Page 103
“Enre!” I cried out. I threw myself over him, desperate to staunch the blood, but I saw it would be to no avail. She had partially decapitated him and he was dead.
Adem fell to his knees beside me and let out an agonized cry.
“I can do nothing for him,” I wailed.
A noise drew our attention to Laura. She was gone. Then I heard a strange scuffling sound and looked up to see her scaling the side of the house.
“I must stop her!”
“Go,” Adem said, cradling Enre against his chest. He was weeping and the sight broke my heart.
I hurled myself after Laura and landed close to the house. Shards of glass fell from above. I saw her glance down at me before darting through the broken frame and into the house.
“Laura, no!”
A heavy curtain was drawn back over the ground window I stood beneath. I saw Sir Stephan’s expression of shock at my appearance for a mere second before we both heard Maria cry out, “Laura!”
“You brought her back?” he exclaimed. “You brought her back!”
“I must stop her!” I leaped onto the edge of the window sill. “Open the window! Quick!”
“Stephan! It’s Laura!” Maria’s voice rang out from upstairs.
Conflicting emotions fought in Sir Stephan’s eyes, then he said words that I never believed he would say. “Your invitation is rescinded. ”
“No!”
The curtain dropped into place as the ward took hold and plunged me into the snow. Scrambling to my feet, I rushed to the house and screamed Laura’s name. I could distinctly hear her parents welcoming her home and her own sweet voice answering them.
“Adem, I cannot enter! Adem!”
His dark form emerged from the misty darkness of the night. Blood covered him and his face was ghastly in its sorrow. Grabbing my hand, he dragged me along to the doors that opened into the garden. Picking up a stone vase, he beat it against the doors, trying to break them open.
“Laura!” I screamed. “Laura!”
My vampire senses are a blessing and curse. Tonight, they were a curse. I heard Laura’s own sweet voice say in the most chilling tone, “I have not come home to be with you, but to kill you. ”
“Adem,” I gasped. “Hurry!”
The heavy wood door began to splinter under his assault. I tried to help him, but the ward shoved me off my feet and into the snow.
As I stood up, I heard the screams begin.
“Adem!”
The door broke apart in pieces and Adem pried the remains from the frame. The wind and screams mingled together in a terrible chorus.
“Hurry,” I urged him.
With a nod, he plunged into the house.
Pacing back and forth, I listened as the shrieks above me died. Silence followed. A terrible silence that ate away at my senses and made me feel mad with dread. I stopped before the broken door and cried out for Adem.
There was no answer.
The hallway beyond the doorway remained empty, the flickering candles throwing grotesque shadows along the walls. I ventured a little closer and tentatively set my foot inside the house.
The ward was gone.
Table of Contents
- Page 1
- Page 2
- Page 3
- Page 4
- Page 5
- Page 6
- Page 7
- Page 8
- Page 9
- Page 10
- Page 11
- Page 12
- Page 13
- Page 14
- Page 15
- Page 16
- Page 17
- Page 18
- Page 19
- Page 20
- Page 21
- Page 22
- Page 23
- Page 24
- Page 25
- Page 26
- Page 27
- Page 28
- Page 29
- Page 30
- Page 31
- Page 32
- Page 33
- Page 34
- Page 35
- Page 36
- Page 37
- Page 38
- Page 39
- Page 40
- Page 41
- Page 42
- Page 43
- Page 44
- Page 45
- Page 46
- Page 47
- Page 48
- Page 49
- Page 50
- Page 51
- Page 52
- Page 53
- Page 54
- Page 55
- Page 56
- Page 57
- Page 58
- Page 59
- Page 60
- Page 61
- Page 62
- Page 63
- Page 64
- Page 65
- Page 66
- Page 67
- Page 68
- Page 69
- Page 70
- Page 71
- Page 72
- Page 73
- Page 74
- Page 75
- Page 76
- Page 77
- Page 78
- Page 79
- Page 80
- Page 81
- Page 82
- Page 83
- Page 84
- Page 85
- Page 86
- Page 87
- Page 88
- Page 89
- Page 90
- Page 91
- Page 92
- Page 93
- Page 94
- Page 95
- Page 96
- Page 97
- Page 98
- Page 99
- Page 100
- Page 101
- Page 102
- Page 103 (Reading here)
- Page 104
- Page 105
- Page 106
- Page 107
- Page 108
- Page 109
- Page 110
- Page 111
- Page 112
- Page 113
- Page 114
- Page 115
- Page 116
- Page 117
- Page 118
- Page 119
- Page 120
- Page 121
- Page 122
- Page 123
- Page 124
- Page 125
- Page 126
- Page 127
- Page 128
- Page 129
- Page 130
- Page 131
- Page 132
- Page 133
- Page 134
- Page 135
- Page 136
- Page 137
- Page 138
- Page 139
- Page 140
- Page 141
- Page 142
- Page 143
- Page 144