Slayer (Slayer 1)

But . . . is it? “She hid me. She never told us about my Potential status. Or about her mom. And . . . she left me. The day of the fire.”

“You can’t honestly think Mom wanted you to die!”

The silence fills the car until it’s palpable. I don’t think that. Not really. But I know she wanted Artemis alive more than she wanted me alive.

“All I know,” I finally say, “is that Bradford Smythe revealed my Potential status, confirming I’m a Slayer. And now he’s dead. Cosmina knew I was a Slayer, and now she’s dead. And Leo’s been training me, and he could have been killed tonight.”

Leo looks mildly offended. “By one vampire?”

“Regardless, our mom has a lot of secrets. And I don’t think we can trust her. With anything.”

“I don’t buy it,” Artemis says.

“Well, my other theory is it was all Honora. You wanna discuss that one?”

She folds her arms, answering with her silence.

“We should keep all this between the three of us,” Leo says. “Even if we aren’t certain who we can trust, we know we can trust each other.”

I look at Artemis. She doesn’t meet my gaze.

Leo continues. “No mention of anything to your mom. Or to mine.”

“But—” I start. He looks over at me, his brow furrowed. I trust his mom. And I need her advice. I wanted to ask her about my mom and about my conflicted demon feelings and even about that dumb prophecy and whether I should worry about it. She’ll be able to tell me if it’s something the Watchers are concerned about.

“No,” Leo says. “They’re both on the Council. They talk. We don’t tell them about Cosmina or Honora or Sean. Not until we know more.”

“What do we know, even?” Artemis asks. “Really. What have we learned?”

I lean against the dashboard. “That it’s not Doug.”

“Which narrows it down to one of the other thousands of demons roaming the earth.”

Leo’s eyes are cold and dark. “All we know is that the attacks have happened while they were sleeping.”

Artemis undoes her severe ponytail, shaking out her hair. “Assuming Bradford didn’t die of a heart attack. He was old.”

“If Slayer dreams warned me about people dying of old age, I’d have to break into every retirement community in the area trying to save them. It was demonic.”

Artemis lets out a long breath, but she nods. She’s mad at me, but she’s not unreaso

nable.

Leo opens his door. “We can’t be sure of anything. Which means the castle isn’t safe. Neither of you should sleep alone tonight.” Then he’s out of the car and striding toward the castle. I want it to be lit up like a beacon against the darkness, but the few lights in the windows only serve to emphasize how empty it is.

Was it only a few years ago that it was bursting with life? Bustling with Council members and aspiring Watchers and all the people behind the scenes who made our work possible?

But—it wouldn’t have been. Not really. Because even before the Council was blown up, there weren’t that many of us in my generation. We’ve been slowly bleeding out. Buffy’s rejection sent the organization spiraling, scrambling for a new place in the world.

I’d have thought that a sudden influx of Slayers would have made Watchers relevant again, but I can’t help feeling like all it did was make us even more archaic. Even more useless. Maybe Artemis was right.

Ugh. But that would mean Honora was right too.

I shudder, trying to get the bad taste of even thinking that Honora’s right off my brain and tongue. The Watchers hid in order to survive. I have to trust that the Council has a plan.

The Council, though . . . Ruth Zabuto, who can’t get over the loss of magic. Wanda Wyndam-Pryce, who is even worse than I had always thought. My mother, who hates Slayers and is definitely hiding more than we ever realized. And Eve Silvera. One for four I trust, then.

“I’m sleeping in Jade’s room,” Artemis says.