Slayer (Slayer #1)

Leo shakes his head. “We’re Watchers. Athena’s a Slayer. This is our job.”

“I’m coming.” Artemis climbs into the backseat of the car. So much for talking with Leo. And I’m pretty sure he was on the verge of telling me something big. Personal, even. I really want to know what it was. She leans forward. “I can’t believe you’re doing this, Nina.”

I shrug, but Artemis is right. Even when I’ve disagreed with the Council’s tactics and ideologies, I’ve always done what they told me. But I can’t get over what Eve said—that if my mom wasn’t worried about the hellhounds, it means she had information we didn’t. Which means she’s connected to all this somehow. So whatever she doesn’t want me to do, I’m going to do.

I hate to go against Eve, but Leo’s logic makes sense too. My only real issue with talking to Cosmina is that I don’t want to. And good Watchers don’t get to make decisions based on their own feelings. Pretty sure Slayers don’t either.

Once again we head for Dublin. I stare out the window, hoping that the body count will be lower, if nothing else.

• • •

Leo’s fingers strangle the steering wheel.

“Maybe we could stop and get food?” I suggest.

“Why would we do that?” From the sound of her voice, Artemis’s jaw is clenched. I don’t dare look back. When she joined us I hoped it meant all was forgiven. But something still feels broken between us. I want to blame Honora, but I was the one who didn’t go to Artemis when I needed help.

Then again, maybe it isn’t only Artemis who needs to do the forgiving. Instead of supporting me through this maelstrom of suckage in my life, she’s been acting like I’m a problem she needs to solve. And she instantly sided with Honora over me. I want to blame Honora, and I still will. But that doesn’t mean Artemis is entirely without blame. Things were bad before Honora came back into the picture.

I spend the rest of the drive suffocated by Artemis’s steely silence. Leo isn’t any better. With Artemis here, he hasn’t said a word. I hadn’t pegged him for the teenage rebellion type, but this whole trip feels like him being mad at his mom for some reason.

When you’re a Watcher because of your family, but the Watchers take precedence over that family, it gets complicated. The three of us—sitting here sulking in a car as we defy our mothers—are evidence of that. Maybe we should ask Cosmina to take us in, instead of the reverse.

After two stops for petrol—this car has issues—it’s almost dark when we finally pull to a stop. The neighborhood leaves a lot to be desired, like safety and buildings that won’t fall down if someone sneezes next to them.

“Being a Slayer isn’t a very lucrative gig.” I stare up at the bleak apartments.

I used to resent Slayers, but now that I’ve felt some of their lives and fought some of their battles in my dreams, I get it. At least a little. It’s too much for one girl. Cosmina shouldn’t have to do this alone. I hope we can convince her of that.

Leo’s a good Watcher. Better than the rest of us, who are so bitter toward Slayers that we didn’t put any of them before our own safety. Maybe . . . maybe that’s what happened with Buffy all those years ago when she broke with the Council. It was the wrong choice, obviously. But I’ve seen behind the scenes. We don’t always work the way we should, or even could.

Maybe that’s why my mother made another unilateral move. She knew the idea of bringing Cosmina in would get deadlocked in the Council, and while they argued and debated, Cosmina would still be out here alone. Not in the castle where she could take my place.

My mother’s motivations might have been selfish, but Leo’s weren’t. He made the right call. He’s still that boy showing up in the darkness to help when things are dire. I glance over at him, glad he’s on my side. His expression is worried, his shoulders tense.

“We got this,” I whisper. His tension eases ever so slightly.

Artemis tries the door to the building, but it’s locked. She pulls out a lockpick.

“Allow me!” I say. She moves out of the way, waiting for me to kick it in. I push a random buzzer instead.

“What?” a voice grumbles.

“Let me up,” I say. “I’ve got the stuff.”

“About time.” There’s a buzz and a click, and the door opens.

“What stuff?” Artemis asks.

“I don’t know. It looks like the type of place where a lot of people are waiting for stuff. Worked, didn’t it?”

She walks past me without responding. Leo nods in approval, but his nervousness has only increased. It radiates off him with the same level of intensity as Artemis’s derision.

I follow them up four flights of stairs, half the lights broken and my shoes sticking on substances best left unseen. The building is even colder than it is outside. I shrink into Artemis’s leather jacket, wishing I had worn another layer. When we get to the door, I knock. No one answers.

“It’s dark,” Leo says. “She’s probably already out patrolling.”

“We can leave a note.” Artemis searches her weapons bag.