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But he couldn’t smell the deer’s blood within its body, and he should’ve been able to by now

He came to a stop a few feet short of the deer, its still forht blackness It lay on the snow, its neck twisted at an unnatural angle There was no heartbeat to be heard

Despite his natural predator’s disappoint prey, Balthazar knelt by the dead deer to investigate Its throat had been ripped open, probably hours ago; only the severe cold had kept decoh that he hadn’t yet been able to sle drop of its blood had been drained

As his hand ran over the deer’s coat, he felt the bite marks: dozens of them It had been devoured--by vah the bites Ripping open the throat had been unnecessary Just so he’d done many times before

Balthazar’s hands clenched into fists as he thought of the vanature he saritten before hirave

He’s here

Chapter Three

AS USUAL, SKYE AWOKE TO THE SOUND OF HER phone’s alar over to swat the phone into silence y mind only supplied, I’m really sore

Then she re her white sheets to her chest

Skye breathed in deeply in an effort to steady herself against the rush of adrenaline that flooded into her, theas the attack itself Could that really have happened? And was it possible that Balthazar More had showed up to rescue her? That seemed more like one of her old study-hall daydrea her arms and soreness of her muscles didn’t lie

She looked down at her phone to see that she had t text threads One was froht, Cleed about the craziness last night Her reply:

OMG r u serious? More vampires? In Darby Glen? R they everywhere? BE CAREFUL Balty rescue sounds hot don’t drool on his about staying safe and a joke about Skye’s old crush on Balthazar

She didn’t recognize the phone nue, but her eyes widened as she read it: