The Memory Thief Read online

  “My … what?”

  But before she could catch his reply, everything vanished into complete darkness.

  The squeak of rusty swings moving in the breeze sent a chill up Dex’s neck. He was hiding with Olly and Xander between the plastic unicorns of a merry-go-round at the old fairground in Belgravia, not too far inland from the beach. The place had closed down about five years ago when a large amusement park opened next to the pier. Apparently no one had decided what to do with this land yet, and most of the old rides and equipment were still here.

  “They’re late,” Olly whispered.

  “Maybe we’re in the wrong spot,” Xander replied.

  “We’re not. We double-checked the other night. The coordinates point to that exact empty patch of ground over there.”

  “I don’t know if I trust the map on your phone,” Xander said. “Remember when it took you to that pole dancing studio instead of a gin bar?”

  “They had the same name!”

  “Hey, I see someone coming,” Dex whispered as he squinted into the distance. Two figures walked slowly past a Ferris wheel. They paused, then sped up, moving supernaturally fast before coming to an abrupt stop a few seconds later in the area Olly’s phone had brought them to the other night.

  “Told you,” Olly whispered, almost too quiet for Dex to hear.

  Over the next few minutes, another six people arrived. From this distance, they could have been vampire, human or shifter. Their ears were round, and it was impossible to see the color of their eyes. But their speed gave them away.

  Dex remained as still as possible behind the purple and gold unicorn that was mostly shielding him from view. The vampires were probably far enough away that their ears wouldn’t pick up whispers, but their sharp eyes would notice movement.

  “Not many of them,” Olly murmured. “The Allegiant has far more members than this.”

  “But we knew they weren’t all meeting tonight,” Xander reminded him. “It’s better this way. Easier to catch them.”

  “Yeah. Ready when you are, Dex,” Olly said.

  “Give them another few minutes,” Dex replied. “In case more are joining them.”

  They waited. Crouched in an awkward position, Dex slowly began to lose feeling in his toes. The swings continued squeaking nearby, and the vampires’ voices reached his ears as indistinguishable murmurs. He was about to tell Xander and Olly it was time to move when he noticed someone else approaching the gathering. Another vampire, though he didn’t move quite as quickly as the others had. Probably because he was carrying a body in his arms. A woman, her blond hair trailing over the vampire’s arm. Her silver dress sparkled in the moonlight, and a purse hung from her shoulder, swaying as the vampire walked.

  “Another abduction?” Olly whispered.

  Dex cursed beneath his breath. This complicated things. They desperately needed to catch these vampires, and now they would have to do it without hurting the human.

  “Is that her?” one of the women called out as the newcomer reached the group.

  “Yes. Finally found her.”

  The woman let out an excited whoop, while several of the others clapped.

  “Hey,” Xander whispered. “I think … Dex, isn’t that the fae girl from Club Onyx? The one you walked into?”

  Dex squinted harder. Something tightened in his chest when he recognized her face. “Yes, I think it is. And that’s the same vampire,” he added as the man turned enough for moonlight to illuminate his face. “Which means he is part of the Allegiant.”

  “And this isn’t like the other abductions,” Olly added, “since those were all humans, and this girl’s fae.”

  “Actually,” Dex admitted, “she was pretending to be fae. I realized after she ran that she’s—” He cut himself off as one of the vampires whipped his head toward him. In an instant, the group became silent, all of them turning to look the same way. “We’ve been spotted,” Dex whispered. “Time to move. And be careful of the girl.”

  They launched out from behind the plastic unicorns. Dex’s hands and lower arms glittered with magic, and as he raced forward, he brought his arms up and around in a throwing motion. Streams of light arced away from him. Olly did the same, while Xander’s magic shot forward in the form of golden bullet-like shapes. One vampire fell—hopefully injured, not dead—and the others scattered. Dex hurled magic at the one carrying the girl. It caught him on the shoulder and knocked him forward. He stumbled but didn’t let go of her. Dex lunged after him and caught the vampire’s arm. Golden dust turned to flames, igniting the vampire’s shirt and licking its way up and down his arm. With a cry, he finally dropped the girl. Dex ran after him, but he was already speeding away, a blazing figure disappearing into the night.

  He turned back toward the girl. She was awake now, pushing her hair out of her face and trying to scramble away. Dex dropped down beside her. “Are you o—”

  “You?” Her brows pinched together. A second later, her boot landed square in his stomach.

  “Hey!” he wheezed. I’m trying to save you, he would have added, if only his lungs could find the required amount of air.

  Another figure appeared abruptly at her side and grabbed her arms. Dex pushed himself up and launched across the girl, slamming into the woman vampire and rolling several times. Faerie dust raced across her skin, transforming into tiny needle-like shapes. She howled in agony, but even after tearing herself free from Dex’s grip, she didn’t run. She went straight for the human girl again.

  A brilliant flash of magic sped toward her from the other side of the girl. It struck her in the chest and punched her backward. Time seemed to slow as Dex watched. The vampire was weightless, soaring past him through the air while all around him, offensive magic lit up the fairground like a fireworks display. For a single moment, he was reminded of what this place looked like in its heyday, with all the rides lit up and the grounds filled with people. Then the vampire hit the ground. Magic crackled across her body and vanished. She didn’t move.

  “Dex!” Xander shouted. Dex looked up and saw his friend with one arm still stretched forward from throwing magic. A split second later, he saw the figure rushing toward him. Dex rolled, jumped up, and sliced his hand through the air. Golden flames shot away from him and leapt up his attacker’s body. The vampire writhed and slapped at the enchanted flames. With a cry, he raced away, still burning.

  Dex spun around, his hands raised and curled into fists, ready to fight off anyone else who got too close to the human girl—who appeared to be lying motionless on the ground again. “They’re all gone!” Olly shouted.

  “I’m heading that way!” Xander yelled, already taking off in the direction of the Ferris Wheel.

  “’Kay, I’m after the others!” Olly shouted back, launching himself in the opposite direction.

  Dex almost lurched forward, torn between hunting down the vampires and staying beside the girl. On any other night, he would have followed Xander or Olly without hesitation. But it was clear this human girl was somehow important to the vampires, and he couldn’t run off and leave her here. That consideration aside, chasing vampires once they were on the move was almost always futile. He probably wouldn’t have much success even if he did run after them now.

  He looked down at the girl, passed out on her side with one leg drawn up and her hand slung over her knee. Blood trickled from a cut at the top of her left arm. The surrounding skin was an angry red. Magic must have got a little too close to her. Maybe it knocked her down and she’d hit her head. The thought filled him with guilt, even though he had no idea if it was his magic that had caused the injury. He couldn’t heal the wound—in its raw form, healing magic was too much for a human—but he could at least clean it. Not right here in the middle of the fairground, though. Who knew if there might be more vampires on their way. Without further delay, Dex knelt down, scooped the girl into his arms, and lifted her from the ground.

  Elle blinked slowly, becoming aware of a stinging ache nea
r the top of her left arm. Memories of the moments before she lost consciousness—for the second time that night—flashed across her mind. A Ferris wheel. Vampires and fae crowding around her. Magic arcing through the air. The faerie guy who’d walked into her at Club Onyx.

  She blinked again, moved her arms, and felt her purse beneath one palm and a hard, dusty surface beneath the other. She pushed herself up, looking down at her arm. A cut marred her skin, but it didn’t look too bad. A faint smear below it suggested someone had wiped blood away. She shivered at the thought. Lifting her eyes, she looked around at a room furnished with two desks, a few chairs, and some filing cabinets. Dull moonlight filtered through a dusty window. Was this an office? She’d recognized part of the old fairground when she woke earlier, but she could be miles from there by now. Her vampire captor had obviously moved her. The vampire who’d said something about her mother …

  Movement caught her attention. She whipped her head toward it and found a dark-haired faerie with silvery blue eyes. “Are you okay?” Dex asked.

  She scrambled away from him, her heart racing as she fumbled for the pocketknife she hadn’t managed to reach earlier. Finally, she got her hand into the top of her boot and grabbed the darn thing. A second later, she’d flipped it open. “Stay away from me,” she hissed, brandishing the tiny knife as she climbed to her feet.

  “Hey, it’s okay. You’re not a prisoner.” He held both hands up, then motioned to the open door with his head. “You can leave, if you want. I’d prefer to talk to you a bit before you run, but if you don’t want to hang around, I understand.”

  Keeping her back against the wall and her eyes trained on him, Elle edged toward the door. A desk blocked her way. She wondered how quickly she could get around it.

  “Seriously, I’m not going to stop you.” Dex backed up against the wall opposite her and took a few steps away from the door. “I’m not with the vampires. I was trying to catch them. You’re free to go.”

  Elle thought back to the few conscious moments she’d had in the middle of the fairground. It had seemed there was a lot of fighting going on. And she’d never heard of vampires and fae working together. So Dex’s story was probably the truth. Still, he was a stranger and she had no idea if she could trust him. She took another step, glancing at the door before focusing on him again. Then her eyes slid up to the clock on the wall above his head. The motionless second hand indicated the clock no longer worked, but the position of the minute and hour hands—both pointing almost exactly at twelve—was enough to send Elle into a panic. “Oh, shoot. Do you know what the time is?”

  “Uh …” Dex’s brow creased. That was probably the last thing he thought she’d ask about. Why worry about something as trivial as the time after being kidnapped by vampires? But he slid his phone from his pocket anyway. “It’s eleven twenty-five.”

  “And where are we right now?”

  “At the old fairground. Inside an office above the entrance.”

  A chill of fear raced over Elle’s skin. She would never make it home in time. It would take over an hour by foot, and she didn’t have enough cash to pay for a cab ride that far. She had Sienna’s old phone with her, but she couldn’t make payments with it the way other people did with their phones. Without a bank account of her own, the only option was cash, and Sienna never had much to share with her.

  “Are you late for something?” Dex asked.

  “Yes. Very late. Um …” She tried to clear the panic from her mind so she could think properly. “I need to be somewhere by midnight. It’s urgent.”

  “Urgent?” His lips twitched into a half-smile. “You were just kidnapped by a vampire. I’m sure whoever you’re supposed to meet at midnight will understand if you’re late.”

  “No.” Elle shook her head. “She won’t. I have to be there by midnight.”

  “Okay, okay. Well, I have a car. I can drive you wherever you need to go.”

  She hesitated. Swallowed. When was it ever a good idea to get into a car with a stranger?

  “I swear I won’t take you anywhere else,” Dex said. “Or I could call you a cab, but this side of town isn’t exactly the center of Vale City’s nightlife. You’d have to wait a while for one to get here.”

  “Okay. You promise you’ll take me straight to where I need to go?”

  “Yes, of course.”

  Elle breathed deeply in and out. He sounded truthful, but one could never be too careful. “Make a blood oath.”

  He raised his eyebrows. “Seriously?”

  “If you’re not lying, then you shouldn’t have a problem making an oath.”

  “True.” Dex pushed back one sleeve of his shirt, then the other. “It’s just that you said you’re in a rush, so—”

  “So you’d better make the oath quickly,” she said, gripping the knife a little harder as she kept it pointed at him. “I know it takes less than a minute.”

  Dex’s fingers glowed as faerie dust formed on his skin. A moment later, it coalesced into a laser-straight, glittering line, which he swiped briefly across his palm. A thin cut appeared as he looked up. “What exactly do you want me to—”

  “Promise you won’t lie to me,” Elle said. Dex frowned, his eyes slipping away from hers. “Is that a problem?” she asked. “Because if it is, then …” She trailed off. Then what? Then she wouldn’t get into a car with him. She would run as if wildfire nipped at her ankles, and she would be late, and there would be consequences of the most severe kind.

  “It’s not a problem,” Dex said, turning his attention back to his palm. The cut glowed as he spoke a few quiet words. Then he raised his voice a little and added, “I need to approach you in order to finish this. Can I do that? Or are you going to use that pocketknife on me?”

  Elle narrowed her eyes, getting the feeling he was making fun of her. “You can come closer. But if you do anything except finish the oath, I won’t hesitate to use this on you.”

  A small smile lifted his lips. “I wouldn’t dare.” He walked closer, his arm stretched out in front of him, his palm facing the ceiling. When he was almost close enough to touch her, he stopped.

  Keeping the knife raised in one hand, Elle lifted her other arm. Though no one had ever made a blood oath with her before, she’d seen others perform them. She knew she needed to extend her hand toward Dex’s, as if they were about to shake hands. She lifted her gaze to his, and he didn’t break eye contact as he said, “I swear I won’t lie to you.” The moment felt strangely intimate, and it seemed to Elle that an almost magnetic force kept her from looking away. Her heart pattered a little faster before she finally managed to tear her gaze away and look down.

  The blood vanished from Dex’s palm. Magic wound itself like a rope around his hand, then extended through the air to wrap itself around Elle’s hand and wrist. She flinched at the tingling heat, but it wasn’t painful. Nothing like the slave charm that burned her ankle for a few seconds every night when she was confined in her attic. The golden rope of magic glowed even brighter, then vanished.

  “Done,” Dex said, lowering his hand.

  “Great.” Elle took a step away from him. “So, will you take me exactly where I ask you and nowhere else? And you won’t hurt me?”

  “I’ll take you wherever you want, and I most certainly will not hurt you.”

  Elle lowered the knife and folded the blade away. “Thank you. Okay, we need to go quickly.”

  “Yes.” Dex was already taking his phone from his pocket as he moved toward the door. Elle grabbed her purse before following him.

  “Wait, who are you calling?” she asked as he lifted the phone to his ear.

  “Friends. They were with me on the fairground, fighting the vamps. They ran after them, but—Hi, Xander?” Dex didn’t break his stride as he crossed a landing toward a staircase. “Yeah, I figured. They’re way too fast. But you had to try. Listen, how quickly can you bring the car around to the fairground entrance? We need to take the girl—” He paused and looked at her. “S
orry, what’s your name?”

  “Elle,” she said, then mentally kicked herself for letting her real name slip out. She was supposed to be Trixie when she was with strangers.

  “We need to take Elle somewhere. It’s urgent.” He descended the stairs two at a time, and while Elle appreciated his haste, she struggled to keep up with him in her silly heels. She should have just gone with her normal combat boots, fashion be damned. “Oh, no, she’s fine,” Dex continued, “but she needs to be somewhere quite urgently. Okay, great. Thanks.” He ended the call and looked at Elle. “They’re almost at the car. We parked it round the other side of the fairground so it was nowhere near the vamps’ meeting spot. They’ll drive straight to the entrance and pick us up.”

  “They?” Elle asked.

  “Xander and Olly. Friends of mine.”

  “So now I’m getting into a car with not one strange man, but three?”

  “We’re not strange. Well, maybe they are,” he added with a laugh, “but not in the way you mean. And I swear to you—” he looked pointedly at her as they reached the bottom of the stairs “—that none of us mean you any harm.” He crossed a room that looked like it was once a reception area and pushed open a door. “This way.” He stepped back while holding it open for Elle. She hurried past him into the night. They moved quickly between run-down buildings, through a ticket booth, and toward the tall arched entrance where two halves of a rusty metal gate were locked together by an equally rusty chain. The chain was so loose, though, that it was easy to slip between the two sides of the gate.

  “They should be here soon,” Dex said. Elle nodded in response. Her eyes scanned the road and the overgrown bushes on the other side, just in case another vampire was about to leap from the shadows. But her mind was racing backward, trying to remember exactly what the one who’d caught her had said about her mother. Something about … keeping Elle from him? “Can I ask you something?” she said to Dex, at the exact moment he asked, “How did you end up—”

  He cut himself off, smiled, then said, “Sorry, you first. What did you want to ask?”