Page 19 (1/2)

"Die!" she screeches with her h there are no clouds in sight

Aleesa screams as she jumps to her feet in a panic Aislin’s eyes snap wide as Aleesa sprints off through the ce woet her?"

"Yes! Go!" Aislin cries, her hands out to the side, her eyes locked on the flame woman "I’ll be fine!"

Moraves as I chase down Aleesa I lose track of her at one point but then spot her cli over the fence and I speed up As I reach the fenceup on my toes With one quick leap, I’ravel on the other side Then I glance fro for Aleesa, but she’s nowhere On a whiht, since it’s the way to the house and I’ around the corner at full speed, I slaround, but I keepBut when I look up and see what I ran into, uy, tall, with skin like snow, and eyes as black as the night sky He’s dressed in black, hair as pale as the ht, and he smells like rust and salt He sizess

Chapter 21

"Well, what do we have here?" He grins as he stalks toward me "I think I’ve ran into a bit of luck, haven’t I?"

I start to back away, but hea step towardHe pushes up the sleeves of his shirt and things get a littleas I spot the Mark of Malefiscus branded on the back of his hand

"Don’t you know that wandering around at night is a dangerous thing? Especially at a place like this"

I need to do soet myself out of this situation Foresee my way back to the house? But what kind of person would I be to bail on Aislin like that?

Before I can coes for ht between the legs The vae of his ers wrap around round I stuainst the iron fence I see stars all around me

Focus, Gemma Foresee your way to Aislin

I shut raveyard, but the va and it feels like rab a nearby stick off the ground, and flip over ontothe stick into the va as though it’s , my skin hot wax, my veins ash

Blood More stars Alex Then I’m sucked away into the darkness

Chapter 22

When I openover thethe land with hues of pink and orange Birds are chirping and a light breeze caresses ht, roll over to n of the varavel just in front of h his heart

I stretchthe corner and crossing the ce not to think about how I saw theathering her candles, looking pleased with herself When she sees ive her a funny look "Who…Oh! Aleesa Shit" I glance back at the gate "I co into some trouble"

"What kind of trouble?" Aislin asks as we hurry toward the entrance "And why is your leg bleeding?"

I look down at h and tell her what happened as we leave the ce yards and places nearby, looking for Aleesa

"So he’svampires now?" Aislin shakes her head, frustrated "God, this is getting out of control"

"I know," I say as we reach the corner of the street "I need to get into thatball and hopefully fix it"

We hop over the curb and start across the laard a park, searching for Aleesa

"I don’t even want to think about where she’d go," Aislin says as she looks around the slide and swing area of the park

She’s right Aleesa is so new to the world and the idea that she’s wandering around alone out here is frightening, especially if there are s as well

"What is that?" Aislin asks, squinting at the road

I track her gaze to a Mazda parked beside the curb "Shit"

The car door opens and Alex gets out, looking pissed At first I think it’s because we snuck out of the house without telling anyone, but then I see Aleesa sitting in the passenger side of the car

"Did you two lose so?" he asks as he strides across the laard us