I DIDN’T THINK IT was possible for me to feel this happy, not since everything that happened in October. It’s morning and I’m on my way to breakfast, but all I can think about is Rynne. He kissed me yesterday and it felt amazing. And it’s real. It isn’t something that a demon forced me to feel. It’s much more powerful.
I consider going to Rynne’s room so I can go to breakfast with him, but I don’t want to seem pushy and he might already be there. I forgot my phone in my room, so I can’t text him and find out. It’s probably for the best. I heard guys don’t like clingy girls.
Once I’m in the cafeteria, I get in line for breakfast. Then I scan the tables, searching for Rynne.
“Come sit with me.”
Fiona startles me when she puts her hand on my shoulder, and I almost drop my tray.
“S-sure,” I reply.
I follow my godmother to the table Gold Team is sitting at. Divya is there too. Fiona slides in next to Divya and I slide in next to her. There’s still room on the end of the bench for one more person.
“Have you seen, Rynne?” I ask.
Miguel rolls his eyes at my question, but for once the gesture doesn’t seem entirely antagonistic.
“Behind you,” Sherri remarks.
“What?”
I turn around to see Rynne making his way to us with his own tray of food. A smile instantly finds its way onto my face as I look at him, the beautiful angelic boy that he is. He smiles back without reserve. He doesn’t try to shield his own happiness. He isn’t doing it in his usual calculated way. This is him. This is Rynne.
He sets his tray down next to mine, but before he sits beside me, he leans in for a quick kiss. I was hoping he’d kiss me, but I also didn’t think he actually would. We’re in front of his team and my godmother!
My face grows hot as his lips leave mine. I let out a nervous laugh as Rynne takes his seat.
“What was that?” Fiona exclaims. But there’s a smile on her face. “It’s about time.”
Donovan hollers with laughter and smacks Miguel on the back. “I win the bet, Miguel,” he says.
“Decided to man up, huh?” Miguel asks as he points his fork accusingly at Rynne.
Rynne simply states, “It was Tasia.”
Miguel shakes his head. “Good luck with this one, girl.”
I feel my face turn an even deeper shade of red. I’m so embarrassed right now. Rynne must see just how embarrassed I am because he takes my hand underneath the table and squeezes it reassuringly.
“Congratulations,” Divya says with a grin.
Fiona nods. “Yeah, yeah. Have safe sex and all that, all right?”
I blanch. “W-what?!”
“Fiona!” Divya exclaims and smacks my godmother. “That was unnecessary.”
“You think so?”
Everyone starts laughing and joking along, but I stay quiet and eat my breakfast. I smile and listen to the conversation, but I don’t have anything to add. This is all new to me. It’s not like I’ve ever had a boyfriend before. I’m not really sure how I’m supposed to act or anything. When I’m alone with Rynne, it’s easy. I don’t know if I’m supposed to act a specific way when we’re around other people though. I’m just thinking too much about it now. It’s not that complicated.
“You done eating?” Rynne asks, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“Yeah.”
“I’ll catch up with you guys later,” he announces to Gold Team.
We ditch our trays, and then I follow him out of the cafeteria.
“Sorry,” he says once we’re mostly alone, aside from a few other hunters roaming the halls. “I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. Would you prefer me not to kiss you in public?”
“N-no!” I say quickly. “It wasn’t that. I just… this is all new to me. And I’ve never been good about knowing how to react to teasing.” I touch the diamonds hanging around my neck, seeking their comfort. I add in a whisper, “I like it when you kiss me.”
I grab his hand and stop walking. I look into his blue eyes with longing. He returns my look just as intently. Then he does what I was hoping he’d do. He leans down to kiss me again. I could get lost in his kisses. Holding his hand, and especially kissing him, floods me with euphoria every time. Thoughts of Arsen, thoughts of anything bad, seem to vanish in his presence. Everything is right when he’s holding me. Everything is right when he’s kissing me.
I’m rebelling against my parents’ wishes for the first time. I’m at a Halloween party. I’m dressed up as a monster, too. My parents always told me to never celebrate Halloween. They told me that it’s evil. I always listen to my parents. I trust them. I never used to mind that they don’t want me to celebrate Halloween. I still don’t, but practically the entire high school is going to the party, and I’m feeling emotionally compromised because I saw the boy I like kissing another girl. I made an impulsive decision, and that’s how I made it to where I am: at the Halloween party.
I know it’s not the place I want to be, though. I get separated from Didi and Connor and find myself cornered by Wyatt. He’s trying to be nice, I guess. He wants to dance, so I agree, but then he gets too close, and then he kisses me. He says weird things too, like someone put him up to this terrible prank. That’s when I have enough. That’s when I drive home, angry, sad, tears falling from my eyes, to find the front door of my house broken down. To find blood coating the floors. To find my parents murdered. To see him.
His eyes blaze a color I’ve never seen, vibrant against the dark as he holds me against the wall. He grins at me, showing sharp fangs and the animalistic intent to devour me. I’m shaking, and I’m sure I’m going to die.
“Tasia.”
Something’s moving over the monster’s shoulder. It’s my mom. She’s still alive! She’s crawling across the floor to get to me.
“Mom!” I scream. “Help me!”
“Help me,” she echoes.
Then my dad joins her, crawling with her, toward me. He repeats her words. I’m not being pinned against the wall by Arsen anymore. It’s my parents. They’re staring at me, bloody and torn, their eyes a pale glowing white—not my parents.
“Avenge us,” they say over and over. “Avenge us.”
I inhale so sharply it hurts as I fly up into a sitting position, almost throwing myself out of my bed. Sweat threatens to drip into my eyes, but I manage to brush it away with the back of my trembling hand.
It was just a dream.
It was just a dream
It was just a…
A crashing sound from outside my bedroom door makes me jump again. I don’t know how much more my heart can take. Am I still dreaming?
My door breaks open and a monster tumbles into my room. All I can see are his shining fangs, glistening with fresh blood. I can smell the iron, the gore. I can hear the shouts.
The monster leaps into the air, but I scramble out of my bed just before he lands. In the same instant, my hand finds the stake on my nightstand, made from the wood of a golden ash. I hold the stake out defensively, but my hands are trembling. Despite that, my grip is somehow tight around the wood. This thing better be a vampire, or I just chose the wrong weapon.
I pray my adrenaline is on my side for once. Help me kill this monster, whatever it is. If I don’t kill him, he’s going to kill me.
The monster lunges at me again, but I somehow escape that attack too. He’s clumsy, stumbling against my nightstand. I drive my stake into his shoulder and, based on the way he screams, I decide I must have made the right choice in weapons. He howls as he thrashes, and then he leaps for me, pinning me to the ground. He’s wild and crazed like there’s too much energy in his body to control.
I scream when he bites into my neck. It feels like the wound is burning as he drinks my blood. The pain is so intense, I almost don’t understand what’s happening when the vampire throws himself off of me and starts writhing on the floor. Vervain. There’s vervain in my blood. I’ve never stopped drinking it. I poisoned him.
He eventually grows limp as I watch him in horror. I killed him. I mean, I didn’t physically kill him myself, but he’s dead and I’m still alive. I feel like I should be proud of myself, but I also feel nothing but revulsion as I look at the dead body, mouth fresh with foam.
Bringing my hand to my bleeding neck, I slide past his limp form and dart outside my room. My first thought is to find Rynne, Fiona, Divya, any of the hunters. I run down the hall, heading for Fiona’s room when something knocks me down. All the air in my lungs is stolen from me as I hit the hard ground below, and my vision blurs. A shooting pain rips through my arm as I scream, but the sound doesn’t last for long when a hand wraps around my mouth.
“No running,” a female’s voice croons. “No one’s getting out of here tonight. You hunters have been causing us way too much trouble lately.”