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Alice shrugs. “This is pretty tame, actually.”

The grief and fear crystallize in my chest, and in its wake, there is only fury. I storm out of her room, stomping through the unfamiliar halls of the castle.

“Summer! Wait!” Alice calls, chasing after me.

I keep going, but Alice catches up and directs me out of the building. I round the castle, trying to work out where the message is written. It doesn’t take me long to find the group of female vampires standing beside the building. All of them are wearing long gowns that just about touch the floor, the velvet black material splattered with dollops of paint.

“Hey!” I shout. They all look at me, their expressions of pride in their artistic endeavors morphing into hideous sneers.

I don’t give them time to react. I tap the small, iridescent rune on my wrist, still there from earlier, and slam a ball of bright purple power right into the center of the group. The females go flying, screeching as they are flung into the air. They land heavily on the hard ground and then scramble to their feet, their eyes flashing red with rage. A few of them flash their fangs at me, and I expect them to attack, but I am disappointed when the leader hisses, and they start to flee. My dagger is still in the bathroom, so I pull open the barely closed wound on my finger and draw another rune on the back of my hand. I growl and tossthe power at them. The females once again fly into the air, this time by their ankles, an invisible rope hoisting them high.

Alice strolls up behind me, amusement in her voice. “There will be more.”

“I’ll fight them too. I am not weak. I am not defenseless,” I growl.

Alice comes to my side, looking at my face. “You planning to fight the entire realm?”

My lips curl upward at the corners. “If necessary.” Anger is a shield, and it feels so much better than fear.

Leisurely, I walk through the squirming vampires, drawing a rune on each of their foreheads. The second the lines are joined, the rune illuminates. Boils pop up on their faces, and their fangs turn to rubber. They scream and struggle frantically, but I hold them firm.

“And that, you little leeches, is my best friend.” Alice’s smile is dangerous, and I much prefer it over the defeated acceptance from earlier. She slings an arm around my shoulder. “If my fangs and claws aren’t enough, her magic will bring you down.”

I look at them all, my body relaxing into the reality that I can take care of myself. Maybe.

“Looks like you have a few new supporters, Al. Right, girlies?”

One of the vampires burst into tears as the others snarl and hiss, but they all nod.

“I love to have loyal subjects.” Alice smiles brightly.

I step back and wave my hand, dropping them hard on the ground again. “Go. Before I make those runes permanent.”

They scrabble to their feet and bolt away.

“Well done.” Alice laughs.

90

Summer

The following two weeks are spent wreaking absolute havoc in Drãculea. It didn’t take long for word to spread, and soon, vampires were running in the other direction or ducking into alleyways to avoid us when we approached.

The distance from Avalon has done nothing to help me forget that day. Even now, I can feel the way her blood clung to me. I can still see those milky, unfocused eyes. The killer let this victim keep them this time. The way her head was tilted slightly to the right. My stomach roils every time I remember the gore streaking the pretty pink sweater with the daisy buttons.

“Home sweet home.” Alice sighs when we arrive back in our dorm.

Cautiously, I look around, relieved to see there’s no residual blood from that day. I’m both excited and dreading being back in Avalon for Christmas Eve. I’m excited to spend time with Connor and his family, but I’m also nervous about being back within reach of the killer.

Collapsing onto the couch, I check the time on my phone. Connor should be back any minute. I can’t wait to see him, butI am not looking forward to having to keep another secret from him. The headmaster had sent me one email over the break. It simply said that he was going to take the opportunity that an empty school brought and do some research into the murder. He ended the message by warning me that the authorities wanted this to remain strictly under wraps.

“Man, terrorizing an entire species is exhausting,” Alice groans, flopping down next to me.

“Pretty fun, though,” I admit. To be honest, I did find a lot of it fun. I found it liberating to incite fear in people, and Icravethe power of it.

Alice snorts. “Super fun.”

Someone knocks on the door, and I look up as Connor enters the room, using the key I had made for him. I smile and jump up, running to him. I throw my whole body against him, knowing he will catch me.