I had a very busy weekend. On Friday I went all over town talking to people (very unlike me) and hanging up flyers for my writers group (I’ve had these printed for MONTHS, if not a full year). As soon as I got home from that, mom needed to go to the bank, so I was the bank run companion.
Then we had our meeting on Saturday, and even though there were only three of us we managed to talk from 1pm to after 5pm. We covered a lot of topics, most of them NOT writing related.
A busy weekend is kind of fun and energizing, but I’m looking forward to chilling this weekend. Though I might still go to the cafe to write a bit. I’m undecided.
The only thing keeping me from falling asleep was how dang hot it was. I’d parked under a tree with the windows down, which kept me from literally roasting in my car or getting a weird one-armed tan from sitting in the light, but there was no escaping a summer in Georgia.
I tried to blow my bangs out of my face, but the sweaty golden strands were stuck to me. Gross. Of all the crap I had in my car, a hair tie was nowhere to be found. They were one of those things you knew you had, but they seemed to fall into a void between realms whenever you went looking for one.
Stakeouts were not my thing. I was impatient in general and not covert. Two hours ago, a wasp had flown into my car, and I’d jumped out screaming. Stinging, flying bugs weren’t my thing either.
My cover was blown if anyone in the bar had been paying attention. And my reputation as a badass, vampire-killing witch was toast.
The narrow, dilapidated door I had my eye on opened. You wouldn’t think there was a vampire bar hidden here. The magic cloaking it made it look like the entrance to an abandoned space in the building. Out of place among the cheery doorways to the other shops and restaurants.
The vampire I wanted to kill stepped out into the open, slipping his sunglasses over what I knew to be bewitching blue eyes. Alaric. He wasn’t sensitive enough to sunlight to be stuck inside.
I’d always assumed the ability to tolerate the sun had something to do with power, and that probably did help, but it seemed to be an individual thing. Like whether or not a human burned or tanned. Except more painful and immediate.
I’d been parked outside The Devil’s Trap for the whole night. Ever since I’d done a spell for my best friend Pagan to reassemble a burned-up letter. It was supposed to incriminate the best friend of King Octavian for treason. The vampire king.
I’d helped vampires. Go figure. Mom would be so proud. Or homicidal.
The blond vampire slipped into the alley next to the bar. He was built like a Viking. Tall, broad. Possibly used to swinging swords longer than I was tall. I didn’t know his history. Maybe he had been a Viking. No matter what he’d been, he wouldn’t be an easy opponent to kill.
I slid out of the car and into the sweaty weather to stalk him. He’d be hot if he weren’t an evil, walking corpse.
Do you even believe that anymore?
I growled. Now wasn’t the time to be having a crisis of faith. I’d been raised to believe that vampires were demons with no soul walking the Earth, and I would keep believing it.
Pagan still seemed alright. She’d become a vampire recently, and instead of killing her, I’d helped her and the one that had turned her. Nyx. A vampire so lethal and old that witches didn’t dare hunt him. Pagan had dared, and look how that had ended.
I was kicking myself for helping them. I killed vampires. I didn’t help them with pet projects.
Pagan had tried to feed on me, so clearly, everything wasn’t alright. Only Nyx’s quick action had kept her from draining me dry.
You could have killed her, but you chose not to. You still see her as your best friend. Hell, the ancient bastard that turned her didn’t seem half bad himself.
Ugh! No matter what I believed, the vampire I was stalking knew my sister, and I intended to put a stop to whatever was going on between them.
Grace had sworn it was nothing, but she couldn’t know him. It would get her killed. Either he would kill her at some point, or our mother would.
I hastily cast a cloaking spell over myself before I stepped into the alley. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do if he didn’t know he was being hunted.
“How long are you going to stalk me, witch? Am I supposed to be the monster in this story? Because you’re creepy.”
I stood, stupid, in the mouth of the alley. Crap. So much for the element of surprise. How had he spotted me? Usually, vampires I hunted didn’t know someone was tracking them until it was too late—a testament to my skill and, if I’m being honest, their arrogance. I pressed myself against a wall before I crouched and crept behind the dumpster. Gross. That smell would linger.
“Unless you want to be lunch, I suggest you get back in your car and drive away.”
A chilly blast of wind swept through the space. Could that be his magic? Sometimes, the bloodsuckers were impressive. And the wind carried a dark, foreboding sense that made me want to turn tail. I probably would have if I’d been human and not a witch.
“You can’t hide from me. I can feel you…taste you. The reek of garbage doesn’t hide your scent from me. I also spotted you across the street earlier. That fight with the bee was funny. When I tell everyone I know, I don’t think you’ll ever live it down.”
I resisted the urge to growl at him and give away my location. His voice had been closer. Coming toward me. Shit.
I drew my knife, and he chuckled at the small sound of metal clearing a sheath. “Most hunters would realize they’ve been beaten and back off.”
“Would you ever let them back off?”
He was silent for a bit. “I’ll make an exception for you, Kori. My brother is ridiculously in love with your sister, and I think slaughtering her family would create more problems than it would fix.”
His brother? In love? I scowled. I’d been aware that Gracie knew Alaric. She’d been shocked to see him at Nyx’s bar before we’d done the spell, and that little secret had slipped out. But she was dating his brother? This was worse than I thought. Gracie, what were you thinking?
I didn’t consider his offer to walk away. There was no way. They knew my sister. They were a threat to her in so many ways. Now I had to kill him and this mysterious brother. Who would be pissed and know I’m coming for him. And if they were in love (ugh, I threw up in my mouth a little), I might even get push-back from her. She’d made a mess.
Heather is now six months pregnant and finds her mate a bit overprotective. She can’t help it if she glows when she is frustrated. Things get a little more complicated when she is called home because of Ialog. He released information, making it look like she was being mistreated by the Vespians. How is she going to hide her pregnancy? She left Earth sterile.
Storm isn’t happy about her leaving the safety of Vespia but wants to show that Heather is happy and safe under his care. He knows Ialog and is worried the man is going to try to take his mate from him again. His fears become very real when Ialog kidnaps her. Now he has to find a way to bring her home.
Love from the shadows,
Miranda Thorn
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