somewhere close to her. He can’t stay away from her for very long, so I went by her house one night, hoping to find him. I saw the shimmer of a vampire leaving through her window and I thought it was him so I fol owed.
“I trailed him into the woods where he met up with a man and a little girl. The man fed him from his wrist, but when his form started to come back I saw that it wasn’t Devon at al . It was a woman.”
Trinity watched me, as if waiting for me to look shocked or surprised. I was neither.
“Did she have red hair?”
Trinity frowned. “Yes. How did you know?”
“That was Heather, Savannah’s mother. Savannah doesn’t know that she’s a vampire. She thinks she drowned a few years ago and that she’s seeing her ghost.”
“How can she see anything?”
I shrugged.
“I don’t know, but she can. She can see Devon, too. I don’t know what it is about us, but when we’re transparent, she can see us.”
Trinity took a step back.
“Us?”
“Oh, yeah. Heather infected me.”
Trinity sniffed.
“I thought you smel ed a little different.”
“That’s because I am. Did you real y think I’d come here to meet a vampire alone? Do you real y think I’m that stupid?”
It was Trinity’s turn to shrug.
“I figured because it was your mom that…”
“Where is she, by the way?”
“She’s stil at O’Mal ey’s. She’s already three sheets to the wind. It wasn’t very difficult to get her phone and her keys. At the very least, I thought I might save some innocent person from being run over by your drunk-driving mother.”
Relief washed through me, even though my initial fear had already dissipated somewhat since seeing Trinity in this condition.
“I knew you’d come for her, though. That’s why I did it this way. You real y are a good person, Ridley. I’ve never told you that because I never real y cared. But you are and I hope one day you can forgive me.”
I could feel the emotion of the Hallmark Moment chiseling away at the ice around my heart, but I wasn’t quite ready to go al in and say that everything was forgiven.
“Where are you planning to go?”
Trinity shook her head.
“I don’t even know. I just know I need to get out of here.
Everyone already thinks I’m dead. I figure this is as good a time as any to start over. I’m learning to control myself better and better, so I thought I might be able to actual y help people somewhere down the line.”
Her intention hung between us like a living thing, as if she had spoken the words, Anything to make up for what I’ve done.
I could only imagine how she felt. The guilt I’d already experienced over my reaction to my mother was just a taste of what Trinity must be going through. She’d actual y hurt people.
I wanted to ask her about Drew and Aisha, but I didn’t want to add to her already burning conscience. Not that it mattered. One of the answers chose that very moment to come busting through my bedroom window.
CHAPTER NINE
Glass shards sprayed in every direction as Aisha’s body crashed through the window. When her feet hit my carpeted floor, she paused. In that slight hesitation, I could see that she was no longer the Aisha we’d known.
As I’d feared, she was gradual y succumbing to the life-draining bite of the vampire. Now she was consumed with the madness left in its wake. Though she wasn’t quite as dirty and bedraggled as Summer had been, I recognized the signs.
Aisha’s rich chocolate skin was now sal ow and unhealthy looking. Her eyes were yel owed and ringed with a darkness that seemed to come from within. Her lips twitched as if in readiness to pul back from her teeth in a sneer, and her chin was wet with drool she could no longer control.
Unfortunately, none of that affected her speed. Just like Summer, she was fast and she was strong. Very, very strong.
As if in slow motion, Trinity and I watched Aisha move toward us. When we glanced at one another, I saw some smal amount of satisfaction in Trinity’s eyes, as if she was somehow deserving of the gruesome death that was headed straight for us. I was so shocked by Trinity’s reaction that when Aisha grabbed her around the waist, turned and leapt through the window, my reaction was delayed by a few very valuable seconds.
When my mind regained control and transmitted orders to my legs, I didn’t hesitate to pursue the duo. Though I might’ve paused before lending a hand to Trinity the last time she was at my house, things had changed and I couldn’t let her be kil ed without putting up some kind resistance on her behalf.
As my feet hit the ground on the outside of my bedroom window, Bo appeared at my side. Immediately, he started firing off questions.
“What happened? Where’s your mom? Are you alright?
Who was that?”
“I’m fine. Bo, we need to help Trinity,” I said, tugging his arm in the direction I thought they’d fled.