Page 75 of Hot Vampire Next Door: Season Three

“What do you want?” Damien asks.

Quietly, slowly, people start backing out of the room.

“I want what’s rightfully mine. Both Jessie and Kelly. Those are my terms.”

“Absolutely not,” Bran and Damien say in unison.

“Then you leave me no choice,” Julian answers.

The witch at my sister’s side pivots behind Kelly and places her hands on either side of her head.

For a fraction of a second, I see Damien ready to move, ready to spring and save my sister.

But even he can’t beat the speed of magic.

The air around my sister’s head undulates like heat rising from an oil fire.

Then her eyes roll back so that all I can see are the whites. Blackness appears beneath the fingertips of the Renshaw witch and the black spreads like wiggling tendrils of ink beneath Kelly’s skin.

Beside me, Damien jolts.

Darkness is seeping into his skin too.

And within seconds, Damien and Kelly are consumed by the spell and both hit the floor with a resounding thud.

Episode 52

Blood On My Hands

War can come in many shapes.

It can be like a storm cloud, the darkness rising on the horizon, the sky flashing with lightning long before the storm lands. You know when a storm is coming. You can see it and you can feel it.

But war can also be like an earthquake. One minute your life is normal and the next it’s falling in around you, the ground cracking beneath your feet.

This is like a storm and an earthquake. Because we felt this coming, but I don’t think we were prepared for the ground to shake.

Everything is still and then suddenly everyone is moving.

A Renshaw witch stands from her seat in the back of the room and lifts her arms in my direction. She mutters something to herself.

Bianca whips her hand toward me and there is a clash of air two feet away, followed by the overwhelming scent of magic—like tinder and wild earth.

The hair rises on the back of my neck.

“Mouse!” Bran yells. He is caught between coming to me or going to Damien. He picks me, but a Locke vampire catches him off guard and puts his hands on either side of Bran’s head, ready to give his head a swift yank to break his neck.

And that’s when the Alpha jumps in.

Cal slams into the Locke vampire and the sound of bones breaking rings in my ears.

Bran looks at Cal and gives him an appreciative nod.

The room erupts in battle.

Witches fighting witches and wolves tearing through vampire flesh. Vampires darting back and forth, tossing people like they’re nothing more than dolls.

What do I do?