not, it’s wrong and you know it.”
Gabriel laughed. “Maybe you’re feeling a little empathetic toward this creature since you’re basically one and the same. Both made by Athena. Both . . . monsters .”
My anger turned white-hot and consuming, so extreme that a weird sense of calm came in its wake. I wanted to reach for my 9mm but wasn’t sure how Bloodborns or anyone here would react to that particular threat, or to being shot (if it came to that). Bloodborns stopped aging in their early twenties, when their regenerative genes took over and made them virtually immortal. Gabriel wasn’t there yet, which meant if things went crazy, a bullet might kill him.
I felt it my duty to take Gabriel down a peg or two, regardless, and show his cronies that even he had weaknesses. I reached up slowly and removed the sticks from my hair.
It fell in a wave of glossy white to my waist. As expected, Gabriel’s pupils dilated, glued to my hair.
And that’s when I spun, grabbed his shoulder, and knocked his feet out from under him. As he fell I slid behind him, wrapping my legs around his middle and my arms around his shoulders. I shoved the sharp tips of both sticks against his jugular.
His ear was pressed against my jaw. “The only monster here is you and your sick friends,” I growled. “Torturing and killing doesn’t make you strong or popular, it makes you an egomaniacal piece of shit just like Athena. You’re going to let that thing go.”
He squirmed. I had no idea what was happening outside my conversation, but I could feel the tension. Every kid here had some kind of power, and we were so ridiculously outnumbered that I was surprised Gabriel didn’t start laughing.
“Mmm,” he breathed. “Christ, your hair smells good.”
The world slowed down. My body went warm and heavy, and my thoughts became unfocused. Gabriel turned in my arms, pulled me into his lap, and leaned me back in a dip. My hair slid away from my face. He smiled down at me and chuckled.
My head fell to the side, exposing my neck to him. I saw everything as if in a dream. Henri and Sebastian fought and pushed against air; Anne Hawthorne and the other girl held their hands up, palms out, somehow preventing Henri and Sebastian from getting close.
Gabriel bent down and brushed his lips against my neck. I gasped, but it came out in slow motion. “I wonder if you taste as good as you look.”
His teeth grazed my skin and I shivered.
My heart pounded. My eyes latched on to the group. The flames from the bonfire flickered slowly over everything: the masks, the gowns, the revelry all around us.
And then I saw a dark shadow rising up behind Anne and the other girl. Athena’s minion. It hit the girl in black. Released, Sebastian and Henri rushed toward us, but the creature got to us first. It tore Gabriel away, grabbed my wrist, and yanked me up like a rag doll. The mesmerizing link between Gabriel and me broke instantly. The sharpness of my thoughts returned with all the ferocity of a sledgehammer at full swing.
I didn’t have time to collect myself before the creature was hauling ass through the crowd, me in tow and barely able to keep up.
Screams erupted as the creature shoved people aside. Henri’s shout sounded from somewhere behind me. Where the hell was Sebastian?
The creature flung students out of its path with its body and free arm. A loud explosion ripped through the theater, and a blast of hot air surged over my head. I chanced a quick glance over my shoulder to see the bonfire bursting upward as though someone had doused it with lighter fluid.
In a fraction of a second I saw Sebastian turn from the fire, eyes zeroing in on me from a ridiculous distance. Then he started after me as the creature pulled me into the lobby.
I was being dragged too fast to do anything but try to keep from falling, totally unable to reach my weapons. Pain shot through my shoulder, which was threatening to dislocate from my arm if the thing didn’t
Gabriel laughed. “Maybe you’re feeling a little empathetic toward this creature since you’re basically one and the same. Both made by Athena. Both . . . monsters .”
My anger turned white-hot and consuming, so extreme that a weird sense of calm came in its wake. I wanted to reach for my 9mm but wasn’t sure how Bloodborns or anyone here would react to that particular threat, or to being shot (if it came to that). Bloodborns stopped aging in their early twenties, when their regenerative genes took over and made them virtually immortal. Gabriel wasn’t there yet, which meant if things went crazy, a bullet might kill him.
I felt it my duty to take Gabriel down a peg or two, regardless, and show his cronies that even he had weaknesses. I reached up slowly and removed the sticks from my hair.
It fell in a wave of glossy white to my waist. As expected, Gabriel’s pupils dilated, glued to my hair.
And that’s when I spun, grabbed his shoulder, and knocked his feet out from under him. As he fell I slid behind him, wrapping my legs around his middle and my arms around his shoulders. I shoved the sharp tips of both sticks against his jugular.
His ear was pressed against my jaw. “The only monster here is you and your sick friends,” I growled. “Torturing and killing doesn’t make you strong or popular, it makes you an egomaniacal piece of shit just like Athena. You’re going to let that thing go.”
He squirmed. I had no idea what was happening outside my conversation, but I could feel the tension. Every kid here had some kind of power, and we were so ridiculously outnumbered that I was surprised Gabriel didn’t start laughing.
“Mmm,” he breathed. “Christ, your hair smells good.”
The world slowed down. My body went warm and heavy, and my thoughts became unfocused. Gabriel turned in my arms, pulled me into his lap, and leaned me back in a dip. My hair slid away from my face. He smiled down at me and chuckled.
My head fell to the side, exposing my neck to him. I saw everything as if in a dream. Henri and Sebastian fought and pushed against air; Anne Hawthorne and the other girl held their hands up, palms out, somehow preventing Henri and Sebastian from getting close.
Gabriel bent down and brushed his lips against my neck. I gasped, but it came out in slow motion. “I wonder if you taste as good as you look.”
His teeth grazed my skin and I shivered.
My heart pounded. My eyes latched on to the group. The flames from the bonfire flickered slowly over everything: the masks, the gowns, the revelry all around us.
And then I saw a dark shadow rising up behind Anne and the other girl. Athena’s minion. It hit the girl in black. Released, Sebastian and Henri rushed toward us, but the creature got to us first. It tore Gabriel away, grabbed my wrist, and yanked me up like a rag doll. The mesmerizing link between Gabriel and me broke instantly. The sharpness of my thoughts returned with all the ferocity of a sledgehammer at full swing.
I didn’t have time to collect myself before the creature was hauling ass through the crowd, me in tow and barely able to keep up.
Screams erupted as the creature shoved people aside. Henri’s shout sounded from somewhere behind me. Where the hell was Sebastian?
The creature flung students out of its path with its body and free arm. A loud explosion ripped through the theater, and a blast of hot air surged over my head. I chanced a quick glance over my shoulder to see the bonfire bursting upward as though someone had doused it with lighter fluid.
In a fraction of a second I saw Sebastian turn from the fire, eyes zeroing in on me from a ridiculous distance. Then he started after me as the creature pulled me into the lobby.
I was being dragged too fast to do anything but try to keep from falling, totally unable to reach my weapons. Pain shot through my shoulder, which was threatening to dislocate from my arm if the thing didn’t
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