Hourglass Read Online Free PDF Page B

lights dimmed, and we drove past apartment building after apartment building, stacks of them looming up around us like walls. The stores changed from posh cosmetics boutiques or family restaurants to 99-cent stores and fast-food joints.
    Finally, the caravan turned into a parking garage, one that posted its incredibly expensive prices outside. The attendantwaved us through, so we didn’t have to pay. The garage was definitely dirty and out of the way, so its rates were far too high—and sure enough, no other cars seemed to be parked inside.
    I glanced at Lucas, who said, “Welcome to New York’s HQ.”
    Everyone climbed out of the vans and trucks sort of sluggishly; we hadn’t stopped to stretch our legs on the trip, just a couple of very brief gasoline-and-bathroom breaks after lunch. We were herded into an enormous industrial elevator, which sank downward. The elevator’s walls were dull, scratched steel, and the light overhead flickered fitfully.
    Feeling nervous, I took Lucas’s hand. He squeezed my fingers between his. “This part is going to be okay,” he said. “I promise.”
    It’s not forever , I reminded myself. This is just until Lucas and I have a chance to make some plans. Soon we’ll be off on our own, and everything will be all right again.
    The elevator doors opened to reveal a cavern, and I gasped. The high, curved ceiling was illuminated by strings of those plastic-encased lights construction guys use at worksites. Voices echoed throughout the arched space. I blinked as I made out the silhouettes of people farther away from us. They all seemed to be in a sort of trench that ran throughout the cave—
    My eyes adjusted to the gloom, and I realized that this wasn’t a cavern. We were in a subway tunnel.
    This tunnel had to have been abandoned for a long time. Flooring of planks or slabs of concrete sat over where the tracks must have been, and I could see a few small footbridges that connected the two platforms on either side of the tunnel.A cracked tile sign on one wall read, in old-fashioned type, Sherman Ave.
    At first I was so amazed by our new hideout that I didn’t notice how quiet the rest of the group had become. All of them were standing still, saying nothing. I wasn’t the only one unsure of my welcome, apparently.
    A trim Asian woman, a few years older than Kate, walked up to us with two brawny guys—I wanted to call them guards —on either side. Her salt-and-pepper hair was pulled tightly back into a long braid, and every muscle in her arms and legs was cut. “Kate,” she said. “Eduardo. You guys made it, I see.”
    “Some greeting,” Eduardo said. “Is everybody else too busy to say hello?”
    “Everyone’s too busy to hear your excuse for that ridiculous raid on Evernight,” she snapped. I realized that the people milling about in the distance were deliberately ignoring us.
    Eduardo’s eyes blazed. “We had word that the human students were in immediate danger.”
    “You had one vampire’s word against two centuries of experience that says the Evernight vampires don’t kill while they’re there. And you used that as an excuse to lead an attack that could’ve cost the lives of as many kids as vampires. The only reason it didn’t is because you got lucky.”
    Kate looked like she wanted to defend her husband, but she said only, “For those who haven’t met her, this is Eliza Pang. She runs this cell, and she’s welcomed us for a short stay.”
    We’re here on charity , I realized. I didn’t much care—thiswasn’t something I’d chosen, or anything I was going to have to deal with for long—but I knew Lucas would hate that. Sure enough, he had clenched his jaw and was staring stonily at the concrete beneath his feet. I wondered if he hated it more for his or his mother’s sake. We’d have to talk about it later.
    No sooner had I thought that than Eliza said, “Eduardo said you had two new recruits. Who are they?”
    Raquel stepped forward right away.