Wanted: A Blood Courtesans Novel by Michelle Fox, Kristen Strassel

her in past tense, but Nash didn’t care. “—Instead, I’ll have you attend to Sierra as she mourns, and your task is to make her understand why she can’t spend forever with her beloved.”
    I gasped, and he nodded. There was more. “If I were you, I’d be thinking of nothing but where to find that head.” Like I could think of anything else. “Desiree will ask for retribution if she thinks you caused this.”
    My days at the coven were numbered. I understood, more than I ever wanted to. “Please.” I could barely speak. “Teach me how to use my power. Or kill me. For real. I can’t live if this is what I do to people.”
    “I’ll think about it. Get some rest. You’ll need it.” He walked away from me and closed the door to his bedroom.
    He’d left me with nothing. I couldn’t lay in these blood-splattered, filthy clothes. I stripped them off and turned the fire on. I lay on the couch, naked and shivering, wishing I could fix everything. Something. Anything.
    At the beginning of the night Nash wanted to keep me forever. He’d been willing to help me rescue Olivia, who I couldn’t even be happy about finding anymore. I’d throw her back to the forest if it meant one more day with Sabrina.
    No, I couldn’t think that, either. I’d go mad unless someone helped me, and I just alienated the only people willing to do that.
    Sometimes, the visions came in the form of a riddle. I wondered if that’s what Oscar had been. A fortune teller.
    The likelihood of Nash wanting anything to do with me after tonight…I didn’t want to think about my odds. They sucked. I’d have nowhere to turn but the forest, and Oscar would be too happy to have me on my hands and knees, covered with blood…
    No. This was it. A one-way train to crazy town, and it had no brakes. I drifted in and out of consciousness, picturing Sabrina in the sunlight, and snapping awake at the reality of her lying headless in that tub of ice.
    I had to take a chance. There was no place else to run. Nash didn’t answer the door when I knocked, so I held my breath and pushed it open. I’d never seen a sleeping vampire, and had no idea what to expect when I picked up the blanket and crawled under it.
    His body shifted. “Corynne?” he mumbled, having no trouble sleeping.
    “Please let me stay with you,” I whispered. Maybe in his dreams I wasn’t a monster. “I’m scared to be alone.”
    He put his arm around me and pulled me into his still chest. For once, I believed that everything could be okay.
    **
    “We have the head!” My eyes snapped open as soon as I heard the chaos in the hall. “Who’s awake? We need you! We have the head!”
    “Nash.” I pushed at him, having no idea what time it was, or if I’d be able to wake him. I hadn’t stayed with the vampires all that long, but some basic knowledge of how things worked would’ve have been priceless. I was too chicken shit to go out there alone, in case anyone wanted to exact some instant justice. After last night, I was pretty sure this crowd was into that sort of thing. Nash might still protect me, even if it was only to make me suffer on his own terms.
    One more hard shove. “Nash! Wake up. They found Sabrina.”
    His eyes opened and he mumbled something unintelligible. I shook him again. “They have her head?” he finally said.
    “Yes! They’re calling for help. You’re the oldest. They need you.” I jumped out of bed, remembering I was naked. I almost asked Nash to borrow some clothes, but that would’ve made things even more disrespectful, like I’d spent the night my friend was murdered getting my brains fucked out. And there was no way I’d ask him for anything. Back to last night’s clothes that stunk of Oscar’s glamour and my fatal mistake.
    Nash made the sign of the cross before leaving the apartment. He hadn’t lost his faith.
    Mayhem filled the dressing room as the vampires frantically worked to save Sabrina. Sierra stood alone, motionless, clutching the