Page 89 of Half the Summer's Night

32

ROWAN

The sun is low against the horizon, turning the sky into a wall of flames. I feel full and sated. Charlotte and I have just shared three kills between us, much more than I’ve ever done in such a short amount of time. The blood is all over my clothes, and I know I ought to change before I go to Abi’s house. But it’s already getting dark, and we’re nearly forty minutes outside of Rosado.

Charlotte says something, although I’m not focused on her right now. Everything feels more heightened after the mayhem of this afternoon. The buzz of the car’s engine as it vibrates up through my seat. The sound of insects outside, the rustle of wind. The thick scent of humanity in the distance.

I can’t wait to go to Abi like this. To smell her. Touch her. Taste her.Devourher.

“Rowan?”

Charlotte’s voice snaps me back, and I jerk my gaze over to her. “What?”

“I asked if you were okay.”

“I’m fine.” Fine doesn’t even begin to cover it. When Charlotte told me I’m some kind of killer monster that can’t die, I thought she was crazy. But now, I can feel it, this dark magicsurging through me. I’m powerful and inhuman and I can do anything I fucking want. “I’m just anxious to get back to Abi.”

Charlotte smirks. “Yeah, I bet you are.”

I know immediately what she’s implying, especially when she gives me a knowing little wink. Heat floods into my cheeks. “I need to watch over her at night,” I say stiffly.

That earns a full-throated laugh from Charlotte. “Look, I’m not judging. If Jaxon were here, we’d be fucking already.”

My face burns even hotter. “You’re my sister, right? I don’t want to hear about you fucking your boyfriend.”

“Half-sister.Estrangedhalf-sister. I’m just saying, I get it.” She laughs and guns down the highway, flying toward the sunset. “It’s part of being a Hunter, I think. Killing gets your blood up.”

She’s not wrong. I can feel all that energy coursing inside me.

“Just hurry,” I mutter.

“She okay seeing you like that?” Charlotte asks.

I shift in my seat, not sure how to answer, even though the blood feels good on my skin. “She’s seen me kill someone before.”

“Oh, really?” Charlotte glances over at me. “Did you fuck her afterward?”

“No,” I snap, irritated. I just wish we weretherealready. “I had to dispose of the body.”

“Would she have fucked you?”

I squeeze my hands up into fists. “Maybe.”

It’s the wrong thing to say, because it makes Charlotte whoop out. The car veers around on the road.

“Jesus fuck,” I snap, bracing myself against the dashboard. “Watch out.”

“I’m just excited for you, lil bro. That’s all.”

“Stop calling me that.”

“What? Lil bro? You are. You think I didn’t find out how old you were before I came out here?”

“Yeah, but we don’t— we don’t really know each other.” That doesn’t feel true, though. Not anymore. Not after an afternoon of killing together.

“Yeah, well, we can change that, right?” Something changes in her emotions, like she’s becoming more serious. When I look over at her, she’s staring at the road, and her expression is thoughtful. “I mean, you don’t have to go through the world by yourself anymore. You’re a Hunter.”

“I’m not by myself,” I say softly. “I have Abi.”