Lore was up to his ankles in mud and pig slop. As the dirty creatures rushed around his legs, he clenched his fists. He was furious with himself for being tricked, and even more furious to be in a stampede of stinking animals.Lore’s rage reached a boiling point. He grasped one of the pigs rushing past him and threw it fifty feet into the air. The pig landed with a dull thud in a cornfield two fields over. He stomped forward, catapulting the creatures out of his way, feeling his anger pulsing through his veins.The Immortalists who had followed him looked perturbed by their new leader’s emotional outburst. By the looks on their faces, Lore could tell that some were starting to doubt whether following him was a good idea after all, or whether Octal had been right to entrust Lore with this mission.The raven-haired woman approached Lore carefully. He was facing away, trying to get some space from everyone’s stares, and so she came up behind him and rested a hand on his shoulder. At fi
The biplane landed roughly in a field near Caitlin’s grandmother’s house, Caitlin spending the whole two-hour flight gazing anxiously out the window. At one point, she thought she had seen shapes on the horizon—Immortalists chasing them—but these had just turned out to be the silhouettes of birds on the horizon. There had also been a fierce storm raging in the distance behind them, and a strange glowing light that had made Caitlin’s stomach twist and turn. She had ignored all her worries and tried to focus on what was to come.As the wheels of the plane touched down and it taxied to a halt, Caleb looked over at his wife.“What are you thinking?” he said.“Nothing,” Caitlin said distantly. “I’m just thinking.”“About Scarlet?”Caitlin nodded and chewed her lip.“I feel terrible for having left her behind,” she said.Caleb reached out and stroked his wife’s hand.“I know,” he replied. “I do too. But if you think you can save her, can cure her, then we will be helping her in the l
Vivian lurked in the shadows outside of Blake’s house, concealing herself behind a tree. From this angle, she could see that inside the house there was a single light on, in an upstairs bedroom. She decided to try her luck and, with a quick glance around her to make sure no one was looking, flew up to the window.She landed on the sloped porch roof with a soft thud and peered in through the glass. There was Blake. The sight of him made a sensation like electricity buzz through her veins. She was so close to owning him, to beating Scarlet. Her heart fluttered with anticipation.Blake was facing away, seated on his bed with his shoulders hunched. Vivian deduced from his posture that he was unhappy. Somewhere, deep in the recesses of her brain, she felt that old human emotion of sympathy. But it was nowhere near as strong as the power of her vampire desire, her need to consume him.She tapped on the window with one of her perfectly manicured fingernails.Blake flinched and looked arou
Sam felt something rough, warm, and wet against his cheek. He groaned. There was a splitting pain in his head. His eyes fluttered open and he realized he was staring up at Ruth. She barked, making him wince.He pulled himself to sitting.“Okay, girl,” he said to the husky, who was licking his face all over. “I’m awake.”He pushed her down and looked around. He was alarmed to find himself in Caitlin’s dark kitchen, on the floor.Memories came back to him in fragments…. There had been a girl, worried about Scarlet. But what had happened next? He couldn’t quite remember. He must have fallen or blacked out or something.The pain in Sam’s head was unbearable. He finally got to his feet and poured himself a glass of water. Ruth fussed round his legs, almost tripping him over.“Will you give it a rest?” he said to the dog.He patted her thick fur and took a deep sip from the glass. Then his memory flooded back to him, so quickly and with such clarity he dropped the glass. It smashed in
Kyle watched from the sidewalk as the door to the little suburban house flew open. A man ran out, a man he recognized. Kyle realized with a burning sensation of rage that the man was one of the people who’d tried to shoot him at the high school.So this is the right place then, Kyle thought to himself. Scarlet’s house.Kyle had a sudden urge to end the man’s life there and then. But he held himself back. This pathetic human wasn’t worthy of becoming part of his army, of being sired by him. Kyle watched in disgust as the man tripped over his own feet in his haste to get to his car. He didn’t want an army full of idiots, and a man who tried to shoot a vampire with bullets was clearly a dimwit.So Kyle let the man leave, knowing full well that he would be confronted by a vicious vampire army in the not too distant future, who would do with him what they desired.He waited until the car had raced away before strolling casually up the garden path toward Scarlet’s house. He could hear a
Scarlet ran down the stairs of the tower as fast as her legs would carry her. She held the precious vial of immortal blood tightly in her fist, and prayed that when she found Sage he would still be alive.Her mind was swirling from her encounter with the three sisters. The experience was like nothing she’d ever had before and it left her reeling, feeling disconcerted and confused. Part of her felt like she couldn’t trust the women but the other part of her felt she had no other option. If she didn’t get Sage to the vampire city then he would die anyway, so she may as well cling onto the last sliver of hope the women had given her.When Scarlet burst out of the tower door, she found that the forest was in complete disarray. The storm had torn up leaves and branches, strewing them haphazardly around. It was almost impossible to find a path through the dense foliage, and Scarlet was frequently blocked by a fallen tree. The stream she’d leapt over on the way here had burst its banks to b
Caitlin made her way down the cliff path, towards the vampire city. She’d never seen anything quite like it. In all her travels back in time—the memories of which kept flashing back at her in waves—she’d never seen anything like this.The architecture was unworldly, a combination of ancient Egyptian mud-brick temples and vast columns, all carved into the cave sides like the lost city of Petra. It was breath-taking, and Caitlin felt a strong sense of belonging. This is where her people came from, where they had lived and thrived unharmed for centuries. Along with her flood of memories, Caitlin had realized that the vampire race was not necessarily cruel or evil. There had been good people amongst the vampires, herself included, and she felt a great sense of loss over their extinction.As Caitlin wandered through the streets of the city, this place felt abandoned, like a giant tomb, an ode to another time. Glancing in awe at the tall buildings, one in particular caught her attention. S
Vivian soared through the sky, her veins on fire with exhilaration. Thanks to Scarlet’s idiot of an uncle, she was within a hair’s breadth of ending her nemesis’s life. As she flew, she could feel the stake in her back pocket, urging her to kill again, reminding her of just how powerful and addictive that sensation was.As Vivian flew she wondered whether Blake would have turned yet. Nothing would be sweeter for her than having him by her side as she ended Scarlet’s life.She decided then to take a quick detour past his house. If he had indeed turned, she could bring him along for the ride. That way she’d witness his all his firsts—his first feed, his first flight—just like a good sire should.When she reached Blake’s house, the first thing she noticed was the sprays of blood on the window. She leapt onto his porch roof and peered in through his bedroom window. Her heart dropped. Blake wasn’t there. His bed was messy, as though he’d thrown off the covers she’d placed over him in has