To Kill a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,15

idea what you’ve done. You’ve released the abominations. You are an abomination.”

Inky black nails sink further into Fallon’s smooth skin, threatening to strangle the breath from her throat. Within the few seconds it takes me to rush to her side, Fallon pushes the woman off of her, sending the president into several tables. The sound of cracking wood fills the air as her thin body breaks through the first solid table. She lands harshly on the ground, her veil flying off at her side, revealing her smooth pale features beneath.

Michael runs to her, taking her hand in his, tending to her as if she was his only care in this world. Perhaps she is. He’s her advisor, but in this moment he appears as more. She might trust him with more than just politics …

President Docile’s eyes flutter open, sending a shock wave of silence through the room. Gleaming red eyes sift over us all, waiting for an accusation to be thrown her way.

The president of the mortals is a vampire.

Eight

An Abomination

Fallon

She’s beautiful. The most beautiful abomination I’ve ever seen.

Striking features captivate my attention. Full lips meet the sharp angles of her face. The appearance of soft and hard toys with her beauty.

The way my father holds her hand to his chest is more of a surprise to me. As I look at them, it takes all of my effort to swallow down the irrational resentment and pain the simple sight of them brings me.

I could feel her unnaturalness the moment she entered the room. It clouded my senses. It called out to me, and the silence in her was the final confirmation. There was no beating in her, or will to live, or excitement, or lust, or … happiness.

Somehow she must have tricked the mortals here. Captivated them. Or maybe they just trust her. How else could she gain their approval as their president?

I can’t bring myself to meet Ayden’s eyes. I won’t allow myself to see the look of disgust I know coats his features now that he sees me for what I am. Part of me wants to hide from him for just a little longer. I can’t hide forever. And I certainly won’t hide from the vampire

A sway fills my hips as I cross the room, stepping over a few crumpled chairs that lay in my path. My boots quietly echo against the tile as I make my way closer to the frail mystic lying on the ground. Her weakness seems to fuel me, sending a new found courage spiraling through my veins.

When I’m only a foot from her, I squat, my cloak falling around me like a dark puddle and touching the hem of her pretty dress. Her eyes burn into mine. My father sits obediently at her side, but I refuse to look at him.

“Why are they – why am I an abomination and you are not?”

Her lips purse before she finally speaks. “I am. We both are. But I would have gladly died knowing I was the last of my kind. Now they’ll start again; breeding unnatural offspring into our world like a virus.”

I clamp my jaw tightly closed at the description she paints of the hybrids. My glare burns into her porcelain skin, narrowing my sight on her features. She’s beautiful, and she knows she’s beautiful. Her power might rest in her image alone. Her power doesn’t work on me. I don’t envy her, or pity her, or even like her.

“Make the announcement by the end of the week. If nothing has been set into motion by that time, I will return.” I rest my elbows casually on my knees, a coldness creeping into my voice. “With friends.”

Without a word to anyone, I walk straight to my cabin, allowing the blackness to settle in around me. The door lays at an awkward angle against the frame, almost closed but not quite.

We made it back just minutes before the burning sunrise. The air grew humid, warming me intensely. Anxiety spiraled into me at the thought of the simple and consistent nature of the world. It rose right on time as it always does. Something I took for granted day in and day out now threatens my meager existence. I’m powerful, and yet I’ll never be stronger than Mother Nature.

A loud and disrupting knock rattles across the haphazardly propped up door.

For an almost-hopeful instant I wonder if it’s Asher, but the simple carelessness of the knock tells me it isn’t. The scent of the