Chapter 6

VALERIA A scream escapes my lips. My body gets frozen in place even though I want so badly to run and avoid the monsters. The only thing I can do is raise my arms and shield myself as they begin to circle around me like vultures. Three, two, one. Any moment now, and they will tear me into fleshy ribbons. But to my surprise, this doesn’t happen. Stefano rushes in front of me, his arm outstretched. He whispers something incomprehensible, and all the nearest vampires get incinerated into pure ashes, blowing in the wind and the flapping of the others’ wings. Despite what’s happening, I can’t help but feel awed. I look at him to ask what he just did, but the vampires that backed away are trying to get close again. This time, I can see their faces, and I really wish I didn’t. They look like bat-human mixes with very human eyes, just burning red. Their skin is sallow and marked with dark black veins. Their noses look more like short snouts, crinkling even more as they sneer and flash their sharp teeth at me. “I told you to get out of here!” Stefano barks at me as he prepares to blast off more monsters. “You see the gate, right? I will distract them, and you make a break for it. Do not worry about me, because my duty is to get you to safety, understand?” My stomach drops. “But you saved my life before, I can’t let you—” “Valeria, if we both die here, my life would have been taken in vain,” he insists through gritted teeth. “So please leave.” “But I—” “GO!” With that, he pushes me out of the way, guiding me toward the gate. As though on cue, the vampires screech and dive again, this time aiming at Stefano. He screams an incantation and suddenly, his whole arm is wrapped up in bright orange flames, extending away from his body like a lasso. The vampires can’t back off now, so they start to fly in rapid circles, creating a tornado-like force around him to kill the flames. And it’s slowly starting to work. On top of that, Stefano is starting to choke, collapsing on his feet and clutching his chest with his free hand. He looks at me, and as his fire sputters out, he mouths, “Leave now.” The first thing I feel is the need to help him. I want so badly to return the favor and save him for once, but I know that I’m not ready. He’s right. The least I can do is follow him and make sure he sacrificed himself for something. So even though my chest is heavy with guilt, I race towards the gate, running as fast as I can while the vampires are distracted by him. But just as I’m about two feet away from the border, something dark and huge cuts me off my path and settles in front of me. The sheer force of its landing causes me to fall flat on my backside, making me moan in pain. Before I can dust myself off and jump to my feet, the creature grabs me by the neck and slams me against the nearest tree. My head hits the hard trunk, and instantly nausea fills my body in waves, with black spots dancing in my eyes. Groaning, I look up at the creature and see that it’s another vampire, only this one is bigger and taller than all of the others. He tightens his hand around my neck, baring his fangs. I see the smirk on his face as I start to gasp for air, waiting for the pain to come as he leans close to my neck. But just as his snout touches my skin, he freezes. He straightens up, staring at my face with surprise in his eyes. His smirk is gone, and I can see that his hideous form is starting to morph into something else. He’s still gripping my neck tighter and tighter, but now he’s looking at me with fascination. His wings tuck back into his body, his face turning from green to pale pink. His red eyes darken into a color that I can’t make out. I want to memorize his face and see him for what he really is so I can avoid him, but his transformation seems to stall. He doesn’t seem keen to make me see his real face even though he might kill me anyway. He leans close to me, sniffing my neck and looking into my eyes. Then he tightens his grip around my neck, making my throat close up. The last thing I hear is him whispering, “So it is you.” Then everything goes black and I disappear. * * * To my surprise, I woke up. Not fully awake, but definitely conscious enough to feel the soft mattress under my body and the warm covers cocooning me. Rain is spattering on a window, and I’m almost certain that I’m back in my bedroom. That must be a bad dream. Maybe the whole thing is a nightmare, including me hitting Jeremy and turning out to be a werewolf hybrid or whatever. Maybe I’m just crazy. But when I open my eyes, I find myself in a strange room with brick walls, arched windows, and gas lamps perched on metal casings. The bed I’m lying on has a canopy and carved designs. The whole room looks like it belongs in a castle. And over in the corner, sitting in the shadows is a young man my age, smiling as he watches me sit up and search the nightstand for a possible weapon. “You’re awake,” he says in a husky voice. “About time.” “Who are you and where am I?” I grab the lamp and hold it up, ready to hit him or anyone with it. The man gets to his feet. I see that he has dark red hair and bright blue eyes, which makes him look almost ethereal with his pale skin. Despite me brandishing a heavy possible weapon, he gets up calmly and walks close to me. I raise the lamp to hit him, but he just smoothly takes it from me and sets it down on the nightstand behind me, pressing me into the corner. I want to push him, but I can’t move. I can only breathe slowly as his body touches mine. “I’m Auric Blaise,” he whispers. “And welcome to Scarlet Moon Society.”