me,” he said.
“I know.” She swal owed. “But I want to.”
“I won’t hurt you,” he said.
She put a hand to her neck as if to protect it. “Promise?” How could she trust this strange boy? How could she risk her life to save him? But there
was something about him— his sleepy dark eyes, his haunted expression—that drew her to him. Hannah was the type of girl who took in stray dogs
and fixed birds’ broken wings. Plus, there was that thing out there in the dark. She had to help him get away from it.
“Do it,” she decided.
“Are you sure?”
She nodded briskly, as if she were at the doctor’s office and had been asked to give consent to a particularly troublesome, but much-needed
operation. She took off her glasses, pul ed the right strap of her nightgown to the side, and arched her neck. She closed her eyes and prepared
herself for the worst.
He walked over to her. He was so tal , and when he rested his hands on her bare skin, they were surprisingly warm to the touch. He pul ed her
closer to him and bent down.
“Wait,” he said. “Open your eyes. Look at me.”
She did. She stared at into his dark eyes, wondering what he was doing.
“They’re beautiful—your eyes, I mean. You’re beautiful,” he said. “I thought you should know.”
She sighed and closed her eyes as his hand stroked her cheek.
“Thank you,” he whispered.
She could feel his hot breath on her cheek, and then his lips brushed hers for a moment. He kissed her, pressing his lips firmly upon hers. She
closed her eyes and kissed him back. His lips were so hot and wet.
Her first kiss, and from a vampire.
She felt his lips start to kiss the side of her mouth, and then the bottom of her chin, and then the base of her neck. This was it. She steeled herself
for pain.
But he was right: there was very little. Just two tiny pinpricks, then a deep feeling of sleep. She could hear him sucking and swal owing, feel
herself begin to get dizzy, woozy. Just like giving blood at the donor drive. Except she probably wouldn’t get a doughnut after this.
She slumped in his arms, and he caught her. She could feel him walk her to the bed and lay her down on top of the sheets, then cover her with the
duvet.
“Wil I ever see you again?” she asked. It was hard to keep her eyes open. She was so tired. But she could see him vividly now. He seemed to
glow. He looked more substantial.
“Maybe,” he whispered. “But you’d be safer if you didn’t.”
She nodded dreamily, sinking into the pil ows.
In the morning, she felt spent and logy, and told her mother she thought she was coming down with the flu and didn’t feel like going to school. When
she looked in the mirror, she saw nothing on her neck—there was no wound, no scar. Had nothing happened last night? Was she indeed going
crazy? She felt around her skin with her fingertips and final y found it—a hardening of the skin, just two little bumps. Almost imperceptible, but there.
She’d made him tel her his name before she had agreed to help him.
Dylan, he’d said. My name is Dylan Ward.
Later that day, she dusted the plaque near the fireplace and looked at it closely. It was inscribed with a family crest, and underneath it read “Ward
House.” Wards were foster children. This had been a home for the lost. A safe house on Shelter Island.
Hannah thought of the beast out there in the night, rattling the windows, and hoped Dylan had made it to wherever he was going.
VENATOR RECORDS:
MARTIN
KINGSLEY MARTIN
Araquiel, Angel of Vengeance, the Angel with Two Faces
Birth Name : Kingsley Anderson Martin
Origin : Silver Blood Enmortal
Known Past Lives : Tiberius Gemel us (Rome)
Bondmate : None
Assigned Human Conduit : None
List of Human Familiars : None
Physical Characteristics:
Hair : Dark brown
Eyes : Blue
Height : 6’1”
One of the Conclave’s most trusted and skil ful Venators, Kingsley Martin has a complicated past. He is a reformed Silver
Sarah Dalton
Robin Jones Gunn
Rachael Orman
Shiloh Walker
E A Price
Elle Casey, Amanda McKeon
Brett Battles
Marion Halligan
Robin Sharma
Violette Malan