Priceless

see each other’s faces. Maybe that was what made me so damn bold. “Yes, it is. You’re enjoying this. Like a kid who’s never been to a party before and gets taken to the biggest frat house in town and lets loose. So what gives?”
    Silence, except for the creak of the rope, and when he spoke, he went in a totally different direction.
    “What really happened to Berget?” His words would have sent me running in a different direction except for the fact that I was stuck with him in a freaking mineshaft that would probably take us another half an hour to get to the bottom of.
    It was my turn to be silent. But then, hell, it wasn’t like he didn’t know anything about the supernatural. I could tell him, I just didn’t want to.
    “I was watching her for our parents. Berget loved the park, loved being outside. So I took her to the biggest park in the city late in the afternoon, close to dusk.” My fingers found the collar of his shirt and I fiddled with it; of course he already knew all this, it was in the files on me and the case, no doubt. “Anyway, when we got there, I had this strange sensation of something not being right. I didn’t know what it was, but I told Berget to keep close.”
    We slid down a few more feet while I gathered myself. Much as I hated talking about this, I suddenly wanted O’Shea to know completely and irrevocably that it wasn’t me who’d killed Berget. But I wasn’t going to analyze why it was important to me, as my fingers brushed along the back of his neck.
    “There are some people who have blood pulsing through them that is . . . ““I tried to find the right word. “Exotic and tantalizing to the supernaturals who drink blood to live.”
    He kept shifting us lower, but still managed to sound as if we were just going for a walk in the park. “You mean like vampires?”
    I nodded, though he couldn’t see it. “Yes, and daywalkers, and a slew of other creatures too. I found out after she went missing that Berget had that kind of blood. It sings to the supernaturals, almost demands to be taken in a way. I don’t fully understand because it’s not something that’s a part of me, nor is it a common occurrence. What I know is there are very few people with this kind of blood who make it to adulthood. Very few.” And that was the hardest truth about my job as a Tracker. So few of the children were brought home to their families alive.
    “So what took her?”
    “A pair of vampires.” I thought about Doran, how he’d wanted a taste of my blood, and I shivered. Although I had no doubt my blood was tasty, I never would have made it to where I was now if I’d carried the same blood as Berget. I’d have been stolen and drained years ago.
    “So these vampires took your sister and you couldn’t stop them?” His words sliced through me as if it had been only moments since Berget had been killed instead of years.
    “I was young and had no training; I didn’t know I was a Tracker. It was after Berget went missing that my abilities awakened.” And that was the crux of it. If she hadn’t been killed, I wouldn’t be able to help these other kids. Yet, I’d give them all up to have her back in my life, to have had a family that was whole and not shattered into pieces. It was also a line Giselle had drilled into me as she’d trained me and Milly. I couldn’t change the past, but I had to use what it had given me in order to keep Berget’s death from being wasted.
    Tears traced down my face in the pitch-black darkness, and even though O’Shea kept asking me questions, I couldn’t answer them. Not that it mattered anyway. I couldn’t change the past, and it was India’s life that now lay in the balance.

~22~
    T he bottom of the mineshaft was lit, the walls studded with sconces filled with a brilliant purple and red flame.
    “What the hell is that?” O’Shea’s voice was hushed as he unhooked from the harness.
    “Witchlight. It’ll last until the maker of it is killed or chooses to extinguish the light for some reason.” I pulled out a sword and scanned the area, flicking the flashlight on even though there was plenty of light. The mine itself was good size, tall enough that I couldn’t see the ceiling and wider than a four lane highway. Unfortunately, I could just imagine all the nasty creatures needing so much room to maneuver.
    First, we had to find the actual crossing point to make it to the other side of the veil. I glanced over to O’Shea, then handed