Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 92612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 92612 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 463(@200wpm)___ 370(@250wpm)___ 309(@300wpm)
“Yes.” I touch his cheek, and he seems to return to the present. “You’ll be forgiven.”
His shoulders droop, and he shakes his head just once. “No, I won’t.”
“Get Valen’s whore out of my way, or I’ll handle her myself,” Carlotta snaps.
“Georgia.” Coal’s hand comes down on my shoulder.
I shrug him off. “Leave me alone!” I speak to Vince. “We can survive this. We can—”
Carlotta laughs, the sound musical and almost sweet. Then she yanks the chain, pulling Vince away from me. I reach for him, but Coal’s grip tightens, holding me in place as Vince screams.
“No!” I swipe at the air trying to capture his wrist.
Carlotta drags him away, his blood marring the floor as they disappear into the crowd.
“Vince!” I scream.
Coal grabs my arms and pulls me up, then shoves me back into the alcove. “Don’t,” he warns, his dark brown eyes narrowed. “The more attention you call to yourself, the more danger you’re in.”
“I have to help him.” I try to push past Coal.
He shoves me against the wall again, his hold like a vise. “You will stay right the fuck here.”
“Let me go!” I kick his shin.
“Fuck.” He squeezes my shoulders painfully. “Stop!”
“Get her out of here.” Valen appears beside us, his gaze dark. “Now,” he snaps.
Coal lets go and steps away.
Something fires in my mind. A thought. Just a split second of an image. Coal, his wing ripped, his face bloody. My forehead tears apart, the agony so vicious that I yelp, my vision going black.
“What is this?” Valen cups my chin.
I gasp as the image disappears, the pain receding with it. I straighten, my body shaking.
“Georgia!” Valen tilts my face up and stares into my eyes. “What the fuck was that?”
“I-I don’t know.” My voice trembles.
Valen searches my face, his brows drawn together. Then he turns cold again, his demeanor closed off. “Take her back to her room. Stay with her. Now, before—”
“Welcome all.” A sinuous voice coats the room, the music falling silent, the vampires freezing in place with uncanny stillness.
My breath, already an ephemeral thing, leaves me in a whimper. Gregor. He’s here.
“Fuck.” Valen glances from me to Coal.
“Tonight, we celebrate. Tonight, we feast.”
My heart thumps faster than it ever has. I don’t like the sound of any of this.
“Go. Now!” Valen shoves me into Coal’s grasp.
“Specter, come forward. Generals, come forward.”
Coal and Valen exchange a look, and then Coal is sweeping me back toward the entrance. A hint of relief swirls in my gut.
“Faster.” Coal wraps a thick arm around my waist, lifting me so my feet barely touch the ground. We move even quicker this way. We’re at the doors, the vampires focused on Gregor somewhere in the room behind us. Now past the doors into the outer salon. Out of this madness, away from the hungry stares and evil intentions.
Then Gregor’s voice rings out again. “Bring your humans with you.”
16
Recovered Journal of Dr. Georgia Clark
May 11, Year 1, Emergence Era
The three vampire blood types are the same, at least on the surface. A new species. I can’t track them, can’t compare them to the vast wealth of knowledge I have at my fingertips. Our experiments are shots in the dark, and we’re all so tired. We’re losing Aang. He’s withdrawing more and more each day that he can’t get in touch with Idrine. I know the feeling, the distance, the loss of someone who knows your ins and outs. But I can’t share any of that with Aang. Not when my lost person may be the reason his person is lost, too.
Coal stops short.
Valen appears at my side as if from the ether, his face stern. “Don’t speak,” he says as he takes my elbow.
I wasn’t planning on it.
He pulls me forward so roughly I lose my footing. Keeping me upright with ease, he drags me through the crowd that once again parts for him. His touch is rough, uncaring. Some of the vampires snicker, others leer. I can’t clock all of them, not when Valen is half-dragging me to Gregor.
The rear of the ballroom has a short staircase leading to a stage, perhaps where a band is intended to set up. The musicians aren’t here. Gregor is, sitting on a crooked throne with a wine glass in his hand. I’ve no doubt the red liquid inside is blood.
“This is a celebration, my friends!” Gregor continues, his voice brittle like a dry, fallen leaf. “We have struck mighty blows against the human scourge, the masses of rats that bite and scurry if given a chance. We won’t let them escape. We will rid the world of their filth, one by one until they breathe their last.”
The scent of death wafts to my nose as Valen pulls me closer, my heels scraping against the wood floor. We stop at the bottom stair, and Valen forces me to my knees. A moaning wail comes from behind me, and then Vince is tossed onto the steps, his bloody body landing with a sickening crunch.