Everafter Series 2 - Nevermore by Nell Stark, Trinity Tam Page A
Authors: Nell Stark, Trinity Tam
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hopes of catching Sean before our boss arrived.
And later, finally, I would leave work to catch the train that would take me out to JFK in time to meet Alexa’s flight. Tomorrow, I would hold her. Tomorrow, I would kiss her. Tomorrow, I would make love to her and feel her fragrant blood filling me up, making me strong once again.
Tomorrow. I had to believe it.
*
A pounding at my door shattered the fitful doze I’d lapsed into after returning home. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and blinked hard in the dim light of the pre-dawn. Again, my door rattled, and this time Karma’s voice accompanied the insistent knocking.
“Val! It’s me.”
I forgot about my exhaustion. Karma wouldn’t have shown up like this if she didn’t have some kind of news. I threw on a T-shirt and shorts, raced to the door, and threw back the deadbolt.
“What’s going on?”
Karma was dressed as immaculately as always, but her eyes were wild as she stepped inside my apartment. “It’s Telassar,” she said with no preamble. “The city has fallen.”
“Fallen?” My heart leapt into overdrive, and I clutched at a nearby bookshelf as the world seemed to tilt. “What—what does that mean?”
Karma’s hand closed around my forearm. Her touch was warm, and my throat began to burn at the sensation of her pulse fluttering lightly against my skin. “The city has been besieged for a week. Yesterday, the invading force broke through Constantine’s defenses. A few escaped, one a contact of Malcolm’s.”
“Alexa?” My voice sounded strangled to my own ears. With my free hand, I pressed hard against my chest, over my galloping heart.
Karma shook her head. “Malcolm’s source said that she left the city with Constantine two days ago.” When she hesitated, I shook off her hand.
“What? What, aren’t you telling me, Karma?” My breaths were coming in quick gasps, and I was starting to feel dizzy. Hyperventilating. I couldn’t stop.
“My source claims that Brenner was after Constantine and Alexa specifically.”
My entire body jerked at the name. “Balthasar Brenner?”
Surprise flashed across Karma’s delicate features. “Yes, how do you—”
“A dream.” I stumbled to the futon and sat, holding my head in my hands, trying to tamp down the panic long enough to think. She had escaped. With Constantine. She wasn’t dead—or at least, she hadn’t been, a few days ago. A groan escaped my lips at the thought.
“Oh, Val.” Karma sat beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Warm. So warm, the aroma of night-blooming jasmine rising fragrantly off her smooth, dusky skin… Saliva flooded my mouth as my jaw began to ache. So thirsty.
“She’ll make it through this,” Karma said. “Constantine is wily, and the lands around Telassar have been his for generations. He will know how to keep her safe.” When she began to rub the back of my neck with gentle pressure, a spark of arousal burst in my gut to flood my body with swollen heat. “Now, what were you saying about a dream?”
I took a deep, shuddering breath, desperately trying to focus on her words instead of the delicious promise of the delicate blue vein that ran just above her collarbone. “He was in my dream, two nights back. Sebastian’s father. Burning a city, but not of Weres. Of vampires.”
Karma’s hand stilled. “You had a dream about the razing of Sybaris?”
“It was just a dream,” I panted, shaking with the effort of holding myself in check. The impulse to feed was growing stronger by the second, and I had no idea how long I could hang on before it overpowered me.
Karma frowned. “No. It wasn’t. Because Sybaris was razed to the ground by Brenner’s elite forces a few days before he besieged Telassar. Our source fled there after he escaped Telassar, because Sybaris is the nearest Consortium outpost. But he found it in ruins.”
“Weres and vampires fighting.” Was this the beginning of a war, like the ones to
And later, finally, I would leave work to catch the train that would take me out to JFK in time to meet Alexa’s flight. Tomorrow, I would hold her. Tomorrow, I would kiss her. Tomorrow, I would make love to her and feel her fragrant blood filling me up, making me strong once again.
Tomorrow. I had to believe it.
*
A pounding at my door shattered the fitful doze I’d lapsed into after returning home. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and blinked hard in the dim light of the pre-dawn. Again, my door rattled, and this time Karma’s voice accompanied the insistent knocking.
“Val! It’s me.”
I forgot about my exhaustion. Karma wouldn’t have shown up like this if she didn’t have some kind of news. I threw on a T-shirt and shorts, raced to the door, and threw back the deadbolt.
“What’s going on?”
Karma was dressed as immaculately as always, but her eyes were wild as she stepped inside my apartment. “It’s Telassar,” she said with no preamble. “The city has fallen.”
“Fallen?” My heart leapt into overdrive, and I clutched at a nearby bookshelf as the world seemed to tilt. “What—what does that mean?”
Karma’s hand closed around my forearm. Her touch was warm, and my throat began to burn at the sensation of her pulse fluttering lightly against my skin. “The city has been besieged for a week. Yesterday, the invading force broke through Constantine’s defenses. A few escaped, one a contact of Malcolm’s.”
“Alexa?” My voice sounded strangled to my own ears. With my free hand, I pressed hard against my chest, over my galloping heart.
Karma shook her head. “Malcolm’s source said that she left the city with Constantine two days ago.” When she hesitated, I shook off her hand.
“What? What, aren’t you telling me, Karma?” My breaths were coming in quick gasps, and I was starting to feel dizzy. Hyperventilating. I couldn’t stop.
“My source claims that Brenner was after Constantine and Alexa specifically.”
My entire body jerked at the name. “Balthasar Brenner?”
Surprise flashed across Karma’s delicate features. “Yes, how do you—”
“A dream.” I stumbled to the futon and sat, holding my head in my hands, trying to tamp down the panic long enough to think. She had escaped. With Constantine. She wasn’t dead—or at least, she hadn’t been, a few days ago. A groan escaped my lips at the thought.
“Oh, Val.” Karma sat beside me and wrapped an arm around my shoulder. Warm. So warm, the aroma of night-blooming jasmine rising fragrantly off her smooth, dusky skin… Saliva flooded my mouth as my jaw began to ache. So thirsty.
“She’ll make it through this,” Karma said. “Constantine is wily, and the lands around Telassar have been his for generations. He will know how to keep her safe.” When she began to rub the back of my neck with gentle pressure, a spark of arousal burst in my gut to flood my body with swollen heat. “Now, what were you saying about a dream?”
I took a deep, shuddering breath, desperately trying to focus on her words instead of the delicious promise of the delicate blue vein that ran just above her collarbone. “He was in my dream, two nights back. Sebastian’s father. Burning a city, but not of Weres. Of vampires.”
Karma’s hand stilled. “You had a dream about the razing of Sybaris?”
“It was just a dream,” I panted, shaking with the effort of holding myself in check. The impulse to feed was growing stronger by the second, and I had no idea how long I could hang on before it overpowered me.
Karma frowned. “No. It wasn’t. Because Sybaris was razed to the ground by Brenner’s elite forces a few days before he besieged Telassar. Our source fled there after he escaped Telassar, because Sybaris is the nearest Consortium outpost. But he found it in ruins.”
“Weres and vampires fighting.” Was this the beginning of a war, like the ones to
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