This is a work of Fiction, characters, names, places and incidents are either a product ofthe authors imagination or, if real, are used fictitiously

© 2012 Jamie ManningThe scanning, uploading or distributing of this book via the internet or via any other

means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Your support ofAuthor rights is appreciated.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume responsibility for theauthor or third party websites and their content.

First Edition 2012Library of Congress in Publication Data is AvailableISBN 978-0-9835580-0-2e-book availableThis book is typeset in Gills SanCover design by Brian ButlerCover Photography Brian ButlerBook Design by Kamilla Quast10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1Pendrell PublishingCulver City Californiapendrellpublishing.cominfo@pendrellpublishing.com

1. REBORNI woke to the coppery smell of blood and an

overpowering hunger. My head burned intensely,shards of pain and heat engulfing me. I felt my breath,short and raspy, choke its way from my lungs and upmy throat. My nose burned with the smell of dirt andsweat, and I was surrounded by total darkness. A hellof a way to wake up.

My pulsating headache was outweighed only by thegrowing hunger. It consumed my entire body, makingmy skin crawl. It was all I could focus on, all I couldsee. But I wasn’t craving food.

I was craving blood.The thought of it filled my mind like molten lava,

sweeping in and burying all other thoughts and ideas,leaving me with an aching emptiness that only it couldfill. I had to have it, and I had no idea why.

What is wrong with me? Am I seriously lying herethinking about blood? Have I totally lost my mind?

All good questions that I had zero answers for. Itried to remember if that was normal—my craving forblood—but my mind was dark, my memories gone. Icouldn’t recall ever wanting it before, so how in theworld could I have been actually considering drinkingit? I tried to push the overwhelming and totallydisgusting thought of blood—and what I wanted to dowith it—out of my mind and focus on figuring outwhere I was.

where I was.The stagnant air tickling my skin was cold, freezing

actually, but my body didn’t seem affected. Though Icouldn’t really f ee l it, I could definitely sense thebriskness. I tried to see if my breath was coming outin a frozen cloud, until I remembered I couldn’t see.My eyes darted back and forth, hoping for even thetiniest speck of light but finding none. Even though Iwas shrouded in cold darkness, I wasn’t scared. I feltsafe, like nothing could hurt me.

The dull throbbing that had been going strong inmy head actually dissipated a bit once I calmed down,leaving me with that insatiable thirst for blood and thestrangest feeling of home.

Maybe I was at home. Maybe I was at home soundasleep in my own bed, and this was all some sort oftwisted dream. I tried sitting up, and immediatelysmacked my head against something mere inches frommy face. I instinctively rubbed my forehead, I hadbarely felt the impact. I mean, I felt it, of course, but itdidn’t hurt. I didn’t cry out or wince or anything. Mystrange-o-meter went into overdrive, so I reached outto try and see with my hands.

Whatever I had hit my head on was both soft andhard at the same time. A deep-set concave, it wascovered with plush padding, with a silky fabric drapedover everything. I moved my hands slowly along thesmooth surface before the horror of what I was feeling—what I was trapped inside of—finally set in.

—what I was trapped inside of—finally set in.I was in a coffin.There was no mistaking it: The silk covering every

surface; the dome lid; the tiny pillow beneath myhead. Definitely a coffin.

I had been buried alive.I did the only thing I could think of once the

realization set in; I screamed. Louder and strongerthan I ever had before, I screamed from the top of mylungs, my voice bouncing off the fabric walls of mypadded grave. I used my hands and feet to increasethe sounds coming from my sarcophagus, hoping thatsomehow, someone would hear me and dig me up. AsI totally freaked out, I knew deep in the back of mymind that being heard was impossible. I wasn’t thebrightest, but I still knew that when people are buried,they’re buried deep.

Somehow, the screaming and banging and harshpanic attack managed to free my mind from thebloodlust holding it hostage and I was finally able tothink. My thoughts, of course, went to figuring outwhat had happened to me.

Why am I buried alive? Did somebody think I haddied? Did I die? And what’s with the thirst for blood?

Again, all really good questions that I couldn’tanswer, mainly because I couldn’t recall a singlememory—of anything. Hazy images like out-of-focusphotographs flooded my mind, but I couldn’t make outanything concrete. Why had I lost my memory? What

anything concrete. Why had I lost my memory? Whathappened to me? A tiny sliver of fear crawled up myspine and settled into the taut muscles in my neck andshoulders. Memory or not, something was horriblywrong.

I died. I guess?This so wasn’t happening. I couldn’t be dead.I didn’t feel dead. I was lying in a coffin, fully aware

of what was happening. I was alive. I could feel thefoam-covered walls all around me. I could smell thenewly-disturbed earth no doubt piled on top of mycoffin lid. And although I couldn’t actually see anythingfor the darkness, I knew exactly where I was. So beingdead was completely out of the question.

But if I wasn’t dead, then what was going on? Was itHell? Purgatory? And how do I even know whatPurgatory is? Just then, the tiniest shard of a memorycame briefly into focus. I was in a room surrounded byother children, all of us dressed in matching uniforms,our focus on a woman cloaked in black describing Helland Heaven and the limbo between them. What thehell was that? Who was that woman? Those children?I wanted to dig deeper into the memory to try anddiscover my past, but the pressing matter of beingburied alive took precedence. Purgatory. Could I bestuck between life and death right now, waiting forword as to which way I would go?

Maybe it was Purgatory, and I was doomed to liethere until my fate had been decided. The thought of it

there until my fate had been decided. The thought of itboth creeped me out and made absolutely no sense. Ididn’t know m u ch about religion—well, I couldn’tremember much about religion—but I honestly didn’tthink that Purgatory meant being buried alive…and I.Was. Alive.

No, it had to be something else. I was alive, not inlimbo. But if I didn’t focus my erratic brain on findinga way out, I was going to die for real. I was going tolie in the coffin someone had picked out for me until Iran out of air and suffocated.

That’s when I heard it.It was very faint, like listening to the radio with the

volume turned down, but it was there. A low, distinctscratching sound. I held my breath as I strained tolisten. After a few seconds, I picked up on apronounced pattern.

Scratch.One second. Two. Three.Scratch.There definitely was a rhythm. A clear, three-second

lull between scratching. My first thought—that it was adog—flew right out the window. I couldn’t be sure, butI doubted if dogs had the ability to count. So thatmeant the scratching was coming from a person. Aperson trying to save me.

I immediately went back into Oh-my-God-I’m-buried-alive-get-me-out-of-here mode, banging on thelid of the casket and screaming at the top of my lungs.

I kept up the momentum for what seemed like forever—but was actually about fifteen seconds—before Istopped to let my raw throat rest. That was when Inoticed that the scratching wasn’t the only sound Iheard. A very loud and heavy banging was alsocoming from above, and I knew right away thatsomeone had definitely heard me.

Thump thump thump.Pause.Thump thump thump.Whoever it was, they were letting me know they had

heard my screams. Someone was trying to save me.The euphoria of the moment, mixed with the apparentlack of oxygen to my brain, sent me over the edge. Myeyes rolled back as I blacked out.

“Are you okay?” I heard the deep, sexy voice before

I came to and my eyes had time to adjust to the light.They fluttered open, revealing a star-pocked sky,large, haunting trees and the most beautiful guy I hadever seen.

Beautiful probably isn’t the right word used todescribe guys, but for this guy? It fit perfectly. Thick,black hair falling in all the right places, framing vibrantgreen eyes; a wide smile filled with brilliant white,perfectly straight teeth; bronze skin pulled taut overwell-defined arms that were reaching out to me. Yes,

well-defined arms that were reaching out to me. Yes,beautiful.

Without speaking—I couldn’t, really—I sat up andtook hold of those outstretched arms. As I clamberedmy way up the dirt walls and out of what I hoped wasmy last time being buried alive, my mind was solelyfocused on the amount of heat emanating from mydrop-dead-gorgeous savior. It was like my hands hadbeen dipped in hot wax, which felt really good. Itslithered up my arms and engulfed me like a welcomehug, instantly making me feel safe. Even though nightshrouded me and our surroundings, I felt my face turna deep crimson. Embarrassment must’ve been aspecialty of mine. And getting embarrassed in front ofa really hot guy? I was probably a pro.

“Are you okay?” That voice again, soft and strongand mesmerizing. He lifted me from the grave andpulled me toward him, his body and heat pressing intome, making me feel both safe and terrified all at once.“You’re shaking,” he added, wrapping his sinewy armsaround me, his large hands getting a firm grip on myback. A waft of his overwhelmingly enticing bloodswam up my nose and made me dizzy.

“I’m fine.” I lied. I was so far from fine it was scary.I wanted to push him away and run and hide. But Ialso wanted to wrap my arms around him and neverlet go. That second thought made me shudder.

“No, you’re not,” he consoled, releasing me longenough to snag a thick brown coat from the ground

enough to snag a thick brown coat from the groundbehind him. He threw it around me and I was instantlywarmed, both by the thickness of the coat and by theintoxicating scent of him that lingered on the fabric.

“What happened to me?” I asked, trying my best notto look into his eyes for fear of getting lost in them. Itook a step back to put some distance between us—though a voice inside kept urging me to move closer.

“What’s the last thing you remember?” he asked, hisbody rigid, his chiseled face intensely focused.

“I don’t know. I can’t remember anything.” I wasstarting to get a headache from trying to conjure upanother image. More fuzzy photos flitted past mymind’s eye, but nothing concrete. I could barely makeout a sidewalk and books and leaves swirling in thewind. “I was walking somewhere, I think,” I said,closing my eyes to try and get a clearer picture—andto not stare into his haunting eyes anymore. Truthwas, I could have been seeing images from anything:a memory, a past life, a TV show. Huh, I guess I knewwhat TV was. A tiny, insignificant step toward a fullmemory, but I’d take it.

“Anything else?” His voice was still soft, but nowheld a twinge of something else. Anxiety? Fear? Iwasn’t sure, but I could sense something.

“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I don’t think so.” I wasbeing as honest as possible. The flickering imageswere cloudy at best, like I was catching glimpses of mylife but had no idea what they meant. “Who are you?”

life but had no idea what they meant. “Who are you?”I quickly moved the subject away from me.

“Call me Chance.”“Chance?” Of course he would have a name like

that.“Yeah.” He kept his eyes locked on my face. Though

it made me strangely uncomfortable, I couldn’t stopstaring back at him. “What?” His tone was eerilylighthearted, the green of his eyes intense and jarring.His full lips jutted out—almost like he was pouting—sending a really strange—but kind of good—chill upmy spine.

“Just different,” I finally answered.“As different as Avaline, I guess,” he said as he took

a step back and picked up the shovel he had obviouslyused to dig me up.

“How do you know my name?” I didn’t even knowmy name…how did a complete stranger? Hot or not,something was off with him.

“Whoa,” Chance said, putting his hands up indefense. A crooked smile quickly passed his lips. “Takeit easy. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I want to know what’s going on. What happened tome? How do you know my name? And who are you?”The questions flew from my mouth like word vomit.The corners of Chance’s eyes lowered, his expressionnow serious.

“I’ve already told you who I am.”“You told me your name. That’s not enough.” I

could feel myself getting mad, fear and uncertaintyquickly transforming into anger. Chance could see iton my face. He stared at me before finally clearing histhroat.

“I’m the guy trying to help you.”“Thank you,” I said, barely above a whisper. “But I

want to know what’s going on.”“Okay, okay,” he said, turning away. “I’ll explain.”

He stood still with his back to me, the powerful glowof the moon casting a haunting light on his musculararms and wide back. Wisps of his hair danced in thefrigid breeze flowing across the cemetery. Underdifferent circumstances, the moment would have beenmagical. “But you’re not going to like it.”

“Try me,” I said, pulling my eyes away from him. Ididn’t have the luxury of daydreaming about the twoof us lying together in a tangle of bare skin. I had tofind out why I had been buried when I wasn’t dead.

“Well,” he turned to look at me, his face stern andworried. “Technically you were dead. Sort of.”

“What? What does that even mean, ‘sort of’? I was‘sort of’ technically dead?” I was more confused nowthan when I woke up in the coffin, and I didn’t think itcould get any weirder than that.

“You were bitten,” he said. I could tell from hisexpression that he was worried I was about to freakout on him. I didn’t. There was no point. Therealization of what had happened to me was alreadyfilling the gaping holes in my mind.

filling the gaping holes in my mind.“Bitten? By what?” There was only one way a person

could be bitten by something, die and wake up again.Never would I have imagined it could actually happen,that it was real, but there was no other explanation. Ididn’t need to hear his answer—already knowing whatit would be—but I waited for Chance to speak, just toconfirm what I suspected.

“A vampire.”

2. DISCOVERYA vampire,” I stated, my voice flat and dull. “Of

course.”“You knew?” The surprise in Chance’s voice was

genuine. He moved in close behind me. So close Icould feel the heat pulsing from his body.

“No. But once you said I’d been bitten, what elsecould it have been? It’s the only thing I know of thatcan bring a person back from the dead.” I knew as Isaid it how ridiculous it all sounded. I was bitten by avampire? How was that even possible? Vampires didn’texist. And how did I even know about vampires withno memory of anything? The mounting questionswere starting to take their toll on me; the dullheadache I had earlier came roaring back, poundingagainst my temples with the strength of a thousandfists. I could feel Chance just behind me, could feel hiseyes glaring at me. I could also smell his blood, sweetand intoxicating and inviting, flowing through his veinsin syncopation with the loud drumming of hisheartbeat. I had to fight the urge to taste it,swallowing the lump that had risen in my throat.

“I’m impressed,” I heard him say. The deep timbreof his voice fell in with the rhythm of his heart; themoment was almost too much for me to bear.

“What do you mean?” I finally opened my eyes andturned to face him. He stood wide-eyed and lookedconfused. The large vein running up his neck was

confused. The large vein running up his neck waspulsing beneath his skin, and I felt a sudden tingling inmy gums.

“I just thought you would’ve been, I don’t know,shocked or freaked out or something. You know, anormal human response. I definitely wasn’t expectingcalm.” His face held an honesty that was sweet. But Iwasn’t really in the mood for sweet.

“So you think that since I’m a girl I’m supposed toalways get upset or freaked out?” He was taken backby my harsh words. I felt a surge of power over himand didn’t let up. “And I guess since you’re a guyyou’re always tough and calm and can handleanything, huh?”

“That’s not what I’m saying.”“So what ar e you saying?” I felt a rage building

inside me but couldn’t stop it. I didn’t want to stop it. Iwanted to get mad and lash out and make Chance asscared and unsure and as freaked out as I was.

“I just meant that most people would have hadsome sort of reaction to finding out they had just beenbitten by a vampire.” His voice regained some of theconfidence it held earlier. “Most people would’vereacted to finding out vampires are real.”

“I’m not most people,” I threw back.Chance smiled. “No, you’re definitely not.” The

anger building in me quickly dissipated, leaving acalming peace in its wake. I suddenly felt like myselfagain, whatever that meant. I walked away from him,

again, whatever that meant. I walked away from him,once again feeling embarrassed and out of place. Icrossed the cemetery and stood next to the gapingmouth of my open grave.

“So I’m a vampire,” I said with conviction. Hearingthose words out loud almost made me laugh. I mean,if ever there was a sentence you didn’t expect to say,that would probably be it. “What happens now?”Chance stared at me, unmoving. “Do I have to give upgarlic? Wear SPF 5000 to go out during the day?Trade burgers for blood?” That last one felt the mostaccurate. I didn’t know too much about vampires—orif I did I couldn’t recall anything—but I knew they hadto drink blood to survive.

“I don’t know.” Chance’s words surprised andconfused me.

This time, I was the one who initiated our closeproximity, moving to stand next to him. “You don’tknow?” I repeated. “Why don’t you know?” The scentof his blood was making me lightheaded.

“Why would I know?” he asked, confused again.“Because you’re the one who did this to me!” I

stepped away from him then, suddenly furious that hewas denying what he did.

“You think I bit you?!” he snapped back, smiling andvery close to laughing. “You think I’m a vampire?”

“Aren’t you?” I couldn’t tell if he was lying or not. Atthat moment, it really didn’t matter.

“Can’t you smell me?” he asked, his voice much

“Can’t you smell me?” he asked, his voice muchcalmer and softer. “Can’t you smell my blood?”

“Yes.” One simple word. That was all I could ekeout as Chance moved forward, stopping only inchesfrom me. He was doing it on purpose. I cleared mythroat and tried to ignore the pulsing vein in his neck.“Yeah I can smell it.”

He smiled wickedly. “Then I’m human,” he said,almost whispered. “So no, I didn’t do this to you.”With that he moved away and I felt my body shudderin his absence. I was mad at myself for letting him getto me so easily. I made a quick vow to put a stop tothat ASAP.

“How is me smelling your blood proof that you’rehuman?”

“Because if I were a vampire, you wouldn’t havelooked at me that way.” His eyes were like knives,carving their way into me with fierce precision. Iwanted to look away but couldn’t.

“What way?” I asked, getting madder by the secondthat he was being so smug.

He flashed that crooked smile again and said, “Likeyou wanted to bite me and have a taste.”

I did want to taste him. He was right. And he knewit. That really pissed me off. “Don’t worry your prettylittle head,” I snapped. “I wouldn’t bite you if my lifedepended on it.”

“No? Well, we’ll see how you feel if that timeactually comes.” The tone with which he said the

actually comes.” The tone with which he said thewords scared me, almost like he knew that one day Iwould, in fact, have to drink his blood to survive. Thethought both made my stomach turn and my mindswim in dizzying euphoria; I disgusted myself.

“So if you didn’t do this, then who did?” I had tomove the subject away from the idea of me biting intohis muscular neck. My life, or unlife, already hadenough problems; the last thing I needed was toattack a stranger, hot or not. I caught a glimpse ofChance’s eyes as he turned away from me. A tinysliver of fear was hidden there. It left as quickly as itcame, but it was there nonetheless.

“I can’t tell you,” he said, crossing the cemeteryaway from me.

“Why not?”“Because it’s not my place.”“Not your place? Not your place!” I was getting

madder with each passing second. “That’s ridiculous.You dig me up and tell me I’m a vampire but suddenlyit’s not your place to say any more?”

“I never said you were a vampire. I said you werebitten by one.”

“There’s a difference?”“Yes, there is.”“So I’m no t a vampire then?” I watched Chance’s

body rise and fall as he took a deep breath beforeturning to face me.

“Not technically,” he finally said, worry littering his

words.“Can you stop being so cryptic?” Trying to ignore

the smell of his blood and pry information from him atthe same time was starting to unnerve me.

“Sorry.” He lowered his eyes then quickly broughtthem up to meet mine. I felt my face burn.

“Just say what you mean.” I fought to ignore myflushed cheeks.

“I mean you’re not a vampire. Not exactly.” Chancehad a sorry-I-don’t-know-how-else-to-explain-it lookon his face, the dimples in each of his cheeksprominent. The sight of him made my heart beatfaster.

“Okay,” I said, breaking free from our moment bylooking away. “I don’t claim to be an expert, and mymemory is unreliable right now to say the least,”Chance half-smiled at me. “But if a vampire bites ahuman, doesn’t the human become a vampire?”

“Not if the vampire doesn’t want you to,” he finallyresponded. “He has all the control.”

“He?” I asked, happy to finally be getting even thetiniest of information from him. “So it was a h e whodid this to me?” This time, no matter how much hiseyes and scent and muscles were drawing me in, Irefused to look away from his face. “Who was it?”

“I’ve already told you, it’s not my place to say.” Mylevel of frustration was rising with each breath I took.Why wouldn’t he just answer the question? What washe hiding?

he hiding?“Fine,” I replied through gritted teeth. “I get it. Not

your place to tell. Whatever.” I took a deep breath tocalm down, then added “Then who’s place is it?”

“Mine.”The voice rose from the weighty fog like a monster,

startling me, and I spun around to find the source.There, standing on the opposite side of the opengrave, tall and dark and looming, was who I couldonly presume to be the vampire that killed me.

“Sorry for the mess,” Chance spoke softly,practically falling over each word. “I was going toclean it up but I—”

“Became distracted,” the vampire interrupted,staring me down as he spoke. Chance winced like ascolded dog. “It’s fine,” the vampire continued. “Youaccomplished the most important part.” His eyes neverleft mine, and I realized that he looked much closer tomy age than the ancient, Dracula-type corpse I hadbeen expecting. I suddenly found the moment funny. Icouldn’t remember my name or where I came from,but a fictional character from an ancient book andmovie popped right into my head. Talk about stress. Iglared at the vampire, the glow of the moonlightcasting shadows across his face, making hisappearance more model-like than walking-dead-like.

“How are you, Avaline?” So he knew my name, too.The night just kept getting stranger and stranger. Thevampire’s voice was like warm liquid, flowing into my

vampire’s voice was like warm liquid, flowing into myears and instantly soothing me. I suddenly felt as ifnone of this horrible night had ever happened.

“Fine,” I said, my eyes fixated on his. Even if I hadwanted to—and I didn’t—I couldn’t have looked away.His eyes were hypnotic. I stared into them, the brightamber gold clear as day even from across the foggycemetery.

“He’s compelling you.” Chance’s deep, sexy voicewhispered over my shoulder, and like a faucet beingturned off, my mind rose from its trance-like state.

“Very impressive,” the vampire said, his smile asbrilliant as Chance’s. “Very well done, Avaline. Aperfect jumping-off-point, as they say. Looks asthough you’ll be a fast learner.” His voice stood out tome with its old world sound, a sharp contrast to hisyouthful, urban looks.

“What’s impressive?” I asked, my mind still hazyfrom being controlled.

“How quickly you were able to free yourself frommy thoughts,” the vampire spoke. “How you forcedyour mind to ignore what it was being told to do. Notan easy feat, my dear.”

“I’m not your ‘dear.’” I had to fight the urge to pukeall over myself.

The vampire simply smiled. “Forgive me for notintroducing myself,” he continued. In less than half asecond, he was inches from me, my hand now restingin his, a wry smile on his face. My mind hurt trying to

in his, a wry smile on his face. My mind hurt trying toprocess what it had just seen—him moving as fast aslightning. “My name is Aldric Kruger. Please, excusemy rudeness.”

“What rudeness?” I snapped back. “Forgetting to tellme your name? Or killing me and stuffing me in a boxin the ground?” Apparently I was oblivious to the factthat the undead man standing in front of me could killme faster than I could blink my eyes. Somewhere inthe back of my mind I knew it, but the unbelievableevents of the night kept the realization at bay. It waslike the filter in my brain had been disarmed and I wasfree to speak my mind. Aldric’s smile faded a bit, mywords obviously having an effect on him. He quicklyrecovered with a tiny laugh.

“Be very careful, Avaline. Do not let my youthfullooks fool you. I’m over a thousand years old, and Icould rip your head from your shoulders withoutthinking twice.” Even as he said the words I didn’tbelieve them; something told me Aldric didn’t believethem either.

“Do it and I’ll kill you.” Chance’s voice caught me offguard. I spun to look at him, and what I saw scaredme. His face was twisted in to a gnarled expression ofanger and rage. His arms were taut at his sides, themuscles rippling beneath his skin. His fists were tightlycoiled and beating against his legs.

“Really?” Aldric said with a hint of surprise in hisvoice. “Well, Mr. Caldon, I must say you never cease to

voice. “Well, Mr. Caldon, I must say you never cease toamaze me.” Aldric was mocking Chance now.Somehow I knew that Chance would be dead beforehe could even get close enough to Aldric to kill him.“But perhaps you should heed the warning given toAvaline, my friend. It is in your best interest, believeme.”

“I am not your friend,” Chance said throughclenched teeth. The anxiety evident in his bodyseemed to intensify.

“Your title really is irrelevant. You will do as I say.”Aldric only glanced in Chance’s direction, his bodyfirmly planted in front of me. I focused on his eyes,which seemed to burn with anger toward Chance. Myheart fluttered with worry. Apparently, A ldric couldsense my uneasiness.

“Look what you’ve done, Mr. Caldon,” he said,turning his attention back to me. “You’ve upsetAvaline.” He paused a moment, then added,“Apologize to our guest.” I wanted so badly to take myhand back and run away from Aldric and Chance andmy newfound-but-unwanted life. I wanted to go tosleep and wake up to find that all of this had been ahorrible nightmare and I was back to being normal. Iclosed my eyes for a moment, hoping that when Iopened them, my dream would come true. It didn’t.

“I’m sorry, Ava,” Chance said from behind me. Icould tell without even looking at him that he meant it,though I’m sure he wasn’t happy about being told to

though I’m sure he wasn’t happy about being told toapologize.

“It’s okay, really.” I felt bad for Chance, I honestlydid. But somehow I couldn’t look away from Aldric.

“Ava?” Aldric said. “Well, please forgive me again,Ava. I was unaware of your preferred epithet.” Aldric’ssmile felt sinister, almost evil. A chill crawled my spineand settled into the back of my mind, warning me notto trust him; no problem there. “Well, now that that’sout of the way, shall we move on to what’simportant?” He dropped my hand and stepped awayfrom me. As soon as he did, I noticed his missingpresence. I hated the feeling. He stood with his back tome for a moment before flashing over to whereChance stood. My eyes couldn’t move fast enough tofollow him without making my stomach turn. By thetime they caught up to him, he had Chance lifted offthe ground by his throat.

“Stop it!” I screamed, running over and pulling onAldric’s arm. I could feel a surge of strength pulsingthrough my veins, strength that was both foreign andfamiliar to me. Suddenly I felt like I could do anything— except make Aldric let Chance go. His arm was hardas stone and immovable, like trying to knock down abrick wall. “Leave him alone!” I shouted again.

Though I was getting nowhere, I didn’t let up. Ikept pulling on Aldric’s arm and hitting him andkicking him, doing whatever I could to keep him fromkilling Chance, who clearly was close to dying. His face

killing Chance, who clearly was close to dying. His facewas blood red and he was grasping desperately atAldric’s large, firm hands clenched around his throat.His legs kicked wildly in the air, trying to find theground below. A whiff of his blood flooded my nostrilsand made me weak-kneed; apparently intense emotionor stress made the smell—and craving—more intense.Just what I needed.

“He must be punished,” Aldric said, his stanceunwavering. The way he stood motionless, hard andrigid like a statue, sent shivers down my spine. Hisfiery eyes remained locked on Chance’s distorted face.I had a sinking feeling that I was about to becomewitness to a murder.

“Killing him is a bit much for punishment, don’t youthink?” I couldn’t believe such a calm statement cameout of my mouth. Inside, I was raw nerves andenergy, feeling like I would burst if touched. “Let himgo, Aldric. I’m sure he’s sorry.” Without realizing it, Ihad stopped assaulting Aldric and simply stood docilebehind him, like I somehow knew that he would dowhat I said. After a few more seconds of choking thelife out of Chance, he did.

“Lucky for you, Mr. Caldon, Ava is sympathetic. Tryto remember that I’m not.” Aldric dropped Chance liketrash into a can. He crumpled to the ground and begancoughing intensely. I wanted to kneel down and makesure he was okay, but Aldric’s angry temper told methat would be a mistake, so I resisted.

that would be a mistake, so I resisted.“Now, I’m sure Ava has many questions, yes?”

Aldric looked from Chance to me, and I don’t knowwhy, but I smiled.

“I do, I guess.” The affect he was having on me wasreally confusing me and making it difficult to focus. Ihonestly couldn’t remember a single thing I wantedanswers to. I looked over at Chance—mainly to buysome time—and was relieved that he seemed a bitbetter. The color was slowly coming back to his faceand he had stopped coughing. I allowed myself tocalm down a bit, and questions began flooding mymind.

“Where am I?” I asked, not recognizing any of mysurroundings.

“A small town outside of Boston,” Aldric answered.“Wellesley. Such a beautiful name, no? Pity theenvironment doesn’t quite live up to it.” A ldric’ssmugness was revolting, but I didn’t have the time toteach him politeness—not that it would’ve made adifference, I’m sure.

“Am I from here?”“More or less.” Aldric smiled again, that creepy,

crooked smile he had already flashed more than once.I wanted to keep pressing, force him to tell meeverything I knew he was keeping from me, but Imoved on.

“Am I a vampire?” I asked. Aldric’s wild eyes wereintoxicating, fighting hard to draw me in again.

intoxicating, fighting hard to draw me in again.“Yes, but not in the capacity that I am a vampire.

You are very special.”“Special how?”“You are only half vampire, Ava. You are also half

human.” He paused for what I could only assume wasdramatic effect—I was getting the feeling being overlydramatic was a vampire specialty. “This means thatyou, like all vampires, will need blood to survive, butyou also have human traits as well. A very specialcase, indeed.” Aldric moved slowly toward me, muchslower than earlier. If I hadn’t seen his feet actuallytouching the ground, I could’ve sworn he was floatingacross the cemetery.

“What does that mean?” I asked. Aldric smiledcharmingly. I caught a glimpse of Chance in myperipheral. Pissed wasn’t a strong enough word todescribe the look on his face.

“It means you possess both good and bad traitsfrom each species. You are strong and immortal, like avampire. But you are also emotional, and thereforevulnerable, like humans.”

“How can I be both immortal and vulnerable at thesame time?” Aldric laughed at me, but not in a cruelway. Well, not in a totally cruel way. It was more likethe way an older brother would laugh at his kid sister.Did Aldric see me that way? As his baby sister that hehad to protect and show the ropes?

“The term ‘immortal’ only refers to the fact that we

“The term ‘immortal’ only refers to the fact that wedo not grow old and die. We can, however, be killed.The fact that you are part human is going to bring toyou an entirely new set of threats that all othervampires cannot possibly imagine. Therein lies yourvulnerability.” I lowered my eyes from his, totallyfreaking out over the fact that not only had I just beentold I’m a vampire—okay, half, but still—but I was alsotold that my life was going to be in constant danger bythings I would never see coming. Perfect.

“What about this ‘needing blood’ thing,” I went on.My mind was working overtime trying to process all Iwas hearing. “Am I going to have to drink it?” Thethought made me sick—but also intrigued. I wasofficially disgusted by myself.

“You want it right now, don’t you?” Aldric’s eyesfixated on mine, like he and I were the only twobeings on Earth. I could almost feel him reaching intomy soul, or what was left of it, and touching me.

“Yes.” I quickly decided lying wasn’t in my bestinterest. I had to know what was going to happen tome now, no matter how badly I didn’t want to hear it.

A ldric waited a moment before continuing. “Yes,” hefinally said. “You will have to drink. But not to live, likemyself and others. You will need blood to fully realizeyour strength.”

“What does that mean?”“Like I said before, you are a special case, Ava. The

first of your kind, in fact. Soon others will discoveryour existence. Others that will want to, well, meet

your existence. Others that will want to, well, meetyou, for lack of a better term.”

“K i l l me, you mean?” Suddenly his words weremaking sense. “Other vampires will want to kill mebecause I’m, what, different?”

“Not just different,” Aldric answered, a slight lift inhis normally somber tone—like this all excited him insome macabre way. “But better,” he went on. “Youpossess what every vampire wants.”

“What?”“Humanity.”“Humanity?” I asked, growing more and more

confused.Aldric’s face looked sad, almost defeated. “You still

have your humanity, Ava. The one thing no othervampire will ever possess again. The one thing they allwant. You are what we can never again be. You arealive.” I suddenly realized that Aldric himself wasincluded in that group of “other” vampires. That wasthe look on his face I couldn’t quite explain—jealousy.A chill crawled my spine, and though I couldn’t reallyfeel it, I shuddered anyway.

“Don’t let my words scare you, Ava.” I swear he waslistening to my thoughts. “You will be fine.”

“And how do you know that?” I said, trying to holdback tears. “How do you know I’m not going to walkout of this cemetery and into a pack of crazedvampires on the hunt for humanity? You can’t promisethat, can you?” I stared hard at Aldric, his face drawn

that, can you?” I stared hard at Aldric, his face drawnand suddenly much older-looking than before, like hehad experienced a lifetime of pain—which he probablyhad. I then realized that I was going to end up just likehim, pained and worn and eternal. “I just want my oldlife back,” I added, feeling defeated. I felt a rogue tearjump ship and roll down my cheek. I quickly wiped itaway, secretly praying that Chance hadn’t noticed. Ifhe did, he didn’t show it. A ldric, on the other hand,wasn’t so considerate.

“Ah, there are those nasty human emotions Imentioned. They always have a way of showing up atthe least desirable moments.” The callousness of hiswords made me want to claw his eyes out, which onlymade the tears threatening to pour from my eyesharder to contain. “Ava, please do not waste yourenergy on wishing for things that cannot be. Your lifeis with me now. With us.” He looked up at Chance—who was still standing off to my right, sulking—andsmiled, seemingly over the fit of rage he held againsthim a few minutes ago. “Dreaming of a life that is overwill do nothing but turn you bitter and fill you withcontempt.”

“You turned me bitter and filled me with contempt,Aldric. You did this to me.” Though he was an expertat hiding emotion, I knew what I said affected him; Icould sense it. “And I don’t want any part of this life orof you and your sick idea of happily ever after.” Iblinked away tears as the sadness over my new unlife

blinked away tears as the sadness over my new unlifeturned to silent resignation.

“I’m afraid you really have no other choice, Ava. Itis either this or death.” Aldric’s words struck a chordsomewhere in me, giving me the escape I had beenlooking for since waking up in that coffin.

“Fine, then that’s what I want,” I said, turning tolook at Chance as I spoke. Our eyes locked for a briefsecond before I told him what I was sure he didn’twant to hear. “I want you to kill me.”

3. REDEMPTIONChance’s face twisted in horror. The emerald green

of his eyes instantly faded, distinguishing the warmth Ihad seen there. I hated saying that to him. I didn’tknow him that well—not at all, actually—but he hadrescued me by digging me up. Hurting him wasn’t myplan, but I had to save myself. Save my soul.

“Don’t talk like that, Ava.” I could hear the pain inhis words, like saying them sent daggers through hischest, through his heart. He kept his eyes locked onmine. I suddenly felt a connection between us, faintand confusing. And even though I wanted sodesperately to get away from Aldric and thismonstrous new life, I knew at that moment that dyingwasn’t going to be the way. At least not by Chance’shands.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered. That warm light onceagain filled Chance’s eyes, though dimmer than before.He smiled at me and brushed a hand over mine. Theelectric shock his touch created made my head spin. Iwanted to stay in that moment forever, safe and happyand not a vampire, but I knew that was impossible. Ipulled my hand away from his and turned to faceAldric.

“So what about sunlight?” I asked, doing my best tocontrol the growing anger I was feeling toward him.“Am I going to burst into flame in the morning?” I hadno idea how I knew that about vampires, but I did.

no idea how I knew that about vampires, but I did.Where was I from? No clue. Did sunlight hurt thewalking dead? Yep, that I remembered.

Aldric’s cryptic laugh was unsettling. “Ah, Ava,” hesaid, his gleaming white smile softening his hard jaw.“You manage to keep your humor in even the direstcircumstances.”

He stopped speaking and simply stared at me. Ittook me a moment to realize he was waiting for me tolaugh or agree with him; I had no intention of doingeither. “No,” he continued. “Sunlight doesn’t hurt us oryou. That is merely an urban legend created bystorytellers and filmmakers. The sun can’t kill us anymore than it can kill a human. It isn’t the mostcomfortable thing in the world with this pale skin, asI’m sure you can imagine. But definitely not deadly.That is fiction.”

“I thought vampires were fiction,” I quipped. “Theyturned out to be true. Or, well, we.” I was havingtrouble remembering that I was a vampire now, too.Hooray for me. “Okay, so I’m good to go out in thesun. But do I seriously have to drink blood?” Eventhough the thought of it kind of made me sick, a muchstronger urge to experience the taste of it was fightingfor control. I wanted it but didn’t want it at the sametime. Ugh.

“You don’t have to,” Aldric said. “But you may needto one day.”

“Is she in danger, Aldric?” Chance spoke up from

“Is she in danger, Aldric?” Chance spoke up frombehind me.

“Not now. But I can’t promise that won’t change.She needs to be ready for that.”

“She is standing right here,” I said, aggravated atbeing spoken of in third person. “And I’m capable oftaking care of myself.”

“No one has doubted your ability to survive, Ava,”Aldric said apologetically. “But fighting humans andfighting vampires are two very different things. Yoursafety is all that matters.” His tone was secretive atbest. I knew instantly that he wasn’t being completelyhonest with me.

“One more question,” I said. Aldric simply smiled.“Why did you do this to me?” I didn’t bother trying tohide my anger. I used it to block out the tinglingfeeling I got when I looked at him. No way did I wantto let him get inside my head again.

“I did this to you because I had to,” Aldric said, aseriousness I had yet to see on his face. “You wouldhave died had I not.”

“What are you talking about?” I asked, moreconfused by each of his answers. “I was dying?” I hadzero recollection of being in danger, or sick, or dying.I had no clue if he was telling the truth.

“Yes, you were. I saved you.” Aldric flashed acrooked smile, the stern look still present on his face.“But a thank you isn’t necessary.”

“I’d rather be dead.” I couldn’t lie about how I truly

“I’d rather be dead.” I couldn’t lie about how I trulyfelt. A life as a monster was no life at all.

“You could choose death,” Aldric said. “Or youcould choose to live.” He circled me like a wolf with itsprey, staring me down with those piercing eyes. I feltawkward and self-conscious being on display. Aldricdidn’t seem to notice…or didn’t care.

“Don’t you understand? I don’t want to live like this.I don’t want to have to kill people and drink theirblood to survive. I won’t do it. And you can’t makeme.” I followed him with my eyes as he wore a pathinto the tall grass surrounding us.

“You’re exactly right, I can’t make you. I can’t makeyou do anything you don’t want to do, Ava. And Iwould never try.” I heard honesty in his voice. No waydid I trust him, but I knew he meant what he wassaying.

“Finally,” I said, rolling my eyes. Chance smirkedunder his breath. I looked over at him and smiledbefore reaching out and grabbing Aldric’s arm as hecircled me for the tenth time. “You’re making medizzy.”

“My apologies,” he offered. He even threw in a bowof the head to show he was sorry. I actually wanted topunch him.

“Quit apologizing,” I said. “I’m just glad you finallyunderstand me.”

“Would you like me to end your life right now, or doyou need time to handle your affairs first? You know,

you need time to handle your affairs first? You know,tie up loose ends?” The ease with which he said ‘endyour life’ really creeped me out. I wrapped my armsaround myself to keep from shivering. I focused in onhis face, almost glowing in the strong moonlight. Hedidn’t appear to be joking.

“Why would you offer to end my life when you tookthe time to save it?” I decided to call his bluff.

“I chose to save your life because I thought that achild of such a young age would want to live.However, if you would prefer the alternative, who am Ito stand in your way?”

“I’m not a child.”“Then perhaps we should end this childish game?”

Aldric’s face was fixed and stoic. Obviously he wasdone playing around.

“I don’t want this,” I said, my voice much calmerthan before. Though I didn’t remember much aboutmy past—okay, nothing really—I didn’t think I wouldbe the type to back down from an argument. So Iactually surprised myself with the amount of restraint Ipossessed. Of course, I’d never been arguing with avampire, so that made a bit of a difference.

“I understand, Ava, honestly I do.” Aldric stared atme with what looked like concern in his eyes— thoughI doubted it was genuine. “And if there had been anyother way I would have chosen it, believe me. Butdoing this was the only choice. The only way to keepyou alive.” I wanted to believe that what he was saying

was true—and if I would have just taken five minutesto sit down and allow my brain to process what all hadhappened I would have stopped talking. Unfortunately,I kept going.

“You could have let me die.” No matter how hard Itried, I couldn’t stop the tears from rolling down mycheeks. “But instead you chose to turn me into amonster. A murderer. You.” I could tell that last wordhurt. It was brief, but I definitely saw pain on Aldric’sface. It only took a second for him to refocus andreturn his expression to one of quiet indifference.

“I want to be human again,” I continued. “Allhuman.” I couldn’t believe that I was actually standingin the middle of a cemetery having a conversation witha vampire about my humanity. Any other time, theirony of discussing life with the undead would havemade me laugh.

“Well,” A ldric said, “I happen to know of a way youcan get what you want.”

I wanted to believe what he was saying, but trustinga vampire just didn’t seem like a smart thing to do. Ofcourse, most people would say that letting yourself getbitten by a vampire wasn’t exactly genius-levelintelligence, either—though I don’t know if I l e t ithappen to me or not. Both statements were probablytrue, but I didn’t really have the time or energy toworry about it. With no other options, trusting Aldricwas my only hope.

“How?” I asked, looking over at Chance. I was

“How?” I asked, looking over at Chance. I washoping to see something in his eyes that would tell meto believe what Aldric was saying, but his face heldnothing but deep concern. He tried to play it off with asmile, but I could tell he was worried too.

“I’m not really sure if you’re ready to hear it,” A ldricsaid, obviously toying with me. “Perhaps living withyour new life for a while would make you moregracious when receiving my help.”

“Are all vampires this annoying?” I asked. “Or is itjust your charm?”

Aldric laughed. “You could choose to remain avampire and discover that for yourself.”

“I’ll pass.” I was past the point of impatient. Ifigured if it came down to it and I made Aldric madenough to attack me, I’d get to find out how strongbeing a vampire really made me. Or, I’d be dead.Either way, an entertaining night. “Can you just tell mewhat I have to do to become human again?”

“It’s a simple task, really. One that I’m sure you’llhave no problem achieving.” Aldric paused and staredintently at me, his mesmerizing eyes burrowing undermy skin. “To rid yourself of your immortal side, youhave to rid the earth of immortals.” Again with thecryptic talk.

“In English, please.” My attitude was probablycoming across as angry, which is how I intended it.

Chance spoke up from behind me. “He’s saying youhave to kill vampires.” I spun around to look at him as

have to kill vampires.” I spun around to look at him ashe spoke, and there was a glimmer of somethingbehind his eyes. Hope? Hope for my humanity,maybe? I wasn’t sure, but something had brightenedhis face just a bit.

“What?” I said, turning back to face Aldric. Hecouldn’t be serious. Me, kill something? No way couldI do that. Taking the life of something else was notreally on my to-do list.

“It’s the only way to become human again,” Aldricsaid, a sly smile on his face. I could tell he wasenjoying seeing the fear in my eyes. I couldn’t believewhat I was hearing. Within the last hour, I had beenburied and resurrected, told I was some sort offuturistic vampire hybrid, and now that to becomehuman again I had to go on a killing spree of theundead. All in all, the day pretty much sucked.

“So I have to kill vampires,” I stated. “All of them?”Aldric laughed again, that same creepy laugh that

made me both mad and scared at the same time. “Ofcourse not.” He said it like everyone in the worldshould know that; I wanted to hit him.

“Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath to try and clearmy mind. “What exactly do I have to do?” I couldn’tbelieve I was asking the question. But I so desperatelywanted my old life back that I was willing to at leasthear what Aldric had to say.

“According to the legend, you must kill one hundredvampires. That’s the only way to reverse what has

vampires. That’s the only way to reverse what hasbeen done to you.” I knew from the seriousness onAldric’s face that he was telling the truth. I just didn’twant to believe him.

“What do you mean, ‘according to the legend?You’ve never done this before?” For some reason, Ithought he would have at least heard of thishappening somewhere in his life. Or death, orwhatever. Ugh.

“As I said earlier,” Aldric stated calmly, “you arevery special. The first of your kind, in fact. Legends inmy world have spoken of your existence, but novampire has ever seen a creature such as you. Untilnow.” He stared at me, making me feel self-consciousagain. Thankfully, though, I didn’t feel heat rush to mycheeks. Maybe being a vampire meant I wouldn’tembarrass as easily as when I was human. Of course,I had gotten embarrassed when I first saw Chance’sface, so I had a feeling that theory wouldn’t be holdingmuch weight.

“So how do you know it’ll work?” I asked, concernlittering my words.

“I don’t,” Aldric answered honestly. “But every otherlegend in my world has come to pass. And you nowexist, just as the legend said you would. So it stands toreason that this, too, will come true.” I really didn’t likethe fact that Aldric had no clue if my killing a hundredpeople—okay, they were technically already dead, butstill—would guarantee I would be human again, but

still—would guarantee I would be human again, butwhat other choice did I have? Live the rest of my life—which now would be forever thanks to the wholeimmortal thing—as a vampire? Kill myself, or havesomeone else kill me? So I gave into the only option Ihad.

“Fine,” I said with defeat. “When do I start?” Iwatched Aldric’s face practically light up. I mean, itdidn’t really light up, he’s dead. But it definitely was amuch happier expression.

“Tomorrow,” he said. “On your first day of school.”“On my first day of what?”“School. You will be going to school tomorrow. Just

like a normal teenager.”“You’ve g o t to be kidding,” I snarled, my teeth

clenched tight.“I am very serious, Ava.” I couldn’t believe what I

was hearing. Did he honestly think that I would begoing to school in this condition? And let other people,my friends —if I had any—see me like this?

“How am I supposed to go back to school when I’ma vampire?” Just saying the word out loud was tooweird. I couldn’t imagine walking around in front ofpeople with pale skin and fangs.

“Well,” A ldric said, taking a step in my direction.“You won’t actually be going back to school. At leastnot the way you think.” Again his statement confusedme, but this time I only had to roll my eyes to get himto explain.

to explain.“You will be attending a new school,” he added, and

I nearly choked on the thick fog wafting up from theground.

“What?” I asked with anger. “I’m not going to a newschool!” I almost stamped my foot into the thick, dampgrass for emphasis. I intended to stand my ground.

“Do you remember your old school?” Aldric asked.“Well, no,” I said. “But that doesn’t matter.”“Whether you remember or not is irrelevant. You

simply cannot attend the same school where everyonethought you died. That’s impossible.” What Aldric wassaying made sense, but I refused to accept it. I wantedto lash out and hit something—and by ‘something’ Imeant a certain dead man walking—scream and gototally ballistic.

“Why?” I asked. “Why is it impossible?”“Because you died, remember?” This time it was

Chance who spoke up. “What would everybody say ifyou showed back up?”

“So they all know I died?” The thought weighedheavily on me. My past. It was over and I couldn’teven remember it. A ldric was right; whether or not Icould remember was irrelevant. I couldn’t go backeven if I wanted to, not after dying. “What about myfamily? My friends? Do they all know I died?”

“You had none of either.”Aldric’s words cut me. No family? No friends? How

could that be?

could that be?“That’s impossible,” I said, fighting desperately to

hold back more tears. “I came from somewhere. I atleast have a mother, don’t I?”

“Of course you do,” Aldric went on. “Everyone has amother. Yours, unfortunately, did not keep you.”Again, more painful words that cut deep. My ownmother didn’t want me. The day kept getting better.

“So I was what? Homeless? Living on the streets?Where did you find me?”

“We don’t have time to get in to all the details,”Aldric said, waving his hand for emphasis. “I promiseyou I will tell you all you want to know. But right nowwe need to get out of this cemetery before someonefinds us here.”

“Who’s going to find us in the middle of the night?”Aldric cut his eyes at me and I knew who. Vampires.“Oh.”

“So you two get a move on. I’ll stay behind and takecare of this.” He was looking down at the open gravebeneath our feet; the grave where I came from. Isupposed then that Earth was my only mother now.

“So about this whole ‘going to school’ thing,” Iinterjected.

“Don’t worry,” Aldric said, obviously sensing mynervousness. “You won’t be going alone.” I watchedhis eyes roll across the open area of the cemetery,coming to land on Chance, who had been idlywatching our exchange. He had a peacefulness to his

watching our exchange. He had a peacefulness to hisface that instantly calmed me. I hated the idea, but ifChance went with me, maybe going back to schoolwouldn’t be so bad.

Though I hated to admit it, I was all out of otheroptions. I was now a vampire. The sooner I acceptedit, the better off I would be. I now had to live life intwo separate parts: one half of me would be a quietand reserved teenager attending school and actingnormal, while the other half would be a thrill-seekingvampire hunter whose mission was tracking downvampires and killing them to save her own life.

I had no clue how I would do either one.

4. BEGINNING

Chance graciously offered to let me sleep at hishouse, swearing his mom wouldn’t mind. I hadabsolutely nowhere else to go since I had no memoryof my life before the coffin, and no way in hell was Igoing back there, so I reluctantly accepted. Since itwas well past midnight, he said he’d wait until hismom woke up for work to tell her.

“That way,” he had said as we drove to his house inhis so-in-need-of-a-paint-job truck, “if she does getmad, she won’t have time to yell at me before school.”He smiled when he said it, and even though icy air wascircling me in the frigid cab of his truck—I was gettingsome feeling back in my skin—I felt warm inside. Ihad agreed, on the condition that it would only be atemporary solution to my sudden housing problem. Iplanned on figuring out something else ASAP.

For the second time in less than twenty-four hours,

I woke up in a strange place. This time, though, I feltcalm and rested. And totally comfortable thanks toChance, who proved that guys are chivalrous byoffering me his bed and taking the couch. I stretched

offering me his bed and taking the couch. I stretchedmy arms wide, soaking up the early sun slicingthrough the sheer curtains hanging over the windowbehind me. Its warmth made me feel alive, which wasso ironic seeing as how I technically was dead. Well, Idon’t know if dead was the right word. Maybe halfdead? Can a person be half dead? Another question toadd to my ever-growing list.

I climbed out of Chance’s super-soft bed andcarefully maneuvered my clumsy body across theroom through the early morning haze of light anddarkness. Chance’s room was what I imagined wouldbe a typical teenage guy’s—complete with clothesstrewn about—and I felt a twinge of jealousy that Iapparently never had that. According to Aldric, I wasan unwanted child who had been cast aside like an oldnewspaper. I pushed thoughts of the woman whoabandoned me from my mind and left the room. Outin the hallway, I peered over the banister at Chancesleeping below. Somehow, maybe with the pale yellowlight of the sun that had begun to peek through thewindows, he looked even more beautiful and perfectthan he did last night under the moonlight. I felt mystomach flutter as a smile spread across my face. It feltso nice knowing that he was there for me, eventhough I still didn’t understand why. I slowly made myway to the bathroom down the hall, trying my best notto make the floor creak as I walked. As I showeredand dressed, my mind went over the past day of my

and dressed, my mind went over the past day of mylife.

I was a half vampire, half human hybrid-thingy—Iso needed to find a shorter word for what I was—Ihad to kill one hundred vampires to save my soul, andmy new, and apparently only, friend was so hot Icould barely stand being in his presence for fear ofthrowing myself at him. Now to top it off, I was aboutto step foot in a new school where I was positive Iwould just fit right in. Sure.

I finished up with readying myself for the rest ofhell-week—I came up with that name while showering—when a sweet and familiar scent invaded my head.Blood. N ew blood. Oh crap. I swallowed hard andclosed my eyes, trying to focus on anything other thanthat intoxicating scent as it drew closer and closer tome. When the smell was too much to bear, I swungopen the bathroom door to find the source and raninto the one person I had been hoping to avoid.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, backing away and givingChance’s mom a quick once over to make sure I hadn’tinadvertently gotten toothpaste or makeup on herclothes. All seemed well. At least with her outfit.

“Who are you?” she asked, anger woven into herwords. She stood a good foot taller than me, with longbrown hair falling in large, perfect curls that framedher porcelain skin. I instinctively brought a hand to myown brown hair, feeling its coarseness against myskin. A pair of emerald eyes, just like her son’s, with

skin. A pair of emerald eyes, just like her son’s, withexpertly-crafted brows sat atop a petite nose and full,pink lips. I was so jealous.

“I-I’m—““She’s a friend, Mom,” I heard Chance’s voice from

the hallway. “Ease up.” He said it lightly, butapparently with just enough conviction to tame hismother; she stepped to the side and Chance joined usin the bathroom doorway.

Last night in the cemetery I could tell beneath theshirt he had been wearing that Chance was physicallyfit. But now, seeing him standing shirtless in front ofme, I was way off on my estimation as to exactly howfit; he was perfect. Well-defined muscles created abody that would make even Hollywood’s leading menjealous (yep, TV again). I found it impossible tobelieve that he was single. Great personality on top offashion magazine looks? No way he didn’t have agirlfriend. Not that it mattered to me. At least I didn’tthink it did. I felt my face turn blood red, whichinstantly made me mad. Why couldn’t the fact that Iget embarrassed easily be one of the things I lost inmy new unlife? Ugh. Chance obviously noticed myrosy cheeks. He smiled wickedly and stepped past hismother, planting his sweet-smelling self directlybetween us.

“This is Ava,” he said to his mother, his back to me.I watched the muscles in his neck twitch as he spoke.“She’s an old friend who moved back to town, so I told

“She’s an old friend who moved back to town, so I toldher she could crash here last night. It’s cool, right?” Ihalf expected Chance’s mom to climb the walls andspit fire from her full lips, but she didn’t. She simplysmiled and leaned into give her son a peck on thecheek.

“Okay, sweetheart. You be careful going to school.Nice to meet you, Ava.” And then she was gone.Luckily I caught my reflection in the bathroom mirror,so I was able to close my gaping mouth before Chancesaw me. I mean, what had just happened? Either shewas the coolest mom in the world, or she honestlywasn’t concerned with what her son was up to.

“Um, how did you do that?” I asked, watching himintently as he stepped back into the doorway. Are allmoms like this? I wondered. I really had no basis forcomparison. I had no mother—at least no mother Icould remember. And even if I could, Aldric said shehadn’t wanted me anyway.

“I told you she’d be cool,” Chance replied, that slysmile still on his face. He ran a hand through his bed-head. “I’m gonna get out and let you finish up.”

“I’m done,” I said, reaching out to stop him fromclosing the bathroom door. My hand brushed his armand that same exciting heat shot through my hand andacross my body, sending a shiver down my back.

“You okay?” Chance asked with concern.“Yeah,” I said with a shaky voice. “Yeah, I’m good.”

He smiled again and walked toward me. With the sink

He smiled again and walked toward me. With the sinkon one side and a wall on the other, I had nowhere togo.

“Um, I kind of need to use the bathroom,” he said,now only inches from me. I could feel heat radiatingoff him. Just like last night.

“Sorry,” I muttered under my breath as I scurriedlike a cockroach when the light comes on (anotheruseless memory). I squeezed past him—holding mybreath to avoid the urge to taste his blood—andpractically jumped into the hallway. I sprinted toChance’s room as fast as I could without seeming likea total loon, stealing a quick glance over my shoulderbefore going inside; the bathroom door was alreadyclosed. Wow, I seriously needed to get a grip.

I waited patiently in his room for Chance to finish,and once he came out of the bathroom we were on theroad and headed to school in less than five minutes.Anxious nerves were crawling all over me as wecrossed town, making me feel nauseous. I kept myeyes glued out the window, trying my best not to thinkabout what was coming.

“Try not to worry,” Chance said. I jumped when hespoke, his deep voice slicing through the silence of histruck.

“I’m not worried.”“You’re a terrible liar.”“Yeah, I guess I am.” I smiled and tried my best to

look fine with the fact that I couldn’t be more scared

look fine with the fact that I couldn’t be more scaredabout going to high-school. A new and unfamiliar highschool on top of it.

“So talk to me,” he said after a couple minutes ofawkward silence.

“About what?”“About why you’re worried.” He kept stealing

glances at me from across the cab of the truck, theearly sunlight bouncing off the jade of his eyes likecrystals.

“When you pulled me from that coffin,” I began, mynerves evident in my voice. “Your blood—”

“I know,” Chance interrupted.“You do?”“Yeah.” He fell into a line of traffic obviously

heading to school. “You smelled it, right?”“Yes.” I could feel the embarrassment creep into the

muscles of my face. “And now, I don’t know if this is asmart thing for me to do.” I was of course referring towalking into a building full of hormonal, emotionalteenagers whose blood would no doubt drive mecrazy.

“You’ll be fine, Ava.” Chance said softly.“Remember, I won’t let anything bad happen to you.”

“I think I might hold you to that this time.” For thefirst time since waking up in the cemetery, I wasactually relying on him to be there for me; the feelingwas a nice one.

“You do that.” He pulled his eyes from the road

once more and smiled at me. “And try to look at thebright side, okay?”

“What bright side?” I asked.“With no memory of who you are, you can be

anybody you want.”“I just want to be normal.” Chance nodded in

agreement, but kept focused on the road. I tried toimagine myself being someone important or dignifiedor popular; anything but a blood-sucking monstertrying to pass as human. Of course, being a vampirewould probably come easier than fitting in as just anaverage teenager. I didn’t know which would beworse, but I was about to find out soon.

McCarver High School looked how I had hoped but

feared it wouldn’t; absolutely ordinary. A large, redbrick building with tall windows and double-doors,surrounded by lush trees and a parking lot filling upwith cars, was sprawled out before us as we turned in.I don’t know what exactly I had been expecting, butplain and un-intimidating wasn’t it. I let the air I hadbeen holding captive escape from my lungs andactually calmed down a bit as Chance wheeled histruck into a space farthest from the building aspossible. Not that I minded the walk—it would helpme stay in shape, though I had a feeling huntingvampires was going to do plenty of that—but I found

vampires was going to do plenty of that—but I foundit a bit odd. With almost every space at the front of thebuilding empty, why would he choose to park so farout? I didn’t have time to ponder an answer. Weclimbed—well I climbed, he just stepped out—from histruck and began the trek across the black-toppedparking lot, the frigid winter air swirling around me ina frenzy. I could smell blood instantly, its alluring andinviting scent invading my senses like an alien being. Iswallowed the lump in my throat and forced my mindto ignore it, which was difficult to say the least. Mystomach was fighting my body for freedom, trying toclimb its way out of my throat as my nerves camerushing back. I kept swallowing hard to force it backdown.

“Just relax,” Chance said, his voice deep and sexyand very calming. “You’ll be fine.” I felt his hand brushmine—almost like he wanted to hold hands—butquickly move away. Even that tiny touch made meshiver.

“Promise?” I asked, sounding more like a childasking her dad if she was going to get a pony forChristmas.

“Absolutely.”We entered the school mixed with a dense crowd of

scrambling teenagers, Chance standing tall and wide, Iwith my breath held tightly in my chest. I wanted towrap myself around his arm and let him guide methrough the maelstrom, but I resisted. Even though he

through the maelstrom, but I resisted. Even though hehad saved my life and had given me no reason not to,I didn’t fully trust him. Not yet, anyway. So I kept tomyself as the barrage of warm bodies mulled aroundme, voices and smells coalescing in my brain. Chancehad been right; even though I could smell blood, itwasn’t overpowering my control. I was okay. So far.

“You ready?” he asked just outside what I assumedwas our first class. His voice was both calm and rushedat the same time. Obviously he wasn’t as laid back ashe looked.

“As I’ll ever be,” I answered, taking a couple of deepbreaths. Chance opened the door and we walked in.

The classroom looked as normal as the buildingitself: rows of desks filled with bored-looking students;a dusty chalkboard covering the entire front wall;floor-to-ceiling bookcases covering the back. I was sograteful for its plainness. I was also grateful therewasn’t a giant photo of me hanging from the ceilingwith the words ‘New Girl’ emblazoned across it. Imeekly followed Chance to the back row of desks andtook a seat across from him. Most of the otherstudents were busy with their own conversations, but Inoticed a couple of faces pause to watch us enter. Oneof those faces, belonging to a pretty girl sitting next tome, was actually smiling.

“I see you’ve already met the resident hunk,” shewhispered as she leaned into me. “Isn’t he delicious?”She smiled and lifted her eyebrows in Chance’s

She smiled and lifted her eyebrows in Chance’sdirection, and because I didn’t want to be rude on myfirst day—yeah, that’s why—I agreed.

“Yeah,” I whispered back, not wanting to say toomuch for fear of stepping on anything Chance mayhave said about who I was. I quickly regretted notasking him if he had already spread a back-story aboutme around campus. The girl obviously didn’t thinktwice about me; she was too focused on Chance.

“That whole ‘loner’ thing he’s got going on is sooohot.” She smiled again and sat upright in her chair.“I’m Lacey, by the way,” she added, tossing a roguecurl over her shoulder. I watched it fall in perfectlywith the rest of her long blond hair.

“Nice to meet you,” I said, trying not to sound like adweeb. I was self-conscious enough already, I didn’tneed the prettiest girl in the room shunning me.

“You too. Hope you like it here. If you needanything at all just ask, okay?” She spoke much louderon that last part, staring intensely at something justover the top of my head. Chance. She was checking tomake sure Chance had heard her. I didn’t turn aroundto see if he had; I didn’t have to. The defeated look onher face answered for me. She replaced her frown withanother smile—I got the impression she smiled a lot—and turned away from me, stepping into anotherconversation like she had been a part of it from thestart.

The rest of the hour was uneventful, other than

having to answer when the teacher asked if I waspresent—which was more embarrassing than it shouldhave been since my nerves made my voice crack. Afterthat, I spent the remainder of class holding my breath,just waiting for Mr. Sampson to call me out if front ofeveryone. Luckily the bell rang before he got around tome, and I jumped up and followed Chance out of classjust as I had followed him in, scared and cowering.

Though I had expected it, I wasn’t fully prepared forthe onslaught of new-student questions I was met withonce in the hall: “Where are you from?” “Why did youmove here?” “Are you serious with that outfit?” Okay,I hadn’t actually heard that last one yet, but I waspositive it would be asked. The faded, obviously usedjeans and plain-Jane tee I was wearing practicallyscreamed out for criticism. The outfit was a gift fromChance; it was the only thing he could find of hisMom’s that he didn’t think she would miss. I wasn’tabout to complain. Not after all he had done for me. Ichose to ignore all the questions for now, simplysmiling and nodding and trying to act as if I didn’thear them, or was above answering them. The kidsasking the questions took my silence as it wasintended, walking away and leaving me alone. Oncewe were alone, I questioned Chance about my newfriend Lacey.

“So,” I said with a smile in my voice. “Looks like youhave an admirer.” I didn’t look up at him as I movedto his side. I thought it best to keep my eyes focused

to his side. I thought it best to keep my eyes focusedon where I was putting my feet. Absolute last thing Ineeded was to bite it right in the middle of a crowdedhallway.

“Are you talking about Lacey?” Chance said, withzero inflection in his voice. He actually seemedsurprised I brought up the subject.

“Don’t act like you don’t know.” Chance smiled butkept looking forward. “Is she an ex-girlfriend orsomething?” I hated asking such a personal questionsince I didn’t even really know him, but I felt ithanging in the air like a bad odor.

“No way,” he said with a tiny laugh. It wasbecoming a thing he did, and I liked it— it helped merelax. We rounded the corner at the far end of the hall,and I was thankful the crowd had thinned a bit. I wasfinally able to let my arms fall to my sides withoutfeeling so self-conscious.

“Lacey Stewart is way too high-maintenance forme,” Chance continued, that same jovial tone in hisvoice. Almost like he found it funny that I would thinkthey were a couple.

“Didn’t mean to pry,” I offered, hoping we coulddrop the subject.

“You didn’t. You can ask me anything.” He stoppedwalking and turned to look at me. “I know we justmet, and how we met is definitely not normal,” hesmiled as he spoke and I couldn’t help but stare. “Butyou’re safe with me, Ava. I hope you know that.”

you’re safe with me, Ava. I hope you know that.”“Why?” The word came out before I had time to

stop myself.“Why?” he repeated. “Why are you safe with me?”“No. Why are you helping me? What’s in it for you?

And why does it seem that Aldric has some sort ofhold over you?” That unreliable filter came off mymouth again, and the questions spewed forth likewater over a dam.

“Aldric doesn’t have anything over me, trust me.” Iwatched the vein in Chance’s neck pulse as his musclestensed, and I had to close my eyes to ward off thebloodlust. “I’m only doing what he says because ofyou.”

“But why? I don’t understand why you’re helpingme. Did we know each other before this?” I hadn’tthought of it before, but it made sense; why elsewould he risk his life to help me?

“I’m helping you because it’s the right thing to do.That’s it.” The tiny muscles running the length of hisdefined jaw grew even tighter and I knew I hadinadvertently struck a nerve. “Now let’s get to class.”

“Wait a minute,” I snapped as he moved past meand down the hall. “You didn’t answer my question.” Igrabbed his arm to stop him from walking away. Thatfamiliar heat pulsed through my hand.

“I told you why I was helping you,” he snappedback. “What more do you want from me?”

“How about the truth.” He turned his head to look

“How about the truth.” He turned his head to lookdown at me, and all I could see behind his eyes wasglaring sadness. A deep, painful sadness that he wasfighting desperately to keep hidden away. Why hewanted to hide it from me was the real question I wastoo afraid to ask. “I know you’re keeping somethingfrom me, Chance. I don’t understand why, and I’msorry for pushing you.” He didn’t smile but I could tellhe wanted to. “But I want an answer.”

“To what?”“Did we know each other before all this?” I stared

into his eyes; eyes that held truth I couldn’t see.It felt like forever before he finally said “No,” adding

“And I’ve told you all I can,” as he quickly lookedaway. “Let it go, Ava.” The two of us stood motionlessin the middle of the hallway. Other kids weavedaround us, some bumping into me as they rushed toclass before the tardy bell rang. The building couldhave been on fire and I wouldn’t have cared. I was toofocused on Chance and the fact that this complete andtotal stranger was possibly risking his life to help me, anobody without a past who wanted nothing more thanto sink her disgusting fangs into his neck.

“I can’t do that, Chance. I’m sorry.” I, too, had tolook away before I gave in and did what he wanted,before I said to hell with everything and stoppedasking questions. I didn’t want to forget about whatwas really going on, to pass over the fact that hewasn’t telling me the truth. I tried my best to ignore it

wasn’t telling me the truth. I tried my best to ignore itfor now and focus instead on the good, honest part ofhim— the part that joined forces with a monster likeAldric to help save my life. But it wasn’t going to beeasy; I still wanted to know what he was hiding. “But,”I went on, “I won’t push you to tell me. I’ll wait foryou to do it on your own.”

“Then be prepared to wait a while.” His words werecold and bitter. Why was he being so secretive? Whatdid he have to hide? What was real ly going onbetween him and Aldric? More questions withoutanswers, the story of my life since last night. I hatednot knowing what was happening all around me, nothaving a clue who the people supposedly helping mereally were. Could I trust them? I had no idea. Did Ireally have any other choice? None I could think of atthe moment.

Obviously satisfied that I was dropping the thirddegree—at least for now—Chance continued down thehall toward our next class. I dodged a sprintingcheerleader and her bouncing pony tail and fell intostep behind him. I made it less than ten feet when mysenses were flooded with an increasingly familiar andall-too-enticing aroma.

The undeniable, sweet-as-hell scent of blood.There was a vampire very close by. And it had just

killed a human.

5. KILLING TIMEI had no clue how I knew a vampire was near, I just

did. Kind of like how Chance just knew something waswrong with me when he saw my face.

“What is it?” he asked, his body tensing and thattasty vein running his neck flexing along with hismuscles. I tried but really couldn’t speak. The smell ofblood was so intoxicating my mind was floating. Icouldn’t focus on anything except my bloodlust. Iwanted some so badly, but at the same time thethought of it repulsed me. I hated myself at themoment.

“Vampire.” I managed to get a single word outbetween bouts of blissful nausea. Thankfully Chanceunderstood its meaning. He spun very slowly in a tightcircle, surveying the school hallway that hadmysteriously become a ghost land void of otherstudents.

“Not in here,” I managed to say after semi-controlling my thirst. “But close.” I forced my eyes tofocus on Chance’s face. His controlled determinationwas refreshing. Knowing he was there for me—that Ididn’t have to go through this alone— made me feelbetter.

“Let’s go.” He grabbed my hand (again, that intenseheat) and practically dragged me toward the large,metal doors at the end of the hall.

“Wait,” I interjected, reluctantly pulling my hand

“Wait,” I interjected, reluctantly pulling my handfrom his. He stopped with a firm grip on the doorhandle and turned to look at me, anxious nerveslighting his face.

“For what? We have to stop it.”“What about class?” It was a dumb response, I

know. But it was the only thing I could think of sayingto keep Chance from going outside. The truth was, Iwasn’t quite ready to kill someone. I knew I had to,but actually going through with it was something Iwasn’t prepared to do.

“Ava,” Chance said, stepping away from the doorand moving in close to me. “You have to do this. Thisis how you get your life back. All of it.” Somehow heseemed to know exactly what was wrong with me. Hetook my hand again and gave it a firm but gentlesqueeze. His eyes never left mine. “I’ll be right therewith you. I promise.” That was the one thing thatbothered me. I still didn’t understand why he was sowilling to help me basically commit murder. Why didhe care?

“Okay,” I said, though it barely came out a whisper.Every cell in my body was on fire, every nerve aliveand very aware of what was about to happen. Mybreath was ragged and coming in short spurts and Ididn’t exactly know why. I’m sure it mostly had to dowith the fact I was about to kill a vampire (or at leasttry) but part of it had to be the fact that Chance wasmore than willing to go into a fight right beside me. I

more than willing to go into a fight right beside me. Idid my best to ignore that last part.

“Let’s go.” Chance kept my hand locked tightly inhis, and as we headed out the doors and sprintedacross campus, my mind drifted away from the lurkingvampire and went to the tiny current of warmelectricity I was feeling from him. Did all guys feel thatway? I had no clue since I couldn’t remember evertouching one before Chance, but somehow I doubtedit. Chance was obviously different than most guys—allguys I was willing to bet. Maybe his extremely warmbody temp was nerves or something. Maybe he wasn’talways like that. Either way, it was weird. Andunsettling. And kind of nice. I forced that last thoughtout of my head and focused on the impending death Iwas about to cause. As we crossed the frozen, brittlegrass toward the white-capped trees, I was worried wewould be spotted by someone and reported to theschool principal. A quick glance over my shoulderrevealed only a few windows looking out over us, so Ifelt confident we hadn’t been seen. I finally exhaled aswe came to a stop just inside the forest.

“Where to?” Chance asked, clearly on edge butready to strike. He was feverishly scanning the woods,searching for my soon-to-be victim. I closed my eyes,allowing the bloodlust to take over. I felt theintoxicating scent of human blood slither through mybody like a venomous snake, wrapping around myorgans and refusing to let go. The smell was so

organs and refusing to let go. The smell was sostrong, so powerful; I hoped it would serve as a guide.

“Follow me,” I said, opening my eyes. I wasn’texactly sure where the vampire was making its kill, butthe aroma of free-flowing blood was strongest in onedirection, so I made the snap decision to follow it.

“Whoa,” Chance said, his voice full of nervoussurprise. He stood motionless, staring down at me.

“What?” I asked, confused by the look on his face.He was ogling me like I was some sort of freak. Imean, I was a freak, but I didn’t think I looked likeone.

“Your eyes,” he answered, almost in a whisper. Hisface was twisted with confusion, much like you’d seeon someone at a county fair trying to guess thenumber of jelly beans in the jar.

“What’s wrong with them?” He was really starting tofreak me out. For a second I actually was able toignore the blood calling out to me. At that moment, Iwas only concerned with why he all of a suddenseemed repulsed by me.

“They’re glowing.” He moved closer, studying myeyes like a map. He brought his hand up to my face,and my first instinct was to pull away, but I didn’t. I lethim brush over my eyes with his hand, flinching at thejolt of his touch. He moved to the skin on my cheek,all the while keeping his gaze locked on my eyes.“Amazing,” he added after a few more seconds. WhenI realized that I actually could have stood there forever

I realized that I actually could have stood there foreverwith his hand caressing my face, I jerked away.Chance didn’t seem to notice so I played it off.

“Uh, thanks,” I said when I couldn’t think of a betterresponse. “Now let’s go.” I took off in a slow sprint,Chance fast on my heels. I followed tiny, nature-madepathways slicing through the thick brush of the forest,ignoring the tiny nicks I was getting from briers andthorny vines that jutted out in my way. I was solelyfocused on finding the source of the blood. I let thesmell of it guide me, hoping I was going in the rightdirection. I had to see it for myself, see if I would wantto drink it as badly if I actually saw it spurting from theneck of a human. I would occasionally glance over myshoulder as I pounded through the woods to makesure Chance hadn’t fallen behind. His face showedsigns of fatigue, but he was keeping up perfectly; justone more mysterious thing about him.

We made it to the edge of a small clearing deep inthe woods before I came to an abrupt stop. My entirebody locked and I instinctively threw my arm out tomy side. Chance nearly fell down when he hit it.

“Wait,” I whispered, my voice so low even I hadtrouble hearing it. Thankfully Chance had enoughcommon sense to know that’s what I meant when Istopped him. He stood tall and rigid next to me, theonly movement the rapid rise and fall of his heavingchest. I noticed that I wasn’t breathing hard at all—apparently another benefit of my new life as a

monster. I crouched down low, my senses preciselyfocused. I could actually hear everything: Birds in thetrees; crickets and mosquitoes busily toiling away attheir respective duties; the labored breathing andthrumming heartbeat of a human in distress. My earsperked up and I became rock-solid still, not evenallowing myself to breathe as I listened to the sound ofdeath slowly creeping in.

“Stay here,” I told Chance as I stood back up. Hedidn’t protest, remaining perfectly still. I could sense,however, his reluctance to let me go out into theclearing alone. His concern gave me the strength Ineeded to face what I had to do. I decided during myrun through the woods that I would look at thechallenge Aldric threw in front of me from a differentangle. Instead of seeing it as killing people (technicallyvampires, but still people in my eyes) I would look atwhat I had to do as saving the lives of innocents. If Icould hone my skill of sensing vampires, then maybe Icould track and stop them before they attacked. Maybethen I wouldn’t feel so terrible when I had to kill.Maybe.

Very carefully, I stepped into the last patch of brush,mindful of where I placed my feet. I didn’t want tosnap a downed tree branch and alert the vampire ofmy presence. I knew I was already going to have ahard enough fight on my hands once I stepped intothe clearing; I at least wanted the element of surpriseon my side. As I drew closer to the open field, the

on my side. As I drew closer to the open field, thevampire and its victim came into my line of sight. Thegirl being fed upon was barely a teenager, and fromthe looks of her outfit and hygiene, she was mostlikely a runaway. Suddenly my mind was bombardedwith images of girls and boys in similar attire, eachone dirtier and more unkempt than the next.

What the hell was that? Are those memories? Do Iknow those children?

I had no idea, but didn’t have the time to worryabout it yet. I forced the images to the back of mymind and turned my attention back to the girl beingfed on by the vampire. Her hair was a very dirty blondwith large knots all over. Her clothes were ragged andthick with dirt and stains, her feet were bare. The topof her filthy shirt was drenched in her own blood,which pulsed from her neck with each beat of herheart. I found myself licking my lips with want. Veryquickly—almost too quick for me to control—I leaptfrom the woods and charged toward the vampire like astampeding bull. He abruptly turned away from hisvictim and crouched into an attack stance. Though Iwas moving at lightning speed, I was still able to get avery good look at him.

His face was sunken in and overly pale, his skinpractically hanging on his bones. Dingy, matted hairfell into his eyes, which were a fiery orange, almostlike they were glowing. Just like mine. It didn’t take agenius to figure it out; glowing eyes must have meant

genius to figure it out; glowing eyes must have meantI was hungry. I tucked that piece of info away andpushed forward.

I was on the vampire in less than a second. I wasgrateful he was small and rather weak; it really helpedme get him to the ground. He fell back into the soft,thick grass, and the two of us rolled around likefrolicking dogs during mating season. The vampirekept trying to butt heads with me, his long, sharpfangs searching for my neck. I swung my fist hard andfast, making contact with his face just below his righteye. His head shot backward, temporarily dazing him.I was able to reposition myself around his waist, finallypinning him to the ground. Of course, he was back infull fight mode in a millisecond, fangs fully extendedand a primeval growl coming from his throat. Igrabbed hold of his wrists, feeling hard, sinewymuscles I couldn’t see. He was strong, regardless ofhis size. He kept trying to roll me off of him, butluckily I was stronger. I threw his arms back, pinningthem against the ground.

Now what, Ava? I had him down, but had alsoinadvertently rendered myself useless. If I let go of hisarms to try and punch him or something, I had nodoubt he would rip my throat out. I tried pulling hisarms together above his head so I could hold themwith one hand, but he proved too strong. I was stuck.

Just then a large piece of pointed wood camewhizzing past my head, plunging deep into the

whizzing past my head, plunging deep into thevampire’s chest. Dark, smelly blood shot into the air,narrowly missing me. I watched as it pumped out ofhis chest and poured over his sides, turning the grassbeneath him from a lush green to nearly black as itspread. The vampire screamed in agony as the life (orunlife) poured out of him. In shock, I could only sitthere straddling him, watching intently as his screamsslowly faded and the glow in his eyes wasdistinguished. After only a few seconds, there wasnothing left but a bloody corpse. I quickly looked up,the piercing sunlight momentarily blinding me. Iwaited for my eyes to adjust before gasping.

There stood Chance, breathing heavily and clutchinga bloody chunk of wood against his chest.

6. HERO’S LOTI couldn’t speak. I couldn’t move. All I could do was

watch Chance, with his powerful, menacing glare atthe now dead vampire beneath me. I watched as hischest moved in rhythm with his breath and his handstwisted tighter around the blood-soaked stake. I saw arage behind his eyes unlike any I had seen before. Iwas part vampire, apparently the most lethal weaponon Earth, and I was terrified.

“Stand up,” he said firmly, his voice unwavering. Idid as he said, stepping away from the vampire buttoo afraid to stand next to him. His eyes remainedfixated on the bleeding corpse, tiny tears forming inthe corners. I wanted to calm him down, tell him torelax and breathe. Instead, I simply reached out andput my hand on his. After a few seconds, he releasedhis death grip on the stake and I plucked it slowlyfrom his hands. The horrid smell of the vampire’sblood dripping from it turned my stomach. Apparentlythe blood of the dead was nowhere near as enticing asthe blood of the living.

“Are you okay?” He asked me, finally turning awayfrom what he had done. He immediately beganrunning his hands over my face and arms, searchingfor any signs of distress.

Suddenly uncomfortable, I quickly pulled away. “I’mfine,” I lied. Physically I was good, but totally messedup every other way. My emotions were going haywire,

up every other way. My emotions were going haywire,anger mixed with fear mixed with sympathy. And mymind would never be right. I mean, the closest I hadever come to seeing someone die was watching deathscenes in movies and on TV (yeah, TV memories wereback in full force). Real life death was much worse.Bloodsucking vampire or not, watching him die waspainful. Even though I didn’t really consider myself avampire—not yet, anyway—I felt a small pang of guiltfor what I had done. In some weird way, it felt like Ihad just helped kill my brother or something. Itactually hurt. “What about you?” I asked. “What thehell was that?” Chance looked at me as if hearing mespeak for the first time.

“What was what?” he asked back, seeminglyconfused by my question.

“Um, that whole ‘vampire killer’ thing you just did.Where did that come from?” I kept my distance fromhim, suddenly scared of what he might do to me, theother vampire in the woods.

“I told you I was here for you, Ava. I meant it.” Hesnatched the wooden stake from my hand and chuckedit into the woods over my head.

“You didn’t say you’d kill for me, Chance.” Thebreath in my lungs suddenly felt very heavy and thicklike fog. I couldn’t catch my breath. I was about tohave a panic attack if I didn’t calm myself down.“Listen,” I said after taking a few deep breaths. “Youneed to tell me exactly what’s going on. I can’t take

need to tell me exactly what’s going on. I can’t takethis any more.”

“Take what?” Chance turned and walked away fromme, clearly unwilling to talk. I had no intention ofletting it go and was quickly on his heels.

“I can’t take any more of you hiding stuff from me.This is my life, my mess to fix. And you’re trying yourhardest to keep me in the dark about what you’re upto. It ends now.” I planted my feet in the tall grass toemphasize my point. Chance smirked and almostlaughed, obviously finding my behavior funny. “Don’tmake fun of me, Chance Caldon. I’m dead serious.”

“Well you’re going to be dead period if we don’t getout of here. That whole screaming vampire thingdoesn’t sit well with people, you know. I’m sure thecops are on the way.” I was fuming at his totaldisregard to my demand for the truth, but he wasactually right; the last thing I needed was to be seenstanding over a dead body.

Or possibly two.“How is she?” I had nearly forgotten about the

bleeding girl still leaning against the tree behind us.Chance apparently had too, practically jumping acrossthe field to get to her. He slowly lifted her thin arm tocheck her pulse.

“She’s alive,” he said after a few seconds. “Butbarely.” He ripped the sleeve from his shirt, revealing ataut bicep muscle rolling beneath his tanned skin. Hetook the piece of fabric and wrapped it around the

took the piece of fabric and wrapped it around thegirl’s neck, trying to subdue the flow of blood. Iwatched as he scooped her into his arms, cradling herbody against his. Even though she had just beenattacked by a vampire and probably wouldn’t survive, Ifelt a twinge of something—Jealousy? Anger? Chancemoved past me, and the smell of her dying blood sentme in to a rage unlike anything I had everexperienced. It completely blinded me to reality,engulfing my mind and becoming my only purpose,my only reason for being. I couldn’t stop myself. Ilunged forward, pouncing on Chance’s back like a killercat. He stumbled then fell, spilling the girl onto theground. I quickly jumped over him, landing right ontop of her.

The tumble had caused Chance’s makeshifttourniquet on the girl’s neck to slip, exposing a pair ofgaping holes still oozing blood. A sharp, numbing painraced across my upper jaw as my gums split open,revealing a pair of razor-sharp fangs. I flicked the tipof them with my tongue, tasting the potent liquidoozing from them. Venom. It didn’t matter that what Iwas doing was sick, or wrong, or would forever damnme to Hell. A ll I cared about was putting my teeth intothe flesh of her neck and feeding. I wanted to taste herblood. Bad.

As I slowly leaned in, relishing in the strong scent ofhuman blood, Chance’s large arms wrapped aroundme and squeezed as tight as possible. With a quick

me and squeezed as tight as possible. With a quickjerk, he and I sailed backward and off the girl. Withoutgiving me a second to react, he pulled me tightlyagainst him and half stood, half dragged us fartherand farther away. After a few seconds— and severalfeet— the intensity of the bloodlust eased a bit, butdidn’t fully subside. Sensing that, Chance didn’t let up.He held me close and tight as I struggled to breakfree. My body seemed out of my control. It clearlywanted to free itself from Chance’s arms and my mindand get back to the girl slowly dying in front of us. Icould feel my muscles pushing with intense furyagainst Chance’s body, writhing and coiling andfighting. My mind eventually gave into my body’soverpowering force and it, too, began to want the girlagain. I was going to win. I was going to get awayfrom Chance and feed for the first time—I could feel it.But something suddenly happened. Something strangeand comforting and powerful. Intense heat flooded mybody, radiating throughout my skin, my muscles, mysoul. I was defenseless against it, and for the secondtime in only two days, everything in my life went dark.

“Ava?” I heard Chance’s voice, faint and distant. He

was calling my name, but I couldn’t see him. I couldfeel that safe, inviting heat that oozes from him, so Iknew he was very close to me. I reached out with myarms, searching for him. I felt his hand take hold of

arms, searching for him. I felt his hand take hold ofmine, gripping it tightly. “Ava, can you hear me?” Veryslowly, the darkness around me began to break away,replaced by long shards of warm, inviting light. Myeyes fluttered open, revealing Chance’s face.

“Are you okay?” He was wiping hair away from myface, the touch of his fingers sending tiny jolts ofelectricity across my skin. I sat upright, scanning thescene before me. We were still in the clearing in thewoods behind my high school, a dead vampire and hisvictim crumpled in the grass across from us.

“How is she?” I asked as Chance helped me stand.My head was spinning, and I felt that I could pass outat any moment. I saw the girl lying motionless in thehigh grass about fifty feet from us. Wow, I thought.Chance pulled me that far away? I was impressed athis strength and stamina.

“She didn’t make it.” His statement cut me like aknife. After risking my own life fighting a vampire,after Chance had stepped in and killed it when Icouldn’t, we still lost her. I was so mad at myself forfailing that all I wanted to do was scream and hitsomething. Instead, I cried. Tears poured from myeyes, rolling down my cheeks and mixing with the dirtand spots of vampire blood that had taken upresidence on my skin. Chance hugged me again, and Isobbed into his broad, muscular chest, letting thewarmth of his body relax me. I wished that I could goback and do things differently. Maybe immobilize the

back and do things differently. Maybe immobilize thevampire and check on the girl first, before going backto fight him some more. Maybe that would’ve helped.

“Don’t dwell on what you should have done, Ava. Itwon’t help.” I first thought Chance could read my mindbefore I realized that I had been thinking out loud. Iquickly moved away, suddenly uncomfortable being soclose to him.

“But I killed her,” I cried, trying to stop the tears asI crossed the field away from him and the carnage Icaused. “She’s dead because of me.”

“She’s dead because of him,” Chance said, noddinghis head in the dead vampire’s direction. “You weretrying to save her. And you did, Ava. You saved herfrom being drained by that monster.” The way Chancesaid monster made me cringe. I briefly wondered whath e really thought of me. Did he think of me as amonster like I did?

“Come on,” he said. He walked over and took myhand, pulling me along the path in the grass I hadcreated earlier. “We need to get out of here.” As wepassed the girl’s body, I couldn’t help but take anotherdeep breath to soak up more of that delicious bloodscent. Except this time, the smell turned my stomach. Ihunched over a bit, holding the bile in my throat. Deadblood was so gross.

“Sorry,” Chance said. “I forgot to tell you. Once aperson dies, the smell of their blood makes you sick.”

“How do you know so much about vampires?” I

“How do you know so much about vampires?” Iasked as I forced my stomach to settle down. I pickedup the pace as we left the clearing and entered thethicket of trees, hoping to get as far away from theputrid scent as possible.

“I don’t know,” Chance stated. “I just do.” His voicequavered a bit, the words sounding more rehearsedthan spontaneous. He was hiding something, I couldtell.

“Okay,” I said, stopping dead in my tracks. “I’m notgoing anywhere with you until you tell me what’sgoing on.”

Chance slowly dropped my hand but wouldn’t lookat me, his eyes focusing instead on the empty spaceabove my head. “Ava,” he finally said, lowering hiseyes to look at me. “You just have to trust me, okay?I’m only here to help you.”

“You’re lying.”“No I’m not.” He turned and walked away from me,

obviously upset. “I’m telling you the truth. I want tohelp you get through this.”

“I know that,” I said. Chance glared at me withconfusion. “I know you want to help me. No onewould do what you just did if they didn’t.” A quickimage of the girl’s bloodied body passed my eyes. Iclosed them to make it go away. “But that’s not theonly reason you’re here, is it?”

“Yes, it is.”“Fine,” I snapped. “Let’s just get out of here.”

“Fine,” I snapped. “Let’s just get out of here.”Chance opened his mouth to speak but didn’t. Insteadhe turned and led us out of the woods, though thistime taking an alternate route, leading us away fromschool campus.

“So what about the bodies?” I finally asked as wemaneuvered over fallen trees and deep holes dug byanimals I had no desire to meet. I didn’t ask Chancewhere we were going, deciding it didn’t really matter; Ihad zero interest in going back to school just yet. Ialso surprised myself with how cavalier I could betalking about the dead. Maybe I really was a soullessmonster.

“Aldric’s taking care of it,” Chance answered. “That’swhy we need to get moving.” As he basically pulledme through the woods, my mind began imaginingwhat ‘A ldric’s taking care of it’ meant. Was he going toburn them? Bury them? Eat them? Okay, that last onewas absurd, but given all that had happened to melately, the idea wasn’t totally unrealistic. I wanted toask Chance what Aldric planned on doing with them,but kept quiet instead. Judging by the look on his face,I had aggravated him enough for one day.

We walked for what felt like hours before finallyleaving the woods, coming to yet another clearing.This one, however, wasn’t empty. A large, decrepithouse with giant windows and a wrap-around porchsat at the far back of the field, a very tall, very old oaktree plopped down in front. It was a typical horror

movie house, complete with gauzy spider websdraping the corners.

“Where are we?” I asked as Chance walked towardthe dilapidated structure.

“This place has been in my family forever. We’ll besafe here,” he answered, looking back over hisshoulder. “I thought we could hang here until school’sout before we go back to get my truck.” I smiled athim, hoping to smooth over whatever relationship wasgrowing between us. I sort of felt bad for being somean earlier. Plus I was really tired. Even though Iwas immortal and apparently super strong now, myfeet were killing me and I felt like I could sleep fordays.

Once we reached the house, Chance left mestanding on the ground just below the porch as heclambered up the steps and fished a key from abovethe door. He had to lean into the door a bit to get it toopen, and when it finally budged, a plume of thickdust billowed across the air. Chance waited for thecloud to settle before stepping inside. I stood patientlyuntil he came back out.

“Okay,” he said, popping his head out the door.“Come in.” Though I didn’t really want to, the rapidlydropping temperature outside was slowly clawing atmy skin. So I nervously climbed the steps and wentinside. I think my nervousness was due in part to theimmense hunger I was feeling. Yeah, blood hunger. Itsucked.

sucked.The outside of the house looked like a palace

compared to the inside. Every surface was streakedwith black grime and dust. More spider webs litteredthe corners, some even with spiders still in them. Imade sure to keep a watchful eye on them just in caseany decided to attack. Even being half vampire, I stillhated spiders with a passion. As far as furniture, theplace was almost barren. A rotten sofa was pushedagainst the far back wall of the great room, a very tinywooden chair was lying on its back on the floor. Asmall table with a broken leg and some ratty sheerspartially hanging around the windows completed thelook.

“Nice,” I said with as much sarcasm as I couldmuster given my fatigue. “The Hilton Hotels shouldtake a cue from this place.” I was growing less andless surprised by the ridiculous things I wasremembering. I hoped I wasn’t being too offensive,but I was really too tired to care. Of course, I hadnever seen the inside of a Hilton hotel—or any hotelthat I could remember—but I doubted they lookedanything like this place.

“I know it’s bad,” Chance said, sounding defeated.“I’m sorry. I said it’s been in my family forever. I didn’tsay we used it. But at least we’ll be safe here.”

“What do we need protection from?” The thoughthad just occurred to me that we killed the onlyvampire in the area; apparently I could smell when

vampire in the area; apparently I could smell whenone was near. So unless the locals were planning atorch-wielding field trip out this way, I couldn’timagine what we were being saved from.

“I don’t know,” Chance replied. “Better safe thansorry, I guess.” He sounded so much older when hesaid that, like a mother telling her child to buckle upbefore leaving the house. “I can’t let anything happento you.” He moved closer to me as he spoke, thatweird tingling in my skin coming alive again.

“Are you cold?” he asked, his hand resting on myshoulder.

“No, I’m fine.” He stopped touching my arm and,though I was grateful, I felt a twinge of longing; I didmy best to force the feeling out of my mind.

“Good,” Chance said with a tiny smile. He beganpacing the room, occasionally glancing out the windowfacing the clearing.

“What are you looking for?” I asked after the thirdtime he peered through the Swiss cheese-like curtains.

“Nothing.” His answer was stern and shrouded inmystery. Another lie. Why was he keeping so muchfrom me? I felt the fury climb my neck and fight itsway into my head. It was strong, that anger, muchstronger than I could remember—not that I couldreally remember getting mad before. I wanted to leapover and strangle him until he told me what he washiding; I laughed instead.

“What’s so funny?” Chance asked, pulling himself

“What’s so funny?” Chance asked, pulling himselffrom the window to look at me. Falling rays ofafternoon sun were bouncing off his tanned skin,almost like he was glowing. I caught myself staring fartoo long and had to look away.

“Nothing.” I tried to sound as secretive as he didbefore, hoping it would be obvious to him; it wasn’t.He simply turned back to his pacing and waiting. “Sowhen are we going back?” I asked after a couple morepeeks out the window by Chance.

“Soon.” This time he crossed the entryway into theother large room spanning the width of the house,immediately looking through those windows as well.

“You know,” I said, raising my voice to make surehe could still hear me. “These one-word answers ofyours are starting to get old.” He didn’t respond,slowly moving around the room before coming tostand in front of me. “I’m going to need better thanthat.”

“And your questions are starting to get annoying,”he finally answered, his intensely green eyes neverleaving my face. The two of us stood there motionless,staring at each other like we had done so many timessince I woke up in that coffin. I couldn’t help but feelthe draw between us, like two magnets being pulledtogether, and I wondered if Chance noticed it too. Icouldn’t understand it, really. I had no idea who thisguy really was, or what he was doing helping avampire. But something inside was telling me it was

vampire. But something inside was telling me it wasokay to trust him. I was having a hard time listening tothe voice, but it was there nonetheless.

“Then answer them and I’ll stop asking,” I said,doing my best to keep my eyes locked on his, eventhough what I wanted to do was look away to breakthe awkward feeling in the pit of my stomach. Thistime it wasn’t just the scent of his blood that wasgetting to me. It was him.

“I’ve given you all the answers I can, Ava. Trustme.”

“Those are you three favorite words, huh?” Myanger toward him was starting to take over again,pushing the other feelings aside. “Trust me, Ava, youkeep saying. But why? That’s what I want to know,Chance. Why am I supposed to trust you?”

“Because what other choice do you have?“ Before Ihad time to answer him, a deep shiver scurried up thenerves in my back. My head jerked and my eyes flewopen. I watched Chance’s face register what I wasthinking. I had no clue how he could tell what wasgoing on inside my head, but somehow he knew.Though I didn’t have to say it, I didn’t bother stoppingthe words.

“There’s another vampire. And it’s right outside thehouse.”

7. FOLLOW THE LEADERIt’s just Aldric,” Chance said after looking out the

window. He stepped over to the door and opened it,letting Aldric walk inside.

Aldric looked very different in the daylight. He wasstill attractive, but his features were softer, moresubdued. The paleness of his skin was still there, butsomehow he appeared flushed, which was really weirdseeing as how the blood flowing through his veins wasdead. And though he had already said that vampirescould easily walk around during the day, I couldn’thelp but think that he should be sleeping in a coffinsomewhere.

“Hello, Aldric,” Chance said very cordially. Hisdemeanor was much more confident than it had beenin the cemetery. Last night he had been scared andtimid; today he was bold and stood tall. I marveled athis impressive size. If anyone could give a vampire arun for its money, I would bet on Chance.

“Chance,” Aldric simply said. The two exchangedlooks that hid something. I suspected it was about me,of course, but didn’t say anything. What would havebeen the point? It wasn’t like these two were veryforthcoming with information. Aldric crossed the roomswiftly, stopping inches from me. I could smell therotting blood in his body and it turned my stomach.

“Hello, Ava,” he said, barely above a whisper. Hetook my hand in his and kissed it gently. Though his

took my hand in his and kissed it gently. Though histouch was ice cold, there was a mysterious warmthbehind his lips. “I see you’ve been a very busy girl.”Those oddly-warm lips curled into a smile, revealingtwo tiny lumps in his gums. His fangs. I wondered ifmy smile was as creepy.

“Sorry,” I responded, not really knowing what tosay. Did I say, “Yes I have been, and thank you fornoticing?” I wasn’t privy to what the correct responsewas when someone commented on your killing.

“Please, don’t apologize. You were wonderful. I onlywish I had been there to witness your first time.” Hesaid ‘first time’ like I was driving a car, or walking.Very calm for talking about me killing someone(though technically I didn’t; Chance did). He’s a killer,Ava. Remember that. The voice was whispering insidemy head, and though I knew it was impossible, Icaught Chance glaring intensely at me. Had he putthose words in my mind? Was he speaking to mewithout actually speaking? I brushed the silly ideafrom my head and focused on Aldric.

“I didn’t do it,” I said dryly. “Chance did.” I hadn’tintended on telling him the truth, but there wassomething about him that got under my skin. I had nointention of being nice to the man/monster that mademe the way I was. I kept my eyes locked on his, thetwo of us in an old-fashioned stare-down. I foughthard to win, and after nearly thirty full seconds ofsilence, Aldric smiled again and broke our gaze.

silence, Aldric smiled again and broke our gaze.“That’s fine,” Aldric answered. “A kill is a kill I

suppose.”“You suppose?” I asked timidly. “Does that mean

you don’t know? Was that girl’s death in vain?” Justthe thought of it repulsed me, made me physically ill.

“Relax, Ava,” Aldric said calmly. “It counts.” I hadn’trealized I had tensed up until I felt my shoulders relax.Chance’s kill counted. Ninety-nine to go. Yahoo.

“So tell me,” Aldric went on, stepping away fromme and perusing the room. “How was it?” Was heserious? Was he actually asking me if I enjoyed it?

“How do you think?” I snapped back, suddenly madat his coldness.

“Well I would assume there was a plethora ofemotions you experienced, much like I did my firsttime.” He kept his back to me as he spoke, his eyesscanning the filthy room. I watched his lithe body glideover the hardwood floors, his feet touching so lightlyhe appeared to be floating. “Of course, that was a verylong time ago.”

“I doubt my experience was anything like yours,” Isaid. Aldric stopped pacing the room and finally turnedto look at me.

“Really?” he asked with an inquisitive smile. “Otherthan the fact that you didn’t actually kill the vampire,our experiences were very similar. Did you not feelscared? Excited? Like you were on fire and couldn’twait to attack, but at the same time hating yourself for

wait to attack, but at the same time hating yourself forwhat you wanted to do?” He moved toward me as hespouted his questions. Though I couldn’t see him, Ifelt Chance tense with anxiety. “Am I getting warm?”Aldric’s voice was low and sinister, like he was gettingpleasure out of seeing me squirm. I struggled toappear unaffected by his intimidating ways.

“We may have experienced the same feelings,” Isaid, reluctantly agreeing with Aldric. “But there’s a bigdifference in my first and yours.”

“And what might that be?”“I didn’t choose to kill.” I stared at Aldric as I said it,

hoping to get under his skin.“So you assume that I did? That I wanted to be a

vampire?” I could tell by his words that Aldric wasshowing a part of himself that the rest of the worldnever got to see. It was brief, though. He was back tohis usual domineering and annoying self in a flash.“Next you will say I like the taste of blood.”

“Don’t you?”“Very much.” His face grew serious, his eyes even

more intense than usual. “But I didn’t always. I had tolearn to like it. To survive.” I felt a tiny nerve twitch inmy face, and I was afraid Aldric would see theuneasiness I was working so hard to hide. I figuredsarcasm was the best way to diffuse the situation.

“A true blood sucker. Shocking.” I did my best tokeep a straight face, to show him I wasn’t backingdown. He smiled wickedly and moved toward the

down. He smiled wickedly and moved toward thedoor.

“As fun as this is,” he said, “I have to be going. Ineed to make sure someone’s mess has been cleanedup.” He had already opened the door and was standingon the porch before my mouth opened and words fellout.

“Wait,” I said, a bit too loudly for such an emptyspace. The word bounced off the dingy walls. A ldricstopped abruptly and turned back around, his facesmiling.

“Yes, Ava?” It was like he knew I was going to stophim from leaving. I hated that he had such power overme. The last thing I wanted was to turn to him foradvice or answers. But I had no other choice. It wasn’tlike I had a “vamp friends” section in my phone book.

“I have more questions,” I said calmly.“And I will do my best to answer them.” He opened

his stance a bit, like he was ready for me to pitch abaseball at him or run and jump in to his arms. It wasthe most human thing I had seen him do since wemet… And it really creeped me out.

“Why do I get angry so easily?”He smiled at me. “All of your senses are heightened

now, Ava, as you are obviously aware since you wereable to track that vampire through the woods.”

“I wasn’t tracking it. I just, I don’t know, I wanted—“

“You wanted blood.” Our eyes locked, a mutual

understanding between us. We were monsters, one inthe same. I was like him in every way, and I hated it.

“I could smell it. Over everything else, I could smellit. Like nothing else existed.”

“Yes,” Aldric said softly. “I completely understand.”And I knew he did. I knew that he more than anyoneelse understood what I had felt when the scent of thatgirl’s blood invaded my mind. He had been livingthose feelings for centuries. “ But a keen sense of smellis only part of it,” he went on. “Your emotions havealso intensified. Anger, jealousy, rage; all of them willseem much more severe and overpowering.”

“How do I stop it?”“You can’t. You simply must learn to control it. That

will come with time.”“Easier said than done, right?” The sudden feeling

of dread swallowed me, filling my mind with doubt.No way was I going to be able to survive this new life.

“As is everything worth doing, yes?” Aldric half-smiled again, though this time it felt more sincere. Notgenuine, of course, but honest. Which was saying a lotcoming from him.

“So what else isn’t true about you? Or, us?” Evenlumping myself together with vampires in word onlymade me cringe.

“Well, let’s see,” he said, his eyes wandering as hecollected his thoughts. “We are not allergic to silver,crucifixes or garlic. We don’t turn into bats. We don’thave to sleep in coffins, though I suppose you could if

have to sleep in coffins, though I suppose you could ifyou wish. And we definitely do not sparkle. Get theidea?” He took a couple of steps toward me beforeadding, “Nearly everything you have heard about us isfiction, Ava.” The way he tried to sound like my friendor something was really unnerving; I quickly movedon to more important stuff.

“How can I sense other vampires?”“That is one of your many new gifts. You will learn

and perfect them all in time.” Aldric’s human-like aurafaded fast, and he quickly turned back to creepy deadguy. “Your sense of smell has been enhanced leapsand bounds. The vampire you killed today was veryclose in proximity. Perhaps too close. You should bethankful for the girl wandering the woods. Withouther, he no doubt would have made it to your school,and the death toll would have been far greater.” Thesincerity behind his words earlier had now moved tohis eyes, deep behind the venom that swirled there. Iknew he felt indifferent about humans, so why was hesaying I should be grateful more of them didn’t die?

“I can’t be happy an innocent girl died because ofme,” I interjected, self-deprecation drenching mywords.

“The vampire killed her,” Chance spoke from theback of the room. “Not you.” I looked up and into hiseyes and saw that familiar warmth, that compassionthat always seemed to be telling me to pull myselftogether.

together.“Don’t worry about that,” Aldric continued. “As time

progresses, you will hone your sense of smell and beable to find them before they get anywhere near you.”

“So should I be drinking blood so I can fight them?”The thought repulsed me, made me feel like an alienin my own body. I hated the idea, but at the sametime, it was all my mind could focus on.

“As I’ve said, you don’t have to,” Aldric started.“And of course there are alternatives. But nothing willgive you the strength that comes from human blood.Fresh human blood.” I’m sure he meant right from theneck. I tried to imagine sinking my teeth into a pieceof human flesh and nearly fainted. Even though I hadwanted to taste the girl in the woods, now the thoughtgrossed me out. I so was not cut out to be a vampire.

“What alternatives?” I asked, praying he would saythere was a pill or something I could take. I highlydoubted it, but I was hopeful.

“Blood banks are always an option,” Aldric said,walking back into the room and clasping his handstogether. He reminded me of a preacher giving asermon, though I doubted he could even step foot in achurch. Doing so would probably set him on fire orsomething. And probably me too, now. Another thingI hated about myself. “It’s not as vitamin-enriched asdrinking it fresh, but it serves its purpose. And ofcourse, there are animals.” He stopped walking andturned to look at me. “But really, Ava, do you think

turned to look at me. “But really, Ava, do you thinkyou could pick up a poor, defenseless animal and drinkits blood? I can’t picture it.” He crinkled his foreheadjust above his nose, like he smelled something rotten.

No way could I kill a defenseless animal. Of course,I couldn’t bite a human, either. I was down to onlyone option. “So do I just walk into the hospital and askfor a few pints of O Negative?” In any other scenariothat would have been funny. Standing in the middle ofa rundown house talking to a vampire about drinkinghuman blood somehow took the humor out of it.

“In a manner of speaking.”“What if I get caught?”“You are much more cunning than you realize, Ava.

Another benefit of the new, enhanced life I have givenyou.” He made it sound like he had turned me into asuperhero. I supposed in his eyes he had. “You havethe ability to make people do whatever you want themto do. Humans are very susceptible. You just need tolearn how to make it happen.”

“I don’t want to do that,” I said, getting angry. “Irefuse to be a villain. That’s not me.” I planned onrevolting against the vampire side of me. Well, otherthan having to use my super strength to kill othervampires; I didn’t have a choice there.

“Your choice,” Aldric said, sounding defeated. Ireleased a tiny smile. “But do remember that the daywill come when you will need one of those gifts tosave your life.” He briefly glanced over at Chance

save your life.” He briefly glanced over at Chancebefore turning back to me. “Or the life of someone youcare deeply about.” I cringed at his implication. “Notknowing what to do is difficult to overcome.” I couldtell he was speaking from experience, his wordsdrenched in pain. I allowed a full second of sorrow forhim to enter my heart before I squashed it. I forcedmyself to remember that he was a killer. He would justas soon take a person’s life as he would save it. Hewas heartless, and no matter how sweet he spoke orhow sad and broken he looked, I couldn’t forget that.

On the other hand, he had a point. My life wasdifferent now. I was different. Whether I wanted toface the reality or not, the fact remained that I was avampire. And I was going to be stepping blindly into aworld that could easily get me killed. The smart thingto do would be to learn all I could to help protectmyself—and others. I didn’t want to do it, and I waspositive I would hate myself worse the more Iaccepted my vampire side, but it was the right thing todo. I took a deep breath, exhaled slowly and turned toAldric.

“You’re right.” Now I was the one soundingdefeated. “I need to protect myself. Protect the peoplearound me.” I looked over at Chance as I spoke. Hestood tall and still, like a soldier at attention. But hisface was speaking to me, and it was telling me hewasn’t happy with my decision.

“Wise choice,” Aldric said with an eerie creepiness in

“Wise choice,” Aldric said with an eerie creepiness inhis voice; worse than his normal creepiness. “If youhope to succeed in getting your human self back,having an arsenal of unstoppable force will only helpyou achieve your goal. I understand your reservations,but remember that you control what you learn andhow you use it. Not me.” I wanted so desperately tobelieve him, believe that he was telling me everything.But I couldn’t. There was a nagging feeling in thebottom of my stomach that kept me from trusting hiswords. Something, somewhere, was warning meabout him. I couldn’t place it, but I just knew not toallow myself to get too close. But for the moment, hewas the only option I had.

“Will you help me?” I asked, trying to sound assincere as I could.

“No!” Chance spoke for the first time during ourentire conversation. Actually, he yelled. So loud itmade me jump. Aldric and I looked at him at the sametime. Chance’s chest was heaving, rising and droppingso fast I was afraid he would hyperventilate.

“It’s okay,” I said, confused as to why he wasfreaking out. He wouldn’t look at me at first, his eyeslocked on Aldric across the room. After a few seconds,the hard edges of his face disappeared and he finallybrought his eyes to mine.

“No, it’s not,” he said after slowing his laboredbreathing. “You can’t trust him, Ava. He’s a monster.”He was speaking so softly I had to focus on his lips to

He was speaking so softly I had to focus on his lips tomake sure I didn’t miss anything. A quick mentalimage of our lips pressed together flashed across mymind and I had to blink hard to make it disappear.What was that all about? I didn’t even know this guy,why was I thinking these things about him? I didn’treally have the time to worry about it at the moment.

“I know he is,” I answered, trying not to think aboutthat image still fighting to enter my mind. “Don’t worryso much about me. I’ll be fine.” It was a semi-lie. Iknew Aldric couldn’t be trusted, that part was true; Iwasn’t too sure if I would be fine or not. “I don’t reallyhave any choice here. If I’m going to be runningaround killing vampires, I need to know how toprotect myself. You can’t be there ready to drive awooden stake every single time.”

“Yes I can,” Chance said, his face softening evenmore. “That’s why I’m here, to help you. All I want isfor you to be safe. That’s all that matters.”

“Why?” I had asked the question before and gottennothing for an answer. Judging by Chance’s suddennervousness— and the spike in the sweet scent of hisblood— this time would be no different.

“Just trust me, Ava.” Chance looked everywhere butat me. “Please try to believe that all I want is to keepyou safe.” I knew he meant every word, even if hewasn’t telling me everything. He did want to keep mesafe, I believed that completely. ‘Why’ was thequestion he refused to answer.

question he refused to answer.“I believe you, Chance. And I appreciate that,

honestly. But I can’t depend on you all the time. I haveto be able to take care of myself.” I struggled to forcemy nose to ignore his alluring scent. “And besides,” Iwent on, “I’m stronger than you, so I win.” I smiledawkwardly at him, and thankfully he smiled back,though I could tell it was a bit forced.

“Think that if you want to,” he said with laughter.“And you might be,” he crossed the room and stoodclose to me, the electric pull between us undeniable.“But no way in hell am I letting you be alone withhim.” Though he was standing next to me, his eyeswere focused on Aldric, a trembling rage swirlingbehind them. “I’d die first.” Chance’s breathing grewdeeper and more rapid, causing his blood to boil in hisveins and drive my mind crazy. Something awful wasgoing on beneath the surface—something these twowere fighting desperately to keep from me.

“I know,” I said, searching both his and Aldric’s eyesfor the truth. “That’s what I’m afraid of.”

8. NORMALCYChance and I didn’t say much to each other the rest

of the day. We left A ldric to take care of my mess inthe woods, picked up Chance’s truck from school andwent back to his house—even though he told me to, Ididn’t feel comfortable calling it home—with nothingmore than a “you okay?” and “yeah” between us. Ididn’t really know why, but after the things that weresaid in the cabin, I kind of felt awkward around him.

We ate dinner with his mom in near total silence,except for a couple of questions she threw at me aboutmy first day at a new school. I lied and said it wasfine. Then I felt like total crap for lying to a womanwho had allowed a complete stranger to live in herhouse. The first of thousands of lies to come, I wassure. Chance refused to let me help with the dishes, sowhile he and his mom cleaned up, I went upstairs toget ready for bed. I was under the covers and verynear sleep when he finally came in.

“If you want your bed back I can take the couch,” Ioffered, sort of hoping he would say no. As tired as Iwas, I couldn’t fathom having to move an inch. Mybody felt like it was tied to the mattress. Maybe it wassort of like jet-lag that you get when flying—anotherrandom, useless thing my memory bank decided togive me. Dead-lag. Chance quietly took off his shirtand tossed it into the hamper on the floor. The clean,fresh smell of soap mixed with the sweet scent of his

fresh smell of soap mixed with the sweet scent of hisblood and wafted into my nostrils. The fact that Iwasn’t trying to kill him confused me. All I had wantedback in the woods was that girl’s blood. But I didn’tfeel the same about Chance. It was really weird.

“No way,” he said, pulling a blanket from the topshelf of his closet. “You need your beauty sleep.” Icouldn’t clearly see his face because of the darkness inthe room, but I knew he was smiling.

“If anyone needs a good night of beauty sleep, it’syou,” I said— lie number two. If he were any morebeautifully perfect, I would have to move away.

“Oh trust me, you are definitely the one who’s goingto need a full night of uninterrupted sleep.” Eventhough his words were light and jovial, I could hear ahint of seriousness behind his kind-hearted tone.

“And why is that?”“Because tomorrow is gonna be hell.” He shoved his

bedroom door against the wall, the crashing sound itmade when making contact wreaking havoc on mysuper-sensitive hearing. I had to get Aldric to teach mehow to get that gift under control, too. I assumedChance was referring to another day of hunting downvampires, and my happy mood quickly began todissipate. Just knowing I had to go through whathappened today ninety-nine more times made my skincrawl. I had no clue how I was going to pull it off.

“I promise next time I’ll make the kill.” Thestatement came out cold and heartless, like I was

statement came out cold and heartless, like I wasindifferent to what the words meant, even though mystomach was doing somersaults. I guessedsubconsciously I was already trying to separate myselffrom the monster I was ultimately going to become.

Chance laughed and took a couple steps toward me,his face appearing in the light of the bedside lamp likea ship in the mist. “That’s good to know,” he saidsmiling. “But I was actually talking about your secondday at school.”

“What’s so important about the second day?” I triednot to sound scared, but was failing miserably.

“It’s kind of a tradition at McCarver. Your first day iscake. But the second? All bets are off.” Chance half-winked at me and left the room, closing the doorbehind him. My nerves went into hyper-drive, mymind racing through scenarios that would no doubtplay out tomorrow. After nearly an hour of painfulanticipation, my body finally gave into the persistentdemands of sleep.

I had an unusually high amount of fear walking

across the parking lot at school the next morning.Chance was mere inches from me, but I felt totallyalone. I clutched my books tightly against my chest,focusing on the cadence being made by my tremblingfootsteps. Luckily Chance’s mom let me invade hercloset for some more updated outfits until I could go

closet for some more updated outfits until I could goshopping on Saturday, so I felt a bit better about myappearance compared to yesterday. Not enough tohold my head high, but a slight improvement.

“Just remember,” Chance said as he opened thelarge double doors, “you have no reason to answerany questions. You tell them what you want to tellthem. Keep the rest to yourself.”

“Tell who what?” He had thoroughly confused me,which was becoming an easy thing to do. He didn’thave to answer, though. Coming down the hall like asea of waxed legs and blond hair were Lacey and hertwo clones, parting the crowd of people like she wasMoses and they were The Red Sea. I stopped dead inmy tracks as I watched the kids move and shift andpractically throw themselves out of the way of theoncoming pack. It was like Lacey was the Queen ofEngland, and we were all her loyal—but inferior—subjects. I felt rage climb my spine as the trio stoppedin sync in front of us.

“What happened to you yesterday?” Lacey asked. Ialmost answered until I realized she was speaking toChance. “We missed you in gym class.” She was layingon some seriously thick flirting, every once in a whilecutting her eyes at me to see if I was getting jealous.Oddly enough I was, but no way was she going to seeit.

“I was busy,” Chance responded, neither cheerfulnor rude. He, too, looked over at me. I kept my eyes

nor rude. He, too, looked over at me. I kept my eyesbusily studying the top of my notebook, nearly bitingmy tongue to keep from saying something I mightlater regret. Not an easy task, mind you.

“That’s too bad,” Lacey said, tossing her hair overher shoulder; Laceybots One and Two copied hermove perfectly. I actually bit my tongue that time tokeep from laughing. “But we’ll see you there today,right?” Her doe-like eyes somehow grew bigger as sheplayfully twisted a strand of hair in her well-manicuredfingers. She smiled seductively at Chance, and I wasimpressed to see that he seemed unaffected.

“Yeah,” he said, taking my arm and pulling me awayfrom the group. “We’ll be there.” He smiledmischievously over his shoulder at Lacey and her crewas he moved us down the hall. I waited what I thoughtwas a respectable amount of time before speaking.

“She likes you,” I said matter-of-factly. I know hesaid there was nothing going on, but I just couldn’timagine someone being as persistent as Lacey if therewas no hope of achieving anything.

“I don’t like her,” he answered. “I told you thatalready.”

“I know,” I said, sounding a bit defeated despite hisreassurance. “I heard you.” We walked into homeroomand took our seats in the back. I hadn’t realized I wassulking until Chance pointed it out.

“Oh wow,” he whispered, leaning over to me. I gota huge whiff of his delicious scent, causing my head to

a huge whiff of his delicious scent, causing my head tospin. “Are you jealous?” I jerked my eyes up at himwhen he said that, shock written all over my face. Hehad a wide smiled plastered on his; I wanted to smackit off.

“Of course not!” I had to fight to keep my voice to alow whisper. “Are you insane? What would I have tobe jealous about?” I looked away from him andlaughed a little as I spoke. I began feverishly shufflingmy books around on my desk, trying to find anythingto occupy my mind so I wouldn’t look at him sittingthere swooning.

“Yes, you are,” he continued, further embarrassingme. I could already tell my cheeks were bright redfrom the heat I felt in them—which made me madsince obviously being a vampire didn’t stop me fromgetting embarrassed. I doubted they could get anyworse, but I didn’t want to find out.

“I said I wasn’t and I meant it.” I didn’t mean to beso snappy, but I figured it was the best way to get himto drop it. “Let it go,” I added, a bit softer with mytone.

“Okay, okay. I’m letting it go.” He threw his handsup in mock surrender and leaned back over in hisdesk. After a few seconds I glanced over at him; hewas still wearing that overly-confident smile. I couldn’thelp but smile myself at his cuteness, which somehowmanaged to climb a few points. I also couldn’t help butnotice that even though I had no clue who this guy

notice that even though I had no clue who this guywas, I was slowly becoming more and more attachedto him.

We made it to lunch without another ‘Laceygate’incident. I was actually feeling somewhat comfortablein my new surroundings, even laughing at a couple ofChance’s jokes. Although he didn’t have what I wouldcall friends—which I couldn’t understand seeing ashow he was totally gorgeous and very charming—there were a few guys that spoke to him in a friendlyway. A couple of them even walked with us to lunch,laughing and cutting up with Chance like they werebest friends. One in particular—Trent? Trevor?—seemed closest to him.

“So how do you like it here, Ava?” he asked as wecrossed the threshold into the cafeteria. It took me amoment to adjust to the noise and crowd level of therather tiny lunchroom. I found myself moving a bitcloser to Chance. He picked up on my uneasiness andmoved next to me.

“Um, it’s okay,” I said. “A lot bigger than what I’mused to.” I had no idea what I was ‘used to’ as far asmy old school was concerned. I couldn’t rememberanything about my past, but I didn’t think telling thisguy was a good idea.

“Oh yeah? Where’s that?” Of course he waspersistent. I took a minute to try and come up with abelievable answer before opening my mouth to speak.

“She’s from the west coast,” Chance interjected. I

“She’s from the west coast,” Chance interjected. Icut him a what-the-crap look; he responded with atell-you-later one. I kept quiet, thankful that his frienddidn’t seem to notice. Obviously he wasn’t reallyconcerned about my past, just making small talk.Chance and I got our food, said goodbye toTrent/Trevor—who joined his jock buddies on theother side of the cafeteria—and I followed Chance outthe far doors to a tiny patch of grass beneath a coupleof trees. We were halfway done eating before I spoke.

“Okay, two things,” I said after swallowing somefries. “One, what’s that guy’s name?” Not knowing wasstarting to bug me.

“Travis,” Chance said, swirling a fry in someketchup. At least I had the first letter right.

“Two, what was that back there?” I was thankful Ididn’t have to elaborate, since I was busily stuffingfries in my mouth.

“Sorry about that. I was supposed to tell you.”He finished up his fries, tossing the container into a

trash can a couple of feet away. “Aldric kind of madeup this past for you, just in case anyone asked.”

“Oh he did, did he?” I sounded like a mother,questioning the teacher who accused her child ofcheating. “Why didn’t you mention that this morning?And why don’t I know about my ‘past’?”

“He just didn’t want anyone questioning where youcame from.” He stole a fry from my tray and doused itin way-too-much ketchup. “He didn’t want someone

in way-too-much ketchup. “He didn’t want someonefinding out about your ‘death.’” I was mad that Aldrictook it upon himself to create this whole new life forme.

“What gave him the right to do that!”. I stood upand threw my fry container toward the trash can,missing it by several feet. Only fueling my risinganger, I stomped over, picked up the cardboardcontainer, crushed it in my hand and tossed it into thecan. Chance was at my side in a flash.

“We gotta get you out of here,” he said calmly buturgently. His hands were groping my arms.

“What? Why?” I was confused and mad all at thesame time, firmly planting my feet as he tugged on myarms. I was shocked to see that even though hetowered over me—and seemed to be real ly pullinghard judging by his flexed muscles—I didn’t move aninch.

“Ava,” he said, fear drenching his words. “Yourfangs are showing.”

9. SEENWhat?” I thought I had heard him wrong. No way

did he say that my fangs were showing. No way. Iturned to face him as I spoke.

“Oh God, your eyes,” Chance said, startled fearweighing down his face. His head darted from side toside, searching for somewhere to hide me. There wasnowhere to go.

“Okay,” he said, his voice erratic. “I need you tocalm down, Ava. Before someone sees you.” His facewas inches from mine. I felt a thick heat between us,though I couldn’t be sure if it was radiating off him orme.

What was he talking about? I felt fine. I was mad,yes, but my body didn’t feel any different. Hementioned my fangs, and my eyes. Both seemed inplace, seemed normal. I flicked at my teeth with mytongue and felt the prickly point of one of my fangs,hanging out for all to see. I hadn’t even felt themcome out. I quickly clamped my lips shut, hoping noone noticed. My eyes went to Chance’s, panicked.

I threw my hand in front of my mouth. “What am Igoing to do?” Crazy panic soaked my words. All Icould picture was a group of maniacal teens chargingme with schoolhouse weaponry: mop handles,yardsticks, erasers full of chalk dust. I cringed.

“I can’t risk moving you,” Chance whispered. Hethen pulled me into him, sort of hugging me against

then pulled me into him, sort of hugging me againsthim, obviously hoping that to passers-by it wouldappear we were simply having a normal couplemoment. Feeling his body wrapped around mine mademy head swim. We stood like statues in the middle ofthe grassy knoll, kids walking around us, conversationsabout upcoming tests and weekend plans flowing inand out of my mind. I could feel Chance’s heartbeating deep in his chest, pumping blood through hisveins. I just knew that I was going to be overcomewith the desire to taste it and bite him, but I didn’t.Somehow, the melody of his heartbeat calmed medown. After nearly a minute of our awkwardly perfectmoment, Chance broke away, staring at my face.

“Better,” he said with a half-smile. He exhaled thepent-up air from his lungs and tried to look relieved,but I knew he was still freaked out. I watched his eyesdance across my face, probably searching for signs ofthe killer in me. His grip on my arms relaxed and hereleased me once he felt I had calmed down.

“Are you sure?” I asked, fearful to even speak. I stillhad my hand over my mouth, but a quick brush of mytongue revealed fang-less teeth. The fact that Icouldn’t control them, couldn’t even sense when theywere out, really ticked me off. I thought that beinghungry—for blood, gross—was the trigger, but now itseemed that any sort of heightened emotion couldcause me to turn into the monster I really was. Ilowered my hand, keeping my eyes fixated on

lowered my hand, keeping my eyes fixated onChance’s face.

“You’re good,” he answered, stepping back andaway from me. I, too, exhaled the breath I had beenunknowingly holding in my lungs, and the two of usheaded back into the building just as the bell rang,signaling the end of a very crazy lunch.

In my next class, I focused on the clock instead ofpaying attention to the teacher’s lesson, watching thesecond hand tick away. I could feel each notch passingby like a year of my life. Is this how it’s going to beforever? Will immortality creep by like a second hand,one agonizingly painful click at a time? Just thethought of it made my skin crawl. Living foreversounded like hell. A hell I intended to avoid if at allpossible.

I have to kill to survive.Aldric’s plan re-entered my mind, taking over all my

thoughts. I had to kill one hundred vampires—well,ninety-nine more—before I could rid myself of themonster growing within me, before I could becomehuman again. Before I could grow old and one daydie. I never imagined wishing for old age at onlysixteen, but wrinkles and retirement sounded likeheaven compared to the alternative.

“Hey.” I heard Chance whisper from beside me, hisface full of concern. “What’s on your mind?” His regardfor me was a little flattering and totally unnecessary.

“Nothing,” I smiled, though a bit forced. “Stop

“Nothing,” I smiled, though a bit forced. “Stopworrying about me so much.” I kept glancing at thefront of the room, where the teacher was rapidlyscribbling notes on the board. I should have beencopying down in my notebook what she was writing,but I couldn’t force my mind to focus.

“I can’t,” Chance said with a burning behind hiseyes. He looked angelic sitting there, wisps of his curlyblack hair falling carelessly around his face. I wantedto reach over and brush them away, but refrained. Ididn’t want to get close to him, this guy I barely knewand didn’t fully trust. The hugging we did at lunch—even though it was for my safety above anything else—was super uncomfortable—and totally awesome atthe same time—and that was more than enoughcloseness in my mind. So instead, I smiled at him. Heflashed another of his charming, perfect smiles beforeturning his attention to the blackboard at the front ofclass. He immediately slipped into student mode andbegan feverishly copying the notes piling up on theboard. I figured I could just copy his later andreturned to staring at the clock.

I noticed that during our little exchange time hadmoved past the point I made it to yesterday beforebeing bombarded with that sweet blood smell; when Ihad to excuse myself from school to go kill someone. Iwonder if there’s a hall pass for that? So at least todaywas now officially better than yesterday. Well, the firstpart of it anyway. I smiled at my inside joke and

part of it anyway. I smiled at my inside joke andlowered my gaze from the clock on the wall. My eyesfell on Lacey, sitting two rows to my left and threeseats forward. She was staring at me with fierceness inher eyes and anger on her face. Great, I’ve made hermad again. I knew what it was this time, though.Chance. She obviously wanted him, and she felt I wasstanding in her way.

I forced another smile, hoping it would cut thetension flowing between us. Her face remained rigid asshe spun forward in her desk. I watched her for a fewseconds before looking away. I couldn’t believe that Ihad already alienated one of the most—if not the most—popular girl in school, and it was only my secondday. Chance was right, all bets were obviously off.

The bell rang, and I couldn’t get out of that roomfast enough. I didn’t even wait for Chance, whosometimes moved at a snail’s pace. I was alreadyhalfway down the hall before he caught up with me.

“Where’s the fire?” he joked, stepping in beside me.I didn’t acknowledge him as I stopped at my lockerand spun my combination into the lock. I could feel hiseyes on me as he opened the locker next to mine. Weboth had gym next hour, but I planned on doingnothing but sitting on the bleachers and reading.Judging by the sneakers Chance fished from his locker,he planned on running. Good, I thought. I need sometime alone.

“Nowhere,” I blurted, “it’s just a crazy day.” Chance

didn’t protest. I felt a little guilty as we walked insilence across campus to the gym. I did slow down sohe wouldn’t have to run to keep up with me. Part ofAva 2.0 was having a much faster gait—one morething to get use to.

We made it to gym class just as the bell rang, and Iimmediately found a secluded spot at the farthest endof the bleachers and headed over to it. Chancereluctantly left me in the gym—after several assurancesthat I was fine—and went outside to join some of theother guys in our class in a game of football. Fromwhere I was standing I could see outside the gymdoors and watched them play for a few minutes. I wasimpressed with how well they played, especially giventhe frigid temperatures. Even though cold weatheronly partly bothered me now that I was half vampire,I’m sure it was freezing to everyone else.

I could tell that Chance was hurt by the silenttreatment I was giving him, and I fully planned onapologizing later. But I had to get away fromeverything right then or I was going to explode. Iclimbed the bleachers, took a seat at the very end upagainst the wall, and opened a frayed copy ofFrankenstein I found on a table in the library. I hopedthat reading about a true monster would somehowmake me feel more human. I was a couple of chaptersin when I felt someone walking up the bleachers,headed in my direction. I found a comfortable place inthe book to stop reading and looked up.

the book to stop reading and looked up.Lacey. Great.“Hi,” I said, trying my best not to sound annoyed by

her interruption. I put the book on the seat beside me.Lacey stood on the row just below mine, yet she wasstill almost eye level with me. I hadn’t realized untilthen how tall she actually was. Her blond hair waspulled tightly into a ponytail, accentuating her longneck.

“So are you two a ‘thing,’ or is it just sex?” I knewshe was talking about Chance, I just couldn’t believeshe was being so blunt. I cleared my throat and shiftedin my seat, uneasiness settling into my spine.

“We’re just friends,” I gave back. Though I wantedto, I didn’t break my lock on her eyes. I wanted tomake her feel uncomfortable, too; I didn’t think it wasworking.

“Being ‘just friends’ doesn’t involve the looks youtwo keep giving each other.” She put her hands on herhips. “Don’t try lying, okay? You’re not good at it.” Ifshe only knew how good at lying I actually was, shewouldn’t have said that. Maybe I should show her myfangs, or my crazy fire eyes. I decided against goingfull-on vampire right in the middle of a packedgymnasium. Instead, I just glared at her.

“You like him,” I said knowingly. “But he doesn’t likeyou.” I knew it was going to sting her when I said it—that was why I said it. She pissed me off. It was all Icould do to keep control of myself to avoid a repeat of

could do to keep control of myself to avoid a repeat oflunch. “That must suck for you, huh?” I watched theanger move across her face like shadows, circling hereyes and turning the corners of her mouth. Her skinflushed with blood, and the smell of it boiling beneathher skin hit my nose with the force of a tornado.

I had to get out of here.I stood up quickly—apparently too quickly; Lacey

seemed startled– and clambered down the bleachers. Idid my best not to look awkward doing it, havingnoticed a small group of guys on the basketball courtstaring up at us. I expected Lacey to come chargingafter me, demanding I leave Chance alone or shewould beat the crap out of me. I made it to the gymfloor and halfway to the girls’ locker room beforelooking over my shoulder. She was still standing onthe bleachers, still mad as hell and still staring medown. Apparently she didn’t go after people; theyprobably came after her (guys especially, I was sure). Itried to ignore her and the daggers she was throwingat my back and went into the locker room to get awayfrom all the eyes watching me. Once inside, I took adeep breath and stared at myself in the mirror hangingon the wall.

“Calm down, Ava. Just calm down.” I repeated thestatement over and over at my reflection, watching myeyes for any signs of change. My skin felt alive withnervous energy, practically moving on top of mymuscles and bones. I took deep breaths between

muscles and bones. I took deep breaths betweenchants, my blood pressure going down with each one.After a couple minutes, I felt normal again. Maybe Icould control the whole turning thing. It seemed to beworking at the moment.

“I saw you.” A tiny voice from behind me made mejump. I jerked around, my eyes coming to stop on agirl even shorter than me standing against the row ofstalls across the room. Her hair was going crazy on topof her head, obviously dyed black from a supermarketbox dye. Judging by the streaks of brown peekingthrough at the roots, she was in need of another dose.She wore a plain black t-shirt and faded gray jeansthat tapered down her skinny legs. Dingy black andwhite sneakers completed the semi-Goth look. I feltunderdressed in Ms. Caldon’s hand-me-downs.

“You scared me,” I said with an awkward laugh,clutching my chest in mock fear.

“Sorry.” Her responses were simple and quiet,almost like she was keeping her voice low for areason. Her eyes never moved from my face. Her bodyseemed paralyzed.

“Guess you mean that mess with Lacey?” It cameout like a question but was more of a statement.“Sorry about that. I don’t think she likes me.” I smiledat Goth girl, hoping she would stop talking to me andleave the locker room. She was kind of making meuncomfortable.

“Lacey’s a bitch,” Goth girl said, this time a bit

“Lacey’s a bitch,” Goth girl said, this time a bitlouder and with more anger behind her words. “She’salways been that way. But I wasn’t talking about her.”She took a couple of steps toward me. I instinctivelybacked up, the edge of the sink stopping me fromgetting farther away from her.

“Then what did you see?” I asked, confusion mixingwith fear on my face. Somehow I knew what she wasgoing to say before she said it.

“I saw you at lunch.” My body tensed, becomingrigid with panic. “I saw you turn into a vampire.”

10. CONFIDANTI started breathing heavy. Sweat popped out on my

forehead, rolling down my temples and drenching myhair. My hands gripped the sink ledge behind me. Icouldn’t move. Now I was the one who seemedparalyzed.

“Wh—what are you talking about?” I tried playingdumb, hoping she would let it go.

“You know what I’m talking about,” she answered,her voice unwavering. I studied her face, searching forsigns of anything. Fear, panic, shock; none of thosewere there. It was like she couldn’t have been lesssurprised. I loosened my grip on the sink, mainly forfear of ripping it off the wall with the super strength Ikept forgetting I now had. I felt the tension in mybody ease a bit, too.

“What are you going to do?” I eagerly awaited herresponse, half expecting her to run from the lockerroom screaming “MONSTER!” but she didn’t. She stoodcalm and still, her eyes unflinching. I was amazed ather coolness.

“I’m not gonna tell anyone,” she finally offered. “Sodon’t worry about that.” I believed her. And I said athousand silent thank-yous.

“Why not?” I was such a glutton for punishment.Apparently I wanted to push her into running to theprincipal’s office. Or the police. Or maybe an exorcist.

“Because I think it’s awesome.” That was the first

“Because I think it’s awesome.” That was the firstthing she’d said with any emotion since calling me out.Awesome? Did she really just say awesome?.

“I know, it sounds crazy, right? Someone finds outyou’re a vampire and they think it’s cool.” She smiledwide as she spoke, like a movie star fan finally gettingto meet her idol. She was practically gushing she wasso excited. “But it’s true. I’ve waited, like, my entire lifefor this. It’s amazing.” She moved toward me, andthough my instincts—probably the vampire ones—were yelling at me to back away and run for safety,something kept me planted in place. I watched wide-eyed as she stopped inches from me. At such a closedistance, I was able to tell that she looked youngerthan me, thirteen or fourteen at best.

“Amazing.” I heard my voice speak, though I didn’tremember saying the word. “I would hardly call itamazing.” I decided playing dumb was a waste oftime. Clearly this girl knew the truth, and she wasactually excited about it. “A curse is more like it.” Ileaned against the sink behind me, hoping it wouldn’tbreak loose and send me and it to the floor.

“Only if you let it be.” There was seriousness in thegirl’s tone. “It can be great if you want.” Maybe shewas right. Maybe I could embrace this new side of meand learn to love it, making my life better instead ofworse. I doubted it, but maybe.

“Are you an expert or something?” I kind of hopedshe would say yes. At least then I would have

she would say yes. At least then I would havesomeone besides Aldric to turn to when I needed help.

“A novice,” she explained. “But definitely hoping tolearn more. All I know is what’s on the Internet. Andtrust me, you’ve already broken like ten of thosemyths.” She used her hands to emphasize “ten,”apparently finding that to be a huge deal.

“What myths? What do you mean I’ve brokenthem?”

“Well for starters, you’re walking around in thedaylight without spontaneously combusting. Andyou’re not pale.” She reached out and quickly touchedmy arm. “And your skin is warm. That’s three of themright there.” I could do nothing but stare at her as shespoke. She held a certain confidence and ease that Ifound refreshing. Other than Chance and his mom, noone else in town had been nice to me. Until now.

“Well you can’t really count that as me breakingthem,” I said. “I’m technically not a vampire.”

Her face crushed. “But I saw you.” She sounded as ifshe would cry.

“I’m half vampire.” I leaned in as I spoke, suddenlyaware that someone could burst through the door atany moment.

“Whoa.” It was a simple statement that said it all.“That’s amazing.” This was one strange girl.

“I need to get out of here,” I said, breaking awayfrom my spot against the sink and heading for thedoor.

door.“Wait!” She yelled after me, trying to stop me from

leaving the locker room. I ignored her as I pushed thedoor open and sprinted for the gym exit. I bolted forthe door, heading out into the bright, warm sun.Persistence apparently being her strong suit, Goth girlwas quickly nipping at my heels.

“Please don’t run away,” she begged, sounding lesslike the strong-willed girl from a minute ago and morelike a child. “I didn’t mean to freak you out.”

“How can you say that?” I asked, stopping to turnand face her. We were practically in the middle of theopen field next to the gym; Chance was probablywatching by now. “How can you think you freaked meout? Shouldn’t it be the other way around?” I stared ather, watching for signs of fear. “Why are you notscared of me?” I finally asked after seeing no reactionon her face.

“I told you,” she said. “I think it’s cool.” Frustrated, Iturned and kept walking away from her. And she keptfollowing. The two of us crossed the field. I could seeChance now, and he had stopped playing football. Hewas at my side within seconds.

“What’s going on?” he asked, his breath a bit raggedfrom the game. “Who’s she?” He glanced over hisshoulder at Goth girl, who was moping along aboutten feet behind us. I kept walking, but couldn’t helpnotice the sweat clinging to his bronzed skin andflexed biceps. I had to look away to keep from

flexed biceps. I had to look away to keep fromblushing.

“Goth girl,” I said; I realized too late that it wasaloud. Chance looked at me like I was crazy. “Sorry,” Iadded. “I don’t know her name.” Chance stoppedwalking and turned around. The girl stopped, too,keeping her distance from us.

“Who are you?” Chance asked. “I don’t recognizeyou from school.” This statement freaked me out evenmore.

“I just transferred here,” she said, barely above awhisper. Vampires did nothing to her, but apparentlyhot jocks scared the crap out of her. She was like anervous kitten taking its first steps. “My name’s Kayla.Kayla Harper.”

“Where did you come from, Kayla Harper?” Chance’svoice was stern and demanding. His gladiator-likestance only backed up his tone.

“From Chicago. My mom and I moved here lastweek.” Her answers seemed genuine, though I hadbeen having trouble lately determining what was trueand what wasn’t. Chance’s tension seemed to ease abit, and I took that as him believing her.

“Why are you following Ava around?” This timewhen he spoke, it was with more curiosity and lessvenom. He was still breathing a little heavy, so I’msure to Kayla he looked like he was ready to pounce onher. Of course, if she were anything like all the othergirls in this school, that may not have been all bad in

her opinion.“She saw me.” I answered Chance. I figured I would

help Kayla out by at least giving her time to catch herbreath. “At lunch.” Chance’s head jerked toward mewhen I said that; he knew exactly what ’at lunch’meant.

“You’re kidding?” he snapped.“She knows I’m a vampire.”“She doesn’t know,” he whispered, leaning into me.

His physical exertion only heightened his alluringscent; I shuddered.

“I told her.” I expected him to flip out, but he onlystood upright and took a deep breath.

“Why did you do that?” he asked, his eyes fixated onKayla.

“Because she knew, Chance. She saw the teeth.” Isaid it like it hadn’t been my teeth Kayla had seen growinto fangs. Like the three of us were discussing thelatest vampire book or movie, not real life. Not my life.

“She doesn’t know what she saw.” I could tellChance was trying to confuse Kayla, trying to make herthink she was mistaken.

“I do know,” Kayla said, a bit of the confidence sheheld earlier renewed in her voice. She still coweredaway from us, like she would turn and run at anymoment, but her voice was stronger. “I know avampire when I see one.”

“Oh really?” Chance asked smartly. “See them a lotdo you?” I had never seen this side of him before, this

do you?” I had never seen this side of him before, thiscontrolling, angry, demanding side. It was boththrilling and scary at the same time.

“Online.” Kayla said. It sounded like the dumbestanswer in the world right now.

“Online? You’re comparing whatever you think yousaw today to some made up story? What are you,twelve?” He was being rude; I swiped his arm to lethim know he had gone too far. He looked over at meand rubbed the spot I hit.

“I’m sixteen,” Kayla said, surprising me. I neverwould have guessed we were the same age.

“Sixteen and not very smart.” Chance grabbed myarm and began moving us away from Kayla. “You havea real bright future ahead of you, kid.” He said ‘kid‘ likehe was forty or something. I hadn’t expected him to beso cruel; it actually surprised me.

“I’m bright enough to know that telling someonewould cause a world of trouble for you guys.” Kayla’swords stopped us in our tracks. I glanced over atChance before the two of us turned around to face her.He still had a firm grip on my arm that tightened a bitas we walked over to her. Yeah, I was freaking out,too.

“Is that a threat?” Chance asked, the veins in hisneck bulging. He had let go of my arm, and I noticedhis hands were crunched into tight fists by his sides. Ikept switching my focus between his face and Kayla’s,ready to interject if the situation became physical.

ready to interject if the situation became physical.“No, not at all,” Kayla said. “I didn’t mean that. I

mean that I understand how dangerous this is, that’sall.” The terror was back in her eyes, and her bodyreflected her fear of what Chance could do to her. Shecurled in on herself, practically shaking.

“So I guess you want us to say ‘Cool! Somebodyelse knows so let’s invite her to the party!’ Right?”Chance asked.

Kayla stood quiet, obviously choosing the rightwords. “I just want you to know that you can trust me.That even though I know, I’m not telling.” Sheappeared to be looking at me, like she wanted myokay. I honestly didn’t know what to say. I mean, theidea of someone else being in on this new secret partof my life was exciting. But at the same time, the morepeople who knew, the more I was in danger. Right?Looking at Kayla standing there, though, pleading withher eyes for me to jump in and save her, I justcouldn’t walk away.

“Do you really think we’re gonna trust you?” Chancewent on. “We don’t even know you.” He had finallyreleased my arm, and was doing a frantic two-steppacing that was making me dizzy.

“But you can. I promise.” I could practically smellKayla’s nervousness, pulsing through her veins rightalong with her intoxicating blood.

“You promise? Well, then that settles it I guess.Since you promise not to tell, I guess we should just

Since you promise not to tell, I guess we should justtell you everything.”

“Tell me everything—what?” Kayla asked.“What?” Chance asked back.“You said you should tell me everything. What else

is there to tell?”Chance didn’t answer her. He looked at me,

realizing that in his anger-fueled outburst he had saidtoo much. Kayla now knew that we were hidingsomething, that my being a vampire wasn’t the onlysecret she had stumbled upon today. And somethingtold me she wouldn’t let it go until we came clean.Panicked, I closed my eyes a moment to clear mymind, and to try and figure out what we should do.

Should we trust Kayla? Should we tell hereverything that’s going on with me? Who I am? What Ihave to do to survive? If we don’t, will she run to thepolice? That last question flashed in my mind, thepossibility of what would happen if Kayla told theworld about me overwhelming my senses. I couldn’tdo this, not now.

“Why don’t we just drop it, okay?” I said, more asan order than a request. “We all need a break. We cantalk about it tomorrow.” The idea sounded good tome. At least it would momentarily thwart Kayla’sinquisition until Chance and I had time to process whathad happened—and to decide if we were going to behonest with her about everything; and allow her tobecome part of whatever semblance of a team we

become part of whatever semblance of a team wewere. A vampire-killing team, which was totally weirdto me. Kayla needed to do some processing, too. Shejust saw a real live vampire; excited about it or not,that was definitely out of the ordinary. After some timeto think, she may not even want to become part of ourlittle group. At least, I hoped she wouldn’t. Besides thefact that it scared the crap out of me someone elseknew what I was, I honestly didn’t have a clue whatpurpose she would serve if we did let her in. Ifanything, I felt she might be more of a problem; thesmell of her blood was way too inviting for me. Theonly reason I hadn’t sunk my fangs into her neckalready was because the thought of doing it still kindof grossed me out.

“Fine,” Chance said in agreement. “We’ll talktomorrow.” He didn’t wait for Kayla to say anything,turning swiftly and walking away from her in thedirection of the ongoing football game. I watched himleave, knowing that his anger was probably still boilingjust beneath the surface. He had become sooverprotective of me in such a short time that I felt itwould kill him if something ever happened to me thathe could have stopped.

“I’m sorry for all this,” Kayla said, pulling myattention back to her. “I should have just kept mymouth shut.” She lowered her eyes to her feet, whichshe was using to grind blades of grass into the dirt.

“Yeah, you should have,” I said, my own anger

“Yeah, you should have,” I said, my own angertrying to escape. I knew better than to let that happen,though. I fought hard to calm down. “But that’spointless to think about now. You already know.”

“I meant it when I said I won’t tell your secret toanybody. You can trust me.” Kayla looked at me againwhen she spoke, and even as badly as I wanted tobelieve her, something was holding me back. I took afew steps toward her, closing the gap between us. Bythe time my face was directly in front of hers, thatanger I’d been trying to suppress was rearing itsviolent head. I felt the fangs sitting dormant beneathmy gums begin to twitch.

“You better hope I can,” I threatened. I could tell bythe expression of utter fear on Kayla’s face that notonly had my fangs become exposed, but that my eyeswere burning with fiery rage. “Because if you dosomething to me, or to Chance, you’re going to seefirst hand how bad I can get.”

As I waited for Chance to get changed out of his

sweaty gym clothes so we could leave, I watched Kaylaleave the gym and head over to the line of schoolbuses circling the right side of campus. She walkedwith a sort of no-nonsense air about her, like nothingin the world could affect her. But I knew I had. I knewthat my threat had gotten to her, scared her. And thatmade me happy. Well, the vampire side of me. The

made me happy. Well, the vampire side of me. Thehuman side felt like a bitch. I made a promise to treather better if we decided to let her join us.

As other students and faculty scampered aroundcampus, some heading to the buses, some to theparking lot where I was anxious to go myself, Icouldn’t help but feel guilty for what I had done toKayla. What gave me the right to act that way? Sincewaking up in that coffin—since this new unlife fell intomy lap—all I’ve wanted is to be normal, be human.The first chance I get, I’m going all vamp? I truly feltlike a monster, vampire side or not. I vowed right thento treat Kayla better... and to keep the monster raginginside me at bay; I just hoped it would be that easy.

As I waited for Chance to get changed out of hissweaty gym clothes so we could leave, I watched Kaylaleave the gym and head over to the line of schoolbuses circling the right side of campus. She walkedwith a sort of no-nonsense air about her, like nothingin the world could affect her. But I knew I had. I knewthat my threat had gotten to her, scared her. And thatmade me happy. Well, the vampire side of me. Thehuman side felt like a bitch. I made a promise to treather better if we decided to let her join us.

Chance finally met up with me outside the gym, andwe walked across campus to his truck, heavy silencehanging between us just as it had that morning. Thistime, though, for very different reasons.

“You know we have to tell him,” he stated after

“You know we have to tell him,” he stated afterseveral minutes of silence. “If we don’t, he’ll kill her ifhe finds out.” I knew that what Chance was saying wasprobably true, but I wasn’t ready to tell the mostdangerous man on the planet that I had royallyscrewed up. I mean, I had thought about dying to killthe vampire growing stronger within me, but actuallybeing faced with the possibility of it happening had mereconsidering.

“Not today,” I answered, keeping my eyes focusedon the road rolling beneath us. “I’ve got enough todeal with.” That couldn’t have been more true. Todaywas my first day of Vampire Training.

Aldric was already at the abandoned house in thewoods by the time Chance and I got there. He wasleaning against the back of his black sedan, lookingmore like a realtor waiting to show a house topotential buyers than a bloodsucking killer ready totrain his next undead soldier. My body uncontrollablytensed. Just the sight of him made me uneasy. Icouldn’t explain it, but there was something familiarabout him, and that scared the hell out of me.

“Glad you could make it, Ava,” he said as I climbedfrom the truck. The air was cool and refreshing on myskin, making the lush evergreens surrounding thesnow-covered clearing glow with vibrancy. At anyother time, the setting would have been beautiful.Now, it just stood as a reminder of the humanity I wasslowly losing by doing what I had come here to do. To

slowly losing by doing what I had come here to do. Tome, honing my skills as a vampire meant neglectingmy human abilities. I hated it, but if I didn’t train todefend myself, I wouldn’t have a life to try and saveonce this was all over.

“I apologize for the surroundings,” he continued,“but this is really the best place for our first lesson.”

“Let’s just get this over with,” I said, walking pasthim to the back of the house. I caught sight of hissmile in my peripheral; he was enjoying my torture. Iknow he preferred me totally accepting, giving up myhuman side. He would have been immensely pleased ifI made the decision to join him for eternity. That wasthe last thing on earth I ever planned on doing.

“Such animosity,” he said as he followed me aroundthe house, Chance silently lagging behind. “Maybe weshould work on finding a way to channel all thatenergy into your training. It would definitely speed upthe process.” I chose not to look at him as he spoke,knowing he would have a mischievous grin on his facethat would do nothing but set me off. I had to keepmy cool so I could focus on what I needed to learn.The faster I got what he taught me, the faster I couldget my life back.

“Why don’t we just not talk and work on teachingme something.” I was impressed with how calm Iremained considering I couldn’t stand being so close tohim. Besides the fact he was a pompous ass, the smellof his dead blood was turning my stomach. But the

of his dead blood was turning my stomach. But thefoul odor gave me an idea.

“Can we start on how I can track a vampire?” Iknew it was all about the smell, and no matter howbad I hated the odor, I needed it. A ldric moved closerto me, the stench of dead blood growing stronger. Iturned up my nose in protest.

“Notice the difference?” he asked, stopping a fewfeet away. “The closer a vampire gets, the strongertheir scent. That’s the easy part. You just need to learnhow to find that scent when they’re not so close.” Iwas grateful he was finally using simple English.

“How do I do that?” I was much calmer now,actually somewhat eager to learn. I was slowlybecoming accustomed to the idea that accepting myfate might be much easier than raging against it. A ldricclearly picked up on my sudden change in attitude.

“So nice to see your interest, Ava. It really will makethe learning process easier.” I had a split second todecide which response to give: polite or pissed off. Iquickly chose the first one and smiled.

“Take a seat,” Aldric said coolly, using his hand foremphasis. I looked around, noticing the absence ofany sort of structure to sit on, before realizing hemeant the ground. I slowly crouched down, tuckingmy feet beneath me. The chill of the crunching snowbeneath my body actually felt good against my skin.Aldric smiled and sat down across from me, making iteasy for each of us to see the other.

easy for each of us to see the other.“Now,” he started with a whisper, “close your eyes

and try to block out anything you hear other than myvoice.” I reluctantly did as he said, stealing one lastlook at Chance before I let my eyelids shut out theworld around me. He smiled, though I know he didn’twant to.

“Remember to listen to only my voice,” Aldriccontinued, his words melodic and soothing. My bodyinstantly relaxed, the sounds of chirping birds andwind rustling through leaves slowly falling away frommy ears, until there was nothing but darkness andAldric’s voice inside my head. “Now I need you toallow the scent of my blood to flood your mind. Let itswim around every crevice, every corner, until itconsumes you.” Without realizing it, I did as he said. Icould feel the odor of decay leave his body and travelthrough my mind, taking over my senses until thesmell of him was the only thing I could focus on. I nolonger needed my eyes. I knew exactly where he was.

“Keep your eyes closed, Ava, and use my scent totrack me down.” I felt the burst of air as he sped awayfrom me. With my eyes tightly shut, I stood andinhaled deeply through my nose. The rancid odor ofdeath flooded my nostrils again, and I took off afterhim. I ran faster than I ever had before, cuttingthrough the trees and overgrown brush of the forest,all the while keeping my eyes closed and my sense ofsmell on high alert. I allowed the scent to lead me

smell on high alert. I allowed the scent to lead methrough the woods, ignoring the harsh sting ofbranches nicking my skin as I sped past them. Ihurdled over fallen trees and exposed roots withexpert precision, not allowing anything to stop me orslow me down. My mind was so fixated on finding thesource of the scent that someone could have shot meand I wouldn’t have let up.

After fifteen minutes of winding through the woods,the smell grew even more intense. It blasted my brainlike a cannon, sending waves of endorphinsthroughout my body. My system kicked into overdrive,heightening my senses even more. It was like I couldsee Aldric’s lingering scent in front of me. Like I couldreach out and grab it with my hands and pull myselfalong to where he stood. I ran even faster, thebranches jutting into my path feeling like barbed wireslicing my skin. I ran through the pain. I wanted tofind him. And I wanted to kill him.

I broke free of the confines of the forest, thefreedom of an open field fueling my fury even more. Iran as hard as my body would allow, the smell ofAldric’s death hitting me in the face like bricks. I knewI was drawing nearer to him, and after a few moreseconds, all of the adrenaline working to keep megoing suddenly stopped, and I stopped with it. I couldsmell his scent stronger than ever, and without evenopening my eyes, I knew I had found him.

“Well done, Ava.” His voice flooded my ears as I

“Well done, Ava.” His voice flooded my ears as Iopened my eyes and focused on his face. He was lessthan a foot away from me. Had I been wielding astake, it would have been half-deep into his chest. Inoticed right away that we were almost exactly wherewe started. I could see Chance standing beside histruck about fifty yards in front of me, the faded facadeof the house jutting out beside him.

“Thanks,” I replied to Aldric’s compliment. I noticed,too, that after fifteen minutes of running faster thanhumanly possible, I wasn’t the least bit winded. Mylungs felt more alive than they ever had, which wasfunny considering I was half dead. My muscles didn’tache, didn’t even burn. It was like I hadn’t moved aninch.

“So what’s next?” I asked, staring at Aldric as hesmiled creepily at me. I might not like him—actuallyhate was a better description—but he definitely was anexcellent teacher. One lesson and I had perfected mytracking abilities.

“Not so fast,” he interjected. “I believe one lesson ata time is sufficient.”

“I don’t have time to move at a snail’s pace, Aldric. Ineed to learn fast.” The results of my first test werefueling my desire to move forward.

The faster I get what he teaches me, the faster I getmy life back.

Those words flashed in my mind again, bright andprominent. Now that I knew I could do it, and that it

prominent. Now that I knew I could do it, and that itwasn’t going to kill me, I planned on getting thiswhole training thing out of the way fast. Of course, hedisagreed.

“You will learn at the speed I want you to learn.” Hisstatement was simple but forceful. I knew it would beimpossible to change his mind. “Going into thisheadstrong and unprepared will get you killed. I won’tallow that.” Something flashed across his face for thebriefest of moments before it was gone, replaced bythe stone coldness he always wore. But it had beenthere, if only for a second. And he knew that I saw it.

It was compassion.

11. GROWTHI gave into Aldric’s wishes, agreeing to one training

lesson per day. I didn’t, however, agree to wait for mytraining to be done before going vampire hunting. If Iwaited, I’d be, like, thirty before I reached a hundredkills—if aging was even an issue for me any more. Noway was I waiting that long. But, I kind of understoodhis reasoning on staggering my training sessions—atleast to one a day. I wouldn’t be a very effective hunterif I was exhausted, so we planned on meeting againtomorrow after school.

“Are you okay with all this?” I finally asked onceChance and I were in his truck headed home. I got theimpression from his tense demeanor that he washaving trouble dealing with seeing me embrace myvampire side. But I wasn’t embracing it—not really. Iwas simply learning to live with it, but only for thetime being. I still fully planned on killing it the firstchance I got.

“No,” he answered honestly. “But I know it’s whatyou want, and I’m going to support you.” He keptpulling his eyes off the road—and it was slick with thesudden wintry mix. I could sense his sincerity, whichmade me feel both safe and uncomfortable. I stilldidn’t trust him completely, though that was wearingthin with each passing day. I hated that the choices Iwas making were hurting him, but I had to makethem. The end goal was something we both wanted,

them. The end goal was something we both wanted,and this was the only way to get there.

“I’m going to be fine,” I said, trying to soundpromising. He didn’t look at me, keeping his eyesfocused on the road, but a tiny smile crossed his face.I knew he didn’t believe me. I also knew that he woulddo whatever it took—even risking his own life—tomake sure nothing bad happened to me. Knowing thatmade me crazy.

We made it into town just as the storm intensified.Thick, fast sheets of cold, icy rain pelted thewindshield of Chance’s truck, making it nearlyimpossible for him to see. I could tell he was paranoidof sliding off the road and into the deep ravinelooming beside us, so I offered to drive.

“I can see through this, you know?” I added after hepolitely refused to let me behind the wheel. “One ofthe perks.” I didn’t add “of being a vampire”; I knewhe hated that word.

“I’m good,” he said, his large hands in a death gripon the wheel. “I think I can handle a little rain.” Idetected a note of hurt pride in his voice.

“I didn’t mean anything by it. Just thought I’d offer.”Chance didn’t respond, so we drove through town insilence, something the two of us seemed to do verywell. I turned my attention to the tiny shops and cafesslowly passing by, watching people dart from theircars to the cloth awnings jutting out from the sides ofthe buildings, hoping to not get too wet. I found it

the buildings, hoping to not get too wet. I found itrelaxing focusing on such a human characteristic. Itwas also relaxing not being able to smell every singleperson’s blood thanks to the rain masking the scents.It gave me a much-needed reprieve. Getting lost in themundane lives of everyday people helped push theever-present darkness within me a bit farther awayfrom the surface, but no matter how much people-watching I did, or how many trivial things I focusedon, nothing could distinguish the ever-growing fire Ifelt boiling inside me. I knew my vampire side wasgrowing stronger, and I had a bad feeling that I wasgoing to be powerless to stop it.

“Are you hungry?” Chance’s question pulled myeyes from the drenched town outside my window. “Idoubt my mom cooked.” He smiled as he spoke,apparently used to having very few home-cookedmeals at his house.

“I can always eat.” He laughed at that, and thetension that had been building between usdisappeared, replaced by warmth and comfort. Whenwe weren’t playing the Quiet Game, we worked welltogether. I had no past relationships to compare oursto—well, none I could remember—but I felt our forcedfriendship was growing strong. And I was grateful thathe had been there that night in the cemetery—that hehad been the one who saved me.

Chance pulled into the parking lot of a restaurantcalled Kelly’s, apparently the only eatery deemed “fine

called Kelly’s, apparently the only eatery deemed “finedining” by the locals—at least according to the sign outfront. I felt my stomach tighten as we parked andsprinted through the sleety rain to the door, fearful ofthe blood scents I just knew were waiting to invademy senses again once I was inside.

The heat in the diner was thick and hung heavy onthe air. Even though I was half vampire, I still noticedmy body kick into overdrive to cycle the stagnant airthrough my lungs. I had barely felt the bitter coldoutside—one of the new things about me I actuallyliked—but I thought having the heater and fireplacesimultaneously going was overkill. I made sure we gota table away from the roaring flames at the back of theroom. When the waitress seated us I immediatelyflipped open the menu to the beef section. I found theAll-American Burger with fries, and when she asked ifwe were ready to order I couldn’t answer fast enough.

“Easy there, speedy. They’re not gonna kick us out.”Chance laughed as he spoke, something that I hadcome to enjoy hearing. His personality and charmwere infectious when he laughed. The sound of itmade me want to be around him always.

“Funny,” I threw back, mock anger on my face. Ismiled at him, totally enjoying the normalcy of themoment. Of course, nothing good in my life seemedto last very long. Just as I caught sight of Chance’seyes, soft and warm and carefree, I also caught sightof something much less desired coming in my

of something much less desired coming in mydirection: Kayla.

I gave Chance a ‘behind you’ nod with my eyes. Heglanced over his shoulder just as she approached ourtable. I stole a quick peek in the direction she came; awoman not much older than Kayla herself was staringat us from a table near the fireplace. I figured it wasKayla’s mom, which I found reassuring. Serial killers orstalkers didn’t typically have dinner with their moms.Or so I hoped.

“Hey Kayla,” I said as politely as possible. Shesmiled, shifting her feet uncomfortably as she stoodnext to our table. “What’s up?”

“Nothing,” she murmured. “Just saw you guyssitting over here and thought I’d come say hi.” Shelooked more like a child at that moment than she everhad. I smiled across the table at Chance, who didn’tlook too happy she was there.

“Hey,” Chance said, not looking up at her. Kayladidn’t seem to notice his sour attitude, though. Thechipper look on her face didn’t waver.

“So I thought that maybe since you guys werealready here, and I’m here too, that we could talk now,instead of waiting until tomorrow.” Kayla managed tokeep her face neutral when she spoke, but I knew thatshe was super nervous. I could smell it in her blood. Ilooked again at Chance, who surprised me with thelook on his face. He agreed with her.

“Sounds good,” he said, snagging a chair from the

empty table behind us and pulling it up to our table. Icut my eyes at him and he flashed a smirk. I knew hehad wanted to get this conversation over with back atschool earlier, so he was obviously more than happyto do it now. Kayla smiled and waved back to hermom before circling the table and taking a seat. Iwatched her mom turn her attention to the giant flatscreen TV hanging in the corner of the room.

“So, have you guys thought about including me inyour vampire killing club?” Even though Kayla spokesoftly, I went into a panic in fear of someoneoverhearing her. I held my breath and scanned everyface in the room, exhaling only after I realized theother patrons were too busy with their ownconversations or the sporting event on the TV to evennotice us.

“Maybe we could leave that word out of theconversation?” I said, hoping she knew which word Imeant.

“Oh, yeah, sorry,” Kayla whispered back with anapologetic smile.

“If we tell you everything, you have to promise todie before telling anyone about Ava.” Chance and Ihadn’t even discussed Kayla—and whether we bothwanted her to know what was going on—so I was a bitsurprised with his sudden change of heart. He spokesoftly as well, but there was much more conviction inhis voice than in Kayla’s. Thankfully she picked up onthe seriousness of his tone.

the seriousness of his tone.“Absolutely,” she replied. “I have no intention of

telling anyone any of the stuff you guys tell me.”“Not even your mom?” I asked, glancing over at the

lady at Kayla’s table still engrossed in the TV and hermeal. “Are you two close?”

“Yeah,” Kayla admitted. “And normally I tell hereverything. But no way am I telling her any of this.Not that she would believe me anyway.” She picked upthe water sitting in front of her and took a giant gulp. Irefrained from telling her that it was mine; sheobviously needed it more than me. “If you hadn’t donewhat you did, I probably wouldn’t believe it, either.” Ididn’t know if she was talking about me showing myfangs during lunch today or when I intentionallyflashed them for her after she confronted me. Eitherway, I knew what she meant.

“Whether you believe us or not doesn’t matter,”Chance interjected. “All that matters is you keepingyour mouth shut.” The anger he felt toward Kaylaearlier was showing itself again. I glared across thetable at him and he lowered his eyes, playing with thestraw in his soda.

“Got it,” Kayla said with confidence. “And I knowneither of you know me, but I’m not a liar. If I saysomething, I mean it. And I mean that I won’t tellanyone. No matter what might happen to me.” Idoubted she really knew what could possibly happento her, but I didn’t want to be the one to fill her in. I

to her, but I didn’t want to be the one to fill her in. Ididn’t plan on letting her get anywhere near anothervampire anyway, or any other situation where her lifemight be in danger.

“What do you think?” I asked Chance, staring acrossthe table at him. Before he had time to answer, ourserver showed up with two burgers and fries. Iwatched Chance drown his burger in mustard, holdingmy gag reflex in check. Just the thought of eatingmustard—especially that much mustard—was gross.And yet the thought of drinking human blood wasstarting to grow on me. Ugh, I was so messed up.

“I’m leaving it up to you.” Chance finally answeredmy question after taking a bite of his burger. I sawhonesty in his eyes, and even though I somehow knewI would regret it, I gave in and told Kayla what shehad been waiting to hear.

“Okay,” I began, looking over at her watching useat. “You’re in.” It sounded like the CIA or something.Kayla practically squealed with excitement. “But if I geteven the tiniest inkling that you’re not telling mesomething you might know, or that you’re going backto your mom or your friends and filling them in on theresident vampire, you’re out.” I hoped the seriousnessin my voice and on my face was getting my pointacross. Kayla stared at me a moment before standingup, her entire demeanor suddenly different, darkersomehow.

“I already told you not to worry about my mom,”

“I already told you not to worry about my mom,”she said, stepping back around the table. “And as faras friends go, that won’t be a problem, either. Otherthan you guys, I’m kind of all alone.” She turned andcrossed the dining room, taking her seat across fromher mom. I felt a little sad for her. Being new here,too, I got how she felt about not having any friends.At least I had Chance. Maybe being friends with herwouldn’t be so bad. I watched her pick at her food andfake a smile every now and then when her mom saidsomething meant to be funny. I couldn’t help but feelthat Kayla was looking forward to hanging out with avampire more than I had thought.

“Okay,” I said after downing half my burger, “weneed to talk.” I did my best to sound pleasant, hopingChance would finally give in and tell me what he hadbeen hiding.

“What about?” he asked, doing his best to soundclueless. The sudden rise in the scent of his bloodrevealed the truth.

“You know what,” I said with frustration. “Aboutwhatever it is you and Aldric are keeping from me.” Isuddenly felt full, only picking at my half-eaten burgerand few fries—which totally ticked me off because ittasted so good. “I want to know what’s going onbetween you two, Chance.”

He took a large drink of his soda and stared out thewindow before speaking. “There’s nothing going on,”he stated flatly. I had to grip the edge of the table to

he stated flatly. I had to grip the edge of the table tokeep from going berserk and doing something I wouldlater regret.

I kept silent for a moment, allowing my temper toease before continuing. “I want to know why you’rehelping him. How did you know I was out there? Whyare you helping me? What’s in it for you?”

“What’s in it for me? How can you ask me that?There’s nothing in it for me, Ava. I’m helping becauseit’s the right thing to do. Nothing else.” Chance’s eyessparkled in the light hanging above us, shadowsdancing across his features. I wanted desperately totrust him, to believe that he was being honest withme, but I just couldn’t. Not fully, anyway.

“How did you know what Aldric had done to me?Did you help him in some way?”

“No!” Chance’s voice caught the attention of thepatrons closest to us. The elderly woman kept cuttingher eyes at me, so I offered up my best polite smileand turned back to Chance.

“Could you keep it down, please?” The vein in hisneck danced wildly as he tried to control himself, and Ihad to look away. I hated that he was so mad at me,but I couldn’t back down. Not now, when he wasfinally talking. “So if you didn’t help him do this to me,then how did you know about it?” I half expected himto jump from the table and run, to tell me he changedhis mind and I was on my own, but he didn’t.

“Ava,” he began, “you have to drop this, okay?

“Ava,” he began, “you have to drop this, okay?What good will knowing bring?”

“I have no memory, Chance. Do you get that? Ican’t remember my family, my friends, where I’mfrom. Nothing before I woke up out there.” I wasfighting hard to keep my tears at bay, my entire bodytrembling beneath my words. “You have no idea whatthat’s like. I just want to know all I can about why thishappened to me and what it all means. I just want mylife back.” The tears were unstoppable then, rollingfrom my eyes like traitorous secrets I wanteddesperately to keep hidden. I swiped them away andstared at Chance, unwilling to submit to his omissionof the truth.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said, his words coming outsoft but void of sincerity. “I know what you’re goingthrough.”

“No you don’t.”“Fine, I don’t.” He glared at me. “But I can imagine.

And I hate that you can’t remember. I hate this ishappening to you, or to anyone. But you have to trustme, Ava. I can’t tell you some things. You’re justgonna have to believe me.”

“I don’t have to do anything. Except leave.” Which Idid. Quickly and unexpectedly, I walked away from thetable and left the restaurant, mad as hell at Chance forkeeping secrets from me, and grateful at the sametime for him risking his life to save mine.

12. GIRLS’ DAYI woke the next morning still ticked off at Chance

and the way he had refused to answer one simplequestion. I just couldn’t figure out why he wouldn’t tellme everything. What was he hiding from me? I fullyintended to ask him as soon as he woke up—until Iremembered what day it was: Saturday. Shopping day.I had made plans to go clothes shopping with Chance’smom during dinner a couple of nights ago, and now Iwas wishing I hadn’t. A ll I wanted to do was stay inbed and catch up on some much-needed sleep. Well,that and find a way to force Chance to come clean. ButI could hear rumbling coming from Ms. Caldon’s roomnext door, so I knew I wouldn’t be able to get out ofit. I dragged myself out of bed and headed to thebathroom to get ready. Ms. Caldon stopped me in thehall.

“Morning, Avaline,” she whispered with a smile. Icringed at hearing my full name, hating how itsounded old and so not me, but I kept my gripes tomyself. I hated the name Avaline. I wanted to punchpeople for using it when they knew I didn’t like it, butI thought that might have been a tad disrespectful tothe woman who let me move in with her and her son—who I may or may not be falling for (I was definitelyhoping not since at the moment I couldn’t stand him).So I kept my mouth shut and smiled back.

“Morning, Ms. Caldon. I’ll be ready to go in a sec.” I

“Morning, Ms. Caldon. I’ll be ready to go in a sec.” Ibypassed her and moved down the hall to thebathroom.

“No rush, hon. And call me Maggie.” She hadalready asked me to do that, but again I felt like it wasdisrespectful. I could tell by her tone she really meantit this time, so I made a mental note to at least try. Ireally did want the two of us to become friends. If Iwas going to be staying in her house (Chance actuallytalked me into not trying to find somewhere else tolive) the least I could do was get her to like me. So Isaid “okay” and sprinted to the bathroom. I was outand ready to go in fifteen minutes, pulling my pursefrom the banister post as I descended the stairs.

“I’m ready Ms.—Maggie,” I said, feeling superawkward, like I was talking to my girlfriend instead ofan adult. I felt like I was being disrespectful enoughjust living in her house, so calling her Maggie reallymade me uncomfortable. I could handle being half-vampire—and I could even handle Chance and Aldricwalking on eggshells around me—but for somereason, talking to Ms. Caldon like she was a schoolclassmate really irked me. I tried to ignore the feelingas I slipped quietly into the kitchen, hoping to snatch abanana from the bowl of fruit on the counter.Unfortunately, Chance was already in there and mytemper flared again upon seeing his somber face.

“You’re up,” I stated, crossing the bright whitekitchen and snagging that banana.

kitchen and snagging that banana.“Yeah, I was just telling my mom that I should go

with you guys today.” He was looking at me with thosefiercely protective eyes, his lips pulled tightly together.I could tell by the flexing muscles along his jaw that hewas grinding his teeth.

“And I was just telling my son that us girls needsome alone time.” Ms. Caldon smiled and patted herson’s cheek, stepping away from us to refill her coffeecup. I used the opportunity to talk to Chance about hisseemingly “testy” mood.

“Back off,” I snapped, my voice lower than awhisper.

“I’m going.” He, too, was basically mouthing thewords he was talking so softly.

“No.”“Yes.” He was getting angry, though his voice

remained unheard.“Why?” I mouthed back, getting angry myself at his

demand. He glanced from me over to his mom, whohad her back to us as she added cream and sugar to asteaming coffee mug.

“Because,” he mouthed. He opened his mouth,careful to keep a watchful eye on her, and made fakefangs with his fingers. I knew what he meant. Hewanted to be there in case I vamped out again, like Idid at school. I understood his concern, but his momand I really did need some time away from him. Weneeded to get to know each other more if I was

needed to get to know each other more if I wasplanning on living in her house for a while. Plus, I wasstill really pissed at him.

“I’ll be fine,” I said. “I have an idea.” Deep-set linesformed across his brow; he obviously had questionsabout my resourcefulness. Though I was mad at him,I half-smiled to hopefully reassure him before hismom appeared next to me.

“So,” she said, looking at me while simultaneouslypopping a lid onto the coffee mug I hadn’t evennoticed was portable. “You ready?” She snagged herpurse from the end of the kitchen counter and pulled itonto her shoulder.

“Um, do you mind if I bring a friend along?”Chance’s questioning look intensified. “She’s new intown, too, and doesn’t really have any friends.” Heknew then that I was talking about Kayla. I’m sure hewas wondering when I had planned to invite heralong.

“Not at all, hon, the more the merrier.”“Then why can’t I go?” Chance piped up from his

seat across the bar. His arms were folded on thecounter in front of him, making his biceps flexperfectly.

“The more girls the merrier,” Ms. Caldon corrected,smiling at her son. Chance rolled his eyes and climbedfrom his seat, bumping my arm as he stepped past meand headed for the stairs.

“I left something upstairs,” I said as I fell in behind

“I left something upstairs,” I said as I fell in behindChance. “I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll just meet you in the car.” Ms. Caldon fished thekeys from a hook next to the back door and headedout.

“I don’t like this,” Chance said after his mom closedthe door. He had stopped walking and was waiting forme in the hallway. I was thankful I didn’t have to goall the way back upstairs for nothing. “What ifsomething bad happens?”

“We’re shopping. What can happen?” Of course Iknew that plenty could happen based on all that hadgone wrong in only a few days, but I was trying to becomforting.

“Are you kidding?”“We’ll be fine. If I start feeling funny or anything, I’ll

just grab Kayla and find the nearest bathroom orsomething and she can calm me down.” I was havinga hard time keeping my cool, the feelings from lastnight hot beneath my skin and eager to get resolved. Idid my best to sound and look sincere, but inside Iwas admittedly a little freaked out about beingsomewhere without him around. He really could pushmy buttons, but he had been there in the woods whenI needed him. Regardless of what he was hiding, he atleast was being honest about helping me when Ineeded it. That had to count for something. At least,that was what I kept telling myself.

“Yeah,” Chance mocked, “because Kayla’s so quick

on her feet when it comes to you going all bloodsuckeron her.” Even though he was trying to make a joke,the way he said bloodsucker made me cringe. Was thathow he really saw me?

“I have to go. Just relax, okay?” He stared at mewith worry in his eyes. “You can use your free time tocome up with more things to hide from me.”

The tiny muscles in his neck flexed in anger. “Ava—”

“Forget it, Chance.” I quickly left before we bothsaid things we would later regret.

I borrowed Ms. Caldon’s cell phone once I got in thecar and called Kayla. I had to pretend that I hadalready invited her so Chance’s mom wouldn’t besuspicious; thankfully Kayla was oblivious. She was tooecstatic about the invite to notice my seedy intentions.In all honesty, having someone nearby who knew mysecret would probably help keep me calm. I wasalready nervous enough without Chance beside me—though I hated to admit that and never would outloud. I couldn’t deal if it were just his mom and me.Kayla gave me simple directions to her house, and Ms.Caldon and I picked her up and were pulling into themall in less than half an hour.

What I imagined to be typical of malls in America—since I couldn’t remember actually seeing one—thesuper-large parking lot was over half full. I wasactually surprised that so many people were outshopping until I remembered that Valentine’s Day was

shopping until I remembered that Valentine’s Day wasnext month. Butterflies instantly filled my stomach atthe thought of the most romantic holiday being weeksaway—which totally confused my alreadyoverwhelmed mind. What was I so nervous about? Itwasn’t like I had a reason to celebrate. I didn’t have areason to celebrate any holiday anymore, not beinghalf dead. Or undead, or whatever I was now.Holidays and birthdays and all other human milestoneswere now wasted on me. I suddenly wanted to beback in bed with the covers pulled over my head as wefound an empty parking space fairly close to the frontof the mall and the three of us bounded to the largestucco building with a shared energy.

“Thanks for the invite,” Kayla whispered to me as

Ms. Caldon pulled a couple of cute tops from a salesrack. The alternative rock music pumping out of thestore’s sound system was so loud I had to really focuson hearing her.

“No problem,” I answered, not very fearful of beingoverheard. Ms. Caldon could have been standing in themiddle of us and wouldn’t have heard our conversationover the blasting music. It was actually giving me aheadache. I wanted to get away from the noise andthe crowds and the shopping. Having never reallydone the whole ‘girls’ day out’ thing, I was

done the whole ‘girls’ day out’ thing, I wasuncomfortable from the start.

“And thanks for telling my mom you were myfriend.” I heard sadness in Kayla’s voice, and as muchas the idea of having someone around me now that Iwas dangerous scared me, I couldn’t help but be niceto her. I mean, technically she was my age, but sheseemed more like a kid than I ever did. Probablybecause she had a semi-normal childhood—somethingI, apparently, didn’t. As we waited for Ms. Caldon tobuy the clothes she and I had picked out (yeah, shewas so nice she paid for my clothes) I found myself abit envious of Kayla. Even though I couldn’t rememberit, I actually missed not having a childhood withparents who showered me with love and adoration ona daily basis. Judging by the relationship she seemedto have with her mom, I was guessing that was prettyclose to how it was for her.

“Well,” I said, careful of my words. “You kind of are.A new friend, but still a friend.” I smiled at her andshe was practically glowing as we left the women’sclothing store and stepped out into the mall.

The next several seconds seemed to move in slowmotion. The distinct, putrid smell of death hit me inthe face like a hammer, stopping me dead in mytracks. I felt my fangs trying to slice through my gumsand expose themselves, ready for a kill. I fought hardto keep both them and Ms. Caldon in the dark. I wasn’ttoo worried about Kayla discovering what was going

too worried about Kayla discovering what was goingon; she was part of our vampire hunting team, as shehad called it. It was only natural for her to see whatthat entailed. But I still didn’t want her getting involvedin the actual hunting down and killing. No way.

“Excuse us, Ms. Caldon,” I blurted out, snatchingKayla by the arm and dragging her with me.“Bathroom run.” I did my best to smile and looknormal, all the while trying not to vamp out and huntdown the vampire I knew was nearby and kill it. Ms.Caldon didn’t protest—neither did Kayla, though Ihadn’t expected her to—but I did hear her yell “it’sMaggie!” as I ran in the opposite direction with Kayla intow.

“Where are we going?” Kayla asked, panic filling hervoice. I was following the waning smell of thevampire, so I didn’t really have time to stop andexplain anything to her.

“You’ll see,” I snapped, still pulling hard on her arm.I’m sure to passers-by I looked like a crazed teen madat having to babysit her sister. At least that’s all Ihoped it looked like. Grunting and jumbled wordswere coming from Kayla as I dragged her behind me,but I refused to allow my mind to process her ranting.I had to find the vampire. Its scent was fading fast,and if I didn’t hurry, I would never make it—though Ihad no clue what I would do once I found it.

We reached the large glass doors leading out of themall before I finally let go of Kayla’s arm. She

immediately began rubbing where my hand had been.I felt bad for the bruise I was sure would be theretomorrow, but I was too preoccupied at the momentto worry. I picked up a stronger wave of the vampire’sscent coming from a utility door marked EmployeesOnly just to the left of the exit.

“Wait here,” I ordered Kayla, giving her a stern lookbefore charging through the metal door. A longcorridor sprawled out before me, narrow and veryindustrial-looking with its plain white walls andconcrete floor. Various mall paraphernalia littered thearea: sale signs, naked, creepy-looking metalmannequins, clothing bins. I weaved in and out of thecluttered hallway, moving slowly and on high alert.With every step further into the back of the mall, thedeath smell grew stronger. I knew the vampire wassomewhere in the corridor, I just hadn’t perfected myability enough to determine where it was hiding.

About a hundred yards away, the hall split into twodifferent directions. I assumed that because I wasbasically running along the front of the mall, taking theone to the right would only lead me outside. Soturning left was my only option, and I felt safe in myassumption as I approached the crossing. Without thebenefit of precision tracking abilities, however, I wasbasically walking into the situation blind. I had trainedwith Aldric on this very thing, and I had been good atit; in the woods, where I only had Aldric’s andChance’s scents to deal with. Here in the mall,

Chance’s scents to deal with. Here in the mall,hundreds of smells were flooding my senses. And alltoo quickly I discovered that wasn’t a good thing.

The vampire appeared out of nowhere, sprintingaround the corner and hitting me hard with a largemetal pole that had probably been designed fordisplaying clothes, not attacking a half-dead teenager.I went reeling into the pile of mannequins behind me,their pale, lifeless bodies clanging around like coins ina glass jar. Heightened hearing came in very handy,but it was also like knives piercing my brain whenmetal hit metal. I instinctively covered my ears andwinced at the numbing pain. The high-pitched tonesringing throughout the corridor as the mannequinsflew in all directions obviously had a harsh effect onthe other vampire as well. He dropped his weapon andclasped his hands over his ears too, his face twisting inidentical pain.

I wanted so badly to jump up and attack, get the killover with as quickly as possible, before Chance’s momhad the opportunity to notice me missing. But thethrobbing in my chest from the impact, coupled withthe hellish ringing in my ears, rendered me immobile.I was lying on my back on the dingy concrete floor,listening to the moans of pain coming from bothmyself and the other vampire, when I noticed a pair oflegs charging toward us. They were coming at meupside down because of my position on the floor, but Icould clearly see that they were female. A very small,

could clearly see that they were female. A very small,very badly dressed female.

Kayla.I opened my mouth to yell at her to stop and get

away, but the vampire’s squirming caused moremannequins and clothing racks to fall and crash intoone another. Shards of intense, burning pain poundedagainst my head again, leaving me speechless.Through hazy, almost non-existent vision, I was ableto see Kayla throw something at the vampire, and Iheard agonizing screams escape the vampire’s lips. Asthe ringing in my head finally began to subside, myeyes refocused just as Kayla drove the same metal rodused to knock me down into the heart of the vampirelying in terrible pain at her feet.

13. MEMBERSHIPI didn’t move an inch, the shock over what had just

happened paralyzing me. I kept my eyes locked onKayla, who still had a death grip on the metal rod inher hands. I could tell by the amount of dark, rancidblood pouring from his chest that the vampire wasdead—or pretty close to it. His hands were wovenaround the rod, obviously in a last attempt to save hisown life.

I felt air rush into my lungs, which burned with thesmell filling the corridor: the smell of dead blood,mixing with Kayla’s very-much-alive blood. It wasturning my stomach, and I had to swallow hard tokeep from being sick all over the floor. I startedcoughing loudly, my chest sending shivers of painacross my body. Definitely gonna be sore as helltomorrow.

“Are you okay?” I heard Kayla’s panicked voicebefore I saw her running to me, kneeling down andputting her tiny hand on my chest. I had to wait formy coughing fit to subside before I could speak.

“Definitely been better,” I said with a raspy voice.“I shouldn’t have let you come in here alone.” She

was helping me off the floor as she spoke, and I wassurprised at her strength for such a tiny girl. Sheprobably could have tossed me onto her shoulder andcarried me out of the mall like a bag of potting soil.She stood rigid and tall, allowing me to lean against

She stood rigid and tall, allowing me to lean againsther until my head quit spinning long enough for me tofocus on standing alone. I could still hear faint ringingin my ears, residuals left over from the clangingearlier. I vowed to wear ear plugs every day from thenon as long as I had super hearing. Going through thatagain would be torture.

“What was that?” I asked, fighting the cough in myaching chest. My head was pounding and tiny flashesdanced in my vision when I closed my eyes.

“That’s not important right now. We need to go.”“Go? Where?”“I need to get you out of here. You can’t be seen

here. Not like that.” She pointed at my face, and Ididn’t even have to wonder this time.

“My eyes?”“Yeah.”I quickly closed them, ignoring the flashing lights

and pounding headache long enough to calm down. Islowly reopened them and Kayla half-smiled. “Better,”she said softly.

“I thought I told you to stay put,” I coughed out,the impact from the attack pressing heavily on mychest. “You could have been killed.” I kept my armaround Kayla’s neck, feeling like I would black out atany moment.

“Lucky for you I don’t listen too well,” she said witha smile. “And you’re welcome.” I cut my eyes over ather; there was no way I could be mad. She was right,

her; there was no way I could be mad. She was right,she had saved my life. Twice in less than a week mylife had been saved by ordinary humans. I wasbeginning to think I didn’t really need the vampire sideof me. I just needed to ramp up my human abilitiesand I’d be just fine. I was about to thank her properlywhen the door at the end of the corridor flew open,exposing us and the smelly dead vampire on the floor.

“You guys okay?” A male voice asked. The outsidelight flooding the doorway was too bright for me tosee his face right away, but I could tell he wasn’talone. At least one other shadowy figure was lurkingin the light. I went into a panic, instinctively steppingbetween the unknown shadows and Kayla, holding herbehind me. I kept my lips closed, but I felt my fangsbreak through the skin of my gums and hang readyinside my mouth.

“It’s okay, Ava,” Kayla piped up from behind me.“They’re with me.” She stepped around me and walkedover to the figures lurking at the end of the hall.Reluctantly, I let her go. The shock of other peopleseeing what was lying in the floor had momentarilytaken my speech. I was still in attack mode, crouchedand ready for anything. Even though Aldric hadn’tgotten to the “defense” part of my training yet, I atleast had common sense to guide me.

“That’s her?” A girl’s voice, strong and deep, saidfrom behind the guy. She closed the door behind heras she spoke, and I was finally able to see them

as she spoke, and I was finally able to see themwithout the blinding light.

The girl looked closer to an adult than any of us. Iguessed eighteen or nineteen, though I had been offabout Kayla. Her short-cropped, spiked black hair satharsh against her porcelain skin. She looked more likea vampire than the dead one on the floor. She dressedsimilarly to Kayla, entirely in black except for a stripeof pink across her shirt. I could see the impression of apointed stake filling the pocket of her black denimjeans.

“Guys,” Kayla said, smiling like she was introducingher new boyfriend to her parents, “this is Ava.” Shestepped toward me, grabbing my arm and bringingme closer to the group. “She’s the hybrid.” I hated theterm ‘hybrid,’ though I had to admit it was mucheasier to say than ‘half vampire, half human thingy’. . .but not as catchy. “Ava, this is Erik and Lila.”

I stared into the faces of the two, immediatelynoticing delicious-looking veins pulsing in their necks.I could easily sprint over, bite them both, and be backnext to Kayla before any of them even realized it.

Whoa, where did that come from?I had never had a completely vampire thought

before. Every other time I had pictured bitingsomeone, I was always present in the thought, able toturn it off. But this time was different; that thoughtcaught me off guard. I was apparently getting worse,which really sucked. I forced my mind to ignore it and

which really sucked. I forced my mind to ignore it andwilled my fangs to retract.

“She’s young,” Erik said. He, too, looked older, butnot by much. His hair was just as black as Lila’s, andalmost cut in the same style. His skin was pale, not asporcelain-like as hers, and he opted for regular bluejeans paired with a black polo instead of going totalGothic. I quickly noticed that they looked alike. Exactfeatures began to stand out at me: same blue eyes,same petite nose, same full lips. They were related.Vampire-hunting brother and sister; now I had seeneverything.

“I’m old enough to kill you,” I said, though I hadn’tplanned to. The words just flew out of my mouthbefore I could stop them. Another surprise thought.Shock spread across the faces of the siblings, thoughquickly replaced with anger. Lila’s hand went to thestake jutting from the top of her jeans.

“We would love for you to try,” she said, venomlacing her words. She smiled wickedly, her fingersdrumming across the chunk of wood. My eyes burnedwith rage, my fangs ready to expose themselves again.I wanted to kill her.

Control yourself, Ava. You have to control yourself.I heard Chance’s voice echoing in my head. It was

as if he were standing right beside me, telling me Icouldn’t do what my body wanted to do. I couldn’t killan innocent person. That wasn’t me, and I knew that.The rage building up in me was so strong and

commanding that I had to fight hard to ignore it. Iclosed my eyes and took a deep breath, the sweetsmell of the newcomers’ blood flowing through me.

“Enough of that,” Kayla snapped, mainly to herfriends but also to me. “Everybody just take it easy.”She stood firmly between us, her arms outstretched inboth directions. I was amazed that such a powerfulforce was contained in such a tiny body. It would havemade me laugh any other time. But I thenremembered her standing over the body of a slainvampire. She was much more dangerous than shelooked.

Get a grip, Ava. You can do this.Chance’s soft, melodic tone helped suppress the

need to kill the pair and drink their blood, and I wasmad at him all over again for being able to get undermy skin even when he wasn’t around. My vampire sidewas beating against me, trying to escape and feed. Icouldn’t allow that, not now. I forced my mind toescape the corridor I was in and find a quiet, emptyplace. My body slowly began to calm down, thoughthe urge sat just below the surface, lying in wait.

“We need to get out of here,” Kayla continued afterthe three of us (well, me and Lila) calmed down. “Youtwo get rid of it. I’ll get Ava home.” She spoke withmaturity that was unexpected in someone so young. Ifelt like I had been conned—depressed teen so didn’tdescribe her anymore.

“We meeting up later?” Erik asked. He kept stealing

“We meeting up later?” Erik asked. He kept stealingglances at me, his eyes searching for something. Hewas probably waiting to see if he and his sister weregoing to get to kill a vampire today—namely me. Ifound it annoying.

“I’ll call you,” Kayla answered, and she took me bythe arm and practically dragged me toward the door.

Just before she closed the door on the hallway, Icaught a glimpse of Erik and Lila pouring whitepowder onto the vampire’s body and it melting awayon the concrete floor.

“Are you going to tell me what the hell’s going on,or do I have to make you tell me?” I was mad. Weducked into the ladies’ room just down the mall fromthe employees’ corridor to try and clean the bloodfrom our hands. My chest hurt like hell and I lookedlike I had been run over by a car.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you,” Kayla started, “but youwould’ve freaked out.” She was helping me scrubblood from my hands with really industrial-smellingpublic bathroom soap.

“Would have? I think I’m already a little freaked outhere.” I kept glancing over her shoulder at the door,half expecting Lila to come barging in with stakeraised, ready to kill me. “So what, are you like a reallife vampire hunter? Like it’s a hobby of yours?”

“It’s not a hobby or something I do when I getbored.” She snagged a few paper towels from thedispenser on the wall and handed them to me. “But

dispenser on the wall and handed them to me. “Butyeah, I’m a vampire hunter.” I couldn’t believe howeasily she said it. I was about to hyperventilate overthe news and she blurted it out like she was goingover a grocery list.

“How?” I asked. “How long?” So many questionswere circling each other in my mind that I had to closemy eyes to focus on just one.

“Since birth, basically,” Kayla answered, again with acavalier attitude. She washed her own hands in thesink next to mine as she spoke. “But I hadn’t actuallykilled a vampire until today. But I’ve hunted lots.” Ithen noticed her shaking hands and tense shoulders;she was scared, or freaked out. Though I was stillfighting mad at her, I tried to calm down a bit so Iwouldn’t make it worse.

“You’re kidding, right? This is all some elaboratejoke and you’re just trying to get a laugh out of me?”As ridiculous as it sounded, I was praying it were true.

“Sorry, no joke. I am a vampire hunter, and I’vebeen one since I was born. My dad was one, up untilabout a year ago.” I saw something change in hereyes. She went somewhere else in her mind for amoment before snapping back to me. “So now I do itfor him.” She smiled at me as she threw her usedtowels in the trash.

“Why did your dad quit hunting?” Of all thequestions I had for her, that one seemed the mostimportant at the time. I knew she didn’t want to

important at the time. I knew she didn’t want toanswer, but reluctantly gave in.

“He didn’t quit,” she said, her face turning dark andangry. “He was taken by vampires, and I’m going tofind out where he is.”

14. TRUTHKayla and I met back up with Ms. Caldon just

outside the restroom. She was coming down the malltoward us, a couple of shopping bags in each hand. Iwas terrified she was going to be upset at us forbailing on her, but she was walking with a ratherhappy, carefree expression, her bags swaying slowly ather sides. Kayla took hold of my hand and smiled atme.

“Try to look happy,” she said through her smile. Shewas walking with a bouncy gait too—really laying it onthick.

“Happy?” I snapped. “I just found out my newfriend is a vampire hunter. I’m a vampire. What’s thereto be happy about?” Kayla plastered a smile on herface as Ms. Caldon kept approaching.

“You think I would hurt you?” she asked, her voicestern and unwavering.

“Like you said, you were born to kill vampires.”“I said I was born to hunt them, Ava. I don’t enjoy

killing them. And I would never hurt you. You’re myfriend.” I was actually grateful I had told Kayla that Iconsidered her a friend—that definitely came in handy.And who better to have in my corner than someonetrained to hunt vampires? I didn’t say anything else forfear of her changing her mind. Before we made it towhere Chance’s mom had stopped to wait, some ofher infectious attitude began rubbing off on me, and I

her infectious attitude began rubbing off on me, and Ibegan smiling for real. Maybe having her aroundwasn’t going to be so bad. Maybe she could teach meeven more than Aldric. Maybe we could actually befriends.

You’re a vampire, Ava. She’s a vampire hunter.Friends? Not likely.

Sometimes I hated my inner voice. It was tryingdesperately to ruin my mood. The fact that I hadanything remotely close to a happy mood wasshocking given what I had just gone through, and nowI was subconsciously trying to destroy it. Self-deprecation ranked right up there with publichumiliation on the list of things I hated about myself.

Ms. Caldon had no clue what had gone down as weleft the mall. I asked if she would mind Kayla stayingfor dinner—mainly because I wanted to grill Kaylasome more on exactly what had gone down—but Kaylarefused. She said she had to get home to her mom, sowe dropped her off and headed home ourselves. Eventhough I still felt funny calling the Caldon house myhome, Ms. Caldon insisted I was welcome there, andthat I should consider the place my own. I still wasn’tquite sure why she so easily accepted Chance bringinga total stranger into their house, but I reluctantlyagreed to at least give it a try.

Chance was practically climbing the walls when wegot there, but he hid it very well. His mom had no cluehe was freaking out as she went into the kitchen to

he was freaking out as she went into the kitchen tobegin dinner. Chance told her he and I were going fora walk, and we left the house with almost super speed.The sun was moving low in the sky, paintingeverything in a pinkish-orange glow.

“So,” Chance said tentatively once we headed downthe sidewalk in front of his house. “How was your daywith my mom?” I could tell he was nervous that thetwo of us wouldn’t gel. I guessed he couldn’t tell byour cheerful dispositions that his mom and I got alonggreat.

“She’s cool,” I said, trying to sound normal—something that was suddenly hard to do. I noticed thatdoing everyday, normal human things was growingmore and more difficult. Any other time I wouldn’thave worried about trying to sound normal, I wouldhave just said what I wanted. But now, I felt the needto show I still had my humanity intact. Fragile, butintact.

“You’re lying.” Chance walked fast down thesidewalk away from his house, eager to get out oflistening distance of his mother.

“You’re one to talk,” I snapped back.“That’s totally different, Ava, and you know it.” We

rounded the corner from his house and he finallyslowed his gait a bit. But his body was still tense, hisblood still moving quickly through his veins.

“How is it different, Chance? Lying is lying, right?” Ifought to control my anger, to keep the monster

fought to control my anger, to keep the monsterwithin me from leaping out and destroying whateversort of relationship was building between us.

“It’s different because I can’t tell you certain things.Not because I don’t want to.” He stopped walking andleaned against the stone wall skirting the sidewalk,resting his back and head against a vine-covered fence.A chilly wind scooped in and around us, lifting leavesand debris from the sidewalk and slamming themagainst my bare legs. I loved the tingling feeling thetiny pieces made against my skin. It felt human.

“You can tell me anything. I promise if it’ssomething important, or something you don’t want metelling anyone else, I won’t.” I was pleading with him,and I hated that. I hated that he and Aldric werekeeping something from me, something that mightpotentially save me (or kill me).

“I know you would, Ava. That’s not why.” He ranhis hands through his hair, each dark curl falling backinto place as if never touched. I suddenly wanted toreach out and do the same thing—run my fingersthrough that jet black hair—and had to clasp my handstogether to keep from doing so.

What’s wrong with me? I’m ticked off at this guy,why do I want to touch his hair?

Again, more questions I couldn’t answer. Thoseseemed to be piling up on me lately. I knew I wasmad at Chance, that I wanted to strangle the truth outof him. But I didn’t hate him. I didn’t think I could,

of him. But I didn’t hate him. I didn’t think I could,actually.

“Then what is it? Just tell me.”Chance stood up and walked behind me to the edge

of the street. I was thankful no cars were speeding bysince I had no clue if he intended to step out intotraffic or what. But he just stood there, staring outacross the street at the grove of trees on the otherside. I could see his breathing become more rapid, hisshoulders rising and falling much more quickly thanbefore. I wanted to keep pushing, keep pressing himfor the truth, but I kept quiet, standing still andhopefully unnoticeable behind him. He finally turnedand looked at me, something different in his eyes.

“If I tell you,” he began, “you can’t freak out on me,Ava. Okay?” His face was completely serious, themuscles running along his jaw twitching with anxiety.The scent of his blood was also more noticeable (notthat it was ever not noticeable) pulsing along with hishasty heartbeat.

“I won’t,” I answered, though I wasn’t being entirelytruthful. What if what he told me was horrible? Ormade me so mad I couldn’t control myself? I was newto the whole vampire thing. I had no clue how I wouldreact. But I didn’t tell him that.

He took a deep breath, letting it escape his lungsslowly and methodically. “I knew what Aldric had doneto you.” His words stung going in, like needlespricking my skin. I stepped back and away from him.

He knew?I couldn’t stop thinking about that. He knew what

Aldric did to me? That he turned me into a vampire?How could he have known that and just let it happen?

“How?” I said through clenched teeth, my angerrising exponentially. “Why?”

Chance kept his eyes locked on me. “I was followinghim. I saw him attack you. But I was too late to stophim.”

“He attacked me? I thought he saved me?”“He did save you. But I didn’t know that when I saw

him that night. A ll I saw was him biting you. I didn’tfind out until later that he did it because you weredying.”

“Why was I dying? What happened to me?”Chance’s words were swirling around in my headfaster than I could keep up, making me dizzy and sickto my stomach. I leaned against the stone wall forsupport.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “He just said he sawyou walking down the street and wondered why ayoung girl was alone so late at night. When heapproached you, you were coughing up blood andbasically collapsed in his arms.”

“My God.” I completely fell against the wall afterhearing that, numbing shock taking over my body.The vampire side always fighting for control wasnowhere to be found. I felt completely human, and atthat moment it really sucked.

that moment it really sucked.“I’m sorry, Ava.” Chance walked over and stood

close to me, but didn’t touch me. He just stood staringdown at me as the shock of his words settled into mymind. I had been dying. And a vampire had saved me.I could taste the irony.

“For what?” The words left my mouth in barely awhisper, my voice strangled by the truth I had sodesperately wanted.

“For not stopping him.” I looked up at Chance then,the sadness and honesty on his face was painful tosee. He truly was sorry.

“But if you had stopped him, I would be dead.”“That would have been better than this. Than letting

him turn you into a monster like him.”The rage I had been fighting so hard to control

since waking up in that coffin—that had all butdisappeared a moment ago—came roaring back in fullforce, enveloping me and taking complete control.

“Screw you, Chance Caldon!” I shoved him as hardas I could—which apparently was pretty hard thanks tomy new super-strength—and began walking awayfrom him. He quickly jumped up from where he hadlanded and bounded down the sidewalk after me.

“Ava,” he shouted, but I ignored him. He ran upbehind me and grabbed my arm, spinning me aroundto face him. “Ava, you promised.”

“Promised what? That I wouldn’t freak out at youfor calling me a monster? I never promised that.”

for calling me a monster? I never promised that.”“I told you there were things I couldn’t tell you.

Things you didn’t need to know. You just wouldn’t letit go.”

“So this is my fault?” I could feel my fangs tinglingbehind my gums, eager to strike. Part of me wanted tolet them, to give in and accept that I was the monsterhe obviously thought I was. But the human part of mewas too strong to let that happen. So I forced myselfto calm down—at least enough to not vamp out rightthere on the sidewalk.

“No, I’m not saying that.” Chance fumbled with hiswords, his eyes erratic and searching. “But I warnedyou.”

“So the truth you couldn’t tell me was that you thinkI’m a hideous monster like Aldric?” Chance just staredat me, silent. “So why are you helping me?”

“Because I didn’t save you before all this happened.”His words grew softer as he continued. “Now I havethe chance to make it right. And I’m not going to messit up.” I knew he meant what he was saying, that nomatter what, he would see this thing through to theend. Even though I was madder at him than everbefore—well, hurt would be a better description—Icould at least count on him to help me get my lifeback. Maybe then he wouldn’t see me as a monsteranymore.

I took a few deep breaths to diffuse the tensionbetween us before going on. “Fine,” I said plainly.

between us before going on. “Fine,” I said plainly.“You answered the question. And I appreciate yourhonesty, even though it sucks.” Chance winced, and Ifelt the tiniest bit relieved. “But there’s another oneyou’ve been avoiding answering.”

“What?”“Why are you helping him? Why are you helping

me?” Chance stared at me like I had just kicked hispuppy or something, totally confused by my question.“It doesn’t make any sense. You don’t know me. Youdon’t know Aldric. At least, I don’t think you do.”

“I don’t.”“Then why help him? Why take all the crap from

him you take, just to help someone you don’t evenknow?” I could feel my anger slowly drifting away,being replaced by a haunting sadness. Sadness thatthis boy, this stranger who I didn’t know, was the onlyperson in my life willing to help me.

“I can’t answer that.”“Can’t? Or won’t?” He looked deeply at me, sunlight

casting shadows on his face and making the brightjade green of his eyes even more intense than usual.

“Both, I guess,” he answered honestly. I wanted tohit him, wanted to make him feel as bad as I did uponhearing him say that. But I didn’t. I didn’t hit, I didn’tkick, I didn’t even get mad. I laughed. “What’s sofunny?” Chance asked as I was nearing the doubling-over point in my laughter.

“It’s just,” more laughter, “you always try to stand

“It’s just,” more laughter, “you always try to standon both sides, huh?”

“What does that mean?”“You say you won’t tell me, but also that you can’t

tell me. That way, I don’t get mad, right?” I finally gotmy laughing under control, though I kept a tiny smileon my face. “You can’t have it both ways, you know.”

“That’s not what I’m doing, Ava,” he said, heavyanger behind his words. “I can’t stop you from gettingmad at me. I would probably be pissed off too, if Iwere you.”

“Then why won’t you just tell me what’s really goingon so I don’t get mad?”

“Because I can’t. Honestly, I can’t.” I blew a deepbreath from my lungs, totally frustrated with him.“Look,” he went on, “you don’t know anyone else butme, right? So what do you have to lose by trustingme?”

“Oh I don’t know, maybe my life?”“Never.” His voice changed with that one word, his

features growing serious and intense. “I won’t let thathappen, Ava. I promise you that. That goes againsteverything I—”

“Everything what?” I hated that I interrupted him,but the words fell from my mouth before I could stopthem. “Everything you stand for? Everything youbelieve in?”

“Yes.”“So what d o you stand for, Chance? What do you

“So what d o you stand for, Chance? What do youbelieve in?”

“I stand for what’s right.” He took a few stepstoward me, closing the noticeable gap between us.“And I believe in you.” Five little words that somehowmade up for all that had been said. I couldn’t be madat him after saying that, after saying he believed inme. No matter what he was keeping from me, I atleast knew that much.

“I’m glad someone does,” I answered, my throatsuddenly itching from the close proximity of his blood.It wasn’t like I wanted to drink it—not really—butbeing that close to it, to h i m , was a littleuncomfortable. Not uncomfortable enough to makeme move away, apparently, since I stayed put.

“You don’t believe in yourself, Ava?”“I don’t know.” I was being completely honest,

something I wished he could do with me. “I don’tthink I have what it takes to get through this.”

“I think you do.” Again, he knew exactly what tosay. “In fact, I know you do.”

“How?”“You woke up buried underground, found out you

were a vampire and that you have to do some prettyhorrible things to save yourself. And you didn’t backdown. You stood up and said ‘I’m ready.’ If that’s notenough proof for you, then just know that it’s enoughfor me.”

“I’m glad you have so much faith in me.” I smiled

“I’m glad you have so much faith in me.” I smiledagain, though this time without laughter behind it. Heinfuriated me, no question, but he was also beingsincere and truly was there to stand by me and helpme get my life back. How could I hate him for that?“And I’m sorry for pushing you.”

“Don’t apologize.” He stepped away then, and I feltthe awkwardness of him not being close. It reallyaggravated me, that feeling. “I should be apologizingto you.”

“Yeah, you should.” I smiled at him, suddenlyforgetting all the lies and secrets. Or at least forgettingthem for the time being.

“You may be joking, but I truly am sorry, Ava. I’msorry for everything that’s happened to you. And I’msorry for keeping things from you.”

“It’s okay,” I said. “For now.” He smirked andlooked away from me, like a shy little boy who wasjust told how cute he is. “And I understand why you’rekeeping things from me, I do. But just know that youcan trust me, just like you say I can trust you.”

“You can trust me, Ava. That, I would never lieabout.”

“Fine, then let’s drop this and get back before yourmom sends out a search party.” He didn’t answer, onlysmiled and began walking back toward home. Wemoved down the sidewalk slowly, every so oftenbumping arms or shoulders. I actually liked howhaving him so close made me feel, almost like I was

having him so close made me feel, almost like I wasspecial in a way. But all too quickly the events of theday flooded my mind again and my face went somber.

“Okay, what just happened?” Chance asked, lookingat me intently. “Where did you go?” I hated to tell him,hated to make him mad again. But I knew that if hefound out—and he would, more than likely from Aldric—he would never forgive me for not telling him. Norforgive himself for not being there to protect me.

“Something happened at the mall today,” I started,pushing the pent up air from my lungs. “But don’tfreak, because I’m fine.” I lied a little. My chest stillhurt like hell and my head was a little dizzy from thehorrific ringing, but I didn’t want him to know all that.

“What?” he asked calmly, obviously trying to containthe anger and frustration and fear that I knew werebubbling just under the surface.

“Another one,” I said, knowing he’d get that I meantvampire. We didn’t look at each other; we didn’t haveto. He understood. I could tell by his tone, and by theenergy radiating off him, what mood he was in. Seeingit on his face would be redundant. He stopped walkingonce we reached the crossing.

“I knew it,” he spat through clenched teeth. Iwatched the tiny vein running along his temple pulsewith anger. His heartbeat was so alluring. I lookedaway, an unfamiliar yet comfortable grind in mystomach.

“There’s nothing you could’ve done,” I said. “You

“There’s nothing you could’ve done,” I said. “Youcan’t be with me every second.” I admired his strengthand loyalty. I knew it would take a long time for himto get over not being there.

“I knew I should have gone with you.” He waslooking in my direction, but I could tell his mind wassomeplace else, someplace where he was more thanlikely beating himself up. I felt so bad for him, but atthe same time, a huge amount of guilt was weighingdown on me. My being here was ruining his life. Hecouldn’t focus on anything else but me.

“Did you kill it?” he asked, finally bringing his eyesto meet mine. There was sadness there, small butstrong. If I hadn’t been standing there, I believe hewould have been crying.

“No,” I said, preparing for fireworks. “Kayla did.”Chance’s eyes grew wide, his face filled with shock. Iknew exactly how he felt. I felt the same way watchingher actually kill the vampire.

“How the hell?” he yelled. “What was she doingthere?” He was looking around wildly, like a trappedanimal searching for escape, his face running red withangry heat.

“It all happened so fast.”“My mom,” Chance blurted. “What did she see?” I

heard frenzied panic in his voice.“Nothing,” I answered quickly, hoping to calm him

down. “We told your mom we needed a bathroombreak when I smelled the blood. We left her behind.”

break when I smelled the blood. We left her behind.”Just the thought of his mom finding out what I wasterrified me. That was the last thing I needed.

“Tell me exactly what happened.” Chance focused inon me then, his face serious and determined. I took adeep breath and explained all that had happened, thewords flying from my mouth so fast I barely heardthem. Chance listened intensely, paying full attentionto every detail. He went into another panic when Ispoke of Kayla’s crime-fighting friends.

“Erik and Lila,” I said with sarcasm. “The stake-wielding siblings. You should have seen them, Chance.They looked like bad versions of Buffy.” I actuallyremembered watching that show. Apparently my mindwas only good at conjuring up TV references. Onlythen did I realize that I was Buffy; well, except for thewhole half-human hybrid thing. I almost laughed.“And that Lila has quite the attitude. She really pissedme off.” I sounded like a typical high school girl, madthat she lost cheer squad captain to her rival. If Ihadn’t been so mad at the memory of Lila, I wouldhave noticed my embarrassing demeanor.

“Ava,” Chance said, taking hold of my shoulders,“can you focus on what’s important here?” I stared upat him, momentarily blinded by my hatred toward Lila.“You’ve been here a few days and three more peopleknow what you are.” The way he said ‘what’ made myskin crawl, like I was some sort of wild animal. “At thisrate, the whole town will know you’re a vampire insideof a week.” He let go of me and ran a hand through

of a week.” He let go of me and ran a hand throughhis hair, the curls once again falling back into placewith natural ease. “Okay,” he continued. “We need tofind Aldric.”

“What?” I asked, finally able to hear what he wassaying over Lila’s voice chanting in my head. “Why?” Ifelt a cold chill run up my back; it was fear. I wasscared to death of what would happen to Kayla—and alittle scared for Erik and Lila—if Aldric found out sheknew about me, about us. His life was in just as muchdanger as mine if word got out that vampires existed.I knew he would kill her, and I couldn’t let thathappen.

“He needs to know, Ava. He can protect you betterthan I can.” Chance’s voice was strained, like he washolding back tears. “You just came face to face withthree vampire hunters. That doesn’t scare you?” Did it?I honestly didn’t know the answer to that.

“I was face to face with three vampire hunters thatsaved my life.” I realized that I, too, was fighting backtears. “They could have killed me right then, but theydidn’t. They let me go. And now you want to throwthem to the wolves.” I was trying hard to keep myvoice down. The streets were empty, but if someonehad their windows open in their house, they wouldhave heard everything.

“I will if it helps save your life. I’m here to protectyou, Ava. Not them.”

“You worry too much.” I knew when I said it that it

“You worry too much.” I knew when I said it that ithurt. I saw it roll across his face. It took a few secondsfor him to speak again.

“Maybe I do,” he finally said. “But that’s for me todecide, not you.” And just like that, all the anger I hadfor him came rushing back.

“You don’t control me, Chance, do you get that?” Isnapped.

It was like my words slapped him in the face. “I’mnot trying to,” he snapped back. “Maybe you should trythe same.” I wanted to scream at him, yell at him untilI couldn’t see straight. But once again, I kept quiet. Ikept quiet all the way back to the house. He didn’tspeak either, each of us furious with the other butneither of us willing to back down. Once we made it tothe walk leading up to the house, I finally gave in.

“So what now?” I asked, waiting anxiously for himto tell me that he hated me and never wanted to seeme again.

“Now,” he said, taking a deep breath and exhaling,letting the awkwardness of the moment go with it. “Wego tell A ldric about the vampire hunters.” I knew byChance’s tone that arguing with him would have madeno difference. He intended on exposing Kayla and Erikand Lila to the most dangerous man I had ever known.As we climbed the steps and went inside, I couldn’thelp but think that my crappy life was about to get awhole lot worse.

15. UNITEDI tried my best to get Chance to agree to leave Kayla

out of it when he told Aldric about what happened atthe mall. I needed at least one person who could teachme how to take down vampires that was not an actualvampire. And after nearly an hour of convincing on mypart, he agreed to only mention Erik and Lila. I felt asgood as possible, considering I had probably justsentenced two people to die, and after I helped cleanthe kitchen—no way was I letting his mom do it everynight—I crawled into bed completely exhausted.

That night, I had a dream that felt more like a

memory than anything else before. Right away I knewI had had it before, many times throughout my life.I’m sitting on a park bench, wearing a gleaming whitesun dress littered with tiny, hand-painted sunflowers,eagerly awaiting the arrival of my parents. The sun isbright in the sky, bathing everything in a warm yellowglow. Kids are playing catch with their parents on thelush green lawn in front of me, a group of teenageboys throwing around a football behind me. The worldfeels magical, alive, perfect. I can feel the excitementrunning through my body; giddy anticipation of seeingmy parents walking hand-in-hand toward me, mymom’s long auburn hair bouncing as she walks, mydad smiling wide.

dad smiling wide.But something is different this time. I’m different.

I’m still wearing the same white dress, the windcatching it every so often and twirling it around mylegs. I still feel the electric energy coursing throughme, the anticipation of what is about to happen almosttoo much to bear. Then I see them, my parents,smiling and laughing as always. I stand, just as I havein all the other dreams, but I realize that this time I’mnot waiting for them to rush over and smother me inkisses and love. I’m not eager for my dad to lift meinto the sky and spin me around and around as Iwatch clouds swirl over my head. No. This time I’manxious for something else, something darker.

In this dream, I’m waiting to kill them.I’m standing tall, much taller than the five-year-old

me in all the other dreams. As tall as I would standtoday. I’m not five this time. I’m not a little girlanymore. I’m sixteen and I’m myself and I’m waitingwith growing but hidden impatience for the two peoplewho abandoned me to come happily walking up thestone path so I can plunge my fangs into their veinsand kill them. I can think of nothing else but watchingthem die.

I see them topping the hill to my right. They’reholding hands again. My mom’s hair billows in theafternoon breeze. Her features are smeared, likesomeone ran their hand through fresh paint. My dad’sface is blank, except for the smile my mind created

face is blank, except for the smile my mind createdthere so many years ago. He has no eyes, no nose, noface from my memory; only a smile I cut fromsomeone else in my life and pasted there. They aretotal strangers to me, as they have always been. Butthis time, it doesn’t matter. I’m not crying as I watchthem walk toward me like in all the other dreams. Iam only thinking of what I’m about to do to them.How good it’s going to feel to make them hurt asmuch as I’ve had to hurt throughout my life. I realizeI’m smiling at just the thought of taking their bloodfrom them, at leaving them as nothing more thanlifeless, empty bodies. The same way they left me.

Suddenly the scene changes. With a flash as fast aslightning, I’m no longer standing in the park waiting tokill my parents. Now I’m standing in an open field,with nothing around me but trees, thick with leavesand swaying heavily in the forceful winds circling me. Isee the snow piling up on the ground as it blasts fromthe gray sky above, but I feel no cold. I feel only heat,intense and full of anger, running through every cell inmy body. Anger toward the two people who weresupposed to love me but didn’t, my parents. I begin tosearch the clearing, my eyes breaking through the wallof falling snow, trying desperately to see my mom anddad. I still have the uncontrollable urge to kill them,just like in the park.

But someone is there to stop me. I can’t see them,but I know they are right behind me, eagerly waiting

but I know they are right behind me, eagerly waitingto keep me from killing, to keep me from ending myparents’ lives. The anger in me grows stronger, nowincluding this person, this invader. My mind quicklyalters its plan. Now I will kill three people today.

Just like in the park, I finally see my parents walkingtoward me, their hands still locked tightly together. Imove to take a step when large, familiar hands clutchmy shoulders, the electricity from the touch mixingwith the current already enveloping me. I don’t needto see his face to know who he is.

“Why are you here?” I ask him, not taking my eyesoff the young, happy couple battling the blizzard to getto me.

“I’m here to stop you,” I hear Chance say frombehind me. His voice is just as intoxicating as always,and I can’t stop my body from relaxing upon hearingit.

“I have to do this,” I say, trying to force my legs tokeep moving forward. I feel my fangs break throughmy gums, the venom flowing to their pointy tips,ready to release.

“You don’t have to do anything you don’t want todo, Ava. You have the power to end this.” I want toturn and look at his face, to see those beautiful eyesfull of warmth, but I can’t. I can’t allow myself to bedistracted by his beauty. I have to focus on what Icame to do.

“I have to make them pay for what they did to me.

“I have to make them pay for what they did to me.It’s the only way I can survive my life.” Even thoughthe anger in me is still very strong and very present,and I want so desperately to end those who gave melife, I can’t help but cry at the pain of myabandonment. It always lives just below my skin. I canalways feel it there, clawing away at me, each daytaking a tiny piece of me and destroying it. Giving thatpain to my parents is my only hope.

“It’s not the only way, Ava, and you know thatnow.” Chance’s hands fall from my shoulders, leavingme missing his touch. Powerless to stop them, my feetspin my body and suddenly I’m facing him, thatbeautiful, chivalrous guy who saved my life. That’swhen I realize that he’s right. I do know thatdestroying my parents is not the only way to savemyself. But the urge is too strong for me to resist.Chance is smiling at me, his teeth gleaming even inthe snowstorm.

“You know what can save you now, don’t you?” heasks, reaching out for my hand. I smile back at him,knowing exactly what I have to do. I take Chance’shand, letting him pull me to his body. He wraps hisarms around me, holding me tighter than anyone everhas, the heat between us melting the snow fallingabove us before it ever touches down. I put my handsaround Chance’s neck, pulling his face to meet mine.He is still smiling wide at me, and I can’t help but feelimmense gratitude and loyalty toward him. I want to

immense gratitude and loyalty toward him. I want totell him I love him, but I can’t. I don’t know if I everwill.

“I know you can’t say it, Ava.” It’s as if he read mymind. I look into his eyes and the secret to riddingmyself of the pain of my childhood is lurking there,just waiting for me to take hold and pull it free.Knowing what has to happen for me to do that, I layChance’s head down on my shoulder; and just as hewhispers “I love you, Ava,” his breath hot andperfectly enticing in my ear, I feel the tips of my fangsbreak into the skin of his neck.

My mind destroyed the dream when my eyes flew

open. I was lying in bed, my body drenched in sweat.I quickly got rid of the blanket on top of me, thecoolness of the air chilling my heated skin instantly,the sweat cold and soothing. My mind immediatelybegan racing.

Had it not been a dream? Had I killed him for real?Panic set in and I sprang from the bed and threw

open the door to Chance’s room, terrified of what Iwould find. Right away I could hear the water runningand Chance’s voice trying to carry a tune. He was inthe shower. I let the air out of my lungs and walkeddown the hall, careful of the hardwood floors thatwere prone to squeaking whenever I walked on them.

“You almost done?” I asked through the bathroom

“You almost done?” I asked through the bathroomdoor. My voice was incredibly shaky, and I had toconcentrate on not sounding scared to death—which Iwas. The hum of rushing water abruptly stopped.

“One minute,” I heard Chance yell back, and after afew seconds, the bathroom door swung open, a plumeof hot steam hitting me in the face. “All yours,” he saidwith a smile, nothing but a towel covering the lowerhalf of his body. The upper part—the part I couldn’tstop staring at any time it was exposed—wasglistening with thousands of tiny water droplets,reflecting the overhead light like crystal. His drippinghair clung to his face in large, thick curls, only addingto his mesmerizing scent. I felt my face blush as hestepped around me and into the hall.

“Thanks,” I said, and as he turned to walk to hisroom to get dressed, I stole a quick glance at his neck,smiling with deep relief that it was wound-free.

I took a super-quick shower and threw on someclothes as fast as I could, still unnerved by that awfuldream. I had no recollection of it before last night, butnow it felt as if I had been having those thoughts myentire life. I couldn’t actually remember them, but thefeeling of a memory was there. I tried to shake it offas I headed downstairs. Chance was seated at thekitchen counter, a half-eaten bowl of cereal beneathhim. The same awkward tension between us yesterdayeased its way back in once I saw him. I was still madat him—a little at least—and I knew he felt the same

at him—a little at least—and I knew he felt the sametoward me. I fake-smiled and fixed myself a bowl ofcereal, opting to sit at the table across the room fromhim. I noticed as I passed the counter that his momhad left a note. A quick glance with my all-new supervision told me Ms. Caldon had been called in to work,and for the two of us to have a fun day. Yeah, like thatwas possible. I sat at the table and was nearly finishedeating before Chance finally spoke.

“We need to go see Aldric,” he said firmly as heplaced his used dishes in the sink. He turned andleaned against the counter, staring hard at me as Ifinished my breakfast. I knew it was coming. Talkingto Aldric had probably been on his mind all night. Andyes, if I was being totally honest, I somewhat agreedthat filling Aldric in was the right thing to do. I justhated the idea. The thought of something horriblehappening to Erik and Lila because of me—though Ididn’t fill as bad for Lila—made my stomach wrench. Ididn’t argue, quietly adding my bowl and spoon to hisin the sink and following him outside. Once we were inthe car and on the way to Aldric’s, I tried one last timeto change his mind.

“I think you’re making a mistake telling him,” Iblurted out, trying to fill my voice with confidence. Iwanted Chance to believe me, even though I didn’tfully believe myself. I couldn’t be positive Aldric wouldkill Erik and Lila, or that he wouldn’t. I just felt thatsomewhere down the line, I would need them.

somewhere down the line, I would need them.Keeping their existence a secret seemed like the bestidea. Chance didn’t agree.

“I already said I’d leave Kayla’s name out of it,” hesnapped back. “Don’t push it.”

“I’m not pushing anything. I’m trying to keep twopeople from being killed.” I was sulking on my side ofthe truck cab, mad that Chance was being soobnoxious. “I know you don’t care about that, but Ido.” I watched as he fought to control his anger,gripping the steering wheel and grinding his teeth.

“I don’t care? How can you say I don’t care? Lookwhat I did to save you?”

“That was different. These people are innocent.”“And you’re not?” he asked, anger lacing his words.

I tried to answer him, but I couldn’t. In my mind, Iwasn’t. I was a vampire. So I didn’t feel very innocent.I opened my mouth to protest Chance’s faith in me,but he had already moved on.

“They’re murderers, Ava. They spend their dayslooking for vampires to kill. You’re a vampire. See myproblem?” I knew Chance was worried about me—hedid too much worrying about me—but I couldn’t lethim be the cause of two people dying, no matter whatextracurricular activities they took part in.

“I understand, Chance, I do. But who’s to say theywould ever hurt me?” My mind immediately went toLila’s threat against me, and the fact that they werevampire hunters; killing me would come naturally to

vampire hunters; killing me would come naturally tothem. But something in the back of my mind wastelling me that these two—well, three if you countKayla—were different. I couldn’t explain it, but Isomehow felt safe around them. “And you’ve killedvampires yourself.”

“One vampire. I’ve killed one. And that was to saveyou.”

“Either way, you’re no different.”“I don’t go around hunting them. I’m completely

different.” He was right. I knew that.“What if you’re wrong? What if they’re okay? They

might be able to help us.”“I can’t take that chance, Ava. If I can stop

something bad from happening to you, I’m gonna doit. Whether it makes you mad or not.” His voice wasstill so full of anger, though his face somewhatrelaxed. “I wish you could understand that. I’m here tohelp you. If that means risking the life of someonewho might try to kill you one day, then that’s what Ihave to do.”

I really didn’t know what to say to that. Chance wasright. I barely knew Erik and Lila. And Kayla, for thatmatter. Who was to say that they wouldn’t try to killme? I didn’t think it was possible, not really, but Icould see how Chance would. I really hated him beinginvolved in all of this. I hated the fact that I was thereason he had to make life-and-death decisions at onlyseventeen. It wasn’t fair to him. I wanted desperately

seventeen. It wasn’t fair to him. I wanted desperatelyto understand the position he was in, but I justcouldn’t let him have the blood of innocent people—ofhumans—on his hands. I had to do something to stophim from telling Aldric. My mind was spinning out ofcontrol as we pulled up to Aldric’s house. Before wegot out of Chance’s truck, an idea struck me. I knew itwas a bad one, one that would probably hurt him inthe long run, but I couldn’t stop the words frompouring out of my mouth.

“If you really wanted to help me,” I said, lookingover at him, “you wouldn’t do this.” I hated makingsuch a statement knowing what damage it wouldcause, but I had no other choice. And I could tell bythe pained look on his face as we walked up to Aldric’shouse that Chance’s heart had just been stabbed bymy words.

16. LIFE REVISITEDAldric’s house was not what I expected for a

vampire. I thought I would see a castle or some otherdark, foreboding structure with cobweb-covered eaves,peeling paint, and maybe a moat. What I saw was ahouse like millions of others, plain and ordinary, withwhat looked like a fresh coat of paint and a perfectlylandscaped lawn coated in freshly fallen snow. The tanand white-trimmed facade blended in with otherhouses on the street; no one would ever know itbelonged to a lethal killer. I guessed that was whatAldric had been thinking when he chose it. Themodest house did sit back far from the road, though,buried behind several trees and thick brush. The rusticseclusion would make it easily overlooked by thecommon passer-by.

Chance walked a few feet in front of me as weapproached. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked as thoughhis shoulders weren’t standing wide and broad likethey normally were. They were sort of slumped anddrawn, like he had been scolded. He looked defeated. Ihated what I said to him, knowing that al l he wantedwas to help me. But I had no choice. I only hoped Igot through to him. I felt tiny nerves prickling my skinas he knocked on Aldric’s door. I hated the anxiety Ifelt whenever I was around Aldric, like he had somesort of hidden power over me. I figured it must havesomething to do with him being my Creator, which

something to do with him being my Creator, whichtotally freaked me out. Even though I wanted nothingto do with him, I found myself drawn to himconstantly, and that freaked me out, too.

“Come in,” Aldric said in his usual somber tone oncehe opened the door. “I’ve been expecting you.” I wascurious as to why he thought we would drop by, butthen I remembered that I had agreed to a moreextensive training session sometime over the weekend,so naturally he would have been looking for us.

The inside of his house was night and day differentfrom the outside. It was much closer to what Iimagined a vampire’s house would look like; thick,heavy drapes of blood-red velvet hanging over everywindow and doorway, making me feel like I wasstanding inside a heart. The walls were such a darkgray they looked black, and the floors were a richcherry hardwood. I felt like I had just walked onto theset of some Gothic horror movie.

“I wanted the outside appearance to appease theneighbors,” Aldric offered, watching me stare aroundthe room. “But I simply had to make the inside feellike home.” His face held a wide smile, but somethingdark sat behind his eyes. I knew he was hidingsomething, him and Chance both. I wanted to call himon it, but after the way things had gone when Iconfronted Chance, I thought it best to wait on that.

“It’s, well, different,” I said, trying to sound polite,though I didn’t really want to be.

though I didn’t really want to be.“Only to you,” he answered. “I’ve decorated it to

look like the last place I called home. A sixteenthcentury castle in Ireland. Of all the places I’ve lived,that one was by far my favorite.” Aldric offering eventhe tiniest bit of his past was surprising to me. Hedidn’t strike me as the type who even thought aboutsuch things. “Can I get you something to drink?” Hisbeing nice was creeping me out.

“I just want to get started.” I hoped he would pickup on my urgency. Suddenly I wanted nothing morethan to leave his house. I wasn’t really in the mood totrain, but if it would keep Chance from telling Aldricabout the hunters, then I was willing to do it.

“Of course.” Aldric’s pleasantries dissipated, and hewas once again his usual cold, brooding self. “Shallwe?” He looked at me as he gestured to a velvetcurtain hanging on the wall to his left. I glanced overat Chance before I moved. His face was practicallyscreaming ‘what the hell,’ and I tried to reassure himthat he would get his chance to tell A ldric what hewanted—which wasn’t an easy thing to do only usinghand signals. He couldn’t even look me in the face, hishead lowered and his eyes focused on his shifting feetbelow, and I felt a sudden surge of guilt coursethrough me. I was mad at him for trying to protectme, and now I was looking to him when somethingdidn’t feel right. The term ‘hypocrite’ came to mind asI reluctantly followed Aldric through the curtain, with

I reluctantly followed Aldric through the curtain, withChance once again lagging behind.

The curtain hid a very dark, very creepy staircaseleading down to what I imagined was a basement. Thewalls felt cold to the touch, made of rough stone andraw cement. Not what I imagined a typical NewEngland basement to be, but I was becoming a pro atmisjudging things lately. I watched as Aldric gracefullytook each step, impressive due to the lack of lighting.Though my eyesight was markedly improved frombefore I became a vampire, his was obviously better.Had I tried to mimic him, I would have ended uptumbling the rest of the way down. Instead, I carefullyplanted both feet firmly on each step before moving tothe next. I knew that being a vampire made me strong—and immortal—but I had no clue how well my newbody could handle a bunch of broken bones. Aldricwas waiting patiently once I finally reached the bottomlanding.

“Let’s begin,” he said, walking further into thebasement. The room itself was adorned with burningcandles scattered haphazardly along the walls, whichwere made of the same rough stone as the oneflanking the stairs. I could only imagine that the castlehe had lived in looked exactly like this room. Theflickering glow of candlelight made the walls appear asif they were moving, alive, almost breathing. Theeffect definitely upped the creepy factor.

I tried to force the uneasiness to the back of my

I tried to force the uneasiness to the back of mymind and focus solely on learning what Aldric had toteach me. I felt good about my ability to sense when avampire was close. It wasn’t perfect, but I could atleast protect myself and the people around me. So Iwas more than ready to learn something new. I wasn’tready, however, for Aldric’s roundhouse kick to mychest. His speed was so fast, catching me off guard.

My body went flying across the room, crashing hardinto an antique piece of furniture shoved against thefar wall. It splintered into a million pieces that flewaround the room. I crumpled to the floor, intense painfilling my chest. I didn’t black out, but I couldn’t reallysee, either. Bolts of electricity were surging up mybody into my head, making opening my eyes nearlyimpossible. I could hear shouting and scuffling aroundthe room, mostly Chance telling Aldric he was going tokill him. I knew by the garbled sounds of scurryingfootsteps that he was charging at Aldric, and I knewthat it would end badly. I fought hard to open my eyesand get up, the pain excruciating. I felt I would passout at any moment. I used my hands to push my bodyupright, leaning back against the wall. A sea of blackdotted with bursts of color filled my vision, making menauseous and lightheaded. I used all my strength toopen my eyes, the swirling colors slowly fading,leaving me with a hazy view of the room before me.

I saw Chance standing inches from Aldric, the twoof them looking more like warriors ready for battle

than a vampire and his helper. Rage was clearlyfueling Chance’s actions, squirming across his face likeblood. And speaking of blood, the scent of his wasmassive. It instantly flooded my mind, pouring overmy senses and clouding my thoughts. I fought harderthan ever to ignore it, to push it away so I could focuson him. I could tell by the rapid rise and fall of hischest that he was mad, madder than I had ever seenhim. I knew what he wanted to do, and I couldn’t lethim try and tragically fail.

“Chance, no,” I coughed out, willing my legs towork and hold up my body. I was grateful for therough stone behind me; I would’ve fallen without it tolean against. My vision was still blurry, but I could seethat Chance was ignoring me. That, or he didn’t hearme at all.

“Chance!” I yelled, my voice coming out warbled. Itwas effective enough, though. He broke his gaze withAldric and looked over at me. The rage and anger onhis face was prominent, but I also saw immenseconcern. He sprinted over to me, his hands falling ontomy shoulders awkwardly, his eyes intense.

“Are you okay?” he asked with a shaky voice. Hishands began busily searching my body for cuts orbroken bones. It hurt like hell when he began movingthem across my neck and shoulders, but I was too outof it to complain.

“Fine,” I muttered, the nausea and dizzinesssubsiding a bit. Thankfully, Chance stopped patting me

subsiding a bit. Thankfully, Chance stopped patting medown. “Just got the wind knocked out of me, that’sall.” I wasn’t sure if it was a lie or the truth, but I knewI wasn’t in serious danger. I couldn’t be, I was avampire. I didn’t yet know much about my new life,but I was pretty sure it would take more than a kick tothe chest to kill me, even if that kick came fromsomeone like Aldric.

“He’s a dead man,” Chance whispered, his breathhot on my face. “I promise.” And I knew he meant it.Maybe not soon, but one day he would die trying toend Aldric’s life.

“It had to be done,” Aldric chimed in, still standingfirmly in place across the room. “Catching you off-guard is the first lesson in defense. Once you cananticipate your enemy’s move, you can counteract withone of your own.” I heard what he was saying, and iteven made a little sense. But in my current state ofpain and confusion, his reasons meant jack. I waspissed, and I wanted him to know it.

“Let me go,” I told Chance, pulling my body awayfrom the wall. “He’s right. I have to do this.” I didn’tagree with Aldric’s method—and I fully intended toshow him just how much I didn’t agree—but I had tomove forward with my training, and apparentlydefense was going to come before offense, whether Iwanted it to or not. Surprisingly, Chance backed away,confident that I wasn’t hurt. The daggers he wasshooting at Aldric with his eyes showed he wasn’t

shooting at Aldric with his eyes showed he wasn’thappy about it. Once I didn’t have the stone wallbehind me, I realized how hard standing actually was.My legs felt like jell-o, shaking uncontrollably. I had toactually lock my knees to keep from falling over. I tookin a deep breath, my lungs expanding, pressing themuscles in my chest against my ribs. The pain wasfierce, but I was determined to stay standing and notlet it defeat me. I fought my way through it, wincing atthe fire circling inside my body. I was a vampire now.I needed to learn to deal with something as simple asa kick to the chest. I half walked, half stumbled over towhere Aldric was waiting, careful not to lose myfooting on any of the broken pieces of wood scatteredacross the floor.

“Shall we continue?” Aldric asked once I came to ashaky stop in front of him. I could tell by his tone thathe meant it as more of a statement than a question.

“Yes,” I said, standing tall and putting as muchconfidence into the tiny word as possible. A wickedsmile crossed Aldric’s face, and I was sure that heenjoyed hurting me. I planned on enjoying hurtinghim, too.

The rest of my training session—over four hours—was spent dodging punches and kicks and super-fastcharges from Aldric. I managed to get several goodkicks and hits in myself, while simultaneously keepingan eye on Chance to make sure he didn’t step in with awooden stake to drive into Aldric’s chest. After it was

wooden stake to drive into Aldric’s chest. After it wasover, my body felt like it had been thrown in front of atrain and dragged fifty miles. I was actually sweating,something I hardly ever did, and something I hadhoped wouldn’t be possible seeing that I was avampire. Aldric explained that since I’m half human,my body would still experience things the way ahuman would. I would still sweat and cry and blush…all the things he no longer had to deal with. Hearingthat only made me want to fight him again, but I wasso tired I could barely climb the basement stairs. Iagreed to another round tomorrow—more lessons ondefending myself—and Chance and I left. It was onlywhen we were a few miles from Aldric’s house thatChance finally spoke.

“I hated watching that,” he said through grittedteeth.

“I hated doing it,” I answered back, surprised at myquick wit given my current state. My body felt everybump in the road as we headed back into town. “But Iknow what you mean.” And I did. I knew that it musthave taken a great deal of control for Chance to standby and watch me get attacked by a vampire. After all,he was there to protect me, as he kept repeating. Eventhough I would be fine, I definitely didn’t look it.A ldric managed to avoid leaving any lasting marks onmy face, for which I was grateful. My body healedmuch faster than a full-fledged human’s, but still notas fast as it would were I not a hybrid. So I was glad I

as fast as it would were I not a hybrid. So I was glad Iwasn’t going to have to worry about explaining bruisesto anyone.

“And thanks for not telling him about Erik or Lila,” Iadded, realizing that Chance had kept their identities tohimself. “And Kayla, too.” She was the one I was mostconcerned with, so I was glad she was safe, at least fornow.

“Only reason I didn’t is because I was too busywatching out for you. But I plan on telling him, Ava. Ihave to.”

“I know,” I said while exhaling. Even something assimple as breathing took a bit of extra effort, themuscles pushing against my lungs aching in response.“I’m just glad it wasn’t today. I need a little time to feelthem out, see if they’re a danger to me. Can you giveme that, at least?” I was looking across the cab at him,praying he would understand what I was asking. Ididn’t like the idea of simply turning them over toAldric without first finding out if they were okay. Itwas unfair.

“I can’t do that. I’m sorry.” Chance’s responsesurprised me. Up until now, he had always beenconcerned with what I wanted, so for him to say nowas kind of a shock.

“Why not?” I asked, anger lacing my words.“Because those two have one thing on their minds,

and that’s killing vampires. Regardless of how nice youthink they are, or how comfortable they seem to be

think they are, or how comfortable they seem to bewhen you’re around, you need to remember that.They’re killers, Ava, no matter what.”

“So is Aldric,” I snapped back, hoping to make himmad. “And you let me be around him as much as Iwant.” I had unconsciously crossed my arms over mychest, making me look like a pouting child—which iskind of what I was at that moment. I was mad thatChance couldn’t see things from my side, and that hedidn’t really want to.

“You’re right,” he said, “and it’s taking every ounceof self-control I have not to kill him right now.” Iheard the anger in Chance’s voice, and though I knewhe would be killed in less than a second if he tried toeven hurt Aldric, I kept my thoughts to myself. I didn’twant to upset him any further. But I also wanted someanswers. I tried once again to dig more truth out ofhim.

“So tell me,” I said, nervous. “What does he haveover you?” Chance looked at me confused.

“What do you mean?”“Well, you never told me why you’re helping him. I

figure he must have some sort of hold over you.”“It’s complicated,” he finally answered, his eyes

focused on the road.“Try me,” I gave back, my voice heavy with worry.“He doesn’t have anything on me.” He paused, like

he was searching for the right words. “I just wanted tohelp you, that’s all.”

help you, that’s all.”“You said you saw him? The night he found me?”

Chance nodded. “Why did you step into the middle ofit? Why not just leave us alone?”

“I couldn’t do that.” There was something odd aboutthe way he spoke. His words were filled withconviction. “And besides,” he went on, “he saw mewatching. So, it was either help him with what he wasdoing, or end up dead.” He finally looked over at me.“I chose to help. And I’m glad I did.” He smiled, thegreen of his eyes lighting up his face.

“Good to know you’re not some weirdo who justlikes digging up dead people.” I was glad he semi-laughed at my lousy joke.

“No, I’m not that weird, Ava. But I am worriedabout you. About you being around Aldric all thetime.” I heard the concern weighing down his words.

“You worry too much.” I had said it to him before,but it needed repeating. Chance’s constant worryingabout me was overwhelming sometimes. I had thewhole ‘kill a hundred vampires to save my soul’ thingto focus on; adding in Chance’s extremelyoverprotective nature around me was beginning towear me down. I couldn’t concentrate on what I had todo and worry about him getting hurt or killed at thesame time. But how was I supposed to tell him thatwithout hurting him in the process?

“I can’t stop worrying about you, Ava. It’s what Ido.”

do.”“I know. But I’m telling you that you don’t have to

worry so much. You’re focusing your entire life on me.Aren’t there other things you’d rather be doing?” Hepulled the steering wheel so hard and fast I thoughtwe were going to crash. We veered off the side of theroad and came to a stop on the dirt shoulder, awhirling cloud of red and brown dust spinning aroundus. I loosened my grip on the dashboard and glared atChance.

“What the hell are you doing, trying to kill us?” Iyelled at him, not caring about upsetting him.

“Don’t ever say that, understand?” He had turnedsideways in the cab-length seat, his large, welcomingeyes burning holes into me. “Don’t for a second thinkthat I’d rather be somewhere other than here. You areso much more important than anything else I could bedoing.”

“Okay,” I said. “I’m sorry I made you mad.” I feltuncomfortable with his high praise—and totallyconfused by the sudden outpouring of support andconcern. Chance turned back in his seat, taking deepbreaths to calm himself down. I took the opportunityto pry for more answers. “What’s going on with you?What was that?”

He slowly looked over at me. “Nothing. Sorry.” Heput the truck in drive and pulled back onto the road,and as I focused on the hypnotic white line speedingbeneath us, I couldn’t help but think that what he had

beneath us, I couldn’t help but think that what he hadjust said was definitely not nothing.

17. MOVING FORWARDThe next week of my life went by quickly and drama

free. I couldn’t have been happier when Friday rolledaround and I hadn’t seen or smelled a single vampire,and Erik and Lila were seemingly MIA. Except for theconstant thrum of bloodlust that I worked very hard tocontain, my life seemed normal. Chance and I weregetting along—which surprised me considering thesuper-weird conversation we had had after my defensetraining at Aldric’s—and Lacey had pretty much lostinterest in making me miserable. Only twice during theentire week did she snub me while walking down thehall at school, and she didn’t invoke anotherconfrontation during gym class. A hugeaccomplishment in my book.

The only thing I felt uneasy about was Kayla. Shehad avoided me like the plague all week, and I wasn’treally sure why. Maybe she was scared of beingaround me now that I knew she was secretly avampire hunter—you know, me being a vampire andall. Or maybe she felt bad for the way Lila had treatedme since she was the catalyst that brought us together.I didn’t have a clue, but I intended to find out. Sowhen I saw her crossing campus before gym class, Itold Chance to go ahead and I bounded across thecrowded lawn after her.

“Kayla!” I yelled, trying to catch her before she wentinside the gym. Even though a light snow had been

inside the gym. Even though a light snow had beenfalling pretty much all day, coating school campus inslushy white, I figured talking outside would give usthe most privacy. At least that way, we would see ifsomeone was trying to eavesdrop on our conversation.She glanced over her shoulder, caught sight of me,and then actually walked faster away from me. Whatwas she doing? I paused briefly before practicallyrunning to catch up to her. I grabbed her shoulderonce I did.

“Hey, wait,” I said, pulling her tiny frame to a stop.I didn’t even have to use my super vampire strength;she probably weighed ninety pounds soaking wet.“Didn’t you see me?” I knew she had, but I didn’t wantto put her on the spot by confronting her.

“Sorry,” she said. “Just preoccupied.” That I didn’tdoubt, what with trying to be a teenage vampire killerand all. I kind of knew a little about the stress ofleading a double life. She kept walking toward thegym, though at a much slower pace. I quickly steppedin beside her.

“Can I talk to you?” I asked, trying to show that allwas well. A lthough at first I didn’t want her around,now I kind of liked the idea of having a close friend—especially one who could kick vampire butt.

She stopped walking and turned to face me, and Icould see she was visibly upset. “I’m so sorry,” shesaid, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked, rubbing her shoulder.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I asked, rubbing her shoulder.I didn’t want her to feel embarrassed by the throngs ofkids headed our way, so I took her by the arm and ledher around the back of the gym. She didn’t protest,probably grateful for a bit of privacy.

“I should have told you about me and Erik and Lila.I should have told you!” She started crying then, tearsflowing fast from her eyes. She held her books tightlyagainst her chest, her body shaking as she sobbed.

“Don’t worry about that, Kayla.” Instinctively, Ipulled her into a hug. Seeing as how I wasn’t thehugging type, it surprised both of us. I let her go afteronly a few seconds, pulling away from her awkwardly.“You did what you thought was right. That’s all any ofus can do.”

“But I lied,” she cried, trying to hold back moretears. “You and Chance have been so nice to me and Iwas lying from day one. I’m so embarrassed of myselfI can’t even look at you.” She lowered her eyes as shespoke, adding dramatic effect to her words. I felt sobad for her. I wanted her to forget about it, tounderstand that it really didn’t matter, but somehow Ididn’t think she understood.

“Well why don’t you make it up to me?” I said,trying to sound upbeat. My reverse psychology seemedto do the trick. Kayla was smiling when she spokeagain.

“Whatever you want me to do, I’ll do it,” she said,sniffling.

sniffling.“I want you to teach me to kill a vampire.”Kayla’s eyes grew wide. “Seriously?” she asked.

“That’s it?”“Yeah, that’s it.” I smiled at her. “Who better to

teach me than someone born to do it?”“Um, okay. Sure.” I could tell she was a bit confused

by my request, probably because she thought I alreadyknew how to do it. I didn’t want to tell her I waslearning, and I especially didn’t want to tell her I waslearning from a vampire. I felt it was best to keepAldric’s existence a secret from her and her killing club—and vice versa—at least for now.

“So,” I continued, walking back toward the gym.Chance was standing by the doors, his body languagescreaming worry. I smiled across the way at him asKayla and I rounded the front of the building, hopinghe would see that everything was fine. “How’stomorrow sound?”

“Okay,” she answered. “My mom’s doing volunteerwork at the animal shelter, so we’ll have the place toourselves.”

“Sounds good.” I was feeling pretty good about mydecision, confident that having someone on the otherside of the stake couldn’t hurt my training. I knew thatAldric could teach me things that no one else could—vampire things—and I was counting on the vampirehunters to do the same.

“What about Erik and Lila?” I asked. “Would they be

“What about Erik and Lila?” I asked. “Would they bewilling to help out?” I didn’t really want them to bethere—well, not Lila anyway—but I had asked Chanceto give me some time with them before turning themover to Aldric, so I figured having them train mewould be the best way to get to know them a little. Iwas hoping that Chance would reconsider once hefound out they would be helping me.

“I don’t know,” Kayla said. “Are you sure you wantthem around?”

“Not really,” I answered honestly, “but I didn’t wantyou around at first, and look how that turned out.”Kayla smiled at me as we made it to Chance, whothankfully appeared to have lightened up a bit. He wasleaning against the gym wall, his muscular armscrossed over his chest. “So see if they want to helpout, and we’ll go from there.”

“This is awesome,” Kayla said, stepping past Chanceto the gym door. “So I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“I’ll be there.” We smiled at each other before Kaylaheaded inside, leaving Chance and me alone.

“What was that all about?” he asked after makingsure no one was lurking around listening. We bothseemed to be doing that a lot lately. Another pitfall ofbeing a vampire. Chance had already changed into hisgym clothes—a boring gray t-shirt and shorts that hemade look good—and I was surprised he wasn’tfreezing in the bitter winter air. I was also having ahard time concentrating on what he was saying instead

of his exposed limbs.“She’s going to help train me,” I said, my eyes

twirling between his face and legs and biceps. “Andhopefully Erik and Lila, too.” Chance reacted as Ithought he would.

“So you didn’t think me having to worry about youbeing around o n e person that could kill you wasenough, huh? You had to go add three more. Why? SoI could stroke out from the stress and you’d be rid ofme?” Even though he had a stern look on his face, andhe probably was being genuinely honest about how hefelt, I found him funny.

“If I wanted you gone you would be,” I joked. AfterI said it, though, a bit of tension rose between us.Tension that circled around the fact that I was capableof doing what I had just said. I could kill Chance if Iwanted, and on some level, I think that might havebeen sitting in the back of his mind all along. Thethought saddened me. The last thing I wanted was forChance to be scared of me in any way. I had nointention of hurting him or anyone else. Well, no onealive.

“I know I’m wasting my time telling you this,” Isaid, hoping to move us past the awkwardness of myblunder. “But don’t worry. I’ll be fine.” Chance didn’tseem to believe me. I could only imagine that in hismind, he saw my alliance with Kayla—and hopefullyErik and Lila—as a death wish. “I just think it makessense to have someone who actually kills vampires

sense to have someone who actually kills vampiresteach me, too. I mean, Aldric’s great, but what if hedoesn’t show me all I need to know?”

“Why wouldn’t he?”“Because he’s a vampire. If it were you, would you

show a vampire how to kill humans?” I staredintensely at him as a wintry wind whipped around us,expecting him to at least shiver or get goosebumps,but the brisk air didn’t seem to even phase him. Iguessed it was his constant worrisome nature that kepthis blood boiling and his body warmer—which Idefinitely enjoyed. I wasn’t cold, either, but for verydifferent reasons. I was obviously attracted to him, atleast physically. I just wasn’t sure where I stood on anemotional level.

“That’s not the same thing, Ava. Aldric’s just aseager for you to be human again as you are.” Eventhough I wanted to believe that, I couldn’t—notcompletely. There was something eating away at meabout Aldric. Something that was telling me not totrust him completely.

“You can’t know that for sure, Chance. That’s all I’mtrying to say. If A ldric is keeping something from me,something I need to know to survive, I want to makesure I learn it from somewhere. And where better thanfrom real-life vampire hunters?”

“Just be careful, okay? That’s all I’m trying to say.Be careful. If something was to happen to you, I—”

“I’ll be fine,” I said, stepping around him to follow

“I’ll be fine,” I said, stepping around him to followKayla inside. “And besides, you’ll be there with metomorrow, so you can see for yourself exactly whatthey might be up to.”

“I can’t,” Chance said, surprising me. I stopped justshort of opening the gym door, worry spreading overmy face. I hadn’t really thought much about it, I hadjust assumed that Chance would be there.

“Why not?” I asked, trying not to sounddisappointed. He picked up on it anyway.

“I’m sorry,” he said, moving closer to me. With eachstep he took, I felt the tiniest jolt of fiery electricitycourse through me. It made me feel uncomfortableand nice at the same time. “I have to help clean uparound the football field tomorrow.” Chance smiled atthe confused look I was giving him. “I picked thatinstead of detention. I’d rather be outside doingsomething than stuck in a classroom on a Saturday.”

“Why did you get detention?”“It was before you got here.” He stopped moving

toward me and stepped back. His eyes fell to theground and I could see he didn’t want to talk about it.

“Sorry,” I said, “it’s none of my business.”“No, it’s fine. I got in a fight, big deal. Point is, I

won’t be around tomorrow, so you have to be careful.Okay?” I wanted to ask him more about the fight hewas in, but decided it was probably best to let it go.He didn’t really seem to be in the talking mood, and ittruly was none of my business.

truly was none of my business.“I’ll be careful, I promise.” I had a sudden and

overpowering urge to hug him, to feel his warm,strong arms wrapping around me and squeezing meclose. The desire came out of nowhere and totallycaught me off guard. I fumbled a bit as I tried to openthe door. “Okay,” I said awkwardly, “go play.” Hesmiled that beautiful smile of his and ran off to jointhe jumble of muscles and testosterone out on thefield. I watched him catch a football and run to theother end, cheering and high-fiving the other guyswhen he scored, tufts of dirt and snow tossed into theair by their horse-playing. He was enjoying being ateenager, and I immediately became worried that Iwould be the one to take that away from him.

18. ACCEPTANCEI was actually kind of nervous when I woke up the

next morning, and I wasn’t exactly sure why. I knew itwasn’t Kayla; I was totally comfortable being aroundher now. And even though I didn’t know Erik and Lilathat well, I figured that they had to be somewhatnormal for Kayla to like them. And that’s when Irealized that I wasn’t just nervous about being aroundErik and Lila. I was nervous about being a vampirearound them. Of course they knew I was a vampirefrom what happened at the mall, but they had neverseen me as one. They hadn’t witnessed my exposedfangs, or my crazy eyes, or the fact that I could run asfast as a speeding car. What if they freaked out whenthey saw me like that and decided to kill me instead oftrain me? I tried to ignore that nagging inner voicetelling me to forget about going to train and just stayin bed, focusing instead on being open to learning all Icould from Kayla and her friends.

I stood on the front porch of Chance’s house,watching him leave for his Saturday detention. I wasstill a little curious about what had happened to gethim in trouble, but I let it go, hoping he would want totalk about it one day. I really wanted him to be withme the first time Erik and Lila were around. Tiny fearsof what might happen kept gnawing at me like rats. Iwas a novice at best when it came to using my newsuper-strength, and I had no clue if I would win in a

super-strength, and I had no clue if I would win in afight against two experienced vampire killers. I didn’tplan on anything going wrong, but lately my planshadn’t been working out too well. But Chance couldn’tbe there. I’m sure he wanted to be, he told me asmuch, but he couldn’t. So I was on my own, with onlythe little bit of training Aldric had given me to defendmyself if the need arose. As Chance backed down thedriveway and Kayla pulled in, I said a prayer that Iwouldn’t need any of it.

“Excited?” Kayla asked with a smile and squeakyinflection in her voice as I hopped into her Volvo. Well,I’m sure it was her mom’s Volvo, but nice nonetheless.

“I don’t know if excited is the word I’d use.” I triedto be as honest as possible, figuring that was the bestway to handle the day. I definitely didn’t want Erik orLila—especially Lila—to catch me in some sort of lieand lose any trust they might have for me.

“Scared?” It was like she read my mind.“That obvious, huh?” I was practically sweating I

was so nervous. I was busily wringing my hands, myleft leg was trying to leap from the car it was shakingso fast. Kayla just gave me an ‘I understand’ look andsmiled.

“Try not to get too nervous,” she said as we pulledup to her house. “They’re cool.” I knew she wasreferring to Erik and Lila, and as far as Erik went, Iwas prone to agree. But for Lila, the jury was still out.

“I’m taking your word for it,” I said as I reluctantly

“I’m taking your word for it,” I said as I reluctantlyclimbed from the car and followed Kayla inside. I hadguessed from the tiny black compact car parked at thecurb out front that Erik and Lila were already there.Noises from the kitchen and the sound of laughterconfirmed it.

“Hey guys,” Kayla quipped as we joined them in thekitchen. Lila was snacking on a bowl of potato chipswhile Erik was waist deep in the refrigerator. He pulledhimself and some lunch meat and mayo out whenKayla spoke, smiling and looking directly at me.Wanting to look happy to be there, I smiled back.Without the hype of vampire hunting and the harshlighting of the mall corridor, Erik was actually good-looking. I mean, he wasn’t Chance, but no one was.Chance was in a league of his own when it came tohotness. But Erik definitely wasn’t far behind. Hisfeatures were striking, perfectly proportioned for hisface. I kept looking from him to Lila, and Erik’s goodlooks were copied on his sister’s face. I could tell theylooked alike in the mall that day, but seeing them inclear daylight showed how much alike they appeared.Their personalities, however, couldn’t have been moredifferent. Lila proved that when she caught me staring.

“I have my cell phone handy if you wanna snap apicture,” she quipped. “That way you can stare at meany time you want.” She was steadily dipping chipsinto a small bowl of creamy dip, but she never tookher eyes off my face. I could see the venom swirling

her eyes off my face. I could see the venom swirlingbehind them.

“Sorry,” I said, breaking my gaze. “I was justnoticing how much you and your brother look alike.” Istared at Erik, who was busy building a massivesandwich at the other end of the counter. He lookedup at me and smiled. I wished his sister was ascordial.

“You’ve never seen twins before?” Lila askedthrough a mouth-full of chips. She chewed her foodthe same way she spoke, fast and nasty. Tiny crumbsdropped onto her black cashmere sweater, and shequickly brushed them into the floor.

“Um, I think once,” I answered. I originally said itjust so I wouldn’t look like a total moron, but my mindquickly recalled an image of a set of totally annoyingtwin boys, Parker and Riley Stewart. I had no cluewhere that memory came from, but it was there.“They were both boys, though. And they didn’t look asmuch alike as you two.” Lila glanced at Erik beforeturning back to me.

“So you’re saying you’ve only seen twins once?” Inodded in agreement and she slumped back in herchair. “Wow,” she added. “Weird.”

“It’s not weird,” Kayla interjected. “She just hasn’tseen as much as most people, that’s all.” She steppednext to me as she spoke, patting me on the back like Iwas a little kid. I was grateful for her being there,though. I couldn’t have handled the twins on my own.

though. I couldn’t have handled the twins on my own.“No problem,” Erik said between giant bites of his

sandwich. The muscles in his face and neck flexed ashe chewed, causing the veins running down his neckto bulge. I felt my mouth twitch as I watched. After afew seconds, Erik must have sensed what I waslooking at, because he quickly swallowed the food inhis mouth and set his sandwich back on its plate.

“So,” he said, crossing the kitchen to stand next toLila. “Ready?” He was looking at me and semi-smiling,but I couldn’t smile back. The edgy nerves sitting justunder my skin were beginning to claw their way to thesurface, and the fear of what we were about to dosettled into my spine.

“You okay?” I heard Kayla ask, only then realizingthat I had been shivering.

“Oh, yeah, I’m good.” I lied. I was so far from goodit wasn’t funny. I was nervous and scared that I wasgoing to go all vampire during my training, and Erik orLila or both of them would try and kill me. But, I puton a smile and stood up from the bar. “Let’s getstarted.”

“Well this is something we’ve never done before,”Lila said, staying put in her seat and continuing toplow through the bowl of chips.

“What is?” I asked.“Teaching a vampire to kill a vampire,” Erik

answered as he joined his twin sister and dunked achip into the dip.

“It’s like feeding a cow hamburger meat,” Lilaquipped. “It’s unnatural.” Kayla giggled, and I finallysaw why they were friends. It had been puzzling mewhy someone as sweet as Kayla could stand someonelike Lila, but now I got it. They had the same weirdsense of humor in common. Well, that and the wholevampire hunter thing.

“I’m not a vampire,” I snapped back, boring holesinto Lila’s face with my eyes. She threw one of hersmart-assed smiles my way and crossed the kitchen tograb another soda from the fridge. I felt flames ofanger lick at my neck.

“Ignore her,” Erik said, his voice soft and melodic. Itwas sweet like Chance’s, and made me flutter the sameway. “And by the way,” he added, “you are a vampire.Better get used to it.” He smiled at me, too, but unlikehis sister’s, his smile was genuine. The anger buildingin me eased a bit, replaced by jittery nerves andbutterflies stirring in my stomach. Was I attracted toErik? I mean, he was hot, no question about it. I likedhis eyes, the way the sunlight made the blue sparkle.And his smile was pretty near perfect. But like him? Ibarely knew him. Of course, I barely knew Chance anybetter, and that didn’t stop me from liking him. Well, Ithought I liked him. I honestly had no clue what wasgoing on between Chance and me. Just one morefrustrating thing in my life. I tried to throw the idea ofErik and me being together out of my head and getmy mind focused on training.

my mind focused on training.“Okay, fine,” I said with a bit of attitude. “I’m a

vampire. Whatever.” I stood up from my seat at thebar just as Lila popped the top of her soda can andtook a huge gulp. “Are you guys going to teach me orwhat?” I kept looking from Lila to Erik to Kayla, tryingto see if any of them were judging me for being amonster.

“Oh we’re gonna teach you.” I could barely makeout Lila’s words through her mouthful of chips. I hadto bite my lip to keep from laughing. She washed itdown with half a can of soda before adding, “Onemore vampire killer is a plus for our side.” I could feela twitching in my fangs that was hard to ignore.

I saw Kayla roll her eyes. “We’d be glad to have youon our side, Ava,” she said with a smile. “And I thinkyou’ll probably learn fast. I imagine having superpowers will make it easier for you.”

“I don’t have superpowers, Kayla.”“What would you call it?” Erik asked as he downed

nearly an entire can of soda. “You can run faster thana car, reach the top of a building in one jump, and notdie. Sounds superhuman to me.” He smiled as hetossed his empty can into the trash.

“That’s it Erik,” Lila chimed in. “Give her a big head,because the world doesn’t have enough vampires withhuge egos.”

“Or smart-assed vampire hunters,” I added, shockedI actually said what I was thinking. Erik and Lila were

I actually said what I was thinking. Erik and Lila weresurprised, too; the giant, identical bug eyes they hadwere very revealing.

“Touché.” Lila smiled at me again, though this timenot quite as condescending. I smiled back, thankful Ihad finally shut her up.

“And I can die,” I said, regretting it immediatelywhen I saw the wicked grin on Lila’s face.

“Well there’s some good news,” she snapped.“Maybe I should just go,” I said, stepping toward

the front door. “Obviously you don’t like me beinghere.” I was looking directly at Lila as I said it, hopingshe knew I only meant her. She finished off her sodaand stood up.

“Calm down, princess,” she said with her trademarkaggressive tone. “I was just messing with you. I’mactually looking forward to this.” She walked over tome, coming to stop inches from my face. “I’ve wantedto fight with you since we first met.” The sly little smileshe held on her face made me want to knock her teethout. I actually had to fight back the urge.

“Ready when you are,” I snapped, the tips of myfangs breaking through my gums.

“Enough of that, you two.” Erik stepped over andpulled Lila away from me, replacing her petite framewith his much broader one; another differencebetween them. At such a close range, the smell of hisblood was overwhelming. I could feel the venom inmy fangs swirling with anticipation.

my fangs swirling with anticipation.“You need to get away from me, Erik,” I said, trying

my best not to let his scent invade my nostrils morethan it already had. Erik didn’t move, standing hisground and smiling at me.

“I’m not worried,” he said. “You won’t hurt me.” Iwas amazed at his confidence. Had I been in hisposition, I don’t think I would have been socomfortable.

“How can you be so sure?” I had to force thequestion out through clenched teeth. The need forblood was trying to take control of my mind, trying toforce me to sink my fangs into his neck. I wasstruggling to keep myself from doing it right there inKayla’s kitchen.

“Because like you said, you’re not a vampire, so it’snot in you to kill an innocent person, right?” Eventhough his body language was calm and collected, Icould tell by his tone that he was a little worried. Thatmade two of us.

“And,” he continued as Lila stepped up beside him,“if you bite me, my sister will have a stake in yourheart before you taste the first drop.”

19. TWIN TESTEDI could feel the muscles in my back twitch with

nervous energy. My fangs tingled and my head wasswirling. The scent of Erik’s blood, mixed with mygrowing anger at he and Lila and the whole situation,was fighting for control. I knew that what Erik saidwas possible, if not true; Lila would do her best to killme if I touched him. She might not succeed, but shewould definitely fight me to the death. I didn’t wantthat. I didn’t want another innocent person’s death onmy conscience. I already had enough of that from thegirl in the woods that I didn’t save. I couldn’t handleany more guilt. So I forced myself to calm down, andafter a few seconds of a very odd stand-off with thevampire-hunting twins, I stepped away.

“Wise choice,” Lila said, her voice tight in her throat.I hadn’t noticed when we were face-to-face that shehad already pulled a stake from its holder on her back.I wondered if she always wore it. Probably, knowingher. She seemed like the type who went looking for afight. I looked from the stake in her hand to her face,which was frozen in a state of anger mixed withexcitement. I knew she didn’t like me—probablywanted to kill me—and obviously didn’t care abouthiding it.

“So,” Kayla said with mock enthusiasm, trying todiffuse the situation. “Why don’t we go out to thebackyard, put our energy into something productive?”

backyard, put our energy into something productive?”She had very bravely stepped in front of me, servingas a human shield for her friends. Her boldnesssurprised me, until I remembered that she was justlike them. She was born a hunter and had probablyspent most of her young life fighting.

“Ready when you are.” Lila pointed to the Frenchdoors behind me and smiled, though I knew it was notto be nice. I gave her the same fake smile back,thankful that my fangs had receded.

Kayla’s back yard was impressive. A large swimmingpool took up one half, complete with diving board andlounge area, while the rest of the snow-covered lawnwas dedicated to what looked like an adult jungle gym.Several different pieces of stark metal equipment sat atvarious angles along the length of the yard, eagerlyawaiting human consumption. As we made our waypast the pool, I imagined Kayla (and maybe her dad?)putting in hours upon hours of training on eachmachine, perfecting her defense and offense skills. Ihoped to become at least half as good as she no doubtwas.

“Where do we start?” I asked no one in particular, alittle intimidated by the sea of equipment sprawled outbefore me.

“Up to you,” Erik answered, stepping up to a large,black bag hanging on a hook and giving it a few quickbut strong punches. The bag swayed from themovement.

movement.“Up to her?” Of course Lila didn’t agree with her

brother’s strategy. I could practically hear the steamshooting from her ears. “She doesn’t have a clue whatto do. Why would you let her pick?”

“Because she’s the one who wants to learn, L. Whynot let her decide how to start?” Erik called his sister“L.” Did she call him “E?” I kind of hoped not. Talkabout ridiculous nicknames.

“I want to learn how to stake the way Kayla does.” Iblurted it out before Lila had a chance to protestfurther. “The way you all do.” My heart was beating sofast and hard in my chest I was sure they could hear it.I swallowed the lump stuck in my throat and tried tolook as confident as possible.

“Staking it is.” Erik smiled at me, rolled his eyes athis overbearing sister, and pulled a stake from hisback. Of course he carried them around all the time,just like Lila. She didn’t have one on now, but Icouldn’t help but wonder if Kayla strapped stakes toher back when she went hunting, too. I smiled back atErik, excited that he actually cared about what Iwanted. He walked over to me, stopping a few feetaway. Without speaking, he turned the stake aroundand held it out toward me. I reluctantly took it fromhim and stared at it.

“It won’t bite you,” he said with a tiny laugh. I feltthe too familiar rush of embarrassing heat on my face.I was sure I looked like a dork staring at a piece of

I was sure I looked like a dork staring at a piece ofwood. I brought my gaze up to Erik’s eyes. Thosebeautiful blue eyes. Focus on training, Ava, not thehottie in front of you. I had to agree with my innervoice this time.

“I know,” I answered back sharply. “It’s just the firsttime I’ve ever held one of these. Feels kind of weird.” Ikept rolling the chunk of pointed wood around in myhand, fully aware that I was holding the weapon ofchoice in killing the undead like me. I caught Lilarolling her eyes at me in my peripheral, obviouslyfinding me ridiculous and childlike. I hated her moreevery minute.

“Try to stab me with it.” Erik’s statement caught meoff guard. Did he just tell me to try and kill him? No,silly, he said ‘stab,’ not kill. He spread his arms wide,exposing his torso. I could see his chest moving as hebreathed, the rise and fall very hypnotic. I foundmyself imagining my head lying against it and fallingasleep. I quickly blocked those images from my mind,totally confused as to why I was having them to beginwith.

“You’re kidding, right? What if I hurt you?”He laughed a little louder at that. “Don’t worry, you

won’t.” I saw the confidence in his eyes and knew hewas right, I wouldn’t. But, being stubborn and overly-sure of myself, I lunged forward with the point of thestake aimed at his heart, all my strength behind mymove. I barely made it two feet closer to him before

move. I barely made it two feet closer to him beforehe suddenly sidestepped and pushed me past him,ripping the stake from my hand in the process. I fell,the rough, snow-covered gravel of the workout areajamming into my knees. I was sure there’d be a bruisethere tomorrow, but I was too mad to worry about itat the moment. I quickly stood back up, brushingsome loose snow from my jeans, and turned to faceErik. He was smiling and very sure of himself.

“See, told ya.” Lila and Kayla stood a few yardsbehind him, both of them smiling wide. I felt like thevillage idiot, and I didn’t like it.

“I didn’t ask to be made a fool of,” I snapped,wanting to run inside to get away from theembarrassment. Instead, I snatched the stake fromErik and got into attack position again. “Now show mehow to not let that happen again.” Judging by Erik’ssudden shift in attitude, he understood from myoverheated expression that I meant business. I wantedto be trained, not ridiculed. He quickly stepped intoposition in front of me and took a deep, calmingbreath.

“Okay. First, you need to relax. You can’t let youremotions control you. They’ll get you killed, everytime.” Erik’s voice was stern yet comforting. I could tellhe was being honest with me, that he really wanted tohelp. “You have to feel what you’re about to do,instead of just seeing it. Try to let your mind show youwhat to do, not your eyes. Got it?”

“I’ll try.” I kind of understood what he was saying,but I was also super nervous and afraid of screwingup, so I couldn’t clear my mind and focus the way Iwanted. I gripped the stake tightly and lunged forwardjust like before. And, just like before, Erik maneuveredaround me and I completely missed him. I did manageto stay on my feet, grateful that I didn’t totallyembarrass myself a second time.

“That was better,” he said. I tried to brush off mysecond miss and not let it bother me. I refocused andmoved back in front of him. “Just keep focused. You’llget there.” Even though it sounded good, I had troublebelieving it. But I wasn’t ready to give up, so I kepttrying.

For the next few hours, Kayla, Erik and Lila usedeverything they could think of to train me: stakes,metal rods Kayla fished from the tool shed, even thepool—Lila “graciously” showed me how to control myjumping, using the icy water as a deterrent to falling. Iwas completely exhausted when Kayla finally decidedwe were done for the day and Erik and Lila left. I wastired, but my body felt like it could have gone onforever—obviously the vampire in me gave me superstamina. My human side, though, was ready for a hotshower and sleep.

We drove to Chance’s house in near silence, Kaylafocused on driving and me nodding in and out of amuch-needed nap. I waved goodbye to her as she leftand went inside, heading straight for the bathroom

and went inside, heading straight for the bathroomand the relaxation the hot blast of the shower wouldsurely bring. I took my time showering, glad that thehouse was empty and I could relax in quiet. Not thatChance and his mom were noisemakers, but totalsilence was a welcome change.

I waited until the water was almost cold beforeleaving the shower, trying to enjoy the warmth as longas possible. As I was getting dressed, a strange noisepierced my ears and my vampire senses shifted to highalert. Someone was in the house with me.

I slowly left the bathroom, careful not to let thedoor squeak as I crept into the hall. I could tell rightaway that whoever was there wasn’t a vampire; theblood smell hitting my nose wasn’t rancid. It wasstrong and sweet, and after only a few steps down thehallway, the familiarity of it hit me. It was Chance.

“I’m so glad to see you,” I said as I walked into thekitchen. Chance was putting the finishing touches on asandwich that looked really good. “Got enough toshare?” He smiled and took half the sandwich from theplate, sliding the other half over to me. I quickly tooka large bite, the honey-flavored ham making mystomach growl even more. I hadn’t even realized I washungry until I finished the sandwich in four bites.

“Wow,” Chance said, still eating his half. “Hungrymuch?” I laughed and washed down my tiny meal witha glass of water.

“I guess so. And I always thought vampires didn’t

“I guess so. And I always thought vampires didn’tneed food.” I regretted saying it as soon as the wordsleft my mouth. I saw Chance’s expression change. Hiseyes grew dark and his smile faded. “Chance, I’msorry, I—”

“It’s okay. I need to get use to it.”“No, you don’t. No one should have to get use to

being around vampires. It’s not natural.” I slowlystood up and walked to the other side of the kitchen.“I’m not natural. I’m a freak monster.”

“Hey,” Chance said, “don’t say that. You are not afreak or a monster.” His face was soft again, his voicesoothing. “Vampire or not, you’re you.” Even thoughhe smiled when he spoke, I could tell that he didn’tfully believe what he was saying. He obviously still hada problem with me being a vampire. I did too, so Iunderstood.

“Okay.” I smiled back, though only half-heartedly. Ididn’t think of myself as n o t a monster; notcompletely, anyway. I just wanted to get my humanityback so I would feel normal again.

A moment of awkward silence lingered in the airbefore Chance cleared his throat to speak. “So, I knowyou heard there’s a dance at school three weeks fromFriday. The Valentine’s dance? And I was justwondering, well, you know, if you maybe would wantto go with me?”

Talk about being caught completely off guard. I hadgotten used to smelling vampires, having vampire-

gotten used to smelling vampires, having vampire-hunting people around, and even training with athousand-year-old vampire. But this? Total surprise.

“Um…” I honestly didn’t know what to say. I was soshocked. I mean, sure, there was definitely somethinggoing on between Chance and me—sometimes. Othertimes, I wanted to strangle him he was so aggravating.But I had no idea that he wanted to move things to thenext level, whatever level that would be.

“Just as friends,” he threw at me. And then Iunderstood. He felt sorry for me.

“Out of pity?” Again, the words flew from mymouth before I had a chance to edit them.

“No, not out of pity.” And I believed him. It was aknee-jerk reaction to assume he felt sorry for me.Chance paused a moment, the two of us staring ateach other. I could feel that something floatingbetween us, like it wanted both of us to reach out andtake hold of it and carry it with us. But neither of uswanted to. I wasn’t ready for that, and I honestlydidn’t think he was, either. “I think it’ll be fun,” hewent on. “But if you don’t want to, it’s cool.” Heactually tried to shrug it off like it was no big deal, andI couldn’t stop the laughter.

“Laughing? That’s your answer, laughing?”“I’m sorry,” I said, forcing myself to stop. “Um, yes,

I’ll go with you.” A tiny smirk crossed his face beforethose stoic features returned. “Who knows, maybe itwill be fun. I could use some of that.”

will be fun. I could use some of that.”“Me too,” he answered with a half smile. I couldn’t

remember ever going to a school dance—gee surprise—so the idea of it both excited and scared me. “So it’sa date?” As soon as he said it I felt my body tense. Icould tell his did the same. “Sorry,” he blurted,blushing and moving away from me.

“It’s okay,” I stammered, not really sure what tosay. Was it a date? Were we a couple now? Chancehad said we were going just as friends, but was thatreally true? Did he want more than just to be myfriend? I dug my fingers into my temples to ease thesudden headache brought on by the bombardment ofquestions.

“You alright?” Chance asked, now standing justoutside the kitchen by the front entryway.

“I’m fine,” I said. “Just a little headache. I stoppedrubbing my head and did my best at trying to lookhappy. “So a dance,” I added. “Are those fun?”

“They can be, if you go with the right person.” Hesmiled and turned to go upstairs, leaving me alone inthe kitchen.

I quickly washed the dishes and wiped down thecounters with a genuine smile on my face, the firsttime since waking up in that coffin. It took a momentbefore I realized why I was suddenly so happy. I wassilently hoping I was the right person he had in mind.

20. FEEDINGFor the next couple of weeks, I had a hard time

focusing on my training. After Chance basically askedme out (okay, technically just as friends) I could barelythink of anything else. I worked as hard as I could tolearn what Kayla, Erik and Lila had tried to teach me—while pulling double duty training with Aldric—but Ididn’t think very much of it was staying with me.Thoughts of stake-handling and long-distance runningwere sharing space in my mind with thoughts ofChance and me having a great time at the dance. Thelatter of the two was definitely winning the race.

When the week before the Valentine’s dance arrived,I was a basket case. I couldn’t focus on anything. Mytraining was going horribly wrong, and I somehowmanaged to make both my vampire teacher and myvampire hunting teachers mad—something I’m sure noone else could ever say. Aldric had been respectfulenough to not be mean, though he wouldn’t give metime off to get prepared for the dance. Erik and Lila,on the other hand, weren’t as laid back. Well, Erik was,but Lila was really ticked off, and told me after ourtraining lesson on Sunday afternoon that she wouldn’tbe back until I grew up. I had gotten mad and told herto shove it, though I totally deserved it. Erik said shewould calm down after a couple of days, and that theywould see me next week. I was grateful that with suchan important night only days away, I only had to deal

an important night only days away, I only had to dealwith Aldric’s training, which I was surprisinglybeginning to enjoy. And that scared me. All this time Ihad been railing against my vampire side, and now,suddenly, I was starting to embrace it. What did thatsay about me? Honestly, I was too scared to find out.

I had butterflies in my stomach when Chance pulledus into the school parking lot, scared of what wouldhappen when I saw Kayla. She hadn’t really said muchyesterday after our workout, other than she would seeme at school, but I could tell by her tone that she wasupset. So I was nervous that I may have ruined a trulyimportant and great friendship. Unfortunately, I didn’tget a chance to see her until gym class, so I had tospend the day with my stomach tied in knots—something else I probably deserved.

I made a beeline for the girls’ locker room onceinside the gym, my nose telling me that Kayla wasalready in there. I was so glad that I had just aboutperfected my sense of smell. I noticed Lacey pow-wowing with a group of look-a-like girls at the far endof the bleachers—where she and I had had our firstrun-in—and decided to be the bigger person and giveher a wave and a smile. She politely responded with ago-to-hell glare and pursed lips. I felt a tiny twitch inmy gums that I quickly made go away. I had managedto get a somewhat decent grip on that during mymonth-long training, too.

“Kayla?” I whispered into the locker room, not

“Kayla?” I whispered into the locker room, notwanting to call attention to myself if other girls werearound. “You in here?”

“Back here.” I heard her tiny voice from around thecorner and snuck to the back of the room. I found hersitting on a small wooden bench. She had, alreadychanged into our garish gym clothes and busily tyingher sneakers. “What’s up?” Her friendly tone surprisedme. I had half-expected her to be bitchy toward me,but was so thankful she wasn’t.

“Not much. Just wanted to talk.”“What’s wrong?” She stood up and took a very quick

look around the room, her lifetime of being on alertfor danger obviously taking over.

“Nothing like that,” I said, waving off her paranoiawith a flip of my hand and a smile. “No activity forawhile now.” A look of relief passed over Kayla’s face.“I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine,” she said, tossing her gym bag into alocker behind her.

“Good.” I hesitated before adding, “Are we okay?”Kayla turned around and stared at me like a deercaught in headlights.

“Why wouldn’t we be?” she asked.“Well, I thought you might have been mad about

the way I’ve been acting the past couple of weeks. Ihaven’t been the greatest friend.” I knew that Kayla’sdad’s birthday had fallen within the past few days, andI hadn’t even said anything to her. She had been

I hadn’t even said anything to her. She had beenobviously upset over the fact that her father wasmissing, but I was too consumed with my own dramato console my hurting friend.

“It’s cool. I know you’ve had a lot on your mindlately. No biggie.” She sauntered past me to the bankof sinks on the wall and quickly checked herself in themirror. It was the first time I had seen her show thetiniest bit of concern for the way she looked. It wassweet.

“Great.” I was a little caught off-guard by herkindness. I think that on some subconscious level, Iwas actually hoping she would have at least been alittle pissed off. But she was obviously not the type todwell on pettiness; something I hoped would rub offon me. “But I’m sorry anyway.” I figured apologizingfor my attitude toward her and Erik and Lila was theleast I could do.

“Apology accepted.” She quickly turned from thesink. “Now, let’s run.”

“What? Run? Where?”“Well, just because Erik and Lila put off your

training doesn’t mean I have. And since you don’treally have time after school this week because of yourdate,” she paused long enough to flash a wicked smile,“I decided we could use P.E. to get in some running.”She stood strong, her tiny frame looming as large aspossible. She was a good foot shorter than me, but Iwas a little intimidated by her confidence.

was a little intimidated by her confidence.“Oh. Okay.” I had really hoped she would give me

the week off too, since Friday was the dance and I wassuper-nervous, but that wasn’t happening. And Iguessed that putting in some extra exercise would onlyhelp make my ‘one hundred kills’ goal a little easier. Iwas actually surprised and a little upset that not asingle vampire had shown up for weeks. Even thoughI hated having to kill them more than anything—technically I hadn’t killed any of them, but still—Ineeded to do it if I ever expected to be all humanagain. “And it’s not a date,” I added, quickly changinginto my own horrible gym clothes. “We’re just friends.”

Kayla cut her eyes at me and smiled. “Whatever yousay.” I chose to ignore her taunting—and that sly littlegrin she kept plastered on her face the entire time Iwas getting changed. Once I tied my shoes, she waspractically bouncing off the walls. “Finally,” she saidwith a huff. “Let’s go.” I rolled my eyes at herimpatience, but dutifully followed her outside, wherethe strong, icy wind was whirling around thegymnasium like a tornado.

Dead leaves were scooped up and then droppedover and over by the wind as Kayla and I broke into afull-on run right out of the gym door. It caught me offguard, giving Kayla a pronounced lead. I almost had touse my super speed to catch up to her—which wouldhave definitely made her mad. She and Erik and Lilahad made me promise after our first day of training

that I wouldn’t use any of my supernatural advantagesunless it was absolutely necessary. They had wantedme to train as a human, swearing it would make mestronger in the end. Apparently they were right, sinceafter only a quarter mile or so, I had almost caught upto her. We left the open space of the field whereChance and the other sports nuts were deep into afootball game, hitting the track that wound aroundcampus. As we jogged along at a steady pace—Kaylaseveral feet in the lead—I was so grateful thatsomeone had bothered to salt the asphalt track to keepit from icing. I really didn’t want to show up at thedance Friday night wearing a cast because of a stupidfall.

The brutal New England winter air pounded myface, making me feel alive and human, as Kayla and Ifollowed the track into the dense forest at the farthestend of campus—the same woods where Chance killedthat first vampire. I was overcome with an eerie senseof unwanted nostalgia once we slipped under theblanket of trees and brush, the dying face of the girlflashing in my mind over and over. Perfect. Just what Ineeded, a reminder of the unlife I was now forced tolive. I suddenly felt like I was a fraud, an imposter.Here I was, trying to pass as an ordinary girl, when Iwas really a deadly monster. A killer. I was pathetic. Icouldn’t pull this off. I couldn’t blend in and gounnoticed when I had to run around town killingpeople. And I sure as hell couldn’t get into a

people. And I sure as hell couldn’t get into arelationship with Chance or anyone else.

I was on the verge of turning around and headingback to the gym and telling Chance that I wascanceling our plans, when the all too familiar scent ofdeath slapped me in the face. I ignored Kayla’swarning about not using my super speed and quicklyclosed the gap between us. I latched onto her arm,pulling her to a sudden and jarring stop.

“Don’t tell me,” she said through ragged breathing.“Yeah.” I answered. “There’s a vampire nearby.”I barely got the words out when I was blindsided

and knocked a good hundred yards away by a verylarge, very pissed off vampire.

Fortunately, I wasn’t knocked unconscious by theimpact my body made with a large pine tree. I felt thewood snap beneath the force, the top half of the treecrashing to the ground below. The pain shot up myback and across my body. I couldn’t breathe, and myhead felt like red-hot fire. I knew I had to get up anddefend myself or the vampire would be on me, rippingthe skin from my neck and draining my blood, but Icouldn’t. I couldn’t stand. I couldn’t move.

Get up, Ava. Get up now!The voice in my head grew loud and powerful, and

I focused all my energy on doing what it told me. Mymind flashed back to that first night at Aldric’s, whenhe had drop-kicked me into the wall of his basement.That pain was intense, but if felt like a paper cut

That pain was intense, but if felt like a paper cutcompared to this. This was a new kind of pain, a painso massive I thought I was going to die. I was actuallywishing for it, just to make the agony go away.

You have to help her, Ava. It’s going to kill her.Kayla. She was all alone to fight the vampire. I knew

she could probably fight the vampire off for a while,but no way could she win the battle alone, not withoutsome sort of weapon. And what better place to find amakeshift stake than in the middle of the woods. Irolled my body over, surprised and thankful that thevampire hadn’t shown up to kill me yet. Of course,that only meant that he was probably too busy killingKayla. I couldn’t let that happen.

I found a hidden burst of energy and pulled myselffrom the ground. The massive, towering trees aroundme were swaying so badly I thought we were in themiddle of a hurricane. I quickly realized it was myhead that was spinning, not the trees. I closed myeyes, letting my body get accustomed to standing,before running over as fast as I could to help Kayla.The vampire was on top of her, his fangs inches fromher neck and dripping deadly venom. She was doingher best to hold him off, but I could see through thehaze of my concussion that he was inching closer andcloser to her, and she was rapidly growing tired fromtrying to fight him. It would only be seconds beforehis teeth made contact with her skin. I had to act fast.

I jumped as hard and fast as I could, my body

I jumped as hard and fast as I could, my bodyflying through the air like a rocket. I watched the treesshoot past me, clearly making out the moss-coveredbark on their trunks. It was like I was flying in slowmotion, but I knew I wasn’t. I made contact with thevampire about to drain Kayla’s blood, and the two ofus spun off of her in a mesh of fangs and venom andsnarls.

Just touching him made me mad, filling my bodywith rage and violence. I thought of nothing else butending this creature’s life, and after several minutes ofstruggling, I found my chance. I grabbed a large,fallen branch from an oak tree and snapped it in half,while pinning the vampire’s arms with my legs. Hesquirmed wildly beneath me, flopping around like afish out of water. He was bigger than me, both inheight and weight, but I was stronger. I could feel themuscles in his body pound against my legs like graniteslabs, but I wasn’t letting up. I gripped a piece of thebroken branch, stared down at the monster beneathme, and drove it down hard.

It didn’t even pierce the skin. The branch broke inmy hands, flying off in a thousand tiny splinters. I stillhad a firm grip on the vampire with my legs, but Iknew that it wouldn’t hold long. Panic filled my nerves,and I searched frantically for something to kill himwith. That’s when I saw Kayla sprinting toward us. Shehad blood running down her face from what lookedlike a broken nose, and her clothes were matted in

like a broken nose, and her clothes were matted indirt. She ran up to me and pressed the vampire’s headhard against the ground with her foot.

“You have to bite it,” she said, her wild eyes glaringat me. “Bite it, Ava. It’s the only way.” The vampirerealized what was about to happen and beganscreeching, a sound unlike anything I had ever heard.

“I can’t!” I yelled out amidst the chaos. “I can’t doit!” I knew in my mind I had to. It was the only way tokeep him from killing us. But something was stoppingme.

“It’s already dead, Ava,” Kayla said, her voice calmbut urgent. “But we’re not. If you don’t do it now, wewill be.” I could see in her eyes that she was scared. Iwas too. More scared than I had ever been. But I alsocouldn’t let anything happen to her. I couldn’t let thismonster kill her, so I had no choice but to kill it first.

“Okay,” I finally said, staring down into the burningeyes of the vampire. “How do I do it?”

Kayla gave me a quizzical look. “With your fangs.”“What?!” I glared up at her, her tiny frame

struggling to hold the vampire down. For somestrange reason, my mind didn’t register when she saidI had to bite the vampire to kill it. But when she saidthe word fangs, the realization of what that meantflooded my senses. “I-I can’t. And I’m not just sayingthat because I don’t want to, and believe me, I reallydon’t want to. But, I don’t know how.” That wassomething Aldric had never shown me. We went over

something Aldric had never shown me. We went overtracking the blood scent, kickboxing, using my powersof compulsion to dupe humans into doing things forme—which I refused to do, but which Aldric insisted Ilearn—practically everything needed to achieve mygoal. Except how to actually use my fangs. I had said Iwould never bite a human, so I guess he didn’t think itwas something I needed to know. Right now, sittingon top of a vampire with no other way to kill it, I wasfuming mad at him.

“You don’t know how?” Kayla’s question ripped mymind from the panic attack it was caught in. “Whynot?”

“I don’t know why not. It’s not like I came with amanual you know!” The vampire must have sensed myapprehension, because he became even more violentand determined, haphazardly kicking and arching hisback to try and throw me off of him.

“Well you better figure it out in the next threeseconds, or he’s gonna get loose and we’re dead.” Iknew what she was saying was true, that he would nodoubt kill us if I didn’t kill him first, so I reluctantlyopened my mouth wide, feeling my fangs rip throughmy gums and slide into place. Kayla’s face filled withfear, but was quickly masked by determination. “Now,look for the vein on its neck.” I followed her eyesdown to the vampire, and focused on the pale skinstretched over his collarbone. Just above it, runningalong the ridge of his shoulder and up his neck, sat a

along the ridge of his shoulder and up his neck, sat athick vein filled with dead blood.

“Lean in and puncture it, Ava. You’ll feel the bloodburst into your mouth.” I hunched over, my entirebody shaking with nerves and fear. “You have to do it,Ava. Now.” Kayla’s voice was ringing in my ears as Ibrought my fangs down to the vampire’s pulsing neck.Just the act of doing so set something on fire inside ofme, and regardless of how terrified and badly repulsedI was by what I was doing, I couldn’t hold back theurgent, overpowering need to feel blood pulse throughmy fangs. With super speed, I dropped my mouthonto the vampire’s skin, it’s cold, dead texture sendinga chill down my spine. My fangs punctured the toughleather like a hot knife through butter, and my mouthwas filled with ice cold blood. Even though the tastewas disgusting, and the smell was even worse, Icouldn’t stop drinking. I wanted nothing else. Nothingin the world mattered to me more than drinking everydrop of his blood.

The vampire had managed to free one of his armsfrom under my leg after I bit him, and he was using itto grip wildly at my back, trying to pull me off him. Icould feel his nails rip my skin, my own blood runningdown my back, but I didn’t even flinch. It was apointless, last-ditch effort to save his own life. I wasn’tstopping until he took his last breath and I took hislast drop. Of that I was certain.

The entire process took less than two minutes, but

The entire process took less than two minutes, butin my mind if felt much longer. The euphoria of myfirst bite collided with the putrid smell and taste of thedead blood, sending my brain into an almost catatonicstate. I could have been ripped limb from limb at thatmoment and probably wouldn’t have even noticed.Only Kayla’s hand on my shoulder pulled me from mytrance.

“It’s done, Ava,” she said, pulling hard on myshoulder. “Don’t keep drinking or you’ll kill yourself.” Ibelieved her, and though I didn’t want to, I quicklyripped my fangs from the vampire’s neck. My bodywas instantly in a state of panic and shock. It wantedblood, more than ever. I wanted it, I realized, and Ihad to have it. I stood up and moved away from thenow dead vampire, my bloodlust overpowering me. Iglared at Kayla, my eyes slowly moving down to theyoung, tight skin of her neck. I quickly spotted thelarge vein running down the side of her neck, pulsingwith sweet, warm, living blood. At that moment, Iignored the human side of me screaming for me tostop, and allowed the deadly, powerful vampire side totake control. With rage in my eyes and an ever-growing hunger in my stomach, I sprang forward withall my strength, my fangs full of venom and Kayla’sthroat locked in my sights.

21. BLOODLUSTI could hear Kayla’s screams as I lunged for her, my

fangs seeking out her blood. I knew how scared shewas but I didn’t care. I didn’t care about anything. Mythroat burned with hunger, and that hungeroverpowered everything else. I knew that I was goingto kill her.

I took one last jump toward her, my body leapinginto the air like a lion on attack, my hands open wide,just waiting to feel the warmth of her skin beneaththem. I watched the horror of what was about tohappen spread across her face and her body tensed,causing that luscious vein in her neck to bulge evenfurther. I thought my mouth was watering, until Itasted the venom. My fangs were hungry, and it wastime for them to feed.

Just as my hands made contact with the velvet skinof her neck, something large and powerful collidedinto me, sending me spiraling across the cold dirt ofthe forest floor. It only took a moment before I wasback on my feet and ready to pounce again, thebloodlust coursing through me stronger than ever.

I stayed in a crouched and ready position once Iturned myself around to face Kayla. What I saw werethe sad, searching eyes of Chance. He was standingbetween Kayla and me, his large hands curled into fistsand his entire body heaving with each breath. All theveins on his forehead and his neck—oh, especially his

veins on his forehead and his neck—oh, especially hisneck—were pumping blood at a rapid rate. I knew thathe would taste good, maybe even better than anyoneelse I would kill in my lifetime, but I had alreadychosen my victim for this kill, and I wanted her now.

“You can’t stop me,” I snarled at Chance, my bodylow to the ground and rocking back and forth, justwaiting to strike. I watched Chance’s eyes watchingme. They were filled with pity.

“You don’t want to do this,” I heard him say, thoughI couldn’t really focus on his lips. My eyes werefocused on the pulsing vein in Kayla’s neck, who waslurking like a coward behind him. I smiled at herbefore turning back to Chance.

“Yes, I do.” We stared at each other intently, neitherof us ready to back down from what we wanted. I hadno intention of letting Kayla get away without tastingher blood. He had no intention of letting me touch her.The Hero versus The Monster. It was morbidly poetic.

“You’re letting it take over, Ava. Don’t let it beatyou.” I didn’t know what it he was talking about, and Ididn’t really want to find out. I held my ground, myfangs dripping venomous anticipation.

“Nothing is beating me,” I said. “And nothing isstopping me.” With that, I jumped forward with all thestrength I had, high into the air over Chance’s head.Below me, I could clearly see Kayla, small andinsignificant and definitely terrified. I wondered as Imade my descent if I would be that scared when I met

made my descent if I would be that scared when I metmy own death. Would I be that cowardly, hidingbehind someone else? Or would I proudly stand upand face what was coming? My body began to falltoward the earth with the speed of a bullet. I would beon top of Kayla and tasting her sweet-smelling bloodin less than a second.

But that brief moment I was suspended in air waslong enough for Chance to pull something black andmetal from his coat and toss it to Kayla. She grabbedthe device in midair and pointed it up at me. The lastthing I remembered before my world went dark was atiny flash of light and something deadly piercing myskin.

I was swimming in darkness. Nothing existed but

me and that darkness, cold and scary and suffocating.I felt it wrap around my body, squeezing me with thestrength of a thousand weights, trying to destroy me.My lungs couldn’t expand, couldn’t open up to breathein air. I was dying, and I was dying alone.

My eyes flew open and I gasped wildly for air. I feltit rush into my lungs, filling them with life. The milkyhaze covering my eyes slowly faded, and a room Ididn’t recognize came into view. The walls were a palewhite, with matching curtains drawn across the onlywindow on the far side, blocking out the harsh streetlamps littering the night skyline. A brown chest of

lamps littering the night skyline. A brown chest ofdrawers sat to the right of the window, its top bare.My eyes slowly moved along the wall until they founda plush, comfortable-looking blue chair that didn’tmatch anything else in the room. Its gaudy colorwasn’t what caught my breath. It was Chance sleepingpeacefully there.

As I watched him sleep, the memory of what I hadjust done came rushing back to my mind. I had triedto kill Kayla, and I probably would have killed him,too. I had wanted her blood, and I wasn’t going to letanything stop me. Oh God, what he must havethought. If he didn’t fully hate me before, I’m sure hedid now. He saw what I truly was: a bloodthirstymonster that had no concern for anyone but herself. Agirl who wanted to murder innocent people and drinktheir blood. I was disgusting.

But Chance was good. He was genuinely, whollygood. Someone who would die for what he believedin, and would give all of himself to those he loved. Hehad done everything in the world for me, starting withrisking his life by teaming up with a vampire to savemy soul. And how did I repay him? By trying to killhim and my best friend in the middle of the woods likewild animals. I knew since the moment I saw him thatnight in the cemetery that there was somethinghappening between us, something real, but I ignoredit. I fought it all this time, when obviously he hadembraced it. He must have known back then where

embraced it. He must have known back then whereour relationship was headed, and he wanted it. Hestuck by me when anyone else would have cut theirlosses and ran. And now here he was, asleep in a chairbeside the deathbed of the girl he cared for, themonster who had wanted to kill him. My heart achedfor him.

Without provocation, Chance’s eyes slowly openedand he shifted in his chair. I closed my eyes andpretended to still be out of it as I listened to him standup and walk over to my bed. After a few seconds ofdoing nothing, I suddenly felt the intoxicating warmthof his touch as his hand brushed hair away from myface. I knew then that I loved the feel of his skin nextto mine, the energy his touch created. I realized at thatmoment that I never wanted to lose that. But howcould I have him when I had done something sohorrible? Then it hit me: maybe he was here to killme. Maybe he was brushing the hair from my face justso he could touch me one last time before ending mylife and ridding the world of such a horrible creature. Iwouldn’t have blamed him. Just as I was getting readyto open my eyes, I heard the door across the roomscrub slowly along the hardwood floor, and the smellof Kayla’s blood once again flooded my nostrils.

“How is she?” I heard her voice, low and soft.“Still sleeping,” Chance whispered back, his hand

moving from my face. I wanted to reach out and grabit and never let it go, but I decided to keep feigning

it and never let it go, but I decided to keep feigningsleep and listen to what they had to say. Honestly, Ididn’t have the nerve to face them just yet.

“Thanks for letting her stay here,” Chance went on,his words falling silently from his lips.

“Of course,” Kayla answered. “She can stay as longas she needs to.” That explained why I didn’t recognizeany of my surroundings; I only wished that my firstvisit to Kayla’s house had been under happiercircumstances. “Do you think she’ll remember?” shecontinued, her voice now closer to me.

“I hope not,” Chance answered. “It’ll kill her if shedoes.” If he only knew that I d i d remember. Iremembered everything that had happened in thosewoods, and he was right; it was killing me.

“I just hope she doesn’t blame herself,” Kayla said.“We both know that wasn’t really her out there.” Icouldn’t believe she was saying that. How could she beso calm after what I had almost done to her? Howcould she stand to even be in the same room with me?Didn’t she hate me, want me dead? And why didn’tChance answer her? Did he think that the monster hesaw in the woods really was me? Did he believe that Icouldn’t be saved?

“If she does blame herself, I won’t let her do it forlong.” Chance’s words were covered in emotions, fromanger to fear to love, and I knew that I was going tohave a huge fight on my hands once I woke up andexpressed my deep, gnawing guilt. “All she’s been

expressed my deep, gnawing guilt. “All she’s beenfocused on since the beginning was saving her humanside and destroying the vampire in her.” Chancecontinued talking, but paused long enough to brushmy cheek again. “I won’t let what happened make herlose focus on that. I’m going to make sure she getswhat she wants.” He kept his hand against my face,the heat of his body fighting to calm me down.

“I’ll help too,” Kayla added. Then I felt her hand reston top of mine, and I became overwhelmed with thefact that this girl who I had tried to kill just a couple ofhours ago was now standing beside my bed, holdingmy hand and vowing to help me. I had heard enough,and slowly opened my eyes.

“Hey,” I heard Chance say, my eyes going directly tohis face. “Welcome back.” He smiled at me, and I feltcloser to him than I ever had. I made a promise tomyself that I would never let him go.

“How are you feeling?”“I don’t know.” I couldn’t answer that question

honestly, not yet anyway. Physically I was exhaustedand felt like I had been training for a straight week.But emotionally I was torn to pieces over what I haddone. I didn’t know if I would ever feel whole again.“Okay I guess.” I tried to sound better than I felt, notwanting either of them to worry any more about me.

“Okay’s good,” Chance whispered, looking from meto Kayla and smiling. “We can work with okay.”

“How long have I been asleep?” It felt like forever,

“How long have I been asleep?” It felt like forever,my body was so exhausted.

“Three days,” he answered with a smile.“Three days? Seriously?” My voice was raspy at

best. My throat felt like it had been shredded.“Yep,” Kayla added. I heard her voice from the other

side of the bed. I turned my head to look at her, themuscles in my neck screaming with painful resistance.Her nose was swollen, a purplish black line crossingthe bridge. That vampire really did a number on her.More guilt chewed at my insides. “I seriously thought Iwas gonna have to move out of my own room.” I tooka quick scan of the room again and looked up at myfriend.

“You wouldn’t be losing much.”“Hey!” Kayla playfully slapped my arm and smiled. “I

know it’s not much, but I like it. It’s simple, like me.”“You couldn’t be farther from simple, Kayla.” I

smiled back at her and was so thankful that she hadseen me that day at school and had the nerve toconfront me. I was happy that she was in my life now.

“Yeah, well, I think I’m simple, so that’s all thatmatters.” She gave my hand a tiny squeeze beforelaying it gently by my side. “And on that note, I’moutta here.”

“Don’t go,” I begged. “Please.”“I need to go, but I’ll see you soon.” She was

smiling, but I could see how tired she was. I’m surethe training times we had were not easy on her, either

the training times we had were not easy on her, either—not to mention having to fight t w o ravenousvampires in one afternoon.

“I’m so sorry, Kayla.” I was almost crying as Ispoke, the embarrassment of what I had done to mybest friend pressing down on me.

“Don’t worry, we’re good.” She bent down and gaveme a one-armed hug, careful not to hurt me or herobviously broken nose. I lazily brought an arm up toreturn the gesture. “We’ll talk about it all later, okay?”She didn’t wait for my answer.

“I thought she’d never leave,” Chance said, his handbrushing away my hair again.

“Don’t say that.”“I was only kidding. I like her. Sort of.” He was

smiling. I knew he liked Kayla more than just a little.Somehow during the past few weeks, the two of themhad become somewhat friendly toward each other,which made me happy. If I could stay out of the wayand stop screwing things up, I’m sure they would endup actual friends.

“So what happened out there? To me, I mean?What did you do to stop me?” It was one of the mostawkward and uncomfortable questions I had yet to askhim. It wasn’t every day you had to ask someone,“hey, how did you keep me from killing you?” My bodysquirmed with unease.

“You okay?” Chance asked, his voice soft butconcerned.

“Yeah, just tired. So tell me.”“It was a crossbow.” Chance pulled his eyes from

mine as he spoke, staring across the room at a blankwall. “I’m sorry.”

“For what? You had to. I’m the one who’s sorry.”“Don’t be. You couldn’t help it.” He brought his eyes

back to me, the green in them hypnotic.“Yes I could.” Now I was the one who broke our

gaze, ashamed of myself more than ever. “I couldhave stayed away from you. And from Kayla. But Ichose to put both of you in danger by sticking around.So yeah, I could’ve helped it.”

Chance smiled. “Always the martyr, huh? You lovetrying to take the blame for everything that’s happenedto you. Why can’t you just accept the fact that badthings happen to good people?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Well hello, Mr. Cliché.Nice of you to stop by.” Chance laughed with me, andthings felt normal again between us. Well, as normalas possible between a human and vampire.

“Cute,” he whispered with a smile. “Cliché or not,I’m for real. You need to cut yourself some slack, Ava.I think you’ve handled things pretty well.”

“If you say so.” I smiled back at him, just havinghim close was making me feel worlds better. I still feltlike I wanted to die, but having him there remindedme that I wasn’t, that I was very much alive. He keptbrushing my hair with his hand, neither of us saying aword. We didn’t need to; the silence between us was

word. We didn’t need to; the silence between us wasfar from awkward anymore. It was nice.

But as I lay there looking up at him, his face grewsomber. I watched the happiness slowly fade from hiseyes, replaced by worry and dread. I knew he wasthinking of something bad, and I really didn’t want toknow what it was, but I asked anyway.

“What’s wrong?”.“There’s something you have to do,” he finally said.

“Something you need to do.” His eyes were dark, thelight normally found there gone. Whatever it was that Ihad to do was something he didn’t like. Before I hadtime to ask, he blurted it out.

“You need to eat.” I knew what he meant by “eat”,and it wasn’t a ham sandwich.

“I can’t,” I said, closing my eyes. Images of bloodand sounds of screaming filled my mind.

“You have to, Ava. What happened can neverhappen again.”

“I know it can’t. I don’t intend to let it happenagain.” And I meant that. Even if I had to stay awayfrom Kayla for the rest of my life (or the rest of hers,since I was immortal) no way was I going to hurt herever again.

“You can’t guarantee that. Not yet, anyway. You’venever fed. Not on living blood. And until you do, thatneed to is always going to be there, controlling you.”

“It doesn’t control me. I don’t let it.” I knew as Isaid it that it was a lie. Well, a half lie. Sometimes I

said it that it was a lie. Well, a half lie. Sometimes Icould overpower the urge, but today had proved mewrong.

“Once you do it, you’ll be able to focus on what youhave to do without always being distracted.” It was likehe had stepped inside my mind and read my thoughts.The bloodlust was becoming a distraction, especiallysince he and I were getting closer. The fact that heknew it was weird, though.

“Are you a mind reader or something?” I asked him,trying to sound like I wasn’t constantly thinking aboutwhat blood might taste like.

Chance laughed. “No, I’m not a mind reader. I’vejust been around vampires more than you. Even newones.” He said the word vampire without wincing, butI could tell it still bothered him.

“You’ve been around vampires before me?”“Yes.” It was a simple word that held volumes of

meaning. The secret he had been keeping from me,the thing he most didn’t want me to know.

“So that’s it,” I whispered, gazing off into the sparseroom as my mind put the pieces together. “That’s whatyou’ve been hiding.”

Chance moved his hand from my face, my skininstantly missing his touch. “No,” he answered,moving away from my bed. “That’s not it.”

“Then what?”“Let’s not do this again, Ava. Please. Not now.”“Why not? Why won’t you tell me?”

“Why not? Why won’t you tell me?”“Look.” He moved back in next to me, resting his

hand on top of mine. “I promise I will tell youeverything when the time is right. You just have totrust that.” Again he was right. I couldn’t be surebefore now, before what had happened today, butnow, I had no more doubts. I could trust himcompletely, and I did.

“Okay,” I said with a resigned smile. I wanteddesperately to know what secret he was keeping fromme—a secret that involved a history with vampires—but I wanted to not hurt or upset him even more. So Ionce again let it go. “So,” I went on, changing thesubject, “now you’re what, an expert on vampires?”

“Compared to you? Absolutely.” He actually laughedas he grabbed the chair he had been sleeping in whenI woke up and pulled it close to my bed. He sat downand leaned in next to me. “Now, we can spend the restof the night arguing, or you can just agree with meand get the inevitable over with.” He flashed thatcharming smile of his, softly rubbing my fingers withhis own. The heat from his touch ran up my arm andstraight to my head, swimming around with the scentof his blood and making me blissfully lightheaded.

“So now what?” Even though I didn’t want to giveChance the satisfaction of being right, he was. I didneed to feed, or eat, or whatever it was called. Ineeded to get the desire for blood out of the way so Icould concentrate on reaching the suddenly

could concentrate on reaching the suddenlyoverwhelming goal of killing a hundred vampires.Chance didn’t say anything as he locked his eyes onmine and slowly brought his arm up to my mouth. Ilooked from his face to his wrist, which was inchesfrom my mouth and pulsing with the beat of his heart.

“No way,” I said, trying to push his arm away fromme. He held it there in front of my face, the muscles inhis forearm and bicep bulging beneath the skin.

“You have to, Ava. This is the only way.”“No, I won’t do it.” I closed my eyes so I wouldn’t

have to look at the delicious vein thumping in front ofme. I could see flashes of Chance writhing on the floorin pain with blood shooting from his wrist—exactlywhat would happen if I bit him. No way would I everallow that.

“Avaline,” he said, knowing calling me that wouldget me going. “Look at me.” I reluctantly opened myeyes, his wrist the first thing I saw.

“Chance, don’t make me do this, please.” I wasbegging for his mercy, but the entire time, my eyeswere locked on his wrist. Without even realizing it, Ihad cupped his arm in my hands and was holding itcloser to my mouth.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine. I won’t let you take toomuch.” How did he know that? How did he know somuch about the monster I was rapidly becoming? Ifinally looked over at his face, his eyes trying to relaxme. Normally staring at their brilliant green hue

me. Normally staring at their brilliant green hueworked, but I was too wound up this time. Chance’sway was the only way to move on.

“I don’t want to hurt you.”“You won’t. Just do it.” He lifted his arm and

brought it to my lips, the heat from his skin strong andresilient. A ll the thoughts I had about what themoment would be like—the moment I drank humanblood for the first time—paled in comparison to what itactually felt like. All of my emotions were crashing intoeach other as I unsheathed my fangs and broughtChance’s wrist to my open mouth. I couldn’t look athim again, fearful that I would see his hesitation orregret. I didn’t want to bite him, to feed from him, butI also didn’t not want to. More than anything, I wantedto feel his blood flow into my mouth and fill mecompletely. So before I could talk myself out if it, Iclosed my eyes and sank my fangs into the bronzedskin of his wrist.

22. SECRETS REVEALEDChance’s blood flooded my mouth like a tidal wave,

crashing into every crevice with its mesmerizing taste.My fangs were on fire with lust, drinking copiousamounts of blood as fast as they could. I could hearfaint moans coming from Chance, but I didn’t look athim. All I wanted was more of his sweet blood. Idrank and drank, my mind floating in a cloudy haze ofeuphoria. Nothing in the world could have preparedme for how wonderful it tasted, how perfect it mademe feel. At that moment, I realized I had been fightingwhat was the most real part of me: the vampire that Iwas destined to become.

“That’s enough, Ava.” I heard Chance’s words butdidn’t hear them. My mind wouldn’t allow his voice topenetrate the experience of my first feeding. All itwanted was the pleasure I was feeling to never end, soit chose to ignore him. I gripped harder onto his armand sank my teeth in further, Chance’s words quicklyturning to cries of pain as his blood was slowly beingreplaced with my venom.

“Ava, stop!” I could hear his pain, could feel itcoursing through his dying veins, but I didn’t care. Iwasn’t human at that moment, the vampire insidetaking complete control of my body and my mind. Iwas killing him, I knew it, but I couldn’t stop myself—Ididn’t want to.

Chance finally managed to pull his arm away from

Chance finally managed to pull his arm away frommy mouth, my fangs tearing his skin as he did. Mybody felt the void immediately, pulling me from thebed with super speed. Chance had managed to make itacross the room before I was on him. I grabbed hisshoulder and threw him backwards, his bodyslamming into the wall on the other side of the room.

“Ava,” I heard him cry out, slowly pulling himselfup. “Don’t—” I didn’t wait for him to say anything else.I sprang forward with an unrelenting fury.

But something stopped me. A very bright andpowerful light hit me like a freight train, sending meflying back against the wall. The pain wasoverwhelming, even with my vampire senses incharge. I couldn’t move, could barely breathe as Istruggled to stand. My eyes burned with pain and mybody felt like it was on fire. I somehow managed tostand up, using the wall for support. The taste ofChance’s blood was still very powerful, coursingthrough my veins like fire, and I wanted more of it. Iforced my eyes to open, and the first thing I saw wasChance standing across the room from me, blooddripping from his wrist.

“Ava,” he said, his voice calm and soothing.“Control yourself. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

“I’m in total control,” I answered him, my fangs stilldripping with his blood. “And I know exactly what I’mdoing.” I lunged forward again, growling like a wildanimal hungry for his blood. That powerful, electric-

animal hungry for his blood. That powerful, electric-charged light hit me again, but this time, as I flewacross the room, I saw where it came from. Chance.

I crashed into the far wall again. Somehow my mindmanaged to overpower the vampire within me and Ifelt my fangs retract into my gums. The bloodlust thatwas normally so apparent seemed to finally besatisfied, and I was able to focus on what had justhappened. I jumped up, totally ignoring the pain I feltfrom being tossed like a rag doll, and looked atChance. He was standing motionless across the room,his hands held out in front of him. His right arm wascovered with blood, still oozing from the wound on hiswrist. But my mind wasn’t focused on the blood. I waslooking at his hands. They were glowing.

“Ava?” His voice was trembling, fear lacing hiswords.

“It’s me,” I answered, my breath ragged. “I’m okay.”Chance lowered his hands and walked over to me. Ikept my eyes locked on his, my mind spinning withconfusion. What just happened? What was that light?And more importantly, how did it come from him?

“I’m sorry,” he said. “Did I hurt you?”“No,” I answered. “I don’t think so.” I did a quick

check for anything out of the ordinary with my body.No broken bones, no open wounds—all good. “Whatthe hell was that?”

“I-I didn’t mean for that to happen,” Chance said. “Ijust didn’t know what else to do.”

just didn’t know what else to do.”“Wait, so you k n ew you could do that? That,

whatever it was?” I was even more shocked that theelectric light that flowed from his hands was of hisown doing. I thought it had been like some sort ofunexpected power surge or something. But he did iton purpose? Now I was completely freaked out.

“Yeah, I did. I’ve been able to my whole life.”Chance kept looking from my face to my arms andlegs, obviously searching for any signs that he hadhurt me. I would’ve found his concern sweet—andoverbearing, of course—any other time. But right then,I wanted to scream.

“So you’ve had this weird, light power thing all thistime and you didn’t bother to tell me? You know, thehalf-vampire girl you dug out of the ground?” I knew Iwas probably overreacting, but I was too upset tostop. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I don’t know why,” Chance said, walking awayfrom me. “It’s not like I go around telling people ‘Hey,I’m Chance, I’m a Healer’.”

“A Healer?”“Yeah. That’s what I am. A Healer.” He walked back

over to me then, his face twisted with embarrassmentand fear. I knew he was afraid I was going to laugh ormake fun or tell everybody or something, which Iwould never do.

“What does that mean?”“Just what it sounds like. I heal people.”

“Just what it sounds like. I heal people.”I was shocked with how forthcoming he was being

considering all the energy he had spent trying to keepme in the dark. “Were you born this way or—”

“Was I turned like you? No. I was born this way. Mydad was one.” I got a sense of sadness from him whenhe mentioned his dad. I didn’t want to make thesituation more uncomfortable for him, so I moved on.

“So, are you like a god or something? Like, animmortal?”

“No,” he answered, his words barely a whisper. “I’mall human. I’m just special, according to my mom.” Atiny smile crossed his face as he said it.

“How young were you when you found out youcould do this?”

“I don’t know, five or six maybe. My dog was hit bya car when I was a kid, and when I started pettinghim, my hands lit up and got really hot and all of asudden he jumped up and started licking my face. Iknew then that there was something different aboutme.” Well that explained why he was always so warmto the touch, why he produced so much of thatalluring heat. He was basically a walking power source.I watched his eyes light up as he recalled the memoryof that day.

“So you saved your dog’s life?”“I guess I did. And I totally freaked my mom out

when I told her about it. She said that she had hoped Iwouldn’t turn out like my dad, that I would be normal.

She’s never been the same since.”“So is that why she was so cool with me moving

in?” Chance nodded in agreement. “Is she scared ofyou or something?”

“She’s only scared of how I might end up, whatmight happen to me.” He reluctantly moved towardme, obviously still unsure if I was completely myselfagain. The smell of his blood grew stronger with eachstep he took.

“And how’s that?” I asked, suddenly afraid of whathe might say—and of how close he was getting.

“My father went crazy and had to beinstitutionalized. She thinks I’ll end up like that.” Sothat was why he didn’t like to talk about his dad.

“And you don’t?” I could feel my heart beatingwildly in my chest.

“No, I don’t,” he answered confidently. “My daddidn’t want this, but I do. I like being a Healer. Hedidn’t.” I could feel energy and heat emanating fromhim.

“You like it?”“Yeah. I like being able to help people.” His eyes

lowered a bit, and some of the happiness left his face.“But I can’t help you.”

When he said that, many of my questions about himwere answered. Why he had such a short temper. Whyhe couldn’t stand the fact I was a vampire. Why hecould barely say the word vampire. It was because heso desperately wanted to help me—to heal me—and

so desperately wanted to help me—to heal me—andhe couldn’t. It was like he couldn’t do for me the onething he could do for everyone else. My heart brokefor him.

“So this is what you’ve been hiding from me all thistime?”

“Yes.”“Why did you feel like you couldn’t tell me?”“It wasn’t that I didn’t want to, believe me. I

couldn’t, literally.” I watched his chest rise and fall, therhythm of his breath soothing and inviting. I suddenlyhad to ignore the desire to reach out and touch theexposed skin just below the hollow of his neck.

“Why not?” I squeaked out, flustered.“Because we’re not allowed to reveal what we truly

are.” His voice was deep and gravelly. “Unless we haveto, of course.”

Guilt flooded me. “Yeah, sorry,” I murmured,embarrassed by what had just happened, what I hadalmost done to him.

“It’s okay, really. It was my fault. I should havewarned you that might happen.”

“Why didn’t you?” I felt my heart thumping in mythroat, but I was unclear if it was because of the smellof his blood still dripping onto the floor, or if it wasbecause he was only inches away from me and I wasgetting lightheaded.

“Would you have still fed on me if I had?”“Point taken.” I forced myself to move away from

“Point taken.” I forced myself to move away fromhim, crossing the room and pretending to make thebed. “So are you gonna be in trouble or something?You know, for revealing who you are?”

“I honestly don’t know. I don’t think it’s everhappened before.” I fumbled with the sheets on thebed, and Chance—being the chivalrous guy he is—quickly stepped in and helped me finish. “But it doesn’tmatter if I am. It was worth it.” We stood on oppositesides of the now-made bed, staring at each other. Icould almost feel the imaginary line connecting us,keeping us always in each other’s orbit.

“Wow.” My suddenly overwhelming emotions werebeating against my head, my chest, desperate to bereleased. “So, um, what exactly is a Healer?”

“Well.” He broke our gaze and sat down on the bed.Without realizing what I was doing, I sat down acrossfrom him. “To make a really long story short, Healerswere created to protect humans from vampires.”

“So people know vampires exist?” Chance nodded. Ifelt like I had just stepped into an entirely new world,a world where I was clueless about its customs andbeliefs. I guess, in a way, I had. “How long?”

“Always,” Chance said. “I don’t know much aboutthe history, but Healers have been protecting humansfor centuries. That’s our entire purpose. We dowhatever it takes to make sure people don’t becomevictims to vampires.”

“Is this why you’ve been putting up with the horrible

“Is this why you’ve been putting up with the horribleway Aldric treats you, because you’re trying to protectme from him?”

“Yes.”“You don’t have to do that for me.”“Of course I do, Ava. I was created for that very

reason. That’s why I have this gift.” I knew Chancewas getting frustrated, so I quickly changed gears.

“So who created Healers?”“I don’t really know. My dad didn’t fill me in on

everything. I kind of just know the basics. I know I’msupposed to stop vampires.” A tiny flash of sadnessrolled over his face. “Sometimes I do, other times Idon’t.” I knew instantly the true meaning hidingbehind his words.

“Chance,” I said, moving quickly to sit next to him.“Don’t do that. Don’t blame yourself for whathappened to me.”

“How can I not, Ava? I’m supposed to protectpeople. You. But I didn’t. I didn’t do the one thing Iwas born to do.” I could feel the sadness he washarboring, deep and painful beneath his skin.

“Listen,” I said. “You’re human, right?”“Completely.”“Then you should know that humans aren’t perfect.

They make mistakes. They get over it. That simple.”“They?” He looked deeply at me then, his eyes full

of that dark sadness.“What?”

“What?”“You said ‘they.’ Like you’re not one. Like you’re not

human.” I hadn’t realized I said it. But now that hecalled me on it, I knew that somewhere inside me, Imust have believed it to be true.

“I don’t feel very human right now,” I answeredhonestly. Chance stared at me, his eyes full ofcompassion and understanding. Maybe he reallyunderstood how I was feeling. Maybe he had feltdifferent all his life, too, like he was a freak stuck in aworld of normal. Knowing his secret changed how Isaw him. Somehow, he became even more human tome. He took my hand into his, lifting it slowly to hischest.

“You feel that?” he asked, keeping my hand pressedagainst his hot skin. The strong, hypnotic thrum of hisheart pulsed into my hand, and I felt that sweetdizziness all over again.

“Yes,” I said. “But I can feel your heart beating evenwithout touching you.” But I didn’t pull my hand away.I wanted to touch him. It felt right. He kept my handpressed against his chest for a moment before pullingit away, moving it to my own chest and holding itthere.

“Now, do you feel that?” And I did. It was faint, andnot nearly as enticing as his, but it was there. Myheartbeat. Proof that I was still alive.

“Yes.”“Then don’t let me ever hear you say that you’re not

“Then don’t let me ever hear you say that you’re nothuman.” He took his hand from mine. “And as long asthat heart beats in your chest, you’re just as human asI am.”

“But for how long?” Saying out loud the question Ihad been dreading to say pained me. How long was Igoing to stay human? How long until the vampirebuilding inside me took over for good? How long untilI would no longer feel what I was feeling when I wasnear him?

“Forever,” he whispered. “I promise you that, Ava.”Then he smiled at me, that perfectly charming smilethat somehow always made me feel better. He kept hiseyes locked on mine, and before I even realized it, hewas leaning in to me. I knew what was coming, whatwas about to happen between us, and even though Ihadn’t given it much thought—or any thought, really—before this moment, I wanted it desperately. I slowlyclosed my eyes, my head spinning and my heart racingwith anticipation and excited nerves, as the warmth ofChance’s lips pressed into mine.

The moment was magical. Extreme heat flooded mybody, setting my senses on fire. I wanted to melt intothe moment—the kiss—and never leave. I could feelChance’s hands cupping my face, and even though thescent of his blood was flooding my nose, I was toofocused on our perfect kiss to even notice it. I neverwanted the moment—our moment—to end.

“Wow,” he whispered after our lips finally parted. I

“Wow,” he whispered after our lips finally parted. Iimmediately missed the feeling of his lips crushedagainst mine, the warmth and safety of having him soclose. As soon as he pulled away, I could feel thebloodlust stirring strong and fast inside me. I wouldn’tallow myself to bite him again, no matter if he wantedit or not. I shot across the room and away from himwith lightning speed. “Was that not okay?” he asked,confusion filling his face.

“No, no. It was perfect. Better than perfect.” And itwas. My body felt alive for the first time since Iclimbed from my coffin. I felt like I was whole again.It was wonderful. I kept looking from his eyes to hiswrist, which was still dripping his enticing blood ontothe floor. Chance finally picked up on what wasbothering me.

“Oh. Sorry.” He quickly rolled down his sleeve tocover his wound—the wound I inflicted—and walkedtoward the bedroom door. “Let’s get home so I canclean this up.”

“Did it hurt?” I asked, so scared that he would sayyes. If I had hurt him, I wouldn’t be able to live withmyself.

“At first it did, yeah.” I winced as he gently touchedthe wound through the now bloody sleeve. “But then itfelt better than anything I’ve ever felt before. Well, upuntil that kiss.” It felt the same to him as it had to me—the bite and the kiss—which totally surprised me. Ithought it would have been excruciatingly painful for

thought it would have been excruciatingly painful forhim.

“You liked it?”He smiled. “A vampire’s bite can be very pleasant to

a human, if they let it be. If they resists, it’sagonizing.” I could see a sweet sincerity in his eyes.“And I didn’t resist.”

“How do you know so much about this?”“I told you, I’ve been around a lot of vampires. You

pick up on things.”“Have you been bitten before?” Though I didn’t

want to hear his answer, I needed to know.“No,” he said, relief filling my heart. “I’ve never

wanted the connection before.”“Connection?”“When a vampire bites a human, the two are

connected forever. The vampire will always knowwhere that person is, how they’re feeling.”

“So now I’ll be able to know where you are whenyou’re not around?” The thought both excited andunnerved me. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know whathe was up to, how he was feeling, all the time. I hadenough things running through my mind.

“I don’t know,” he answered. “You’re half human, soit might not work the same way. We’ll just have tosee.” He smiled at me again—something he did a lot,and something I would never tire of. “Now, let’s gohome. We have a date to get ready for.”

“A date?” The word alone made me smile; what it

“A date?” The word alone made me smile; what itmeant filled my heart like nothing else.

“Yes, Avaline Blue. You and I have a date.” I wantedto smack him for using that name, but I didn’t. I didroll my eyes, though, as he took my hand in his andwe walked from the room together. Truly, for the firsttime, together.

As we drove home, I sat in quiet amazement at thefact that Chance was so calm. He seemed unaffectedby the fact that I had bitten him and drank his blood—which was crazy to me, since I was totally freaked outby it. I kept sneaking glances at him as I sped downthe foggy highway, Chance finally letting me drive. (Ifigured after what he’d been through, he wasn’t reallyup to it, and he surprisingly agreed.) He kept his eyesglued to the road, but there was no anger, noanimosity toward me, on his face. He looked peaceful.Maybe the fact that he was a Healer helped him dealwith stressful situations. Maybe he wasn’t affected byemotions as severely as non-supernatural humans. Ididn’t know, but I was grateful for whatever waskeeping him calm.

As I pulled Chance’s truck into the drive, I wasactually feeling excited about our date tomorrow night,being able to do something totally and normallyhuman. I only prayed that I could make it through thedance without even thinking about being a vampire.

23. TAKENThe next morning came quicker than I expected. I

slept much better than I thought I would have givenall that had happened to me, and I woke up excitedand scared to death all at once. I was nervous that Iwould embarrass myself—which I shouldn’t have been,seeing as how embarrassment was practically anaccessory to me. And I was scared that once Chanceand I were on our first official date, he would realize Iwas really boring or stupid or something, and wouldnever want to see me again. But I knew, somehow,that would never happen. He would never leave me,no matter what ridiculous thing I said or did. He caredtoo much for me, or at least I hoped he did.

I made it through the school day in a zombie-liketrance. My mind was so focused on the night to comethat I had zero clue what any of my teachers had goneover in class. I was also going over what hadhappened at Kayla’s, with Chance’s whole electric-light-healing thing. Needless to say, my mind was way toooccupied to retain any school work, so I was so happywhen the final bell of the day rang and we were free toleave. I told Kayla that I definitely wasn’t trainingtoday, not that I needed the extra time to get dressedor put on makeup or anything —I didn’t really wearthe stuff. I just wanted to get away from everyone. Mynerves were too on edge to be crowded around myclassmates or to spend one-on-one time learning how

classmates or to spend one-on-one time learning howto kill vampires.

“You okay?” Chance asked after we got on the road.He was driving, another thing I was thankful for, sinceI felt like I would upchuck at any moment.

“Just nervous,” I lied. I was nervous, but I was alsoscared and excited and really nauseous.

“Don’t be,” he said with a smile. “It’s gonna be fun.”I hoped he was right, but I couldn’t help but feelnervous about what I was going to be walking into. Icouldn’t open my mouth to speak, fearful I would beviolently ill all over the cab of his truck. So I simplysmiled back and rode the rest of the way home inuneasy silence.

Seven o’clock rolled around with lightning speed. I

had barely slipped into the really beautiful iridescentblack tea-length dress that Ms. Caldon helped pick out—and that actually looked good on me, surprisingly—before it was time for us to leave for the dance. It wasbeing held in the school gym, which Kayla said theyalways did a pretty decent job of decorating to lookmore like a ballroom or dance hall, and I was actuallygiddy as Chance drove us there. Of course, what theplace might look like was the last thing on my mind; Iwas way too nervous to even think about decorations.It was taking all I had in me to keep from passing out,a cloud of emotions swirling around in my head. I just

a cloud of emotions swirling around in my head. I justwanted to hurry up and get there so I could splashsome water on my face and calm down. Chanceapparently sensed my anxiety.

“Relax,” he said, his voice calm and soothing—andsexy, of course. “I want you to have fun tonight. Youlook absolutely amazing, and this is your first highschool dance. Try and enjoy it.”

“Thanks,” I said, taking deep breaths to will mystomach to stop spinning. “You, too.” And he did. Hewas wearing black dress slacks and a really cool-looking shirt, also black, but with a deep red hue thatshone when he moved. He looked outstanding. And hewore it well.

He cut his eyes at me and smiled. “We’re gonnaoutshine everybody there. I guarantee it.” I couldn’thelp but smile, too, at his optimistic and totallyridiculous outlook. I would just be happy if I didn’t fallon my face in front of everyone.

“So can you somehow tell when I’m nervous?” Iasked, moving the conversation away from tonight’simpending event. “Like a Healer thing or something?”

He smiled. “Um, no,” he said with a tiny laugh.“You’re practically shaking.” He looked at me againwith those hypnotizing eyes. I could have stayed inthat moment forever, just sitting there staring at him.It was suddenly amazing to me how I never realizedwhat he truly meant to me before now. Looking back,I had felt something for him from the moment I saw

I had felt something for him from the moment I sawhim, but I just wouldn’t allow myself to go there. Icouldn’t. My life had been turned upside down—and itstill was—so I couldn’t afford to feel anything foranyone. I couldn’t risk getting hurt—or hurting him.Now, something had changed in me. Something mademe feel like I deserved to be happy, to have a normal,ordinary life. It was Chance. He showed me that eventhough I have a dark side within me, I didn’t have togive in to it. How could I ever repay him for that? Iwanted to keep staring at him the entire drive toschool, but I didn’t want to creep him out too much.So I smiled back and lowered my eyes. I noticed myleft leg shaking and laughed.

“What?” he asked.“You were right,” I answered, getting a firm grip on

my quivering thigh. “I am shaking.” He laughed, too.“Just try to relax and have fun, okay?”“I’ll try,” I said, not really sure if that was even

possible. I hoped to have fun, but with the butterfliesperforming acrobatics in my stomach and the spells ofdizziness, the odds were not in my favor.

We made it to school campus about ten minutesafter the dance was scheduled to start, so parking wasa nightmare. Chance had to actually pull beneath asmall grove of oak trees at the very front of the school,which left quite a distance for me to navigate in heels.Yay.

“You ready?” he asked as he helped me out of the

“You ready?” he asked as he helped me out of thetruck. I spun in the seat, swinging my legs out into thefrigid night air. I had protested up and down that Ididn’t want to wear pantyhose, but once the northernwind lifted my dress, I was saying a thousand thank-yous that I listened to Chance’s mom. Full feelinghadn’t yet returned to my skin—may never fully return—but I could feel cold well enough.

“As I’ll ever be,” I answered with a half-smile.Chance smiled back as he took my hand into his, theheat from his body somewhat relaxing me, and helpedme from the truck.. “Is that a Healer thing, all the heatyou produce?” I wasn’t complaining, just curious.Chance laughed.

“A lot of questions tonight, huh?” I heard the tiniestbit of aggravation behind his words.

“Sorry.”“No, no, it’s okay. And to answer your question,

yes, it is. Does it bother you?”“No way.” I smiled at him full-on this time, so

happy to be holding his hand again. “I wouldn’t give itup for anything.”

“Good,” he said, squeezing my hand tighter.“Because I’m not letting you go.” He pulled me closerto him, his warmth engulfing me and making me feelsafe, and we walked into the gym like a real, normalcouple.

Kayla had been right about the decorations, they

were amazing. The entire inside of the gymnasiumwas covered in white, black and red. Balloons,streamers, candles, draped fabric; anything that couldbe used to decorate a room was there. My nervesimmediately eased when I saw how beautiful the placelooked, filled with dancing couples and great music. Igave Chance’s hand a squeeze.

“This is great,” I said over the hum of music.“Thanks for asking me.”

“Thanks for saying yes.” With that he pulled mecloser to him again, wrapping his strong, warm armsaround me.

“Will you dance with me, Ava?” He whispered in myear once we were deep into the heart of thetransformed gymnasium. The way he asked, so sweetand charming and a little nervous, made me swell.

“Of course.” He smiled wide, and we melted into thesea of dancers, falling effortlessly into rhythm witheveryone else. It felt as though my body—my life—hadbeen taken over by someone else, someone n o t avampire. I felt like I was living inside a fairy tale, like Iwas the star of Cinderella instead of Frankenstein. Itwas magical. I was so thankful for Chance, for himsaving me that night in the cemetery, and every nightsince. I was also thankful that I wasn’t overwhelmedwith bloodlust, being packed in a room full ofhormonal teenagers. I could definitely smell them, but

hormonal teenagers. I could definitely smell them, butI wasn’t on the verge of vamping out and killinganyone, so I was able to relax. I’m sure that havingmy body pressed tightly against Chance’s helped withthat. Most girls probably would have been reallynervous being so close to someone like him, but Iwasn’t. I had never felt more at home than I did inthat moment, in his arms. Chance obviously knewwhat might have happened with me and a gym full ofwarm blood. That had to be why he made sure I fedbefore coming here. Yet another thing he knew aboutmy kind that I didn’t. I hoped to one day change that.

“You smell great,” he said, his face nuzzled in thecusp of my neck. The feel of his breath on my skinwas intoxicating.

“You do, too.” He pulled his head away from meand looked me in the eyes, a mischievous grin on hisface.

“That’s not fair,” he said, his voice barely above awhisper in my ear. “You can smell my blood.”

“And it smells wonderful.” I laughed, hoping itwould be the first of many times the two of us sharedlaughter. Chance laughed, too, and pulled me backagainst his warm body. I could feel his heart beatingagainst me, its rhythm soothing. I was so surprisedwith how easily he spoke about my vampire abilitiesnow, much different than before. I had assumed hehated hearing—or saying—anything to do with it, butnow, arm-in-arm with him on the dance floor, with the

now, arm-in-arm with him on the dance floor, with thepulse of music and the beat of his heart against me, Iwondered if it was actually being near m e that hadmade him so nervous? Had he been feeling somethingfor me all along, and I had just been too clueless tosee it? We stayed locked together through so manysongs I lost count. I could have stayed there dancingwith him forever, never leaving his embrace. But afterwhat seemed like only a few minutes, Chance slowlypulled away from me.

“I’ll be back in a minute,” he said with a smile.“Where are you going?” I felt my nerves wake up in

anticipation.“I’m sure with your super abilities you may not need

to,” he answered, “but I have to go to the bathroom.”I immediately relaxed again, feeling blood rush to mycheeks.

“Oh. Sorry.” I felt so stupid for not realizing thateven though I could have stayed there on the dancefloor with him all night, he wouldn’t be able to hold offas long on doing things like going to the bathroom.

“It’s cool. I’ll be back in a flash.” He looked soridiculous and cheesy the way he practically sprintedoff the dance floor. I laughed out loud as I watchedhim disappear into the darkened corner of the gymwhere the boys’ locker room was hiding. For the firsttime in my life—before and after my ‘death’—I felthappy. That happiness was short-lived, though, once Irealized that I was left standing on the dance floor

realized that I was left standing on the dance flooralone. I had spent so much time keeping Chance fromgetting close to me, that now I wanted him near mealways. Thankfully Kayla somehow spotted me in thedense crowd of teens and pulled me to the front of thedance floor next to the refreshment table.

“You look great,” she said, her voice barely carryingabove the din of the room.

“You too,” I yelled back, hoping she could hear me.“Having fun?”“Absolutely.” And I was. I was actually having a

great time, so happy that I had agreed to come. And Iwas happy that I was able to see her having fun, too.“Did you come alone?” I asked, not seeing a guylurking behind her waiting for her to stop gossipingand dance.

“My date had to go call his parents.” She rolled hereyes as she spoke, obviously annoyed with the guy shewas with. “Yeah he’s a bit of a nerd, but he’s cool. Hisname’s Michael. He’s a year younger than me. Mymom would totally freak!” The sound of her laughterwas funny and infectious, and I was soon laughing,too.

“Glad you’re having such a good time.”“Same here.” Her eyes took a quick glance at the

front doors. “There’s Michael,” she said. “Gonna go getmy dance on!” I laughed again as I watched her crossthe gymnasium and practically drag Michael onto thedance floor. I got the feeling that he wasn’t the

dance floor. I got the feeling that he wasn’t thedancing type, but was trying to be the perfect date forher. As I stood there watching the dance floor patronssway with the music—which was a fast song, now—Irealized that Chance had been gone for quite a while.Panic began a slow crawl up my back as I lookedaround for him. I scanned the dark corner as I slowlywalked toward the boys’ locker room, hoping I wouldspot him in the sea of faces. For once I was actuallythankful for my vampire abilities; I was able to makeout every feature on my peers, even in near totaldarkness.

I spotted Travis and Lacey practically mauling eachother in the far corner. It shocked me that none of theadults chaperoning the dance had forced them apart. Iwas also surprised seeing the two of them together;no one had said anything about them being a couple. Itried to ignore their face sucking as I walked past themon my way to the locker room. I was glad it was dark—and that they were “preoccupied”—so they wouldn’tsee me. The last thing I wanted was Lacey trying tostart something and ruining my night.

I probably should have knocked or somethinginstead of just opening the locker room door, but Iwas almost totally freaking out and didn’t have thetime to worry about what I might have seen inside. AllI could think about was what Aldric had said to methat first night in the cemetery, when he told me whatI was. Soon, others will discover your existence.

I was. Soon, others will discover your existence.Had that time now come? Had someone—or

something—found out about me, about what I was,and now they wanted to get me, and they took Chanceto do it? I barged into the locker room like I ownedthe place, rounding the corner of the cinder block wallput directly behind the door to block the room fromthe gym. The setup was a mirror image of the girls’locker room, the only difference being the putrid smellof ‘guy’ hanging in the air. I did my best to not breathein the rancid odor—I actually preferred smellingvampire blood to that horrible stench—as I woundthrough the rows of lockers and benches, my eyesimmediately adjusting to the terrible lighting as Isearched for Chance.

But the room was empty. I even opened all thelockers that weren’t locked just to make sure he hadn’tbeen shoved into one by a group of Neanderthal jocks,which would never happen given how large andmuscular he was. I opened all the bathroom stalldoors, praying I would find him in one. It would havebeen embarrassing without question, but at least Iwould have known he was okay. But they were allempty, too. Just as I was about to go tell a chaperonthat he was missing, the strong scent of dead blood hitme hard in the face. A vampire had just walked intomy high school dance.

I ran out of the locker room as fast as I couldwithout using my super speed. I didn’t want to risk

without using my super speed. I didn’t want to risksomeone seeing me. I fell into the crowd unnoticed,the smell of the vampire’s blood leading me to theother side of the gymnasium. I followed the scent,remembering what Aldric had taught me aboutblocking out everything around me. I forced my mindto cut away all the noise of the music and the kidslaughing and talking, leaving only the trail of blood tofocus on. It grew stronger as I crossed the dance floor,and I allowed my fangs to drop into place. I wanted tobe ready for anything. If a vampire had the nerve toshow up here, I would have to risk being seen toprotect everyone.

As I stepped out of the crowd of dancers, thevampire came into view. He was tall like Aldric, andjust as good-looking, but I could sense right away thathe was much more evil and dangerous. Evil waspractically hanging off of his large, muscular frame. Hewas staring right at me as I walked toward him, hiseyes a brilliant gold unlike anything I had ever seen. Iwas actually surprised that other people weren’t staringat him, at those eyes. Of course, they were all toofocused on themselves and their dates to see anythingelse. I probably could have killed him right in front ofeveryone and they wouldn’t have noticed. I wasactually grateful for that.

“Who are you?” I asked once I was close enoughwhere no one would hear me. My fangs twitchedinside my mouth with nervous energy. He looked

inside my mouth with nervous energy. He lookeddown at me and smiled, the corners of his mouthlifting into a wicked, evil grin.

“Avaline, how rude to ask someone’s name. Youshould always wait for them to introduce themselves.That is the polite thing to do.” I could tell by the wayhe spoke that this vampire was definitely not a newone. He sounded old—older than Aldric, even—andpowerful, though he looked almost as young as me.

“You already know who I am,” I snapped back. “It’sonly fair for me to ask.” My nerves were on fire, myentire body a live wire of anxious energy. He kept thatcreepy smile on his face, raising his eyes to look outonto the crowd of teenagers.

“I know much more about you than just yourname.” So he obviously knew I was half human. Hecould probably smell it in my blood.

“Like what?” I was getting antsy with anticipation. Iwas hoping I wouldn’t have to fight him in the middleof the Valentine’s dance, but at the same time, Iwanted to rip his head off.

“Like the fact that you are clueless as to who you aretalking to right now. And that you have no idea howeasily I could kill you and none of these trivial humanswould ever know.” He held a confidence in his voicethat made me shiver. I knew he was telling the truth,that he could kill me before I ever got close enough tohim to do any damage; that didn’t mean I wouldn’ttry.

“But you won’t,” I said. I wasn’t sure of that, but Idoubted he would come to a packed high school partyto kill me when he could have waited until I was alone.I hoped that was the case, at least.

“No. I won’t. Not yet, anyway.”“Then what do you want?” I was getting impatient

with him. Even though he scared me, I didn’t intend toshow it. I just wanted him to get on with whatever hehad planned. He smiled again and stepped closer tome. The super-strong smell of his rotten blood turnedmy stomach.

“I think you should be asking what y o u want,Avaline.” At first I was confused by what he said until Irealized that he was the reason Chance hadn’t comeback from the locker room. I felt the muscles in mybody tighten, locking in and ready to fight.

“Where is he?” I asked, the urge to attack gettingharder and harder to control.

“You’ve been a very busy girl, Avaline. News of youand what you have been doing traveled fast. Once Iheard that a little girl was going around killingvampires, I just had to come see for myself.Impressive work, by the way. I don’t think even themost skilled hunters have had as much success asyou.”

“I don’t screw around,” I said. “Now tell me whereChance is.” I felt venom ooze from my fangs, ready tokill the monster in front of me.

“Now where’s the fun in that? If I just tell you where

“Now where’s the fun in that? If I just tell you wherehe is, then you’ll miss out on being the hero. I can’t letthat happen.” His wicked smile was making me sick. Iwas looking forward to getting the chance to rip itfrom his face. But I knew I couldn’t do anything to himbefore I found out where he was keeping Chance, if hewas even still alive. The thought made me shudder. Icouldn’t think about Chance being dead because ofme, not while I was about to have to fight thestrongest vampire I had ever met. I pushed thethought from my mind.

“I’ll be the hero anyway,” I said with fakeconfidence. “Once I save his life and kill you.” Thevampire let a tiny laugh escape his lips.

“Strong words for such a young girl. But I admireyour determination. I was hoping you wouldn’t give upeasily.” He stepped even closer to me and leaneddown, his mouth breathing rancid air on my neck ashe whispered in my ear.

“Where you made your first kill. If you want to seehim alive again, be there at midnight.” Before I couldblink, he was gone. I frantically looked around theroom, but he was nowhere to be found. I didn’t havetime to hunt for him. It was already less than an houruntil midnight, and I had to find a way to get out tothose woods before Chance ended up dead. As Ipushed through the crowd, still being careful not todraw any unwanted attention to myself, Kayla camerunning up to me. Her cheerful disposition quickly

running up to me. Her cheerful disposition quicklyfaded once she was close enough to see my face.

“What’s going on?” she asked, nerves littering herwords. I didn’t want her to know what had happened—I couldn’t let her get hurt—but something was tellingme that I was going to need some help.

“Chance is gone,” I said, still moving toward thefront doors. “A vampire took him, and I’ve got to gethim back.”

“I’m with you,” Kayla said, her voice suddenlystrong and confident. I didn’t even bother to arguewith her; I knew it would have been a waste of time.

“You sure?”“Definitely.” She fished a cell phone from her purse

as we headed out to the parking lot. “Let’s take mymom’s car,” she added, punching numbers into thekeypad. “It’s faster than his truck.” I couldn’t arguewith that. Chance’s truck didn’t exactly scream speedracer, which is what we needed. Mrs. Harper’s car wasmuch newer and sportier, and no doubt twice as fast. Ifollowed Kayla across the parking lot as she spoke intothe phone. It didn’t surprise me who she was calling.

“Erik, we need you and Lila to meet us—” Shepaused to look over at me. I gave her the info I gotfrom the vampire and she continued, “—at the oldCaldon mansion. It’s time to hunt.” She snapped thephone shut and tossed it back into her purse, pullingher keys out and pressing the button to unlock thedoors of the car.

doors of the car.“How did you know it’s the Caldon house?” I asked.“I researched this place before we moved here. You

know, scoping out the local legends.”“So what’d you find out about that place?”“Nothing. Except it belonged to the Caldons.”“And you remembered that?”“Yep. Photographic memory.” Kayla tapped her

temple with her keys as we hopped in the car and spedaway from the school; the entire exchange took lessthan thirty seconds.

“Who was he?” she asked as we zipped throughtown.

“I don’t know. He didn’t tell me his name.” Imagesof Chance being tortured or killed flashed through mymind, fueling my rage even further. “But he was old, Icould tell.”

“How old?”“Not sure. But I could sense that he was powerful,

so old.”“That’s not good,” Kayla said, scaring me even

more. I knew fighting a really old vampire was bad,but hearing her say it made it seem so much worse.“But doable.” She looked over at me and smiled, but Icould see the fear shrouding her face. She was asscared as I was that something bad was about tohappen.

“I need to go by Chance’s house,” I said as we lefttown and headed out toward the old house in the

town and headed out toward the old house in thewoods. “I’ll be quick. I just need to make sure hismom is okay.” I didn’t need to have to worry abouther being harmed because of me, too.

“Good idea. Just make it fast.” Kayla sped up toshave off some time, knowing that every second wewasted put Chance in danger. When she sped downthe driveway to Chance’s house, I was practically outof the car before it stopped. I shot through the doorwith vampire speed, no longer caring if Ms. Caldonsaw me or not. I would have to worry about that later.Right now I had to make sure she wasn’t hurt.

I made it to the kitchen before I realized somethingwas off. A cold breeze was flowing freely throughoutthe house, slightly moving the curtains hanging overthe kitchen window. A pot of something that smelleddelicious was steaming on the stove, but Chance’smom was nowhere in sight.

“Hello?” I called out, turning off the burner andmoving the boiling pot to the sink. I moved aroundthe bottom floor of the house, hoping for any signs oflife. “Ms. Caldon?” Nothing. My paranoia kicked in, andmy nerves went on high alert. Something was wrong,I could feel it. Without even thinking about it, myfangs broke through my gums and slid into place overmy teeth and I immediately went into defense mode. Iwas momentarily thankful to Aldric for starting off withthat. He had been right; a good defense was the bestoffense.

offense.I slowly and methodically scoured every room in the

house, absolutely positive after seeing the front doorwide open and the TV on that something bad hadhappened. I checked every place someone like me—adeadly vampire—could hide: closets, bathrooms,pantry, everywhere. There was no one in the houseother than me. My first instinct was to bolt out thefront door and try to find and follow the trail thatwhoever had taken Ms. Caldon might have left. But Ididn’t have to. A quick glance out the back door endedmy search.

I flung the door open and jumped off the porch, myfeet firmly landing on the soft lawn. It took twoseconds for me to sprint across the yard to where Ms.Caldon lay crumpled against a giant oak tree next tothe privacy fence. Before I even knelt down next toher, I knew she was dead. Her face was void of allcolor, her eyes wide open and staring into space. Giantpuncture marks on her neck drenched in spilled bloodtold me all I needed to know. A vampire had killedChance’s mom, and it happened because of me.

I wanted to cry and scream and hit something ashard as I could, but I didn’t have time. I had to get toChance before he suffered the same fate.

24. PAYBACKI sprang into action after finding Chance’s mom. I

put a call in to the police, pretending to be a neighborthat heard something suspicious at the Caldon house. Ifigured that was the easiest way to get the cops to findMs. Caldon without directly involving myself. Iabsolutely hated to leave her like that, but I had tosave her son. I knew it was what she would havewanted me to do. I fought the urge to lock up thehouse, feeling it was probably best for the police tofind it the way I did. I definitely didn’t want to disruptany evidence. I ran outside to an eager Kayla behindthe wheel.

“She okay?” Kayla asked as she sped down the driveand onto the highway.

“She’s dead.” I blurted the words out as fast as Icould, trying to avoid crying. I thought of Ms. Caldonas my own mom. She had taken me in without evenknowing me and had been nothing but nice to me.And now she was dead. The guilt I was feeling wasunbearable, only fueling my anger even more. I wasdetermined to make whoever did that to her pay.

“What?” Kayla gasped, her eyes darting from theroad to me. A light dusting of snow had begun to fall,making night driving difficult. Normally I would havebeen scared to have someone else driving, but Kaylawas the best option at the time. My mind was too busytrying to figure out how to save Chance’s life to worry

trying to figure out how to save Chance’s life to worryabout road conditions.

“A vampire killed her. Probably the same one fromthe dance.” My mind flashed back to the vampire’sface. His pale skin, dark eyes and evil smile unnervedme. He was a ruthless killer who probably murderedChance’s mom without even thinking about it.

“Oh my God,” Kayla said with tears in her eyes. “Ican’t believe this.” I couldn’t either. I couldn’t believeany of this was happening. Me being a vampire,Chance being a Healer, it was all so unbelievable. I feltlike somehow I had gone to sleep and woken up insidea nightmare. One that was only getting worse.

“This is going to kill Chance,” Kayla added, her voiceshaking. I tried not to think of what it would do to himif he found out—or when. He would be totallydestroyed, especially knowing that if he had been therehe could have healed her, saved her. I didn’t know ifChance wanted anyone else to know about his ability,so I kept it to myself. I figured he could tell who hewanted once I rescued him. That gave me some hope.

As we headed out of town, my mind turned fromworry about Chance to worrying about Kayla and Erikand Lila. I was the only immortal one on our side. Iwas afraid that a large number of vampires wouldprove to be too much for a normal human to fightagainst. They were vampire hunters, though, andcould probably hold their own better than me. But still,I would have felt better if we had some more power

I would have felt better if we had some more poweron our side.

It only took a second for my brain to make theconnection. There was only one other person whocould fight vampires with the same force and powerthat I could.

“We need to make one more stop,” I said, mynerves on edge.

“We don’t have time,” Kayla stammered, checkingthe clock on the dash. “We have less than half an hourtill midnight.”

“Then drive faster. This won’t take long.”“Where are we going?” Kayla sped up as she spoke,

knowing that arguing would only waste time.“Reinforcements.” I focused on the rapidly

increasing snowfall outside my window, hoping wewould make it to the old Caldon estate without havingan accident or something. It was really coming down,coating everything in beautiful white.

“I hope you know what you’re doing,” Kayla said asshe floored the gas and her mom’s Volvo slicedthrough the snow.

“Me too.”We made it to Aldric’s house in less than five

minutes. Kayla slowed the car and I jumped out andbounded up the steps of his porch with vampire speed.I was about to knock when the door flew open andAldric was standing there, dressed in his usual stylishblack with a panicked look on his face.

black with a panicked look on his face.“Ava, what’s wrong?” His vampire hearing was

obviously better trained than mine.“It’s Chance,” I said, already heading back to the

car. “He’s been taken. We have to go get him.” I didn’twait for Aldric to protest as I opened the door toKayla’s car. Surprisingly, he was climbing in the backat the same time.

“Who are you?” Kayla asked once she maneuveredthe car back onto the highway.

“This is Aldric,” I answered.“Aldric?” Kayla cut her eyes at me a few times

before realizing who he was. “Ah,” she said. “Got it.”She kept her eyes glued to the road after that, but Icaught her stealing glances in the rearview mirrorevery few seconds.

“What happened?” Aldric asked. Though he stillspoke in his calm, poised fashion, I detected the tiniestbit of frantic worry lurking behind his words. I wasactually surprised at what appeared to be genuineconcern coming from him. I quickly filled him in onwhat went down at the dance.

“Sounds like Sebastian,” he said, staring ahead intothe snowy night surrounding us. We had already leftthe city limits, the road now dark and ominous.

“Who’s Sebastian?” I asked, turning in my seat tolook at him. His face held the tiniest hint ofnervousness, which didn’t help my nerves at all.

“I was part of his coven years ago. I left because we

“I was part of his coven years ago. I left because wehad...a difference of opinion.”

“What was that?”“He felt vampires should rule the world. I didn’t.”

Hearing him say that gave me a glimmer of hope thatmaybe he wasn’t as evil as I thought.

“So what? Now he’s put some sort of humanextinction plan into action? Starting with Chance’smom?” I tried to hide the panic in my voice, but Idefinitely wasn’t prepared to go up against somethingthat strong.

“What happened to Chance’s mother?” He asked.I swallowed the lump in my throat. “She’s dead.” I

choked back my tears. “She was drained.” I could feelKayla cringe in the seat beside me. She kept her handslocked on the wheel and her eyes on the road, but asudden spike in how fast her blood was flowingrevealed her unease.

“I don’t know what he has planned,” Aldriccontinued. “I think he just wants to stop you fromkilling vampires. But I’m sure it’s because you’rethrowing a kink into whatever plan he does have.You’re in the way, so to speak. And he can’t havethat.”

“Can we beat him?” I asked, afraid to hear hisanswer.

“I don’t know that, either,” Aldric said with honesty.“He’s very strong, and very lethal. And when he wantssomething, he always gets it.”

“Great. So now I have an entire army of vampireswho hates me. My life just keeps getting better.” Iturned forward in my seat, my brain shifting intohyper drive as it tried to process all that I was hearing.

We finally made it to the woods surrounding theabandoned house, careful to park far enough away sowe wouldn’t be seen. Sebastian had told me to come. Ididn’t want him or his coven knowing about myfriends. I was glad to see Erik and Lila had alreadyarrived, their twin frames strapped with stakes andcrossbows and even some of those darts I knew all toowell. Having someone ready to stand and fight andpossibly even die to help me was overwhelming andinspiring. Even in the midst of the tragic nightunfolding, I somehow managed a tiny smile.

“You okay?” Erik asked, his voice strong and loud inthe quiet of the night.

“I will be, now that you guys are here.” I walkedover to Kayla, who was busy pulling her own weaponsfrom a bag in her trunk. “Are you ready for this?” Iknew her answer before she even said it.

“I was born ready.” We both smiled grimly andjoined the others. As our tiny group pushed throughthe thick of the woods, a sinking feeling of doom cameover me. I couldn’t help but think that regardless ofhow big a coven of vampires we were about to walkinto, some of us—if not all—wouldn’t make it out alive.

“Be on alert,” Aldric said to no one in particular. He

was standing tall, and even though his eyes werefocused on the clearing coming into view through thedarkness and trees, I knew that somehow he wasseeing everything going on around us. His senses werespot on, and having him there made me morecomfortable; not that I was super comfortable to beginwith.

“Yeah,” Lila piped up. “Like I’m gonna take ordersfrom a bloodsucking leech.” I could hear the sarcasmin her words, and even though we were about to fightthe biggest battle any of us had ever faced—well,except maybe Aldric—I really wanted to walk over andpunch her. But I thought it was probably a smart ideaif the good guys weren’t discovered because they werefighting each other. So I bit my tongue and kept quiet.Apparently Kayla didn’t think like me.

“You could always walk out there blind and get yourthroat cut.” Kayla’s voice was barely a whisper, but Lilagot her point. I expected Lila to start an argumentgiven her overbearing personality, so I was surprisedwhen she didn’t say anything back.

“Let’s just get on with it,” Erik added withaggravation.

“They started it,” Lila pouted.“I don’t care,” Erik snapped back. “Just stop.” I

could feel the tension between them, thick like the

could feel the tension between them, thick like thesnow skirting our feet.

“Heads up.” Aldric stopped their useless banter withhis stern voice. I focused on the clearing, which wasclouded with a thick blanket of snow sweeping acrossthe damp grass. The flakes were falling fast and heavynow, clouding our view worse than before. Even withvampire eyes, I could just barely make out thesilhouette of two people crossing the open field. Ofcourse, I knew they weren’t people—well, not livingpeople, anyway. They were vampires, and I had nodoubt they were the first of many.

“Kayla,” Aldric whispered. “You three go east, try tocircle around and come in from the other side. Avaand I will move straight forward.”

“Shouldn’t one of us be with them?” I asked,worried about splitting up our human/vampire ratio.

“We’ll be fine,” Kayla answered. “We’ve done thisbefore.” I knew she meant they had stalked/hunted/killed vampires before, but I didn’t believe for a secondshe or Erik or Lila had ever taken down an entirecoven at once. Not that I knew for sure that we wereabout to face a coven. That was the worst part, notknowing what we were up against.

“How many are there, Aldric?” I knew he couldn’tgive me an exact answer, but somewhere in theballpark would have been great.

“Not sure,” he said. “Sebastian’s coven was ratherlarge when I left, so he could have brought along any

large when I left, so he could have brought along anynumber of members.” He spoke of the family ofvampires like it was a country club or something,which really creeped me out. “But no coven travels inits entirety. There are always those who stay behind,just in case.”

“In case of what?”“In case they run into someone like us.” I picked up

on his optimism. He sounded confident we were goingto prevail, and I prayed he was right. I didn’t sayanything other than “be careful” as Kayla, Erik and Lilabroke off from the group and disappeared into thedarkness of the woods. I lost sight of them almostinstantly through the snowfall, and after a fewseconds, I couldn’t even hear them moving anymore.

“You aren’t sending them into a trap or anything,are you?” I kept my eyes locked on the vampires in theclearing as I spoke. Now that we were down to two—well, one and a half if we were counting vampirepower—I didn’t want them to get the slip on us.

“Of course not,” Aldric said sharply. “I’m here tohelp you, Ava. Trust me.”

“Trust a vampire. Isn’t that like an oxymoron orsomething?” Aldric didn’t answer. I knew what I saidwas rude, so his silence didn’t surprise me. I wantedso desperately to trust him, to believe him when hesaid that he was on my side. But there was somethingabout him that made me feel uneasy, and I couldn’t letthat feeling go. Not yet, anyway.

“So what now?” I asked, changing the subject. I feltA ldric move up beside me, his arm brushing mine.The warmth and electricity I felt when Chance touchedme wasn’t there, only cold, dead skin. I pulled my armaway, hoping I didn’t offend him.

“Now we have some fun,” Aldric said, unaffected bymy revulsion to his touch. I looked away from theclearing and tried to focus on his face. After a fewseconds, the dull moonlight helped my eyes adjust tothe dark and his features slowly came into view; hewas smiling.

“You have a warped idea of fun,” I muttered as heslowly and methodically crept to the very edge of theclearing. I reluctantly followed him, knowing that bymoving away from the trees, we were giving up whatlittle bit of cover we had. I was actually grateful for thesnow, hoping it would help hide us. Aldric kept low tothe ground, his body seemingly floating along the topof the snow. His feet disturbed the white, puffyblanket, revealing dirt and leaves below. I,unfortunately, wasn’t as graceful. I looked more like asloth slurping along the ground searching for food.

“Wait a minute,” I whispered. Aldric stopped butdidn’t turn around. “What if they see us?” I keptmoving forward, slowly making my way up to whereAldric was crouched.

“We want them to see us,” Aldric said. “They’ll comethis way, and then your friends can make their move.”

“What move? You said they were going to storm the

“What move? You said they were going to storm theclearing from the other side?” I was struggling to keepmy voice low so the vampire guards wouldn’t hear me.

“No, I didn’t. I said they were going to try and comein from the other side. Meaning they were to try andget inside the house. That’s our ultimate goal here,Avaline.” I felt my anger at Aldric building inside,rising to an uncontrollable level. I hated that he hadbecome a part of my life. I hated that he held somesort of power over me. And I hated that he wasrunning the show. Chance was my friend—or whatever—and I was going to be the one calling the shots.

“Then let’s do this,” I said with fervor, abruptlystanding up. Aldric shot up beside me, surpriselittering his face. “And don’t call me Avaline again.”With that, I shot out into the clearing like a bullet, hell-bent on revenge.

25. IT BEGINSI ran forward with all the strength my super-

charged vampire body would give me. I made it lessthan ten feet before the vampires spotted me. One ofthem bolted in my direction, his speed matching mine.The clearing was massive in size, but we would becrashing into each other like two freight trains inseconds. As we both sped through the snow, it flew uparound us, making the entire scene look like the insideof a gigantic snow globe. Of course, I couldn’t imaginea snow globe depicting two vampires attacking eachother being a top seller. I watched as the othervampire sprung into the air and emitted a high-pitchedsound that pierced my ears. He floated freely on theair before swooping down into a full sprint, headeddirectly for me. I felt a wave of panic rush over me,but I forced my mind to block it out. I didn’t have timeto panic. I didn’t have time to do anything other thanrun—and attack. I quickly made the decision to go forthe vampire who had charged me first. Hopefully Icould subdue him before the second one crossed thefifty yards between us and got me.

My eyes were locked on the fast-approachingvampire. He was only a few yards away, and I couldclearly see his fangs practically glowing in the moonlitsky. As he drew closer, the rage within me built up,coursing through my veins and fueling my speed.Somehow my body went even faster, and before I had

Somehow my body went even faster, and before I hadtime to think, the two of us collided. The impact joltedmy body, every cell shaking violently. The pain was sointense. It felt like I had been shot by a thousandguns. I let it fly through me, and I fought back withfierce determination. I tried to ignore the paralyzingpain by filling my mind with images of Chance: thefirst time I saw him; the first time he touched me; ourperfect first kiss. I couldn’t let him die a viscous,horrible death. I wouldn’t be able to live if somethinghappened to him. I couldn’t live without him. Even if Ihad to die so he wouldn’t, I was ready.

The vampire was grasping frantically at my arms,trying to pin them against my body. His fangs wereexposed, and he kept pushing his head forward, tryingto sink them into my neck. I kept my arms moving,constantly changing defense positions to avoid hisgrip. I was trying to reach the stake I had strapped tomy back—courtesy of Lila, surprisingly—before theother vampire reached us. I knew that I was strong,and extremely determined, but I didn’t think I couldtackle two at once. But I couldn’t reach the stake; thevampire was too strong. I couldn’t break free longenough to snag it. A ll I could do was fend off hisadvances.

I looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the othervampire fast approaching. It was a female, her longblack hair pulled tightly behind her. She seemed aboutmy height and weight, which would hopefully work to

my height and weight, which would hopefully work tomy advantage. She was dressed all in black, but Icould see that she was holding something. My eyeszeroed in on her hands, which were fumbling with aweird, metal object. I couldn’t make out what it was atthat distance, but I knew it was some sort of weapon;she was too focused on it for it not to be.

That overpowering thread of panic returned, thistime too strong for me to ignore. I was in trouble, andI needed to think quickly before my fight ended rightthen. As if things couldn’t get worse, I saw three morevampires break through the tree line at the far left sideof the clearing, running full speed in my direction,snow flying all around them. Five at once? No waycould I win.

This is where I die. Right now, alone and fighting.I guess if it was time to die, there was no better way

than fighting for someone you cared for. At least,that’s what I was telling myself as my impending deathswiftly approached. I ignored the three vampirescrossing the clearing, keeping my mind focused on thevampire fighting me and the one fast on his heels. Iknew I could take at least one of them down beforethey killed me.

Having totally forgotten about Aldric, I was caughtoff guard when he flew past me toward the trio ofapproaching vampires. He could definitely take allthree of them on with no problem, which left me todeal with the two in front of me. Not my ideal course

deal with the two in front of me. Not my ideal courseof action, but I understood his reasoning. And havingto fight only two was definitely better than five.

Time seemed to slow down at that moment. Iwatched the girl vampire lift the object in her handsand point it in my direction. I was still grappling withthe guy vampire as he tried to lunge for my neck, butshe was close enough for me to clearly see that shewas holding a crossbow, much like the one Chancehad used on me, loaded and ready to fire. I only had asplit-second to do something or I would be wearing atiny arrow as a headband. I saw the rage in the guy’sface; I saw the determination in the girl’s. They bothwanted to kill me, that I knew for certain. What I alsoknew was that I wasn’t going to let them both live.One of them would die at my hands before I wasdone.

I barely managed to get a good grip on the guyvampire’s forearms when I heard the click of thecrossbow and the whoosh of the arrow slicing throughthe air. With no other option, I spun him to my rightjust as the arrow pierced his back. He screamed thatundeniable scream of death as the metal tip of thearrow broke through the front of his body, dead centerthrough his heart. I felt the muscles in his arms tensethen relax as his body slumped to the ground. Tiny,black spider-webbed veins appeared all over his faceand hands before he turned to ash and was sweptaway in the winter wind.

away in the winter wind.“Noooooo!” The girl vampire screamed as she knelt

down beside him, seconds before the ashes of hisremains were gone. “Max!” That was his name; Max. Ihad just killed Max, and apparently he meantsomething to her. Normally, I would have felt a pangof guilt or remorse, but seeing as she had just tried tokill me, all I could produce was anger. She was madtoo, jumping up to face me.

“I’ll enjoy killing you,” she snarled, her fangsspewing venom as she spoke. Her eyes were on fire,fueled with both hatred for me and a longing for a lostlove. Her body was crouched in an attack position, so Imimicked her stance.

“You already tried,” I snapped back. “This timewon’t be as easy.”

“Good.” With that she sprang forward, crashing intome like a tidal wave. The two of us spiraled back, atwisted force of rage and power, demolishing thepristine snow and uprooting grass as we slammed intothe ground and skidded several feet. He hands werewild, flailing at my arms and face, her pointy nailscutting into my skin. I barely noticed the sting as Ifought off her advances, quickly rolling her beneathme and pinning her down. She growled like an animal,her voice low and guttural and vibrating in my chest.Then I realized it was me. I was the one making thoseanimalistic noises, those sounds of fury. It was mybody convulsing with raw energy and stamina. Without

even thinking, I sunk my fangs into the cusp of herneck, ignoring her agonizing cries as I drank her putridblood.

It took longer to kill her than the vampire I killed inthe woods the day Kayla and I went running. She wasyounger and stronger, her blood much thicker than hishad been. It still tasted rancid and bitter and turnedmy stomach, but it was blood, so it gave me the tiniestburst of energy. I shot up from the ground and into afull run, charging toward Aldric and the one vampirehe had left to take down. The other two lay crumpledat his feet. I guessed that the crossbow the girlvampire killed Max with was coated in something,since he had turned to ash and the others didn’t.Probably the same something Erik and Lila had used todispose of the vampire Kayla had killed at the mall.

I sped toward Aldric with fierce determination. Butmovement to my right caught my eye and I stoppeddead in my tracks. I saw Erik and Lila slowly crossingthe clearing, Chance practically being dragged alongwith them. I forgot about Aldric and sprinted in theirdirection. I could tell by Lila’s stunned expression thatshe was freaked out by my super speed.

“How is he?” I asked, taking Chance from betweenthem and lowering him slowly to the ground. He wasunconscious but still breathing.

“Hurt but alive,” Lila said from behind me. Erik spunin slow, tight circles, his eyes scanning the dark woodsaround us.

around us.“Where’s Kayla?” I asked, suddenly worried she

didn’t make it.“Not sure,” Erik answered, his eyes glued to the

edges of the clearing. My mind immediately went toKayla and our new friendship. If anything happened toher because of me, I would never forgive myself.

“She was fighting the vampires guarding Chancewhile we got him out,” Lila added. “She told us to go,so we did.”

“You left her in there alone?” I already didn’t likeLila. This was just fuel for the fire.

“She knows how much he means to you. Shewanted to make sure he got out alive.”

I couldn’t argue with her on that. Kayla definitelyknew that Chance meant the world to me—probablyalways had known. And of all people, she would bethe first to stay and fight. She wouldn’t want to be theone having to run away from a challenge. I admiredher for that, but at the same time, I was mad as hell ather for risking her life for me. But she hadn’t done itjust for me. She did if for Chance. I looked down athim again, his head resting on my folded legs.

The snow had finally stopped falling, but the dark,ominous clouds filled the night sky, causing themoonlight to fade in and out. I couldn’t clearly seeChance’s face, but I didn’t need to. The intoxicatingsmell of his blood hit my nostrils, and I had to focusall my energy and strength on trying to ignore it. His

all my energy and strength on trying to ignore it. Hisscent had always drawn me in, but now that his bloodwas flowing outside of his body, the draw was almosttoo much to bear. It was just like when he offered tolet me feed on him.

“What’s wrong?” I heard Erik’s voice as he moved tostand in front of me. I looked up at him, unable tospeak. “Oh God.”

“What?” Lila asked, moving next to her brother. Sheonly stood there a second before quickly stooping andshoving me hard in the shoulder. I rolled onto myback, Chance’s head dropping to the ground.

“Get away from him,” Lila continued, her voicefrantic. I sat upright and watched as she and Erikcircled Chance, who was still unconscious. I openedmy mouth to ask what the hell her problem was. Aquick flick of my tongue told me.

I knew from the stunned and angry looks on theirfaces, and the taste of venom in my mouth, that myfangs were out. Which meant I was hungry, andChance’s blood was all over my hands.

26. LOSSI’m sorry,” I stammered, pulling myself away from

Chance and curling my body in on itself. “Sorry.” Icouldn’t say anything else. My mind was too focusedon the alluring smell of Chance’s blood flooding mynostrils, and the fact that I wanted to taste it again.The thought both sickened and excited me. How couldI be so horrible? How could I want to drink his bloodagain? I should be destroyed.

“Just stay over there,” Erik said, his eyes going fromme to Chance. I looked across the clearing to seeAldric still fighting with a rather large vampire. Eventhough we didn’t really get tired—well, full vampiresdidn’t, anyway—I imagined that Aldric’s resilience waswearing thin.

“I need to help him,” I called out, standing up.“No!” Lila yelled, stepping between Chance and me.

“We said stay.” She held out her hand at me, the sharppoint of a stake inches from my chest. I couldn’tspeak. I just looked into her eyes.

“That’s not necessary,” I said calmly. My body wasscreaming at me to move back, to at least be preparedfor an attack. But my mind was in control, and it wastelling me to stand my ground.

“I’ll decide that,” Lila said, her voice sharp andpowerful. “You have no clue what you’re capable of.”

“I know I would never hurt him,” I said, lookingover her shoulder at Chance. He was still out cold, and

over her shoulder at Chance. He was still out cold, andErik was kneeling beside him. I watched as he rippedoff a piece of his torn shirt and used it to stop Chance’sforehead from bleeding. I felt my mouth salivating.

“Fine,” I reluctantly agreed. The two of us stoodmotionless, staring each other down, just waiting forthe other to make a sudden move. I knew Lila wasprobably the best when it came to killing vampires, butI also knew I was fast. Could I beat her? Could I ripher throat out before she shoved that piece of woodinto my heart? My mind was busy weighing myoptions when a familiar and terrifying smell floated onthe breeze in front of me. My body tensed, and mynew super senses went into overdrive.

“Move him,” I ordered Lila, stepping away from herand her stake.

“What?” she asked, turning her body to follow me,clutching the stake even tighter in her hand. I didn’tlook at her, my mind too focused on what wascoming.

“I said move him, Lila. Now.” She didn’t questionwhat I said, or the fact that I was walking towardChance and Erik. The tone of my voice told hereverything. She and her brother lifted Chancestretcher-style and carted him as far to the other sideof the clearing as they could and still be able to protecthim from all sides. I watched them lay him on theground just as Kayla came bounding down the steps ofthe house, dirty and bloody but very alive. I wanted to

the house, dirty and bloody but very alive. I wanted torun to her and hug her and tell her how much I lovedher for saving him, but that I hated her for being sostupid with her own life. But I didn’t have time. Aldricwas beside me in a flash, the two of us falling into arhythm as we walked slowly to the center of the field.

“You smell it, too?” he asked, already knowing theanswer.

“It’s strong,” I said, my mind focused on the rottenodor invading every cell in my body. “Very strong.”The stench was overwhelming, making me sick andagitated all at once. I felt my muscles tighten as thesmell grew even more intense, fast approaching. Iyelled back for Kayla, and she quickly ran over to us.She didn’t have to ask what was wrong. She could tellby my panicked expression that things were about togo from bad to worse.

The trees lining the edge of the clearing began toshake as the wind blowing through them picked up. Iwatched intensely as several pairs of yellow eyesappeared in the darkness of the woods, all of themsquinted and angry looking.

“Ready?” I said, noticing that Erik had joined us. Hewas focused on the trees, both of his hands tightlygripping wooden stakes. The moonlight peekingthrough the clouds made their pointy tips glow; theywere treated with the mystery chemical, too. Faster tokill with, I supposed. I glanced back over my shoulderto see Lila crouched over Chance, stakes occupying her

to see Lila crouched over Chance, stakes occupying herhands, too. Even though I didn’t like her that much—not at all, really—I was glad that she was the oneguarding him. At least I knew he would be safe.

“Definitely,” Kayla said, pulling a couple of poison-laced stakes from the straps on her back. I looked ather and she smiled, but I could see fear in her eyes. Ofall of us, she was the one I was worried about most.

“Good, because they’re here.” I turned back to thewoods just as dozens of vampires stepped into theclearing. Some of them were jumping from the tops ofthe trees, while others sprinted across the grass. All ofthem were ultimately heading for the four of usstanding side by side, ready to fight.

“Kayla,” I said, my eyes focused on the wall ofkillers moving toward us. “When I say, you follow me.Erik, you and Aldric go opposite of us.” No oneanswered me, but I knew they were all listening. Iwatched the coven moving swiftly through the foggymoonlight, trying to wait as long as possible before wemade our move. My body was on edge withanticipation and fear, and I could tell by the rise in thesmell of Kayla’s and Erik’s blood scents that they feltthe same tension. I imagined Aldric was calm andcollected, as always, eager to fight. I was eager, too. Ijust wasn’t filled with his overpowering confidence.

When I felt the moment was right, I yelled “NOW!”The four of us broke off in pairs. Kayla ran with me tothe left while Aldric and Erik shot out to the right side

the left while Aldric and Erik shot out to the right sideof the clearing. The strategy worked like I had hoped.The vampires were momentarily caught off guard,giving us a very small, but very much needed,advantage. I only prayed none of us would waste it.

I shot up and out, crashing mid-air with a vampiretwice my size. I didn’t wait for us to hit the ground; Iwent for his neck, my fangs unsheathing just in timeto pierce his skin. Putrid blood spewed from the bite,coating me and the white snow with the vampire’sdead blood. By the time I landed back in the mattedgrass, he was dead, his skin littered with black veins.

I caught sight of Kayla out of the corner of my eyeas she drove a stake into the heart of a very young-looking vampire boy. As his body turned to ash anddisintegrated, I doubted he was even a teenager. Nowhe never would be. I didn’t have time to think abouthim, though. Two more vampires as violent andcrazed as the first were tackling me in seconds. I flewbackward, rolling over myself and landing in acrouched position. I shot straight up and wrestled withthe pair, kicking one back to the woods while I bit theother one. I didn’t even notice the horrible-tastingblood this time, my body now numb to it. I simplydrank until the vampire was dead and flung its body tothe side, ready for my next kill.

The vampire I kicked away charged toward me atfull speed, along with two more who noticed I was stillalive. I only had one set of fangs, so I had to do

something fast.“Kayla!” I yelled at her to throw me a stake. Two

seconds later I was catching the sharpened piece ofwood in one hand while fighting off the advancingvampire with the other. The smell emanating from thestake burned my eyes and made me cough. I tried tohold it as far from my face as possible, hoping Iwouldn’t be keeping it very long. The vampire spunaround in front of me as two girl vampires flankedhim. One of the girls snarled at me as the three ofthem stood semi-circle about ten feet away. I suddenlyfelt like a baby gazelle who had been cornered awayfrom her flock and was about to become dinner. All Isaw were glowing eyes and fangs as the three of themmoved forward in slow synchronization. They weredaring me, I could tell. They wanted me to attack,because they knew I was outnumbered. With no otheroption but to fight, I went for the male vampire first,hoping that he would be the strongest of the three andthe girls would be a bit easier to fight. Not thatfighting a vampire was easy, but it was the only plan Ihad.

I barely made it to him before he and the girl on hisleft jumped in together to take me down. He went formy arms and the stake while she bee-lined for myneck; strength in numbers. As I kept my body movingto avoid her fangs, I knew this was my final moment. Iwasn’t going to make it out of this fight, but I plannedon taking out as many of these three as I could.

on taking out as many of these three as I could.The guy was so strong and fast, it took all I had just

to keep the stake locked in my hand. He kept reachingfor my fingers, trying to pry them open so the stakewould fall. I’m sure he planned on using it on meinstead, but I managed to out-maneuver him.Unfortunately, my body was fast giving out on me. Atthat moment, being part human really sucked. Eventhough I knew that all the vampires fighting—Aldricincluded—were getting tired, they had miles of energyleft in them compared to me. If I wanted to kill at leastone more before I died, I had to do something. Ikicked as hard as I could at the guy vampire, my footmaking contact with his knee. I knew it wouldn’t doany permanent damage, but for the time being I washappy to hear the popping noise his kneecap made asit dislodged and he fell to the ground in excruciatingpain. His hands quickly let go of mine. I gave the girltrying to climb up my back a swift elbow, shatteringher nose and sending her reeling backwards in a fit oftears and screams.

As she clutched her face, I made a bold move andshot into the air, flying above the vampire with theshattered knee and falling straight down on top ofhim. In the few seconds it took me to do so, Imanaged to position the stake perfectly, piercing theleathery skin of his chest and breaking through hisribcage. I was so close to him I could almost hear thepoint of the stake rip through his heart. I was sure it

point of the stake rip through his heart. I was sure itkilled him instantly, but I drove it completely throughhis body to the other side just to be sure. Once I feltthe tip of the stake break through the ground beneathhim, I pulled it out and watched him slowly turn to ashand break apart. His face was the last piece of him togo, and it held a look of pain and horror that burnedinto my memory.

The girl with the broken nose didn’t stay down forlong. Before I could turn around, she was clawing atmy back again. The awkward position I was in,however, made it much easier for her this time. I felther blood on my skin and her cold breath on my neckwhen she whispered in my ear.

“Ready to die, little girl?” Her bony fingers weredigging into my shoulders. Shards of pain, that I triedto ignore, shot down my arms. Her weight andstrength were too much for me to move. I was pinnedagainst the dead vampire beneath me.

“You first.” I heard the words before the vampirescreamed in my ear and turned to ash, her bodydisintegrating all over my back. I quickly rolled overand jumped up to fight. But I didn’t have to.

“What the hell are you doing?” I asked Lila, whowas crouched down across from me with her stakeheld out in front of her where the girl had been. Shelooked over at me before standing up and smiled

“You’re welcome,” she snapped, her eyes dartingback and forth, searching for more vampires.

back and forth, searching for more vampires.“You’re supposed to be with Chance.” I was pissed,

even more so at her than the army of undead we weretrying to kill. “If something happens to him I’ll—“

“Calm down drama queen,” she said with thicksarcasm. “He’s fine.” She looked over her shoulder andI quickly followed her gaze. There was Chance,propped against the side of the house. He had finallywoken up, but even from this distance I could tell hewas still pretty out of it.

“Get back over there,” I ordered, pointing in hisdirection. Lila, of course, didn’t move.

“You go watch him,” she said as she walked awayfrom me and in the opposite direction of the house.

“I thought you didn’t want me near him?”“I’m over it,” she snapped. “Kill him if you want to, I

don’t care. I have some vampire ass to kick.” And withthat she was off, sprinting across the field and jumpinginto a fight with her brother. Erik was busy taking ontwo vampires, a guy and a girl, and I quicklywondered if they were brother and sister too. Thatwould have just been too weird.

I turned my attention back to Chance, who wasslumped over and rubbing his head. I wanted to run tohim and tell him that I loved him and that we were allgoing to be okay, but I couldn’t. Not honestly. Not yet.I had no clue if any of us would be okay—or evenalive—when it was all over. But I did know that Iwould do all I could to make sure that at least he

would do all I could to make sure that at least hemade it out of here. I figured he would be fine wherehe was since it seemed all the vampires were engagedin battle. A lightning-fast survey of the area showed allfour of my cohorts busily trying to take down theirvillains. Aldric was winning—easily of course—and Erikand Lila weren’t doing too bad, either. So I ran to helpKayla. As long as their numbers didn’t increase, and ifwe kept our stamina going, we might actually have achance at winning.

Then things took a horrible turn for the worse. As Iwas running toward Kayla, my stake in my hand, awiry little vampire broke off from the fight againstAldric and started running toward her. I knew Iwouldn’t make it in time, no matter how fast I couldrun, so I tried to yell and warn her. But the noise ofthe fighting was too loud, and she was too far away.She couldn’t hear me, and there was nothing I coulddo to stop the vampire who fully intended to kill her.

Just before I had to watch my best friend murdered,Lila came flying out of nowhere and ran head-first intothe vampire. He tumbled to the ground but quicklyrecovered. He had his hands around Lila’s neck, and Iheard the snap of her bones just as I made it to themand drove my stake through his dead heart. Hedisappeared in a cloud of ash, Lila’s body falling to theground in a bloodied heap. I ran over to her, knowingI was too late. Her eyes were open wide, her facetwisted in horror. I knew instantly that she was dead.

twisted in horror. I knew instantly that she was dead.

27. CHOICESNo!” I screamed, dropping to the ground beside Lila

and scooping her body into my arms. I felt tears burnmy eyes as I cradled her, her lifeless body limp in myhands. Within seconds, Erik was at my side.

“What happened?” he cried, taking Lila from myarms and into his. He rocked back and forth with hissister, his face streaked with tears. “Lila! No!” He criedand screamed and yelled and I was crying, too. I wascrying because I didn’t save her. I was crying becauseI wasn’t fast enough and an innocent girl died. I wascrying because Erik was in pain, and I felt so bad forwhat he was going through.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have long to mourn Lila’sdeath. The vampires that were still alive were steadfastin their charge. A human dead was a victory for them..

“Erik,” I called out, putting my hand on his. “Erik,we have to get up. They’ll kill us if we don’t.”

“Leave me alone!” he cried, never taking his tear-filled eyes off his sister’s face. He had closed her eyes,and it looked like she was just sleeping. The sight wastoo much for me to bear. I left them alone and ran offto help Kayla. My anger had surpassed my control. Iwas in such a violent rage that it didn’t matteranymore if I lived or died. I only cared that the rest ofmy friends—who were risking their lives to help me—didn’t fall prey to the bloodsucking parasites I hadunwillingly become a part of. I wanted them all dead,

unwillingly become a part of. I wanted them all dead,and I wasn’t stopping until they were.

But suddenly, everything stopped. As fast as thevampires had descended upon us, they were just asquickly backing down. Each of them stopped fighting,running together into a giant huddle of shadows onthe other side of the clearing. Kayla, Aldric and I stoodstunned. Erik still cradled Lila’s lifeless body. I lookedat Kayla, who was just as confused as I was. Whatwere they doing?

“What the hell?” Kayla said to no one, lifting herhands to amplify her question. The scent of her bloodwas overwhelming, so I knew she was running raggedand her body was stressed.

“Aldric?” I asked, spinning around to face him. Buthe was turned in the same direction as the huddle ofvampires. He was focused on the house. On Chance.

I looked over to where Chance had been proppedagainst the side of the house, but he was gone. Panicripped through me like a tornado, and I began afrantic search of the area. I didn’t have to look too far.I found him standing a few yards away from thehouse. But he wasn’t standing on his own. He wasbeing held up by the same powerful-looking vampirefrom the dance.

“Aldric,” I whispered, fear paralyzing my body.“That’s Sebastian,” he said, never taking his eyes off

his former friend. I could see the veins filled withlifeless blood bulging on his temples. I couldn’t be

lifeless blood bulging on his temples. I couldn’t besure if it was from anger or fear—or both. Kayla joinedus, and the three of us slowly crossed the clearingtoward the house.

“Good to see you again, Aldric. It’s been far toolong.” Sebastian’s voice was soft and distinguished,like it was in the noisy gym earlier tonight, makinghim sound more like a lawyer or dignitary than amonstrous vampire. I hadn’t been able to see him tooclearly in the dim lighting at the dance, but out herebeneath the moonlight, he was striking. He had thesame youthful looks as Aldric, with wavy blond haircut short. His features were flawless, of course: ambereyes that glowed like the rest of his coven; high,pronounced cheekbones; defined jaw. He smiled whenhe spoke, his full lips rising up into the perfect slant.Even though he had his lethal hand squeezed tightlyaround Chance’s neck, I couldn’t help but be enamoredby him.

“Go to hell, Sebastian,” Aldric said calmly. Hearinghim speak broke my gaze and I looked over at him.His eyes quickly darted to my face before turning backto Sebastian.

“Oh I’m already there, my friend. Have been forcenturies. But you know all too well what that’s like,don’t you?”

“Let him go.” My first thought was that Aldric’s voicehad changed before I realized I was the one whospoke. The sound of my voice surprised me. Judging

spoke. The sound of my voice surprised me. Judgingby Sebastian’s brief but shocked expression, I wasn’tthe only one caught off guard.

“Avaline,” he said, again with that winning smile.“Nice to see you again. We didn’t have time to getacquainted at your little dance. I’ve heard quite a bitabout you, young lady.” I wanted to rip his head offfor calling me ‘young lady,’ and tear out his heart forcalling me ‘Avaline.’ I hated him.

“Do as she says, Sebastian. Killing him won’t doanyone any good.” Aldric’s tone was flat, unaffected byemotion. His reference to killing Chance, though,made me jump. Just the thought made me sick to mystomach. My eyes immediately went to Chance’s face.His eyes were filled with tears, his skin and hair mattedwith his own blood. I fought off the sweet smell itproduced and focused solely on his pain. He keptgrasping at Sebastian’s hand, desperately trying tobreathe. Aldric must have sensed my frustration andanger.

“No, Ava.” Two words, so low only I could hearhim. I reluctantly did as he said and stayed put. Therage in me was boiling over.

“Do you think I have concern for this pathetichuman?” Sebastian asked. Chance groaned and pulledon Sebastian’s hand. His legs began kicking wildlybeneath him, swaying frantically in the air.

“Stop!” I screamed with panic. “You’re killing him!”Aldric grabbed me as I tried to lunge forward to help.

Aldric grabbed me as I tried to lunge forward to help.I struggled to break free of his grip.

“Precisely,” Sebastian smirked. “To prove that nohuman is more important than a vampire. We are farsuperior beings. It’s time to take our place at the top.”

“You’re wrong, Sebastian,” Aldric said. “You’vealways been wrong about that.”

“And you’ve always had a soft spot for humans, myfriend.”

“We were human once, Sebastian. Remember that?”I kept looking from Aldric to Sebastian to Chance, whowas beginning to turn blue.

“That was so long ago,” Sebastian said. “I’m muchhappier with my life now.”

“Happier? Or simply content? I would give up mylife, my powers, everything I have now, to be humanagain.” He looked at me as he spoke, and I could seeenvy in his eyes. He was jealous of me, of myhumanity. It was the first real human emotion he hadever openly shown. I wanted to say something to him,apologize for being human when he couldn’t be. But Icouldn’t. I was too worried about Chance and the factthat Sebastian was slowly killing him. I watched thelife slowly slipping from his eyes as he was chokingand flailing. I knew that if I didn’t do something, hewould be dead in seconds. But what? What could I doto stop Sebastian? Nothing. But Aldric could.

“Stop him, please.” I leaned into Aldric, my bodytrembling with nerves. I was begging him to save

Chance. I would’ve done anything. I would’ve givenmy own life if I thought it would have helped. Aldricdidn’t respond. He simply stood motionless andwatched as Sebastian choked the life out of Chance.

I wasn’t as surprised as I thought I would be. Aldricwas, after all, a true vampire. And he and Sebastianhad been friends or acquaintances or whatever for Godknew how long, so naturally he would take his sideover a human. I wanted to rip his throat out.

“I’ll turn him.” Aldric’s words were like a slap in theface. I pulled away from him in shock, totally takenaback by what he said. I’ll turn him? What the hell washe saying?

“No!” I spat the word like poison. Aldric finallylooked at me, his face stern and unwavering.

“It’s the only way, Ava,” he said, his voice barelyaudible. “He will kill him, make no mistake of that.” Iknew he was telling the truth. I could feel it. Butturning Chance into a vampire? I couldn’t let thathappen, either.

“There has to be a different way,” I cried, my eyesbrimming with tears. I was pleading with Aldric, tryingto get him to see that turning Chance into a vampirewould be worse than letting Sebastian kill him. Anever-ending existence as a monster is hell on Earth.And with Chance being a Healer, how would he beable to help people again? Would he lose his abilities?The risk was too much.

“I’m so sorry.” Aldric lowered his eyes for a

“I’m so sorry.” Aldric lowered his eyes for amoment, already mourning what was about to takeplace. He had given up, resigned to allow theinevitable to come to pass. When he brought his eyesback to mine, I gave him a go to hell look and turnedback to Sebastian.

“Take me instead,” I blurted out, surprised by thesudden thought, but completely satisfied in saying it. Iknew I would give my life for Chance one day. Thetime just arrived quicker than I had expected. It didn’tmatter, though. I was ready.

Sebastian must have eased his grip on Chance’sneck; I heard him suck in a deep breath and cough itback out. The blood that had been sealed off in hishead began to flow through his body again, his facereturning to a more normal color. Sebastian surprisedus all when he opened his hand, letting Chancecrumple to the ground.

I wanted to run to him and make sure he was okay,but Sebastian’s glare kept me locked in place. I staredback at him, too afraid to move.

“I’m afraid you can’t trade places with your precioushuman,” Sebastian said. “You are meant for somethingfar greater than lunch.”

“Sebastian,” Aldric interjected. I was caught offguard by him, and turned to watch his face. There wassomething hidden there, something he wasn’t tellingme.

“Of course.” Sebastian bowed his head in mock

“Of course.” Sebastian bowed his head in mockadoration, clearly poking fun at Aldric. He smirked,obviously indifferent about what Aldric had to say. Ikept looking from one to the other, trying to figure outwhat Sebastian had meant by ‘something far greater.’What was I meant to do? And why wouldn’t they justsay it?

“As I said, Avaline,” Sebastian began, but stopped.“Oh, I’m so sorry. I do mean Ava. I’ve neverunderstood why you dislike the name Avaline. I’m sureyour parents had good reason for giving it to you.”Sebastian was smiling as he spoke of my parents, hiseyes moving back and forth from Aldric to me. I coulddo nothing but listen, my mind spinning as it tried tofigure out his game. Kayla fidgeted next to me, clearlyuneasy herself.

“Please,” Sebastian went on. “Forgive my digression.You have a much higher purpose, Ava.” Heemphasized my name again with a mocking tone. “SoI decline your offer of trading places with the boy.” Heturned his body to face Aldric. “And you, my dear oldfriend, are in no position to make such an offer. Whatyou have done to poor Ava here has you in enoughtrouble as it is.”

Trouble? What was he talking about? Why wasAldric in trouble for saving my life? Who was he introuble with? What secret was being held betweenthese two? I wanted some answers, and was about todemand them, when a flash of movement to my right

demand them, when a flash of movement to my righttook center stage. He moved so fast I didn’t haveenough time to react. I could only stand by and watchas Erik stormed toward Sebastian with rage in his eyesand a stake in his hand.

Sebastian seemed unmoved by the sudden attack.He simply swung his arm as Erik reached him, sendinghim flying across the clearing. I watched in horror ashis body sailed through the air like debris in a storm,landing hard against the ground far behind us.

“Erik!” Kayla screamed and ran to help her friend,while I decided this was the only moment I wouldhave to make my move. I sprinted toward Chance atsuper speed. But Sebastian was much faster. He sweptin front of me before I could reach Chance and shovedme hard. I mimicked Erik’s flight as I soared back andcrashed into the ground. As I struggled to stand, I sawAldric rush Sebastian and the two of them beganfighting. More equally matched, the two powerfulvampires spun in circles, their bodies rising and fallingon the air as they each delivered punches to the other.

A quick glance showed me two things: one…Erikwas alive, being helped up by Kayla; and two…Aldric’sattack on Sebastian woke the seemingly comatosevampires huddled together by the woods. There wereonly a handful of them left—ten or so as far as I couldmake out in the faint moonlight—but we were stilloutnumbered. With Aldric fighting Sebastian and Lilagone, it was up to Kayla, Erik and me to take on the

gone, it was up to Kayla, Erik and me to take on therest. The odds were really against us.

I tried to not let our disadvantage discourage me. Ijumped up and into a full run, heading straight for thecharging vampires. Erik and Kayla joined me, and thethree of us went head-on into the crowd of killers. Icouldn’t keep track of all that happened. My mind wasin such a numb state that I could only see fangs andvenom. I fought with an intense fury, unlike anything Ihad ever felt before. My mind, body and soul wereconsumed with the fight, to the point that I hadcompletely forgotten about what I was fighting for.

Chance.I barely had time to listen to the voice in my head

before a giant vampire breaking from the cluster andspeeding off toward Chance brought my mind out of acloud of rage. I stopped dead in my tracks, the bodyof a vampire I had just killed slumping to the groundin front of me. I didn’t hesitate. I sped after the largevampire, who was clearly going after Chance. I caughtsight of him soon enough to stop him, but I wassuddenly and unexpectedly sideswiped by anothervampire, who clipped my legs and sent me toppling tothe ground.

She jumped on top of me like a hungry lion, hervoice growling and her fangs spewing venom. I gaveas good as I got, though, my hands twisting her tinyarms until they both snapped. She writhed in pain,which fueled my rage as I brought one of the broken

which fueled my rage as I brought one of the brokenarms to my mouth and sunk my fangs into her skin. Idrank quickly, leaving her only half dead as I tossedher to the side and jumped up.

But I was too late.The vampire charging at Chance reached him before

I could even start running. I watched in mortifiedhorror as he lifted Chance from the ground like a ragdoll and sank his large fangs into his neck.

28. IMPASSENooo!” I screamed and ran faster than I ever had

before. My body was convulsing with pain and fatigueand fear. The vampire had enough time to drink a lotof Chance’s blood before tossing him aside and flyingaway. I went after him, pushing off the ground andcrashing into him mid-air. We fell to the ground like agigantic rock, and I attacked him with all my strength.He fought me as hard as he could, but with rage andanger and pain controlling me, it took less than aminute for me to drive a stake I found in the dirtthrough his chest. I didn’t even wait for his body toturn to ash as I darted over to Chance.

He wasn’t moving. I knelt beside him, the powerfulscent of his blood now stronger than ever. The smellflowed through me, wrapping me in its sweetness. Itswept through my mind fast and strong, covering allmy thoughts with its tantalizing pull. I fought the urgeto taste it as I watched it pour from the wound in hisneck. I tried to find his pulse, first checking his neckbefore lifting his arm and applying pressure to hiswrist. It was faint, but he was still alive.

“Help me!” I screamed into the night, the fear of myworst nightmare coming true washing over me. I hadfailed. I couldn’t do the one thing I had promisedmyself. I couldn’t protect him. I lifted his head into myhands and cradled him in my arms, just like Erik haddone with Lila. I couldn’t help but fear that I, too, wasgoing to be saying a final goodbye. Tears flooded mycheeks and splashed onto Chance’s bloodied forehead

cheeks and splashed onto Chance’s bloodied foreheadas I cried harder than ever before. Tonight hadbrought all of my emotions forth. I had experiencedintense pain, anger, fear, all the human characteristicsI still possessed were alive and vibrant and tearing mein half. And now the emotional torture of loss wasvery imminent.

“Aldric!” I pulled my eyes away from Chance’sbleeding neck and found my Creator in the throes ofbattle with Sebastian. I watched the two of them sparwith matched force, their undead bodies swirlingaround the open field in a frenzy, tossing snow anddirt all around. I wanted Sebastian dead, wanted Aldricto rip his head from his body and send his undeadsoul straight to Hell. Until now, I had wanted nothingmore. But Chance was dying, and I couldn’t help him.Aldric was my only hope.

“Aldric!!” I screamed louder than ever, and Aldriclooked over at me. That was all it took for Sebastian tomake his move. His hands hit A ldric with a mightyforce, sending him reeling across the clearing. My eyesfollowed his body as it sailed through the air andcrashed into the hard earth, the impact shaking theground like a quake. I wanted to rush over to him, tomake sure he was still alive, but Chance’s needsoutweighed his. I rocked him back and forth, the fearof him dying strangling the breath out of my lungs. Icouldn’t let that happen. I wouldn’t.

“You won!” I screamed at Sebastian, who stood fiftyfeet from me, smugly glaring at Aldric’s immobilebody. “They’re dead! Just leave me alone!” I couldn’t

body. “They’re dead! Just leave me alone!” I couldn’tcontrol my tears, their traitorous actions evident on mystreaked face. I had never felt more defeated, more ofa failure, than I did while holding my dying friend andtelling the enemy that he got his way. I suddenlywanted to crawl back into the coffin I came from anddie for real.

Sebastian’s head slowly turned in my direction, awicked, mischievous grin curling his lips. “Not yet,” hesaid, his voice low and calm. “But soon.” And withthat, he sped off into the woods at the far back of theclearing, flanked by the two remaining vampires whohad been fighting with Kayla and Erik. Just like that, itwas over. Well, for now.

“Aldric!” I screamed for him again, and this time Isaw movement. His body stirred, his legs siftingthrough the snow as he regained consciousness. Hesat upright in the snow before standing and surveyingthe area. “He’s gone,” I said. “Help me!”

A quick glance in my direction, and Aldric was bymy side in a flash, Kayla and Erik soon following. Ididn’t look at them, I couldn’t. I didn’t want to see myfailure reflected in their eyes. I didn’t want to watchthem judge me—ridicule me and chastise me for notbeing strong enough or brave enough to keep just onehuman alive. I didn’t want to see them looking at methe way I would have looked at myself if I could.

But they didn’t. They didn’t judge me or blame mefor what had happened. I could sense by their moodsthat they each blamed themselves. I felt all the

emotions I was experiencing—the hurt and the guiltthe strongest—in each of them, rumbling just belowthe surface, ready to spill out and take over. Just likeme.

“Help him,” I cried, not directing my plea to anyonein particular. I would have let aliens take Chance rightthen if they could have saved his life.

“He’s dying,” Aldric commented. Though it soundeddry and callous, I felt he was trying to sound sincere.He reached out and put his cold hand on my shoulder,the chill from his skin a sharp contrast to the heatescaping my body. It almost made me shudder.

“No,” I cried softly, pulling Chance closer to me, soclose I could faintly hear him breathing, shallow andweak. “We have to save him.”

“Nothing we can do.” I heard Erik’s voice, defeated.“Nothing we can do for anybody out here.” I knew hewas talking about Lila, and my heart went out to him.The tiny piece of it that wasn’t breaking.

“You have to do it.” Kayla’s voice was shaky as shespoke. She sounded upset, and was most likely crying,though I couldn’t be certain since my attention wasfocused on Chance.

“She’s not ready for that,” Aldric whispered,probably hoping I didn’t hear him.

“Ready for what?” I managed to get the words outbetween sobs. I forced my eyes away from Chance’sface and looked at Aldric. “What am I not ready for?” Iwatched his eyes dart from Erik to Kayla then back tome. “Tell me, Aldric. Is there something you can do to

me. “Tell me, Aldric. Is there something you can do tosave him?”

Aldric hesitated before finally saying “Yes.” I didn’tneed to hear what it was; it didn’t matter. Whatevercould be done, I wanted it done now.

“Okay then, what are you waiting for? Do it.” I laidChance’s head gently on the grass and stood, his bloodcoating my hands. As badly as I wanted to bring themto my mouth and taste its sweetness again, I wipedthe blood onto my dress as best I could. It didn’t helpwith masking the scent.

“You don’t want him to, trust me.” The sound ofErik’s voice was unsettling. I sensed by his cryptic tonethat he had seen what Aldric could do, and he didn’tlike it.

“It doesn’t matter what he does, as long as Chanceis alive when it’s over.” I was glaring at Erik, furiousthat he of all people could think that I wouldn’t want todo whatever it took to save him. I’m sure if the roleswere reversed, he’d be giving his life to save Lila.

“That’s the problem,” Erik added. I did my best toignore him.

“Are you sure, Ava?” Aldric asked, slowly kneelingdown next to Chance. “Because once I do this, there’sno turning back.” I had no clue what he was planning,my mind too frenzied, but my emotions had takencontrol of me and they wanted Chance to be okay.

“Positive,” I said, though I didn’t sound it. My bodywas practically shaking with emotion, and I felt like Iwould pass out at any moment. Aldric looked from meto Erik and Kayla, both of whom were pleading with

to Erik and Kayla, both of whom were pleading withtheir eyes for me to reconsider. Aldric had liftedChance’s head off the ground and was cradling hisbruised and bloodied body before the realization ofwhat was about to happen finally creeped into mybrain. No. It couldn’t be. I was mistaken, had to be.

But I wasn’t.Nausea swept over me, and I became lightheaded

over what I was agreeing to. But what other choice didI have? I couldn’t let him die. This was my onlyoption. I couldn’t lose him. I had to have him in mylife, no matter the cost. I would have to deal withtrying to fix it later. A ldric saw the hesitation in myeyes. “Ava,” he started, but I couldn’t let him stop me.

“Just do it,” I whispered, my eyes filling with moresolemn tears that spilled onto my cheeks. I knew thatAldric didn’t want to. He would have rather doneanything else in the world. But time was fast runningout, and Chance would soon be dead.

“Just a minute,” I blurted out as Aldric shiftedChance’s head, leaning it to the side. I slowly kneltdown beside him, lifting his head from Aldric’s handsand holding it gently against me. My tears were fallingfreely now, my heart aching more than it ever hadbefore. I slowly and carefully brushed some of thematted hair from Chance’s forehead and bent to kisshim on the one spot of skin not covered in blood. I letmy lips linger there for as long as I could, savoring theheat pulsing from his body. I fought the tiny voice inmy head screaming for me to stop what I was about todo, to scoop Chance up and take him somewhere

do, to scoop Chance up and take him somewherewhere I could protect him and keep him safe. Icouldn’t do that, regardless of how badly I wanted to.I had to save him, even if it meant condemning him tothis horrible life.

“I love you, Chance Caldon,” I whispered into hisear. “And I promise I will fix this.” I couldn’t believethose three words came from me. All along, I hadbeen denying what my mind knew was happeningbetween us. I had been avoiding it with all my being,hoping that I could somehow protect him from me,from this life. But I couldn’t. No matter what, he wasthe one lying there dying, and I was the one whocaused it all. So now, in that moment, I would nolonger deny how I felt. I loved him. I knew it always,but was scared to admit it—to myself or anyone else. Iloved that he had been willing to sacrifice himself forme, to help me. I loved that no matter what, healways had what was best for me in mind. I onlywished I would have done the same for him. And nowI had no idea if what I was doing was for him or forme. I was sure it was mostly for selfish reasons,because I couldn’t imagine my life without him in it insome way.

I held Chance for as long as I could before I handedhim over to Aldric and moved to stand next to Kayla.Without speaking, she wrapped her arms around meand squeezed, our bond of friendship needed nowmore than ever. Aldric looked up at me with a darksadness behind his eyes. I knew he was waiting forreassurance from me, so I closed my eyes and

reassurance from me, so I closed my eyes andnodded, telling him to do what needed to be done.Without hesitation, Aldric unsheathed his fangs andsunk them into the already open wound on Chance’sneck, turning the boy I just realized I loved into avampire.

As I stood there in the middle of the clearing,surrounded by my friends and the bodies of deadvampires, with painful tears marring my bruised andbloodied face, I said a prayer that one day he wouldbe able to forgive me.