Vampires Never Get Old - Zoraida Cordova Page 0,92
and sees the thin black band below her elbow and knows he doesn’t have to worry anymore.
And then the other girl’s mouth drops to her throat, and there it is, the subtle press of teeth, the bright flash of pain, and Cal’s bones know what to do. She draws the stake and drives the tip between the vampire’s ribs.
She hears the soft, audible gasp of Juliette’s breath catching, and Cal falters. Just for a second, but it’s enough time for the vampire’s hand to fly up, for her fingers to catch the wooden stake.
Juliette pulls back, her mouth open in surprise, and even in the dark, Cal can see teeth.
“Time’s up!” calls a voice, and the door flies open.
They pull apart, a slash of space carved between them by the sudden light, and Juliette’s fangs are gone, and Cal presses the wooden stake back against her forearm, and she does the only thing she can.
She runs.
The room is filled with whoops and cheers as Cal surges out of the closet, past the crowd and into the hall, her pulse pounding in her ears.
Shit, shit, shit.
The first rule of hunting, the one that matters most, is finish what you start. And she didn’t. The one thing she had was the upper hand, the advantage of surprise.
But now Juliette knows.
She knows.
* * *
Jules doesn’t know what just happened.
She squints in the sudden light, but by the time she can see again, Calliope is gone.
Calliope, who just tried to kill her.
She can still feel the wooden tip of the stake between her ribs, the sharpness of it like a rock through the smooth glass of their kiss. The kiss. And just a taste of blood.
And now Cal’s gone, and her sister’s voice drifts through her head.
Never let them get away.
Shit.
Jules strides out of the closet, one hand pressed to her front to hide the tear in her shirt, the other hovering over her mouth even though her fangs have already retreated. The room is filled with whistles and laughs, and beneath the raucous sound, she can hear blood. Blood, pulsing inside them. Blood, pounding like a drum inside her head. Cal’s blood, rushing beneath the surface of her warm skin, so close Jules could taste it, could taste her—
And now she’s getting away.
And she knows Juliette’s secret.
She knows.
“I have to go,” she says, pushing through the group.
“But it’s your turn!” calls Ben.
But Jules doesn’t stop, can’t stop. She’s out the door and in the hall, on the landing, looking down at the wave of students on the first floor, she’s scanning the clustered heads, searching for that cloud of curls, and—
There.
There she is, heading for the front door. She’s got her hand on the knob, one foot across the threshold when she stops and looks back into the house. Juliette grips the wooden rail as the girl’s gaze rises up the stairs and finds hers.
And holds.
And for a moment, the sound of the party drops away, and all she hears is blood. Hers, slow and stubborn, and Cal’s, thundering and quick. For a moment, they are back in the closet, a tangle of lips and limbs, before the whole thing tipped, before kiss became kill.
Cal stares up at her across the gulf of space. Jules stares back, holding her breath, and she knows the other girl is holding hers, too, knows they are both waiting to see who will break, who will move, who will run, who will chase.
Calliope’s mouth pulls into a crooked grin.
And Jules stares back, smiles back, and thinks—
Let the hunt begin.
KISS / MARRY / KILL Or The Villains We Love to Love
Zoraida Córdova & Natalie C. Parker
While not all vampires can claim to be charming (take, for example, the decaying form of the Nosferatu), the romantic allure of vampires is a tale as old as time. They are powerful, dark, dangerous, and while their bite can kill, it can also entrance. They might just be the original bad boys. It’s kind of difficult to imagine building a romantic life with someone who might never age or who might, totally by accident, drink your mom or something like that. Still, romance with vamps is a popular part of the mythology. But as often as we see a romance played out between a vampire and a human, or a vampire and a slayer, it is super rare to find one with a happily ever after. Slayers, like humans, usually come to the relationship with too little power, but here, Victoria is