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Chapter 57
Leesa Nyland was afraid to open her eyes. Not because she was scared she might see something frightening—though god knows she had seen and experienced enough scary stuff her first few months at Weston College to last her a lifetime—but because she was afraid that if she opened her eyes she might discover she had merely been dreaming all the wonderful things that had happened.
She had every right to be worried about that, she knew. She had seen and done things in the last three months that few people would believe, or could even imagine. Maybe it all was just a dream. Maybe there were no vampires. Maybe she had never allowed herself to be bitten by the enigmatic Stefan as part of a bargain to save her brother Bradley. She almost reached for her throat, but pulled her fingers back. What if she found no twin puncture scars there? That would mean it was only a dream, and that Bradley was still missing. It would also mean that her mom was probably sti
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 58
“This must be the place” Leesa said.She stood with Rave and Max at the top of a long asphalt driveway above Black Pond State Park. Below them, the waters of a beautiful lake sparkled in the sunshine. Leesa wore a heavy blue sweatshirt over a long sleeve pullover shirt and black leggings. Rave had on a dark brown, long sleeve waffle-knit shirt and jeans. With his inner heat, Rave didn’t require much in the way of clothes, but he made sure always to wear something somewhat appropriate for the weather to avoid drawing unnecessary attention.Max waited patiently in front of them, his side pressed up against Rave’s leg. His tail wagged excitedly as he looked down toward the park, but he made no move to head down the driveway without them. Rave carried Max’s leash in his hand—he had unfastened it as soon as they were out of sight of the house. Leesa had looked at him worriedly when he undid the leash, but Rave assured her there was nothin
Leesa's Advent Chapter 59
Leesa and Rave walked back up the entrance drive of Black Pond Park. Halfway up the hill, her phone buzzed. She didn’t know why, but a sense of impending trouble stole over her as she unzipped her small fanny pack and grabbed the cell. She automatically stepped away from Rave, taking no chances his energy would zap her phone. He grinned at her in understanding. Max just looked on curiously. The screen showed the call was from an unknown caller. Leesa breathed a bit easier. At least the call wasn’t from her mom or her brother. Still, she could not shake the feeling that this call meant trouble. “Hello?” she said. “Is this Leesa Nyland?” asked an unfamiliar male voice on the other end. “Yes, it is.” “The Leesa Nyland who was born eighteen years ago in Springfield, New Jersey?” The alarm bells in Leesa’s head really started clanging now. What was this all about? Her fingers began twirling in hair. “Yeah, that’s me,” she said cauti
Leesa's Advent Chapter 60
Leesa lingered in Rave's embrace for several minutes, her mind a whirling kaleidoscope of unanswered questions and unfinished thoughts. With all she had gone through the past three months, she thought nothing could ever surprise her like this. When you’ve discovered your mom had truly been bitten by a one-fanged vampire, and that your boyfriend is a supernatural vampire hunter, and a guy at school who liked you is a real-life vampire, it’s hard to believe anything could shock you to this degree. But this one simple phone call had knocked her for a loop, for sure.The man’s message just could not be true—it challenged everything she believed about her childhood. How could the man she had called Dad until she was seven years old not be her father? It did not make sense.Finally, she eased back from Rave’s embrace. Max backed away and looked up at them, his eyes wide and seemingly sympathetic, as if he understood what was going on in her head
Leesa's Advent Chapter 61
Leesa was not the only one making an important decision. Thirty-some miles to the south and west, in a gigantic underground grotto that was home to a coven of more than three score vampires, a tall, slender female vampire named Edwina had also reached a decision.For hundreds of years, the vampires have used the perpetual night of this deep cavern to avoid the hated sun and to remain hidden from the ever-growing human population as well. Cut eons ago under the tree-covered hills on the eastern side of the Connecticut River by a now vanished underground waterway, the cavern was the perfect hideaway.Until recently, Edwina had kept a captive feeder in the caverns, using him to slake her thirst for blood whenever she so desired. Bradley had been taken from her by Stefan, however. Edwina still seethed over the loss, especially with the growing Destiratu inflaming her thirst. Stefan was a member of the High Council, and she had been powerless to stop him. She burne
Leesa's Advent Chapter 62
“You’re gonna be in for a long winter, girl,” Cali said, grinning. She puffed out another big cloud of steamy breath. “Ol’ Man Winter is barely getting started.Leesa pulled her gloved hands out of her pocket. “Heck, it’s not like I lived in San Diego my whole life,” she said, a bit defensively. “I grew up in New Jersey, remember?”“Yeah, but only until you were seven, right? That was a long time ago. I bet your blood has thinned a lot by now.”Leesa wondered what Cali would think if she knew about the grafhym blood in her veins. Knowing Cali, she would probably think it was way cool. When Leesa told Cali Stefan was a vampire, she had asked if he had any vampire friends he could fix her up with. She had been joking, of course. At least, Leesa hoped she had been joking. Besides, Cali already had a boyfriend, a cute frat guy named Andy, who she really liked.“So,
Leesa's Advent Chapter 63
“So, what would you two like to do first?” Balin asked. “Do you want some dinner, or would you rather get right to Rave’s practice with Rammugul?”“I’m pretty hungry,” Leesa said. “But I vote for Rammugul.” Rave grinned. “Now why does that not surprise me?”“Ha! You like it as much as I do,” Leesa said, smiling. Rave’s grin widened. “That I do,” he said.“That I do.”“Well, I guess that settles it, then,” Balin said. “Rammugul it is. Stand up, young Rave.” Rave and Balin both stood up. Leesa remained seated, watching.“Away from the fire,” Balin instructed Rave. “I need to be able to sense your heat without any interference.”With the control Rave had already learned, he and Leesa were able to kiss briefly, but only under Balin’s watchful eye. The ol
Leesa's Advent Chapter 64
A few nights later, Leesa lay awake in the darkness. The glowing blue numbers on her digital clock told her it was 3:42am. The soft blue glow reminded her of Rave’s fingertips when he let his fire show. The thought of Rave was comforting, but she could still feel her heart beating in her chest, faster than normal for someone who had just been sleeping. She did not want to be awake, didn’t need to be awake, but something had dragged her from her sleep. She had no idea what it might have been. Lying on her back, she looked and listened, straining to penetrate the darkness for any sign something was amiss, but found nothing. Her room was certainly dark enough to invite sleep. Thin starlight outlined her windows and leaked into the room, not bright enough to show more than the barest outlines of her furniture. The night was peacefully quiet—she had seen movies where a nervous character would say it was too quiet, right before disaster struck—but such scenes always took
Leesa's Advent Chapter 65
Leesa sat hunched over her desk, slogging through her physics book, struggling to understand Heisenberg’s Uncertainty Principle. Her room had grown dark while she was studying, but her desk lamp provided a small island of light. Adele’s “Rolling in the Deep” was playing in the background. Leesa loved the young British singer’s voice, so powerful and full of raw emotion. It was hard to believe she wasn’t even twenty-five years old yet. Leesa let her mind drift for a moment, escaping into the lyrics. She particularly liked the part about a fire starting in her heart. That was definitely a good description of how Rave made her feel—in more ways than one.As the song wound down, she turned back to her physics book. “Uncertainty” was a fitting word for her right now, she thought. Not only was she uncertain about this whole Heisenberg Principle, but she was uncertain about so many other things going on in her life as well. Just
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