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TWENTY-FOUR | CINNAMON
Skye held the door open for me, and I stepped inside. The coffee shop was warm and sweet-scented, with a slightly bitter undercurrent of roasted coffee beans. The walls were painted pale brown, with bright teal accents. There were booths at each window, wide and sloping, and there were trailing plants and succulents on wooden shelves, as well as smaller, potted plants on each of the tables.
“Hey, Susie,” called out Skye, and I realised with a start that of course he would know everyone in Hawthorn. He’d grown up here, and he’d said it himself – there was only one of everything. That meant that every time he got a coffee, he’d see the same rota of staff.
Susie was a tall, olive-skinned girl, with her black hair pulled back into a sleek ponytail. She wore no makeup, but her eyes were framed with thick eyelashes, and she had a teasing grin that immediately made me want to be in on the joke.
&n
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We held hands as we walked down the high street, his palms cool and smooth against my own. I felt small beside him, but safe – his grip was strong, but not too tight, and I knew that even had I not been utterly capable of protecting myself, he would step in and rescue me. It was a heady, giddy sensation, and I found that I rather liked it.My coffee cup was still hot in my other hand, but cooling rapidly as the darkness drew in above us. The glow of the lamps was warm, and the strings of fairy lights made the autumnal trees glow orange. Crisp, fallen leaves crunched beneath our feet.“So,” Skye said, scuffing the toes of his shoes into the leaves, one by one as he took each step, “did you leave Hollowbridge because of – of what you are?”It was an innocuous enough question, but I knew that it was a segue into a conversation I wasn’t sure I was ready to have. But as I gazed up at him, tall, broad, but leanly muscled, with a softness to his face, especially around his eyes and lips, I kn
She Runs with Wolves TWENTY-SIX | FALLING
“V-vampire?” He repeated. I felt his back muscles tense, and then my hands were left cold, frigid, as he stumbled backwards.“Yeah,” I croaked, looking down. I felt ashamed, and then I felt the sting of imagined tears pricking at my eyes, and burning the back of my nose. It wasn’t my fault.“Are you – are you telling me that’s what you are?” He asked, very quietly. Too quietly.“Yeah,” I repeated, my voice barely louder than his. “That’s what I am.”His fingers trembled as he pointed to my mouth. “I – I kissed you. But your teeth… you hurt people, Ellis.”“You said it wouldn’t change things,” I whimpered. “And – and I don’t. I never have.”“We’re taught about you. We have
She Runs with Wolves TWENTY-SEVEN | SHE
He’d stabbed me. I was sure of it.I could feel his fingers punching through my ribcage, his nails slicked into sharp points and digging through my flesh as he latched on to my heart. It beat out an unsteady, anxious rhythm as he yanked it free, and he held it in his hand for a moment, blood dripping down his wrist. I could do nothing but stare up at him as I fell to my knees.The dim lamplight swirled around me. I felt seasick, dizzy, as the orange trees and the navy sky span, forming ringlets in the air. Then I felt the hard tarmac against my bare knees, and the heels of my hands following them onto the ground seconds later.I felt my skin tear on impact, but barely, like a flash of red through my vision. I could feel it, but it was dwarfed by the pain in my chest. My eyes fluttered shut, and I curled into a ball, my broken hands clutching at the empty space where my heart used to be.The wav
She Runs with Wolves TWENTY-EIGHT | SHADOW
“Maybe we should go somewhere else to talk,” I whispered.“Maybe,” Skye agreed. He stuffed his hands into his pockets, and gave me a sideways glance. “I really am sorry, Ellis.”“It’s okay,” I said, and it sounded more natural, more convincing, this time. “I was scared of you, too, in the beginning.”“You never hurt me like that, though,” he muttered. His gaze dropped, ashamed. Then, before I had a chance to say anything, his eyes were burning, blazing gold, and staring into mine. “No. I won’t talk like that. It’s not fair on you. It’s my fault, not yours. You don’t need to make me feel better about what I did, what I said. It was a bad reaction on my part. But… I can explain.”“I think we’ve both got a few things we need to explain to each other,” I said, pulling
She Runs with Wolves TWENTY-NINE | SUN AND MOON
“How you became a vampire,” Skye said, nodding. His eyes darted from side to side, like the sun rolling around the earth, and he bit down on his bottom lip.I sighed. My fingers clenched at the dirty blanket, and I took a deep breath. I fixed my gaze on the orange lamplight filtering through the tree in front of us, the shadows of the other leaves dappling the brighter ones underneath.“Are you sure you don’t want to go first?” I laughed, but it sounded dry, hollow and unnatural, even to my own ears. I glanced up at Skye, and, at his weathered expression, my eyes dove back towards the tree.“I – mine is – it’s dark,” he admitted. From the corner of my eye, I could see his hands tapping restlessly on the thighs of his jeans.This time, the wry tone in my voice was intentional. “And you don’t think dying and coming back as a vampir
She Runs with Wolves THIRTY | BLOODSTONE
The night felt unnaturally still. It had drizzled throughout the day, and the cloud cover was thick, oppressive, blocking out the faint light of the moon. I swung my legs beneath me, kicking my too-bright white sneakers through the mist. I was surprised it had climbed this high, and I felt an unpleasant tingle at the back of my neck.David and I were sat together in silence, our eyes on the fog brushing through the dark limbs of the trees. We’d positioned ourselves on a low-hanging bough, wanting to have a view of the area surrounding the Clan house, as well as the log cabins that dotted the woodland on the far side.I’d made it back home just as Kathrena was coming outside this morning. I’d screeched to a halt right in front of her, and I’d leapt out of the truck and run to check the patrol rota without saying a word. She’d watched me with cool, intelligent eyes when I’d returned, and as she
She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-ONE | LOST
I stared at him, my body frozen and my mind transfixed. What was he doing here?“Ellis?” I realised that David was speaking, and I moved slowly, as if through melted toffee, to look at him. I could just see the Skye-shaped shadow below in my peripheral vision, and I struggled to focus on David’s face.“Sorry,” I mumbled. He was smiling at me, warm and bright, if a little timid, and I shook myself.“Did my story scare you?” He frowned. I scrambled desperately to remember what we’d been talking about, and my eyes shot open.“Oh! No, no. Sorry,” I said again. “I just – I need to stretch my legs. Mind if I walk the perimeter?”“That’s fine,” he said, very slowly. His eyes appraised me, but they were no longer fathomless. Now they were closed off, and my chest ached as I reco
She Runs with Wolves THIRTY-TWO | PYRE
The flames and smoke rose into the sky, red and orange and black and grey rolling in waves across the dawn. The sunrise behind was cast out, soft apricot and purple bleeding into obscurity as the fire crackled.David’s body was in the fire, somewhere. I didn’t look too closely.Most of the Clan were stood around the pyre, their eyes down and their mouths in sombre, thin lines. Falmer was nowhere to be seen, but that was nothing unusual; he frequented the bar in town, especially since we’d been on a diet of animal blood. He could, more often than not, find willing donors in the women he met.The only other person missing was Kathrena. Her absence, however, had raised a lot of eyebrows, and had elicited a few startled mumbles and narrowed eyes.I couldn’t bring myself to care where she was. David was dead, and it was my fault. I’d checked for his pulse, two fingers feeling
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