remain in the dark. Forever.
When I turn away to join the others, I feel Will’s gaze at my back. It burns through my skin, penetrating deep into my soul. Leaving Will in the lifeless, dark woods feels like a betrayal to everything I am, to everything I could become. He might be the only creature on this planet who completely understands me. He knows my needs, my desires, my faults, and my fears—because he experiences them too. He doesn’t judge my emotions or question my motives. He knows me…for me. He knows the hybrid better than even my sire.
The moment the tiny hairs on my body rest, I know he’s gone. I glance over my shoulder, knowing he won’t be there but hoping to still see him staring as I retreat.
The emptiness of the surrounding woods is like a dagger to my heart.
Chapter Ten
There’s something about the flutter of snow when it blows in the breeze. Swirling through the air, it coats the earth, hiding evidence of what lies beneath. Hardened by time, what was once soft and yielding is now frozen in place. I kick at the fluff, scraping my boot against the icy, frigid remains of an earlier snowfall.
Straight ahead, the manor towers over me. Passing the wrought-iron gate, I eye it carefully. From the outside, it seems eerily quiet. I assume the other vampires have already made their way to their rooms, awaiting the sunrise.
The footfalls of my fellow hunters echo all around me. The sound radiates through the icy tundra Darkhaven has become and tickles the soles of my feet.
Scanning our surroundings, I see nothing but splashes of frost. It coats the manor. With sharp edges and delicate overhangs, the Victorian architecture stands out in this small, idyllic village. No other house is quite as breathtaking. No other house is home to a nest of vampires either. If I’m forsaken from yet another home, I really will have to leave Darkhaven.
I glance at my sire, who has yet to look me in the eye since I turned my back on Will. Jasik believes I’ve been dishonest. He thinks I’ve been orchestrating secret rendezvous with a vampire I don’t truly know. This isn’t the case, and eventually I’ll be able to explain what really happened in the woods tonight—from meeting Will to fighting the witches. Until then, I must face their wrath.
I glance at the others. They too refuse to look my way. No one is happy with me, and I fear what Amicia will say when she finds out. I thought they’d be happy to discover the existence of another hybrid. Will doesn’t just provide answers to far too many unanswered questions—he’s also the key to everything I will become. He knows the darkness in me and the magic nestled there. He knows what will happen when it consumes me. He knows what I should fear and what I should protect. Why can’t the others see him as an asset?
I eye the second story, easily finding the window to my bedroom, but something else catches my attention. A vampire watches our approach. Her crimson gaze penetrates deep into my soul, as if she already knows about my betrayal. Her hair is long, thick, and black as night. Her skin is pale and luminescent in the moonlight.
When she notices me staring at her, she quickly glances away, pretending to fidget with the drapes. She adjusts the shades, closing them so no light can penetrate the room while she slumbers. In the blink of an eye, she’s gone. No longer in view, she retreats inside the manor, where so many others await our return.
A stone path leads me toward the manor’s front door. Each slab of rock is slick from the recently fallen snow, but I navigate them with conditioned ease. I consider how long I’ve been here. It’s been long enough to call this place home but short enough to still question my place within the nest. When I first arrived, Amicia warned me that even one mistake will cost me her loyalty. Since then, I have tried to prove myself to her, to the others. I want to be here. Leaving Will in the dark must prove that to them.
Slowly, I ascend the steps of the wraparound front porch. When I reach the top step, I glide my fingertips over the frosted head of a gargoyle. I can’t even walk inside the house without greeting our protector. His stone head is cold and rough, sending shivers