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Chapter 20
Professor Clerval carefully turned the page. “At first, the man didn't know anything was wrong.” He looked up at Leesa. She was sitting on the edge of her chair, her attention riveted upon him.
“How could he know?” he asked. “After all, a person only gets bitten once. But the vampire knew.” The professor returned to the book. “She writes that he smiled at her and reached out his hands for hers, but was taken by surprise when she faltered back. I'll quote her now: “I recoiled in horror as he opened his mouth, for it revealed a thing of which I'd only heard stories, had never seen, and hope never to see again. Just one lone fang dropped from his upper jaw—the mark of a grafhym. The man I wanted for my consort was damaged, imperfect.‟ She goes on to say he was banished from the tribe immediately, forced out into the forest to live his life alone.”
He turned another page. “The final section talks ab
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 23
“How do I love thee? Let me count the ways,” Cali quoted, her voice soft and dreamy. “I love thee enough to hold both thy hands. Woo hoo!” she teased. “But not enough to take off his freaking gloves!” “Stop it!” Leesa said, laughing hard. She was sitting on the wooden chair in front of Cali's desk, her left elbow resting on the desktop, holding a plastic cup of wine. Green Day was squawking something about Jesus being in suburbia—Leesa had never been able to make complete sense of the song. She set her wine down on the desk to avoid spilling it while she laughed. This was her second glass, the first time she'd ever had more than one, and her head was buzzing. She had already decided two glasses would be her permanent limit. She wasn't all that fond of wine—had tried some only a couple of times before—but this one, a mellow chardonnay with a slightly fruity taste, was actually pretty good. Andy had brought a couple of bottles to Cali's room the night before. He and Cali drank
Leesa's Advent Chapter 24
Twenty miles to the east, across the river from where the three girls talked and teased and giggled, Rave stood in the dark outside the door of an old cabin, the same incident replaying in his mind. He had so badly wanted to kiss Leesa. For an instant, the pull had been so strong he'd almost forgotten himself, forgotten what he was, forgotten what could happen if his mouth met hers. He had recovered in time, of course, but the memory still burned strong in his mind. He needed to know more, to know what his options were, to know if he could somehow kiss her without killing her. The cabin was the oldest in their settlement, older than Rave, built of rough hewn logs cut from the surrounding forest more than two hundred years ago. Dried mud black with age chinked the spaces between the logs. The two front windows were tiny—glass had not been an option when the cabin was built, so deer hide had hung over the openings back then. Glass had been added later, and Rave could see flick
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Leesa's Advent Chapter 26
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The bright, sunny day grew much brighter when she saw Rave smiling up at her from the bottom of the steps. He was wearing a black long-sleeve T-shirt and jeans. And those darn gloves, even though it wasn't all that cold. Seeing him here was the last thing she expected, and her fatigue seemed to melt away. She smiled back and limped quickly down the steps.“Hi, gorgeous,” he said. “How did you do? Did you slay that physics monster?”“I did good,” Leesa said, smiling. “The monster is dead, at least for now. But how did you know what I was doing? I never told you about my midterms.”“I have my methods.” Rave grinned and took both her hands in his. “Just because you don't see me doesn't mean that I'm not around.”Leesa's smile widened. “Somehow, I believe that.” She squeezed his hands. “And I like it, too. Though I prefer seeing you.”Rave's expression turne
Leesa's Advent Chapter 28
Leesa's brain was spinning. Complicated. Secret. Tell no one. Where on earth was he going with this? What did vampires have to do with holding hands and kissing? For some reason, her mother's wild story popped into her head. Not again, please, she prayed. She studied Rave's face. He didn't look crazy. He looked anxious, but determined. And damn handsome.“Yeah, I promise.”Rave smiled. She could see some of the anxiety melt from his features.“Do you believe in vampires, Leesa?”Uh-oh, here we go, she thought. “Not completely. But more than when school started, that's for sure. Professor Clerval makes a compelling case. And you talk about them with such certainty.”“You're not alone. Most people don't believe they truly exist. But they do, I promise you. Have you ever heard of volkaanes?”Leesa shook her head, frowning. “No, never. What's a volkaane?”“Among ot
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