“Since Rae dumped you,” Persephone corrects, twirling a dark pink strand of hair around her long finger.
“Rae didn’tdumpme, exactly,” I sigh, then I realize something. “Hey, what are the three of you still doing here? Aren’t you going to go home for the winter solstice break?”
“Winter’s not really anything special for us,” Orion shrugs. “Plus, our parents were planning a trip to migrate with some sea turtles off the Pacific reef…”
“Wait, really? That sounds nice…”
“He’s messing with you,” Gwen says, rolling their eyes. “Orion, I told you to stop doing that to normals.”
“She’s technically a witch!” Orion throws his hands up, then jumps when he accidentally hits the spine of an old, leather-bound book on the shelf behind him, releasing a huge cloud of dust.
As they continue bickering, I hear footsteps coming our way. Light footsteps and no gas lamp. Probably Hallie. I feel relieved, until I see her appear in the doorway.
“Maggie, Gwen, is that you?” she asks. She’s wearing her dark blue traveling cloak and her eyes are wide.
Something’s wrong.
I stand up. “Yeah, it’s us, what’s going on?”
“We have to get out of herenow…”
“Now? What-”
Persephone shrieks, and points towards the window. We all turn and gasp in unison.
“Out! Now!” Hallie yells, pulling Gwen toward the door of the library.
Framed in the large window is a dark-cloaked vampire, her bright eyes flashing with malice. Her fangs are bared. She must have flown to the window and now she’s standing on the outside frame. She raises her hands and purple light emanates from her palms. The window glass shatters. I’m standing closest to thewindow and I raise my arms instinctively. I just manage to stop a shard of glass from hitting my face. It cuts my wrist instead.
The vampire steps into the library through the broken window, grinning widely at me. She looks at the blood seeping down my arm and licks her lips.
In a low, terrifying drawl, she says, “Howperfect.”
The blood freezes in my veins.
“Maggie!” Orion grabs me from behind and pulls me to the door. The other three are already racing down the hallway, Gwen and Persephone illuminated by their gas lamps and Hallie bringing up the rear.
“Hurry!” she yells.
But how are we going to outrun a vampire? Especially one who canfly? Maybe the vampire can read thoughts too, because she lets out a horrifying laugh.
“We’re very disappointed in you, Hallie,” she says.
Orion and I scramble to get out of the library, but it’s no use. The vampire is on top of us immediately, crossing the room in a fraction of a second. She grabs Orion’s gemstone earring, ripping it out of his ear. He shrieks, blood gushing from the torn earlobe as his fin reappears and he slips to the hard stone floor.
“And for you…” the vampire grabs my bloody wrist and twists my arm towards her mouth.
I’m not prepared for what happens next. The last thing I hear before I lose consciousness is the sound of my screaming as the vampire drinks from the open wound on my arm.
Rae
I race toward the sound. To anyone who’s not a shifter, it would just sound like a wolf howling. But every wolf’s howl is unique, like the voice of a loved one calling your name.
This voice is my uncle’s.
But it can’t be…he should be locked up in the Cave. Could he have gotten out? If so, what does that mean?
I increase my gait. By now I’m quite familiar with these woods, but it’s difficult to navigate tonight. The snow changes the feel of the layout, and it’s a moonless night. The last rays of sun have long disappeared over the horizon.
