When Sarah Solomon took refuge in an old cottage in the woods, she knew it would only be a matter of time before the monsters came a' calling.
Cursed with a power she neither wants, nor knows how to harness, Sarah has become a target, but who is he...
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We.
He said we.
Not me. We were in deep, fucking trouble.
The blood that had poured from Celeste had pooled onto the floor, sticky and thick, beneath her head. The air smelt of it. Although all signs of her elongated incisors were gone, her mouth was still open, eternally screaming its accusation.
She is here. Paris, awaken. My murderer is here.
And yet, Michael had said we were in trouble. He could have left me to fend for myself. Dragged me back to Sébastien and thrown me to the wolves.
He was still on his knees, staring dumbfounded at the dead vampire.
'It was me,' I said. 'I did this. I'm the one in trouble here, not you.'
Michael looked up at me, his eyes darting to my hands that trembled by my sides. He climbed to his feet and began to look furtively around. Stepping over Celeste, he ran up the stairs, craning his neck to look up the centre of the stairwell. Once seemingly satisfied no one was there, he ran back down and peered under the stairs where the shadows congregated, dark and heavy.
'What are you doing?' I said, as he bent and grabbed Celeste under her armpits, dragging her to the farthest corner under the staircase.
'Trying to give us a head start,' he said, moving to the door and opening it a crack. 'The last thing we need is for the gendarmerie to find her before we've even made it to the end of the street.'
'Michael, wait!' I grasped his arm. 'This doesn't have to involve you. Let me go. Return to Sébastien and tell him I ran as soon as I had the chance. They don't even need to know that you were here.'
Michael's face softened but I could see the storm in his eyes, weighty and foreboding. 'Sarah, even if I was going to claim ignorance of this whole thing, it's too late, don't you see? Sébastien will already know Celeste is dead.'
'What? How?'
'He made her. Her blood is his blood. He will have felt her loss as soon as she bled her last on this floor. Right now, he'll be sending his people to find out who killed her and that will lead them here. Your scent is all over her and this place.'
'And so is yours,' I said, my heart sinking.
'Exactly.' He dragged his teeth over his bottom lip. 'Besides, I brought you to Paris. You wouldn't even be here if it wasn't for me.' Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulled out his cell phone, quickly typing out a text and hitting send. 'I've told the others to get out fast.'
Fuck. The others. My stomach lurched at the idea they might be in danger because of what I'd done.
'Will they be okay?'
The phone vibrated and Michael glanced at the screen. 'Vince said the house has erupted. He doesn't know why yet, but he's going to try and get them out while Sébastien's people are distracted. Come on, we need to go.'
