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SEVENTY-TWO | CROW
“I wasn’t sure which text it was what you wanted to look at, exactly, so I thought it would be easier if you just came in,” Sierra said, holding the front door open for me.
“Thanks,” I said, smiling as I passed her. She flicked her honey-toned hair over one shoulder before following me inside.
“Sorry about the mess,” she said sheepishly. I hadn’t noticed it.
“Oh. Don’t worry about that.” I paused before softening. “I kind of have tunnel vision today, anyway.”
I nodded her head to one side, gesturing towards a towering stack of books beside a brimming bookcase. Behind, through the window, the sea shifted, shades of grey blurring as the sky met its shuddering surface.
“Then you’ll want to have a look through these,” she said, crouching down beside the staggering pile. “I tried to r
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I took the stairs two at a time as I sprinted up to my bedroom. I’d returned home to gather the last of my evidence, as well as my weapons, and to fill my Dads in on my plan. It wasn’t fully formed yet, and it wouldn’t be until I’d spoken to two more people. I glanced outside; though the day was grey and clouded, it still looked bright. I swore under my breath as I slammed through my doorway.I slid out my phone and checked the time with one hand as I rifled through my weapons drawer with the other. I’d spent too long at Sierra’s flat, and I was running out of time. The hunters were primed to scout and attack tonight. Fortunately, the winter days drew the darkness in earlier. Even without any obsidian, Veronica could meet me in the afternoon – if I hurried up.The message I’d received earlier was from Cyrus. I’d forgotten about it. But I couldn’t ignore him – not today. I dump
The Hunter and the Vampire SEVENTY-FOUR | FIREFLIES
I slammed my foot on the brake, hurtling too fast towards the next bend in the road. Time was ticking by, and I needed answers. With every passing second another innocent person could be taken by the darkness. I swung out of the corner and forced the accelerator down, as far as it would go.I’d shoved my head through the doorway when I’d stopped at home to grab my car. My Dads needed to know what was happening, and I’d wanted to get changed. Veronica’s blood was soaked into my thin jumper, and it coated the sleeves of my jacket. Then I’d remembered the trick I’d used the night my face had been cut, leaving it forever scarred: blood was the best bait there was.With blood covering my torso, there was no way Cyrus would be able to hide his vampiric nature from me. It would give me a definitive answer, one that even his charm and seduction could not evade.“What’s going on, Ca
The Hunter and the Vampire SEVENTY-FIVE | BLADE
The darkness abated slowly, the light streaking across my eyes like the first quivering rays of a sunrise. I forced myself to blink, my body unwilling to face the misery I knew, even in the abyss, would be present when I awoke.I wasn’t dead, at least. That was something.As harsh as it was to my eyes, the light in the room was dim. I wasn’t even sure that it was a room – it was cavernous, the walls cut into to make hollow spaces, within which gas lanterns burned. I couldn’t make out any windows, but it was dark outside, so they would be harder to see through blurry eyes, in any case.I was surprised by my steady, rational thoughts, and then surprised by my surprise. I was a hunter, not born or bred but as good as. Rational thoughts in times of crises were par for the course; my recent over-emotional state had clouded my judgement, and was to blame for my being in this situation in the first place
The Hunter and the Vampire SEVENTY-SIX | CLAWS
The one-two click-clack of the mysterious footsteps drew closer. I held back a shudder, desperately trying to keep up my pretend display of unconsciousness. I longed to crack an eye open, but I held still and took another deep breath.The footsteps came to a halt beside me. I exhaled, as steadily as I could. Something piercing and cold touched the bare skin of my knee, digging in to the graze there. Hot blood pooled around the point of contact. I winced.“I know you’re awake,” a nasal, woman’s voice drawled. “I can hear your heart beat. It’s quicker, now.” Slowly, she dragged the pointed object away from my knee.With a sigh, I opened my eyes. She was pulling off her heel to wipe it clean – red soled, I noted: a Louboutin. I only recognised it because Rebecca had spent more hours staring at them online than studying when we were at college, and I had never been so glad for
The Hunter and the Vampire SEVENTY-SEVEN | IVY
My vision swam, but I held myself steady. I kept my thoughts strictly focused on the most simplistic element of my plan: fight to the door. I couldn’t allow myself the weakness of worry, and I definitely could not think about Cyrus. Bile rose in my throat, but I swallowed it back down, ignoring the ringing in my ears and the black dots hovering across my pupils.The vampires behind Alice swarmed around us, flashing their teeth and pushing us back against the wall. My bonds had fallen free, but none of them seemed shocked or even surprised that I’d been cut loose the entire time. I steeled myself, and I dodged Alice’s lunge, barely missing her teeth by a fraction of an inch.Those behind her were drenched in shadow, but I could make out an array of dark faces, each with their own set of blinding teeth. The bodies attached to the mouths did not matter, just as the stories and emotions behind each creature di
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At first, I did not wish to cling to the light. My eyes tried to open, tried to stare blearily up at the stars, and I yanked them shut. The dark was simple: no pain, no morality, no consciousness. I ached to return, but then I realised that the presence of pain meant something incredible.I was alive. Somehow, I had survived.I worked my jaw. My mouth was dry, my tongue pressed to the back of my front teeth. I licked my lips. My head burned, my temples throbbing, one far worse than the other. I shifted, rocking to one side, and my neck soared with pain. Then came a stab in my side, and a flame licking my wrist. Everything was agony, and life did not seem worth the hurt.As I let myself sink back into the darkness, my woozy head lolling against something warm and firm, I heard a voice. It rocked, waves crashing in the night, and then I realised that the sounds were not one and the same, but two separate noises. T
The Hunter and the Vampire SEVENTY-NINE | LAPIS LAZULI
“I was considered to be something of an eligible bachelor at the time,” he said lightly, teasingly. Despite myself, I snorted.“I’m hurt, Callie,” he gasped, adjusting his weight and mine so that he could hold a dramatic hand over his heart. I rolled my eyes at him, and he grinned down at me, holding my gaze with a power I wasn’t sure he knew he held. After a long moment, he continued.“I was born to a wealthy family – thank goodness. I’m not sure how much you know about that time, but the city streets and the work houses stank.” He wrinkled his nose, and I raised my eyebrows at him. “Though my parents wanted little to do with me, I was glad of them. Fortune had favoured me, though I’d done nothing to earn it. I felt badly for the poor, but I was too caught up in my own dramas to pay them much heed.“My time was spent in our country es
The Hunter and the Vampire EIGHTY | SEA OF STARS
“Callie?” My name, sleep-worn and grumbled, sounded like a lifeline. My heart thudded loudly in my chest.“Dad. I – God, they’re there.” I turned to Cyrus and mouthed, “Where did you find me?”He squinted at me, deciphering my words, before mouthing back: “Below.” He added a jaunty point to the ground, and I shook my head at him, hoping I understood.There was nothing sleepy about my Dad’s voice. “It’s almost four in the morning. We thought you’d got carried away dining with your vampire beau. What happened?”Thank God they hadn’t come for me; thank God Cyrus had. But my lips stilled. Four in the morning? I squinted into the night, searching for a glimmer or peach or tangerine to mark the first rays of the rising sun. The midwinter sky was still dark, with not even the merest shade of pale blue to suggest
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