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EIGHTY-SIX | RUIN
I caught Grace by the elbow and steered her towards the back room. At the same time, I raised a theatrical hand to my forehead and puffed out my cheeks. It wasn’t hard to make myself feel woozy – the memories and lack of sleep from the night before did that for me.
“I don’t feel well,” I said, careful not to ramp up the dramatics too much. Grace would sniff them out in a second. “Do you mind staying late for me today?”
Her shoulders stiffened momentarily and then relaxed. “Is it – it’s because of Harper, isn’t it?”
I sighed, looking longingly towards the shop floor. “Yes.”
“I can’t believe he’d come in here with another woman,” Grace snapped, coaxing me closer. “Of course I’ll stay. I doubt I’ll even be needed – Sydney should be able to close on her own.” She peere
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I tightened my hand around the makeshift stake. My blade felt utterly useless – a child’s toy – as she stroke a red-clawed hand down the side of Harper’s face. He cried out, the sound muffled, as he struggled futilely against his bonds.I steeled myself, refusing to give in to the haze of panic slithering through my veins. I’d had no chance against Alice; Harper had even less of one. I had to play this carefully. My mind raced through a hundred different ideas and plans, but none of them seemed good enough. None of them seemed like enough to save him.There was no bargain she would accept. The glint in her eyes told me that. There was only one way out of this, and in accepting what had to happen I was giving myself over to her power. For Harper, I would do it.I readied my stake and blade, pulling back into a defensive stance. I had to lull her into a false sense of security. Then again, I t
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She smiled. It was a truly wicked smile, slow and devious and made all the more gruesome by the blood dripping down her chin. Light headed as I was, I still felt a chill as those dark, otherworldly eyes met mine.“Didn’t quite go to plan, did it, little hunter?”I smiled right back at her. I had an idea. I couldn’t doubt myself – I didn’t have any other options.“Yes,” I said, falling to the ground and grabbing the makeshift stake, hoping with my whole heart that it would work, that it would kill her, “it did.”Propelled by my movement, Alice fell with me. In one smooth roll, I landed on top of her and drove the stake through her heart.The smile died on her lips, her eyes forever held wide with shock. I stared down at her face, at the ugly jut of her chin, at the curve of her large nose. The colour drained from her skin
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Firm hands hauled me up, dragging me from under my armpits and heaving me onto my feet. The world swirled around me, so I kept my eyes closed and allowed myself to be manhandled.“You can’t fall asleep on me again, Cals,” Harper muttered. “I have to get you home so I can take a proper look at that arm.”I winced at the word home. I hoped Harper thought it was related to the throbbing in my forearm, rather than his word choice.My body did not feel entirely my own as Harper slung one of my unresponsive arms across his shoulders, tucking me tightly against his side. My legs dragged across the uneven ground, dried leaves and broken twigs mounding at my toes.“You know,” he said, his tone attempting to sound casual, conversational, “I always thought you seemed… more. More than everyone else around you. Otherwordly, almost.”
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“Cyrus?” My heart grew whole at the sight of him. He looked utterly unruffled, despite the glint in his ocean eyes that spoke of his violent, furious panic. He held me close, his hands gentle as he settled me into a sitting position beside him.Sheer relief stopped me from pushing him away and seating myself. He winced at my bloody forearm, and took a step back, his pupils growing. The relief turned to acid in my stomach.“No,” Harper snapped, stepping between us. “You get the hell away from her.”I could have rolled my eyes. With a groan, I dragged myself to my feet, leaning heavily on a nearby tree trunk. “Both of you, stop it,” I said, before aligning my back with the trunk and sliding down it. “I can fight my own battles.”Cyrus’s eyes danced with mischief, and his lips twitched into a smirk. Even so, his ha
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Pain flared, pulling all of my focus to that single, tender spot. I felt the incision of each of her fangs, felt the slow pull of my blood being extracted from my body against my consent. I roared and writhed against her. She held me down, hardly breaking her concentration, so little an effort it was to keep me pressed down against the floorboards.I acknowledged death as an equal, as a friend. To die in battle was honourable. To awaken as a vampire – I shut out the thought, and redoubled my efforts. I would not allow her to turn me into one of them. I had accepted Veronica, and I had accepted Cy, but this – I could not accept this.My hands were pinned against my sides. If I could wiggle them free – even just a little, affording them some small amount of movement – I could dig my nails in to her skin. It would hardly hurt her, but it might distract her for just long enough that I could dig my stake into her
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