Hunted (House of Night #5)(20)

"Okay, if you say so." I tried not to show the relief I felt. No way was I ever going to be anything resembling a nurse. "Get some sleep. I'll be back in a little while," I said. I swear she was out before Erik and I ducked through the checkered blanket.

We turned to our left and walked without saying anything for a little way. The tunnels were less creepy than when I'd been down here before, but that didn't make them unclaustrophobic and bright and cheery. Every few yards there were lanterns staked with what looked like railroad spikes into the cement walls at about eye level, but the dampness permeated everything. We hadn't gone far when something caught at the corner of my eyes and I slowed down, peering into the heavy shadows between the lanterns.

"What is it?" Erik asked softly.

My stomach tightened with fear. "I don't know, I--" My words broke off as something exploded out of the darkness at me. I'd opened my mouth to shriek, imagining feral red fledglings or, worse, the horror of the Raven Mockers. But Erik's arm went around me and he pulled me out of the way of half a dozen bats, who fluttered past.

"They're as scared of you as you are of them," he said, taking his arm f? _rom around me as soon as the creatures were past us.

I shuddered, trying to force my heart to beat regularly again. "Okay, no possible way could they be as scared of me as I am of them. Eesh, bats are rats with wings."

He chuckled as we started walking again. "I thought pigeons were rats with wings."

"Bat, pigeons, ravens--I don't care about distinctions right now. Any fluttery, flappy thing is not cool with me."

"I see your point," he said, smiling at me. His smile didn't do much to help my heartbeat slow down, and as we kept walking, I swear I could still feel the warmth of his arm around my shoulders. In a few more feet we came to a section of the tunnel that was as amazing as it was surprising. Erik and I stopped and stared.

"Wow, that is majorly cool," I said.

"Yeah, wow," Erik agreed with me. "This must be the work of that Gerarty girl. Didn't Stevie Rae introduce her as being an artist who's been decorating the tunnels?"

"Yeah, but I didn't expect anything like this." Forgetting about the bats, I traced my hand over the beautifully complex pattern of flowers and hearts and birds and all sorts of swirls, all entwined to make a brightly painted mosaic that seemed to breathe life and magic into this little section of the dreary, claustrophobic walls.

"People, humans and vamps, would pay a fortune for art like this." Erik didn't add, if the world could ever know about the red fledglings and vamps, but the thought hung unspoken in the air between us.

"Hopefully, people will," I said. "It would be nice if the red fledglings could become known to the rest of the world." Plus, I added to myself, if they were out in the open, maybe my lingering questions about their powers and their tendencies could be more easily resolved. "Anyway, I think vampyres and humans should have better relationships," I added.

"Like you and your human boyfriend?" He asked the question quietly, with no hint of sarcasm.

I met his gaze steadily. "I'm not with Heath anymore."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," I said.

"Okay. Good." That was all he said, and we started walking again, silent and lost in our own thoughts.

Not long after that the tunnel curved slightly to the right, which was the direction we were supposed to follow, but on our left there was an arched exit covered with another blanket. This one was black fake velvet decorated with a tacky picture of Elvis in a white jumpsuit.

"Must be Dallas's room," I guessed.

Erik hesitated only a moment, then he brushed aside the blanket and we peeked in. It wasn't very big, and Dallas didn't have a bed, just a couple of mattresses piled on top of each other on the floor, but he did have a bright red comforter and matching red pillowcases (there was a big lump under the comforter, which I assumed was the sleeping Dallas), a table that held a bunch of stuff that the light wasn't good enough for me to see, and a couplet="0%">y: of black beanbag chairs. On the curved wall over the bed was a poster of...I squinted at it, trying to see...

"Jessica Alba in Sin City. The kid has excellent taste. She's one hot vamp actress," Erik said quietly so as not to wake Dallas.

I frowned at him and pulled the Elvis blanket door closed.

"What? It's not in my bedroom," he said.

"Let's just catch up with everyone else," I said, and started walking again.

"Hey," he said after a few minutes of dead air. "I owe you a big thanks."

"Me? For what?" I looked over at him.

He met my eyes. "For saving me from being left up there in the middle of that mess."

"I didn't save you from that. You came along with us of your own free will."

He shook his head. "No, I'm pretty sure you saved me because without you I don't think I would have had any free will."

He stopped and touched my arm, gently turning me so that I faced him. I looked up into his brilliant blue eyes, which were framed by his adult vampyre Mark, an intricate pattern that gave the impression of a mask, making his totally gorgeous Clark Kent?Superman look go all Zorro-like and insanely hot. But Erik was more than just supergorgeous. Erik was talented and an honestly nice guy. I hated that we had broken up. I hated that I'd caused us to break up. In spite of everything that had happened, I wanted to be his girlfriend again. I wanted him to trust me again. I missed him so darn much...