Sam cowered at the words. She was still pressed against Drago. By the look of it, neither of them had noticed it was happening. Natalya let out a mocking scoff.
“So this is a thing now?” she said, gesturing at the two of them. Sam looked over her shoulder, confused, and only then realized she’d been leaning against Drago. She stepped away immediately.
“No! Sorry, I didn’t—” She hunched further in on herself. As though that was possible. “Drago told me Evie wasn’t feeling well, so I—”
“Notfeelingwell?” Natalya started towards her, and once again, Drago held her back. “She’s in a coma. She almost got killed. Evie would be awake andsafeif it wasn’t because ofyou.”
Natalya knew her eyes had gone scarlet. They’d probably done so the moment she laid eyes on Sam. She should be more controlled than this. Even if she despised Sam with all her heart, she was uninitiated. Natalya wasn’t allowed to share what she was.
“I know,” Sam said, surprising Natalya. She’d expected more whining. “I’m sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Or I was, but it was justabout other things. About my sister. But then I got to know Evie, and she wasn’t what they said she was like at all. She… cares.”
Natalya’s mouth tensed, and her eyes burned. She quickly turned away, returning to sit by Evie’s side. She wasnotgoing to let Sam see her cry.
“She does care.” She took Evie’s hand in hers again, caressing it and pushing calm into her. At the very least, Natalya could make her rest peaceful.
“I told her not to go,” Sam said. “She wouldn’t listen. She said she needed to save someone. And Evie’s stubborn when she wants to help.”
Natalya laughed without meaning to. Evie was frightened of so many things. She hated being alone. The dark scared her. Vampires made her panic. She was brave enough to face all those fears if it meant helping someone she loved. If it meant helping Natalya.
Uncertain, Sam looked to Drago, who nodded, and the gesture gave her the courage to sit next to Evie’s bed opposite Natalya. Drago’s gaze followed Sam as she moved. There were lines of orange in his irises.
“What happened to her?” Sam asked. Natalya looked up, searching for signs of anything other than worry in Sam’s expression. Natalya only saw concern.
“How much do you know of her history? Of her scars?”
Sam shrugged. “Just what those men told me. And they lied, so… nothing, I guess.”
“Evie was with some bad people. So was I. She wanted to help me, so she went back to them. There was a fight, and she was injured.” Natalya kissed Evie’s hand, mainly to give herself time to get her voice under control. “We don’t know when she’s waking up. It could be anytime, or it could be…”
Never. It could be never. Natalya clutched Evie tighter.
“Are the police involved?” Sam asked. Natalya scoffed.
“The police can’t do anything.” She gave Sam a hard look. “There’s more to the world than they’re taught to deal with.”
She couldn’t tell Sam anything. Not directly. But she was already so deep in this, and Natalya didn’t have the energy, or the desire, to make up something that would ease Sam’s wondering.
“Your eyes changed color,” Sam said then. “They were red before. Now they’re violet.”
Sam looked back at Drago and his slitted, red-orange eyes.
“Those aren’t contacts you’re wearing,” she said, looking back at Natalya. “Are they?”
She may be an insecure, cowering mess, but she was sharp enough. It made sense Evie liked her.
“The dark is more dangerous than you think,” Natalya said. “Stay out of it. It’s full of monsters.”
Sam turned to the unconscious Evie, looking at the many round scars around her wrists and the long straight ones from Varro’s knives.
“Monsters did that?” Sam asked.
Natalya hesitated a moment, then she nodded.
“Maybe Rachel isn’t as out of it as they all say,” Sam said. “Maybe she just saw the world as it actually is.”
“Your sister?” Evie had mentioned Sam had a sister who was institutionalized.
Sam nodded. “She was out camping a few years ago. Got attacked, and it messed her up. She insists it was zombies that did it.”
