Page 4

A bullet rang through the air, and I glanced over to see Kier alive, bloody and ready to fight. His jaw was tight as he stared at me.

A body dropped behind me.

I dropped my scythe for a second, letting it disappear into my magical world that held it. I grabbed a vampire’s skull and slammed it into my knee before reaching behind him and stabbing his friend.

My eyes were locked on the woman floating still as all hell broke out. Bishops and fathers fought beside me.

Together, we killed a decent chunk before the woman screeched, “Retreat. Leave!”

Rage rushed through me.

I grabbed my scythe once more before whipping it at her, trying to hit her. The magical force field stopped it, but that didn’t stop me from calling it back to my hands and trying again. Again and again, I got closer to her, whipping the scythe as she backed to the entrance with many other vampires.

“You wanted me!” I screamed, punching my blade through the force field and making her jump back. “Come get me!”

She smirked a bit before she said, “It’s nice seeing you, P. Or should I say Spectre?”

“Fuck you, vampire!” I snapped.

She chuckled as she and the others backed through the exit and disappeared in thin air. That wasn’t vampire magic. They couldn’t vanish like it was nothing.

My chest was heaving as my whole body was sticky with blood. The vampires didn’t touch me once, and I took some pride in that.

My right arm was the only thing in pain. My prosthetic wasn’t a good one, leaving it almost unusable. I bent the elbow, and something in it snapped, rendering it limp. With an exhausted sigh, I sat before the gate, clenching my arm and not looking at anyone behind me. I felt the need to disappear like those vampires. All of this… was my fault…

2

Sal

Father Frazier paced the office while I sat awkwardly in a leather chair before him. Blood covered my body from the fight and the moment word got out, he pulled me into his office. But for the last five minutes, he just paced.

I watched him, brown eyes following him.

This was it. Everything I worked for was gone. I spent years trying to get into the Oracle Academy. I tried so hard to get to this point. I pushed my ass to learn everything I could to pass all these tests. The father threatened me once, to kick me out because of my fornication with the bishop.

I remembered the sex with Beck in the car and Abel on the bed. They made me come and claimed me as theirs. I tried not to smile, thinking about them, but I couldn’t help it.

Father Frazier sat down, wiping any feeling of happiness from my body. “You are… the Spectre. An Ashbourne girl… a poor girl with one working arm.”

I cocked a brow.

“And you played us and those vampires so well. No one would think you were the Spectre, let alone a girl…”

Should I be offended?

“December twenty, two years ago—”

“Delivered you an early gift. Three nightwalkers, and two collectors, all knocked out and about to die,” I finished. I knew where this was going and what he wanted to hear.

“April fifth.”

“Nightwalker and two seekers without jaws.”

“February thirtieth.”

“Twenty-ninth,” I corrected. “I saved an Evercrest person from a group of nightwalkers.”

Father Frazier ran his hand through his hair. “So, you might work with the Spectre, that’s it.”