Closing my laptop, I tried to calm myself down. My heart rate was still faster than normal, even though I was over the initial wave of adrenaline the fight had caused. In the silence around me, I could easily hear the rest of the apartment. My mom was in the other room crying. Part of me wanted to run out and tell her I’m sorry, that I’m still her little girl, and I didn’t mean to be such a horrible brat. Part of me was glad she was so upset. She deserved it, after all. There was no reason for her to stick her nose in my business all the time.
I turned on some soothing music to cover the sounds of my mother’s soft sobs and closed my eyes. I needed to figure out who this Daunator person was, and I needed to reach out to Larundel and see if I could find any Vampires that were still there. When Paul attacked, I wanted him to have as much information as possible. Not only was he my cousin, but we were linked now that I had been in his mind so frequently, p
A knock on my bedroom door startled me, and I realized I had heard it with my ears, and it wasn’t some mind trick. “Yeah?” I asked. When my sister stuck her head in, I was relieved. At least it wasn’t my mom.“Hey? You all right? I’ve sent you a couple of messages.” She walked in and flipped on the light switch. It had gotten darker while I was in Melbourne, though the clock told me it had only taken a half hour this time.“I’m fine. Just....” I shook my head, not sure how to tell her everything. “I couldn’t get anything useful.”“Oh.” She was disappointed. She smiled and nodded, but I knew the team had gotten used to having me as a resource, and I’d failed them.“Daunator may have stolen all of my thoughts, and Holland has some giant wall around Larundel.”“Yeah, we’ve seen it from surveillance footage,” she replied, misund
I slept well that night, despite the research I’d done regarding my newest scheme. Brandon and I hadn’t chatted for long because he was still trying to convince his dad to let him go through with the procedure. I knew Elliott would cave, so when I woke up to a message that Brandon would meet me at 7:30 to walk over to the facility to get it done, I wasn’t surprised at all.My mom was dusting again when I came out of the bathroom, towel drying my hair. I wondered if we should buy stock in Pledge. “Good morning, honey. You’re up awfully early.”“Yeah, no training today,” I replied. “Aurora is having her procedure done. So is Brandon.”“Oh.” I was surprised my sister hadn’t mentioned any of this to my parents. “Are you going over there, then?”“If that’s all right,” I replied, thinking it wouldn’t hurt to be polite. I was still upset at her, but
By the time my sister walked in, everyone was on their cots, and the Healers were meeting in the back of the room, talking about who would administer what to whom. I heard Jamie mention he had some extra syringes, just in case something happened, like a spill or a drop. “It can get a little violent,” he said, and I wondered what made him say that—until I realized how ferocious my own Transformation had been. I realized Tara’s had been, too, though Cadence and Elliott had undergone theirs with some form of grace. I had an idea Aaron’s had been pretty vicious, too.“How are you?” Cadence asked Brandon.“Never better,” my boyfriend replied dryly.“You’ll be fine.”He nodded and looked at the door. I was about to ask Cadence if she had any idea where Elliott was when it flew open and he rushed in. “Sorry I’m late,” he said, stopping next to Brandon’s bed. “Go
Across the room, a bloodcurdling scream cut through the relative silence, and I looked over to see Meagan thrashing around uncontrollably. My sister moved to help, as well as Shane, who hadn’t undergone the procedure yet, and everyone shifted that direction.Brandon settled down about the same time that Aurora started crying. Since Jamie was preoccupied with the disturbance around Meagan and Ashley, who wasn’t screaming, but was shaking, I took a few steps around the end of Brandon’s bed undetected.The entire room erupted into chaos as one by one the patients burst into sobs, violent shaking, or screaming. While it made me want to smile to see Christian crying, I tried not to focus on that. When Jamie looked away concerned about Meagan and Shane, I had my opportunity.Meagan was starting to calm when Dr. Morrow injected Shane. The bulky Guardian knocked the physician across the room, and Jamie hurried over to keep him from hitting the ground.
I’ve never been in one of those sensory deprivation chambers—the ones where people float around in salt water so they can use their superpowers, or just get in touch with their inner self—but I imagined this is what that must feel like. Coming back to my body after the second Transformation serum application can only be described as otherworldly. Every fiber of my being seemed to be vibrating on a higher plane. It was both religious and supernatural at the same time.I was aware of voices before I even opened my eyes, and it caught my attention that they sounded alarmed. I could hear Brandon and my sister for certain, and then Jamie and Elliott. In the back of my mind, I was aware that I would likely be in huge trouble for what I’d just done, but before I was even fully conscious, I knew it was worth it. Something had changed... everything had changed. And it was for the better. I can’t describe how powerful I felt, but I knew the next time I fac
Everyone walked out into the hallway, though it took more than a nudge from my sister to get my mother walking in the right direction.Once they were gone, I swung my feet over the side of the bed, and Jamie took out his stethoscope. He paused to shake his head, I assumed at me at first, but then my sister asked for visuals through my IAC, and I thought perhaps he was telling her no. I allowed it. I needed to know someone was with me right now, and even though I love Jamie, he’s not my family. I was about to see if this was as worth it as I thought it was.Jamie listened to my heart and took my pulse, listened to me breathe, whatever doctors do with stethoscopes, and then he said, “Your pulse is a little slower than usual, but everything sounds okay. How do you feel?”“Weird,” I admitted. I moved my hand in front of my face, expecting the super speed I’d seen from the others who had undergone this procedure, and while mine was
When I opened my eyes, Jamie looked concerned, and I glanced down, realizing I was clutching my abdomen. I imagined my arm had moved into that position while I was in Holland’s head. I wondered how long I had been gone. “Are you okay?” Jamie asked.“I’m okay,” I assured him. “But Holland isn’t. She’s having the baby. She’s unconscious right now, but while I was in her head, I could feel it. That’s never happened before. Also, I spent some time with Hines. It’s different now. I can access their thoughts a lot more quickly than I could before. I tried making him do something.” Jamie didn’t speak, but his eyebrows shot up in curiosity. “He looked like he was getting ready to do a surgical procedure, like maybe he was going to deliver the baby, and I wanted to see if I could get him to do what I wanted, so I had him take one of the scalpels and cut a hunk of his hair off. It really freaked h
Finding out information about Daunator was still tricky. I’d tried jumping back into his head, and though the black cave wasn’t as dark, it was obvious I hadn’t begun to scratch the surface of his power, which was disappointing. He wasn’t our biggest concern right now, however, since he wasn’t a threat, so I didn’t spend too much time trying to break down any barriers.Instead, I jumped right over to Holland and got the surprise of my life. And that’s saying something considering I was hovering a few inches above my bed as I did my investigation. Her baby wasn’t a baby at all—not in any sense I’d ever imagined. It was blood red, with no hair, and looked to be the size of a large two-year-old. Its mouth was full of razor sharp teeth, and all it did was screech, eat, and tear things up. I couldn’t blame the other Vampires for locking it in a cage while Holland was still out, and when she’d tried to take it