The dried leaves were crunching beneath my feet. The weather was wonderful up here. We were far away from the city and were surrounded by trees instead. The air was fresh and crisp, and up here I felt like I was breathing for the first time in my life. It was completely silent. The night sky was a deep blue and clear. Not a star could be seen. All around me were swaying trees and a forest floor thick with dead leaves and branches. We were walking for about five minutes. Somehow, I was more worried about the rising sun than him. We were now alongside each other and occasionally, our arms would brush against each other. Felix didn’t tell me where we were going and I didn’t mind anymore. I was starting to get used to him not giving me a heads up. I saw a structure up ahead though it wasn’t all that light. It wasn’t the darkest night but not the lightest one either. The moon was just a sliver in the sky and it didn’t illuminate the area all around us the way a full moon would. Thinki
Waking up groggy and disoriented was a part of my life now. Being immersed in complete darkness like this wasn’t something I’d get used to, not ever. I didn’t know how they could comfortably live like this. At least the lights could be turned on. What was the time, anyway?I sat up in the dark room, the bed groaning along with me. I looked around, hoping to see something. Catch some light. I couldn’t. It was completely pitch black and—Just then, the lights in the room turned on. I closed my eyes to shield them from the glare and had to blink slowly in order for them to adjust to this new light. I wiped the tears accumulating around them and then dared to open my eyes. They were getting comfortable now—there was a lot less stinging involved. Finally. I got up and stretched my arms above my head. I heard a crack in my back and felt less tension there. I was unsure about going downstairs but if the lights had turned on, someone was probably awake. I opened the door and stepped out
There was an energy in the house that was unmistakable. This was the second day that I had been here and already the mood had changed. I thought everyone was upset about leaving the city and coming here but if that was the case before, it wasn’t the case now. Everyone appeared to be happy and there was a party atmosphere that I couldn’t put my finger on. When I went downstairs and Sven informed me that they would be throwing a dinner party, then everything made sense to me. “The people coming are trustworthy. Don’t worry.”I didn’t know if he’d seen panic cross my features when he told me. Perhaps that was the case. I didn’t trust most vampires, I’d say. But if he said I didn’t have to worry, then it was futile to worry. Vanessa pulled me aside when she saw me and said, “Tonight is expected to be a more formal event so we’re all going to get dressed up a little. I have clothes for you to try out.”“Thanks,” I said, unsure of what else to say. “That is in case you want to particip
I looked around in hopes to spot Felix bug he was nowhere to be found. The vampire before me was still ogling me and I wanted nothing more than to hide from him. Who were these people? I didn’t like them. The only vampires I liked were the ones Felix introduced me to. “What’s the matter?” he asked in a low voice. “Cat got your tongue?”“Nobody says that anymore,” I said sharply. This made him laugh. He flashed his sharp canine, which made me shiver a little at the sight of it. “Is that so? Forgive me. I come for a different time.”“I know.”“Really?” he asked. “What else do you know, since you seem to know everything?”I pressed my lips together and didn’t say anything else further. He stared at me with an amused expression, which made me wonder why all these vampires were so obsessed with witches. What was the matter with them? I didn’t have any powers of enticement, as far as I was concerned. I was just ordinary. The only thing I was good at (apparently) was killing werewolves w
Felix and I went back outside. By then, tears were running down my face. I was heavily affected by everything I had seen and this sickening feeling grew inside of me, leaving space for nothing else. He only stopped when we were a safe distance from the house. Once we did, I covered my face with my hands and cried. The feeling of lightness and relief I felt earlier vanished; that insolent and cold-hearted vampire ruined everything. Felix put his hands on my arms comfortingly. His touch was gentle and welcome. He didn’t say a word; he only watched me cry until I felt cleaner and better about myself. When I took my hands away from my face, he wiped my tears gingerly. “Don’t cry,” he said intensely, his eyes on mine. “That’s exactly what he wants. He feeds off despair and helplessness. Don’t give him what he wants, not ever.”“He’s such an asshole,” I said because I didn’t know what else to say. And it was true. He was an asshole. He was the worst vampire I’d ever met. “He’s always be
I hadn’t stopped thinking about Felix since he left my side outside after we shared that kiss that should never have happened. I was sure the sun had already risen and so I wouldn’t be seeing him again anytime soon. The way he left and the sound he made as he fled the scene made my cheeks warm up each time without fail. I was embarrassed by what I felt and thought in the moments before the kiss. How had things changed so drastically? How did I go from hating him with all my heart to thinking it was okay for him to kiss me? Where was the old Jade? Had feelings of guilt and loneliness shaped her forever? I had to admit that I’d become unrecognizable, even to myself. Now, I was only wondering what he thought. Had he felt because of how disgusted he was? I didn’t want to think that way but he hadn’t given me a choice. I was now self-conscious and too self-aware to wind down and not worry about it at all. I wondered why it was that he didn’t look at me after the kiss when he was the one
It was a major surprise to me when Felix knocked on my bedroom door. When I opened it, he was leaning against the door frame. He was wearing a leather jacket with a plain black T-shirt underneath—his usual attire. The one thing that was considerably different about him was the look on his eyes. The neutrality he’d shown me earlier was gone.I’d never met this Felix Russell before. “I’m going into the city tonight,” he told me. “I was wondering if you wanted to come with me.”I searched his eyes before responding, “And what are we going to do there exactly?”“Aren’t you hungry?”I wanted to tell him I wasn’t but I kept that to myself. He probably already heard it anyway. Driving into the city was exactly what I needed to fight this endless boredom away and it excited me, the thought of going back. “Give me a few minutes,” I replied before closing the door. I got ready in record time. It was only a shame that I had to wear my old clothes which were starting to look less presentable
“What are you doing?” I asked him, my heart beating incredibly fast. I wondered why my first instinct was to ask him that and not scream. I should have screamed. He was pointing a gun at me. “Trying to save your life,” he said between his teeth, stepping closer. “When I received the call that you were here, I knew I had to come even though we didn’t part ways in the most friendly way, did we?”“That’s because you’re a hypocrite,” I shot at him. “You told me to stay away from Felix because he wasn’t trustworthy yet you were keeping things from me too, weren’t you?”I wanted to ask him how he’d received the call and from whom, but I didn’t think it would matter. He was here already. “Look,” he said, “I don’t know what you’re talking about. I don’t know what he said from you. I’m genuinely just trying to help you, can’t you see that? They’re not good for you. You can’t tell me that you haven’t already figured that out.”“You’re not good for me either,” I stated. “Unless you want me to
Xander brushed my hair away from my shoulders, leaving my neck bare. His pupils dilated. To be fair, I was more nervous than he was, but that was only because of the last time that we bonded. I was in pain for the longest time, and about half of the bond ended up being consumed by my blood. I didn’t want to go through that again, but if we didn’t try again, I would never know if trying to mark me a second time would work. “You never know,” he said like he read my thoughts. “Second time might be the charm.”“Isn’t it usually the third time?”“Let’s hope it won’t come to that.” He massaged the spot with his thumb, spreading heat in the area. I shuddered a little, and my nipples hardened against the soft material of my nightgown. He lowered his head and kissed the spot he caressed, ripping a soft moan from me. If there was one thing that Xander knew how to do, it was turn me on. While he kissed my neck, his hands began exploring. He placed them over my breasts, which were so taut th
A few minutes passed by in absolute silence. Konstantin was dead. Cassian was dead. I guessed that the others were dead, too. Felix stared at his brother’s body unwaveringly. I wanted to go to him and offer him some kind of comfort. He’d tried to find a way out for him for centuries. And now that he was out, he was forced to kill him himself. Xander looked at me and said, “Jade, let’s go. Let’s get out of here.”I looked back and forth between him and Felix. I didn’t want to leave him; I didn’t come all the way here just to free him and then walk out of his life like nothing happened. I didn’t want things between us to end so abruptly. “Jade,” he said again, this time more firmly. I glanced over at him, then raised a hand, gesturing for him to wait for a bit. I went down the front steps and then slowly approached Felix, who was too busy looking down at his dead brother. He didn’t look up, even when I was just a few feet away from him.“Felix?” I said. Only then did he meet my g
“Felix?”He was in disbelief. “What are you doing here? What did Cassian do to you?”I couldn’t see anything, but still tried to stand up. I held out my hands in front of me as I tried to find out where he was. “There’s a light pull switch somewhere around here. Try to find it.”I didn’t stop until I grabbed the cord. Light flooded the room, and I had to shield my eyes from the glare. I heard him say, “How did you end up here? What happened?”“I came to save you,” I explained. He said, “What?”“I knew that you were in danger, and so I came to find you.” I opened my eyes and took a good look at him. My heart broke in two when I saw that he was locked in a narrow cage, completely naked and bound. There were deep cuts in his chest, one of the cuts being suspiciously close to the heart. It was like he was being drained. “You shouldn’t have come here,” he spat. His eyes were bluer than usual, but perhaps that was only because of how pale his skin was compared to before. “Why would you
The house where Linda and Benjamin lived with Landon was hard to find. We spent almost the whole night looking for it. I was sure that Konstantin probably found it by now, but we had no way of communicating and anyway, he never said that he’d take care of the situation tonight. We’d probably have to spend a day spying in order to get acquainted with the area. We successfully tracked their home thanks to one of the werewolves who were with Xander. He had a particularly sensitive nose, and he was a shifter, which meant that he could become a werewolf at any moment, unlike Xander, who had to wait for the full moon. Shifters were different kinds of werewolves. More powerful. Things between Xander and I weren’t as tense anymore. We were actually talking to each other now; granted, we never mentioned our relationship or any of the risks involved, but we were saying something to each other, which was a significant improvement to whatever was happening between us earlier on. “Your fathe
Konstantin’s house was as terrifying as it was the first time I saw it. The shutters made it seem like there was never anyone home, and I wondered if any curious soul ever tried to break in and found themselves standing face-to-face with a monster. A blood-sucking one at that. I took a deep and steadying breath. Now that I was here, I couldn’t turn back. I’d come too far. I crossed the unkempt lawn, and onto stopped when I reached the front door. I raised my fist and knocked. At first, there was no reply. I had a moment of derealization. I was having them more frequently. I felt dizziness and an intense disbelief for a handful of moments, and then there was nothing. I heard his voice from within. It was tinged with curiosity. “Who dares to knock on Konstantin’s door? Do you willingly seek death? If so, you’re in the right place.”I lamely said, “It’s me. Jade.” “Jade?” he asked, sounding confused. “I was here with Felix.”He opened the door right away. I heard him unlock it,
Xander still hadn’t said a word to me, and it was starting to make me feel really uneasy. I wished he’d say something. Then again, maybe I deserved the silence. I was taking him to a dangerous place all because I felt the need to save Felix (even when I’d been told that he didn’t want to be helped). He was risking his life here.We rode the subway to reach Konstantin’s neighborhood. I still recalled where it was, but honestly, I was starting to seriously doubt my plan. There was more than enough time to turn back, but something wouldn’t let me. Gratitude, perhaps. He’d saved me many times when I was in danger, and it only felt right to do the same thing for him. Besides, Cassian had to be stopped. Was I supposed to live my life looking over my shoulder for him? I would prefer it if we got rid of him permanently. And because only a vampire could kill another vampire (successfully), I’d need a vampire’s help. And Sven suggested Konstantin, so that was that. As we sat side by side,
Our first stop was their apartment. Since it was daylight, there wasn't much that we could do, so we had to kill time by paying for a room in a shitty hotel room nearby. It was five buildings away—we wouldn't be able to keep an eye on their building and monitor movements—but it was the best thing we could do. Although we kissed right when we left his new pack, I wasn't sure where we stood. It wasn't like we'd completely reconciled, and right now, my thoughts were on Felix. But I was grateful that he came with me, and his gesture spoke volumes. He sat on the edge of the bed while I stared out the window. "So, what now? What's your plan exactly?""I'll ask them where Felix is, and then I'll go to him.""Just like that?"I cut him a look. "It's the only plan I have.""It's not the best plan, Jade," Xander said with a hint with impatience. "You're running back to the very people who wanted to use you as a weapon without a plan. What if they don't let you walk away? What if that Cassian
I must have fallen asleep because I woke up on the bed.I sat up, alarmed. My heart started racing as fear clawed at me. I hated that I'd fallen asleep in a territory that I wasn't familiar with. Where was Xander?I allowed myself to relax when I realized that I wasn't in immediate danger. The bedroom door was closed, so I had no idea what was going on outside. I had to go check. I climbed out of bed and peered outside. I didn't see anything of notable significance. The corridor was dark and empty. It was also impossible to tell whether it was day or night, which meant that I had no idea how long I'd been out for. I was disoriented. Did I want to risk going downstairs and looking for Xander? What did I even want? I didn't know what I wanted to do. What was my plan here? Felix said I had to stay here because it was safer. I wouldn't doubt him because I now knew that he had the best intentions with me. He wouldn't have said that if he didn't actually believe that I was safe here. B
Cassian was enraged. “Brother?” he asked, tilting his head. He touched the side of his head, which was bleeding, and then wiped his blood on his pants. “I told you to stop,” Felix said, using the same voice he’d used earlier. “This isn’t going to continue. I’ve had enough.”“You’ve had enough?” Cassian asked in disbelief. “What about me, who spent centuries rotting inside a cage, starving to death? Do you think there’s such a thing as ‘enough’?”“I won’t let you use Jade,” he stated. “Our plan was different before. This would have all been done with her consent. But now, it’s done. It didn’t work. We should all move on.”Cassian paced back and forth, pointing a finger at Felix and then putting it back down. He was still holding me, and I had to admit that I felt very much safe standing next to him, and I knew that he wouldn’t let his brother put his hands on me again. He’d stopped it, and that was what mattered to me. “You’re choosing this whore over me?” he asked. “Is that what t