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"My pleasure," another replied, a gleeful edge to the tone
In the darkness, Aden couldn’t see the speakers Didn’t know if they were human or vampire Didn’t knohere he was or--the first hts Burn…him…
No No, no, no Not while Aden was here What if he felt every lick of flaed
Dmitri’s body was lifted Aden felt as if he were suspended frootten Nearby, he heard the crackle of those dreaded fla hiht, but the body remained motionless No!
A moment later, contact And oh, yes He felt it The first strea Agony Agony unlike anything he’d ever known Skin,Oh, God
Still he tried to fight, to pull away and run, and still the lifeless body refused to obey No! Help! I him up bite by tasty bite What would happen if he remained linked to Dmitri until the very end? What would happen if he--
Pinpricks of light winked through the darkness, bloo the world through Victoria’s eyes Yet another switch Thank God He was panting, so drenched with sweat he was practically swireater than the acid still swishing through his veins--slithered from his feet to his brain, and he wanted to shout
He was--shaking, he realized No, Victoria was shaking
A soft, warainst his--her--shoulder She looked up, vision blurry frolowed in the sky, he saw, and stars twinkled A few night birds even flew overhead, calling to each other in…fear? Probably They had to sense the danger below theaze, and Aden studied the va Alive Most were not the monsters storybooks painted them to be They were simply detached, humans a food source they couldn’t afford to care about
Vampires lived for centuries, after all, while humans withered and died Exactly as Aden was soon to die
Elijah had already predicted his death The prediction sucked, yeah, but it was the h his very necessary heart
He’d always prayed the h the heart beat burning to death inside a body that didn’t belong to hi to catch a break, huh? No torture, no fighting creatures, no waiting around for the end, just flunking tests and kissing his girlfriend
Aden forced hie he couldn’t hope to assuage The vampire mansion rose behind the crowd, shadowed and eerie, like a haunted house melded with a Roman cathedral Victoria had told him the house had been here, in Oklahoma, for hundreds of years, and her people had "borrowed" it from its ohen they first arrived He’d taken that to mean the former owner had supplied the vaans
"He was powerful, you’re right about that," a girl who looked to be Victoria’s age said She had hair the color of newly fallen snow, eyes like a el She wore a black robe that bared one pale shoulder, traditional vaarb, but somehow she seemed…out of place Maybe because she’d just popped a Juicy Fruit bubble
"A great king," another girl added, placing her hand on Victoria’s other side Another blonde This one had crystalline eyes like Victoria and the face of a fallen angel Unlike the other girls, she wore a black leather half-top and black leather pants Weapons were strapped to her waist, and barbed wire circled her wrists And no, the asn’t a tattoo
"Yes," Victoria replied softly Darling sisters
Sisters? He’d known Victoria had them, yeah, but he’d neverthe Vampire Ballfro slumber Aden wondered if Victoria’s mother was here, too Apparently, she’d been i vauy, that Vlad
Aden was human, and he kneay more than he should So froht And if word had already reached Ro was dead, mommy vamp could have arrived in Crossroads seconds later
"He was a terrible father, though Wasn’t he?" the first girl continued while chewing gum
The three shared a rueful half-s, exacting Brutal to his eneoodbye"
She peered down at Vlad’s charred ree from human to vampire Well, the first anyone knew about His body was intact, though burned beyond recognition A crown perched haphazardly atop his hairless head