To Kill a Vampire - A.K. Koonce Page 0,38
lips and touches his white eyes. “I know! It’ll surprise the hell out of her.”
“Yeah, and it’ll surprise the hell out of you if she says no.”
His smile slips away, his eyes growing wide with seriousness. “You really think she’d say no?”
My lips part, and a laugh I can’t stop bubbles to the surface. “It’s a fucking possibility.”
“She wouldn’t say no.”
“Maybe. Or maybe she might.”
His brows crease as he studies the dirt, confusion and fear replaces the carefree appearance he always seems to hold.
“I’m sorry. It’s not my relationship. I shouldn’t have said anything,” I tell him, squeezing his shoulder, trying desperately to wipe that look off his face.
“Would you have asked Fallon?”
“What?”
“If she didn’t ask you, would you have asked her?”
I pause, thinking about how surprised I was when she proposed in front of the entire community.
“Yeah. I definitely would have.”
He nods, his eyes still filled with fear. “Meet me here tonight just before midnight. Bring Fallon.”
He jogs away, his red hair like a beam of fire through the crowd. I don’t stop smiling even after he’s out of sight.
I never in my life thought I’d have a family. And yet here they are. My grandparents, Gabriel, and Fallon are all right here.
I once thought a life of hiding was the easiest way to survive. It was.
But surviving isn’t living.
Eighteen
Love and War
Fallon
Luca’s nimble fingers twist through my hair, weaving my tousled curls into something almost manageable. It’s been months since we’ve done something so … normal.
“It feels weird to be going on a date in the midst of a war,” I tell her as I slip on a pair of black heels and stand to meet her at the door.
“Gabriel insisted we do something fun before the world possibly ends.”
“He said that?”
“Yep.” A smirk touches her lips as she looks at me, and the moment of silence doesn’t go unnoticed.
A small, black nose nudges open the thin door of the hut, sniffing curiously. A smirk tilts my lips as Ripper stares hesitantly into the room. He paces a little on his dirty paws as he stares at me from only a few feet away.
Luca turns and starts to slip her flats on as I kneel in the dirt, desperately reaching my palm out to the little dog that was once my best friend.
He takes a single unsure step closer to me, a soft whine drifting from his tiny snout.
His white tail begins to wag just slightly, his head still dipping low, uncertain if he should trust the vampire before him. With his head still low, he scurries closer to me, his dark eyes flinching as my fingers run lightly over his soft hair.
A long tongue slips out, happily licking at my hand, his shoulders still hunched as if I might turn on him at any moment. Yet, he’s here anyway, trusting me when he isn’t sure he should.
“I’m really sorry, Luca.”
She blinks, staring at the floor for a moment.
“I guess, in the back of my mind, I didn’t think you’d do it even as you were doing it.” She breathes out a shaky laugh.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.”
Declan’s words about fate twirl through my mind. If I hadn’t went into the Red Hills this never would have happened.
Or would it?
“Let’s go.”
It only takes a few minutes to realize how hard it is to trample through the forest in heels and a skirt. The grace I was just starting to get used to is nowhere to be seen. I trip over a log, skinning my knee against the rough bark before healing instantly. Only the clinging scuff of dirt blemishes my skin.
Luca helps me up, and we make it to the clearing in one piece.
The open space is the same area where Declan trained me so long ago. In the center is a small candlelit table, and Asher and Gabriel stand the moment I come tumbling out of the forest.
Gabriel laughs as I fight a vine for my shoe. They’re the only pair of heels I own.
When I turn, Asher’s there taking the shoe from me and slipping it on my foot, his palm warm against my ankle.
“You look beautiful,” he whispers as he stands, his hand running up my arm, sending a shiver across my skin.
I push my hair back from my face before telling him thank you.
He takes my hand and leads me to the table. Subtly I lean into him, clinging to the warmth he seems to radiate.
“I want you to