Page 74

Chapter Sixty-Seven

LUNA

My first thought on seeing my mother talking to a guy in a white raincoat at four in the morning is that I’ve already rushed downstairs because my mother was talking to a vampire, but this time, it’s not Carmine.

The second thought that crosses my mind is that I don’t know if Alex sleeps, or takes a break, or if they’ll make it their business to talk me out of leaving.

I press the elevator button. It lights while my finger is on it, then goes dark.

There isn’t a sound from the shaft. I hit it again, again, again. Same, same, same.

Alex doesn’t have to be here because they locked the elevator.

Well. That’s one way to create a fire hazard.

Under the button that won’t light, there’s a little keyhole. It’s mailbox-key short, but fatter, and I wonder… is it anything like the shit lock on our trailer I had to pick every time Richie lost the key?

Before I can even put my plan into words, my mind seeks the valence lines, and they vibrate into existence.

It’s unbearably easy to turn the mechanism inside.

Did I always have this power? I could have been robbing banks all these years.

When I punch the button, it lights and stays lit. The elevator doors open and I go in.

Alex walks into view in the slit between them just as they’re about to snap closed. “Luna!”

“Sorry!” I shout. “I’ll be right back!”

I escape without having to explain myself.