Lahat ng Kabanata ng Leesa's Advent: Kabanata 181 - Kabanata 190

Sitting at her desk Tuesday evening, Leesa flipped the cover of her history book closed. For the last half hour she had been studying the causes of the Civil War, but she didn’t think she was going to retain much of what she read. Every time she came across Abraham Lincoln’s name, her mind wandered to the popular book and movie about Lincoln being a vampire hunter. With all she had learned since arriving at Weston, she wondered if it could possibly have been true. She doubted that Lincoln had actually been a vampire hunter, of course, but she had once doubted her mom’s story about the one-fanged vampire, and look how that turned out.It was doubly hard to concentrate on her reading with Rave sitting patiently on her bed behind her. She could almost feel his beautiful brown eyes warming her back and neck. What she really wanted to be doing was sitting next to him and talking, or lying cuddled in his arms. They had shared a long, fun walk that afternoon, after

Rave lowered Leesa gently to the ground in front of a gray, one-story wooden house. After racing through the night in Rave’s arms, the cool, still air felt strange on her cheeks. With little ambient light from the volkaane settlement, the sky above was a black curtain pierced by what seemed to be thousands of stars. A three-quarter moon painted a soft glow on the world around her.She sighed. As always, it took her a moment to get over the disappointment of no longer being cradled in Rave’s arms. She took his hand in hers, to maintain the contact a bit longer.“So, this is where you live,” she said, taking in the house with a slow sweep of her eyes.The design was simple—a plain, flat front with a door in the middle and two square windows on either side of the door. Even in the moonlight, Leesa could see that the horizontal wood planks were old and weathered, but in good repair. An A-frame roof fashioned of dark wooden shingles was

“Let’s sit down and you can tell me everything that’s happened,” Balin suggested. He had met Dominic once and knew about Leesa’s nascent magic and about the existence of the black waziri, but he had no idea what had occurred during the last few days. “Does anyone want a drink before we begin? Some mead, perhaps? Telling tales can be thirsty work.”With everything that had happened today, Leesa was definitely tempted by Balin’s offer. His homemade mead was even more delicious than his stew, but it was also very strong, especially for someone who rarely drank. She decided she had better pass.“No, thank you,” she said. “I think I should keep a clear head. I’ll just have water. Rave, you go ahead if you want.”Rave nodded to Balin, who quickly filled two big pewter mugs with golden liquid from a big glass jar. He filled a third mug with water for Leesa.They all sat down on chairs

This was no train, though—not unless someone had built a subway beneath rural Connecticut when she wasn’t looking.“The Noises,” Rave said calmly. “It’s nothing to worry about. They’ve been occurring here since long before I was born.”Leesa remembered Cali and Stacie talking about the Moodus Noises, an unexplained phenomenon that had been happening in this area for centuries. The explanations for the Noises ranged from the practical—small earthquakes whose sound and vibration were magnified by the peculiar geology of the area—to the more fanciful: ancient Indian spirits stirring deep within the earth.She loosened her grip on Rave’s arm. “Sorry,” she said. She hated showing any kind of weakness to Rave. “It startled me.”Rave smiled and laid his hand over Leesa’s. “Never apologize for anything that makes you touch me.”Leesa smiled back and

Genevieve lowered her feet from Dara’s lap and sat upright on the couch. “Fair enough.” She turned to Dara. “What do you think, sweetheart? Are you up for a little adventure?” Dara smiled. “Always.” She stood up and crossed to Marcio, linking both her arms around one of his. “Marcio is a very powerful man,” she cooed. “It will be good to have him beholden to us.” Marcio smiled. Of all the vampires in the coven, these were the two he least minded owing a favor. “I will meet you an hour after sunset,” he said.   The three vampires glided through the trees, heading south and east from their caverns, dark shadows among the shadows. Marcio was in the lead, guided by the strange force that grew stronger with every mile he covered. Dara and Genevieve followed close behind him, racing side by side, content to go where Marcio led them. Despite their speed, the vampires moved cautiously, making no sound in the darkness. No human eye