truth, the moment of amazing fib. The truth was,
she had no idea. For all Kira knew, she was turning into a vampire,
falling into a pit of darkness so deep that no amount of sunlight
could save her. For all she knew, her flames could barely burn a
vampire, let alone bring one back from the dead. For all she
knew…
"Yes, I can definitely do it again," Kira
said, oozing confidence, "but for a price."
Aldrich had to die.
End of story.
"Your war?" Hawk-Nose spoke up again. Kira
nodded. Her war.
"And what exactly is it that you want?" A new
vampire asked, one who exuded age and wisdom despite his young,
brawny appearance.
"Aldrich has threatened not only me, but my
friends and family, and he needs to be stopped. We have to kill
him."
"And why do you need our help?"
"Because I don't think he's acting alone this
time. He tried it before and almost got destroyed. This time he
coming with reinforcements—"
"Reinforcements who, I might add, we'll need
to kill anyway," Pavia interjected. "It's not like the vampire
community is really on board with us trying to go backwards. We
need to show that no one can stop us from becoming human
again."
"So we need to find out his plan?" The woman
next to Luke asked. He leaned closer to Kira with a slightly green
tone to his face.
"Yes, one of you will need to act as a spy to
find out what he's up to," Kira affirmed, looking around at the
iron faces. "Once we know his plan, we can make our own."
"Any volunteers?" Luke asked, trying to
smother his grin when no one jumped for the honor. Kira rolled her
eyes and squeezed his knee under the table. That was not
helping…
"I will do it," Hawk-Nose said. "But assuming
I can infiltrate his group and learn his plan, what assurance do we
have that you will follow-through? Can you kill him?"
"Yes," Kira said, her voice like ice.
"You've let him go twice before."
"Third time's a charm, right?" No one looked
convinced. So Kira swallowed her pride.
He was right, no matter how you looked at it,
her track record was bad. The first time, Aldrich had slipped right
out of a window at the Red Rose Ball, teasing her with the idea of
her mother. But the second time, that was entirely Kira's fault.
She let him go to save herself—not to save Tristan, who she hadn't
even realized was burning, but to save herself from giving into the
evil lurking inside of her.
Was will power enough to keep her sane long
enough to kill him this time?
"I'll admit it, alright, Aldrich didn't
mysteriously escape in England, I let him go," there was a sharp
inhale around the room, "I let him go because I felt Tristan
dying," Kira refused to look at Luke, at the confused judgment in
his fiery irises, "I felt him burning within my flames, and decided
it wasn't worth sacrificing his life to end Aldrich's. And even so,
I nearly lost him. But with you fighting with me, that won't
happen. I can end him—easily."
"Then I will fight with you," Hawk-Nose
said.
From the corner of her vision, Kira saw
Pavia's lips twitch. Her eyes began to glow a soft royal blue, a
satisfied hue.
"I'm in too," Pavia said while reaching for
her glass, "obviously I want a little payback."
The woman beside Luke was next, and then the
man next to her joined them. The soft-spoken man across the table
from Kira agreed, and within minutes, every vampire in the room had
pledged their allegiance—verbally and truthfully. The funny thing
about vampires was you could always call a lie, their eyes said it
all. And right then, ten pairs of very bright, very icy blue eyes
glowed with life all around the table.
In fact, the only set of eyes looking pissed
off rather than excited were the flaming green ones next to
Kira—the ones staring her down, reading every lying blush on her
face. He knew something was up, that there was something she hadn't
told him, something she was hiding from everyone around the
table.
But Kira ignored him, because she had her
army.
"Why?" Luke asked. Kira kicked him under
she had no idea. For all Kira knew, she was turning into a vampire,
falling into a pit of darkness so deep that no amount of sunlight
could save her. For all she knew, her flames could barely burn a
vampire, let alone bring one back from the dead. For all she
knew…
"Yes, I can definitely do it again," Kira
said, oozing confidence, "but for a price."
Aldrich had to die.
End of story.
"Your war?" Hawk-Nose spoke up again. Kira
nodded. Her war.
"And what exactly is it that you want?" A new
vampire asked, one who exuded age and wisdom despite his young,
brawny appearance.
"Aldrich has threatened not only me, but my
friends and family, and he needs to be stopped. We have to kill
him."
"And why do you need our help?"
"Because I don't think he's acting alone this
time. He tried it before and almost got destroyed. This time he
coming with reinforcements—"
"Reinforcements who, I might add, we'll need
to kill anyway," Pavia interjected. "It's not like the vampire
community is really on board with us trying to go backwards. We
need to show that no one can stop us from becoming human
again."
"So we need to find out his plan?" The woman
next to Luke asked. He leaned closer to Kira with a slightly green
tone to his face.
"Yes, one of you will need to act as a spy to
find out what he's up to," Kira affirmed, looking around at the
iron faces. "Once we know his plan, we can make our own."
"Any volunteers?" Luke asked, trying to
smother his grin when no one jumped for the honor. Kira rolled her
eyes and squeezed his knee under the table. That was not
helping…
"I will do it," Hawk-Nose said. "But assuming
I can infiltrate his group and learn his plan, what assurance do we
have that you will follow-through? Can you kill him?"
"Yes," Kira said, her voice like ice.
"You've let him go twice before."
"Third time's a charm, right?" No one looked
convinced. So Kira swallowed her pride.
He was right, no matter how you looked at it,
her track record was bad. The first time, Aldrich had slipped right
out of a window at the Red Rose Ball, teasing her with the idea of
her mother. But the second time, that was entirely Kira's fault.
She let him go to save herself—not to save Tristan, who she hadn't
even realized was burning, but to save herself from giving into the
evil lurking inside of her.
Was will power enough to keep her sane long
enough to kill him this time?
"I'll admit it, alright, Aldrich didn't
mysteriously escape in England, I let him go," there was a sharp
inhale around the room, "I let him go because I felt Tristan
dying," Kira refused to look at Luke, at the confused judgment in
his fiery irises, "I felt him burning within my flames, and decided
it wasn't worth sacrificing his life to end Aldrich's. And even so,
I nearly lost him. But with you fighting with me, that won't
happen. I can end him—easily."
"Then I will fight with you," Hawk-Nose
said.
From the corner of her vision, Kira saw
Pavia's lips twitch. Her eyes began to glow a soft royal blue, a
satisfied hue.
"I'm in too," Pavia said while reaching for
her glass, "obviously I want a little payback."
The woman beside Luke was next, and then the
man next to her joined them. The soft-spoken man across the table
from Kira agreed, and within minutes, every vampire in the room had
pledged their allegiance—verbally and truthfully. The funny thing
about vampires was you could always call a lie, their eyes said it
all. And right then, ten pairs of very bright, very icy blue eyes
glowed with life all around the table.
In fact, the only set of eyes looking pissed
off rather than excited were the flaming green ones next to
Kira—the ones staring her down, reading every lying blush on her
face. He knew something was up, that there was something she hadn't
told him, something she was hiding from everyone around the
table.
But Kira ignored him, because she had her
army.
"Why?" Luke asked. Kira kicked him under
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