| Author: | Teresa Wilde | ISBN: | 9780991750221 |
| Publisher: | Teresa Wilde | Publication: | December 17, 2012 |
| Imprint: | Language: | English |
| Author: | Teresa Wilde |
| ISBN: | 9780991750221 |
| Publisher: | Teresa Wilde |
| Publication: | December 17, 2012 |
| Imprint: | |
| Language: | English |
After the death of her mother at the hands of a vampire she trusted, Petra Arthurs, teenage demon magnet, knows her only chance of living like a normal person—maybe living at all—is leaving her paranormal past behind. In her way are six paranormal guys who each claim she's his soul mate, a modern day street knight with a few secrets of his own, the vampire who killed her mother, and a city full of demons who want her dead.
Petra is about to find out that vampires and your past have one thing in common: They both come back to bite you on the ass.
***
Mixed in with my terror was an edge of humiliation for being caught in vampire movie cliché #1: Helpless female runs into dark alley with vampire.
“You’re bleeding.” Her voice slimed across my skin like leeches.
The fear that had made me run now turned my feet to cement. She walked toward me with an insectoid grace, as if she’d learned to walk from a string marionette. Like she piloted her body instead of being a part of it. The asynchronous jerks seemed to add up to an odd dance, almost lyrical in their awkwardness.
She nodded toward my left foot.
I glanced down to see a rusty rivulet a few inches above my heel. A blood blister, and it had broken, letting the taste of my AB positive into the air and attracting the vampire.
I was going to die because of a bad fashion choice. But I wasn’t going out without getting in a crack at her. I flipped one shoe into each hand and stood barefoot on the frigid concrete, wielding the heels as weapons. I sneered at her in my best threatening manner.
She wasn’t threatened. “You smell good,” she told me.
I took a step back for every one she took forward, until I hit something behind me. A wall.
It had been like this for my mother. In my mind’s eye, I saw her body again, lying broken open in an alley like this one. Her heart, dripping scarlet, in the hand of a man—no, a thing—she’d trusted.
The vamp continued her slow stalk toward me, her face obscured by shadow. At least I wouldn’t die at the hands of someone I’d called friend. That had to be something.
White glinted from her mouth. Her fang. The bone spike beneath her tongue that would pierce the artery in my neck before my heart pumped my blood into her mouth. It was all I could do not to scream.
I saw something flicker through the mist of her wavy black hair, a movement in the alley behind her. I tried to ignore it. I could worry about it later, if there was a later. But it came closer. And it seemed to be sort of person shaped.
After I blinked twice, it resolved itself into a life-sized Viggo Mortensen action figure, complete with Lord of the Rings sword and black armor. It only took me a second to decide it was an insane Internet fan boy living out vampire movie cliché #2: Dark knight rescues helpless girl from vamp in alleyway. Somebody had read one too many urban legend websites and decided the evil forces stalking the night are real (well, that was true), and all it took to fight them was a pure heart and a replica sword from eBay (not true).
The wind suddenly gusted, smacking an empty Cheetos wrapper against Viggo’s leg. The slight rustle rang with Dolby Surround Sound in the silent alley. The vampire whipped around with unearthly speed.
But Viggo was gone.
He’d disappeared before the vampire could turn around. How could he, without near-supernatural speed? And where had he gone?
This was no fan boy. Maybe he knew what he was doing. A crazy hope bloomed inside me. Maybe he could help me. And I could make it easier.
All my life, I’ve attracted monsters like some kind of strange magnet. I’ve never known why, but at that moment, the most important part was how. If I could just do it to her...
I licked my lips and concentrated on how beautiful she was. Ethereal. Flawless. Powerful. A goddess on Earth.
Like me, I willed her. Want me.
I don’t know whether it worked, but the vamp turned back to me with an addict’s hunger in her eyes.
After the death of her mother at the hands of a vampire she trusted, Petra Arthurs, teenage demon magnet, knows her only chance of living like a normal person—maybe living at all—is leaving her paranormal past behind. In her way are six paranormal guys who each claim she's his soul mate, a modern day street knight with a few secrets of his own, the vampire who killed her mother, and a city full of demons who want her dead.
Petra is about to find out that vampires and your past have one thing in common: They both come back to bite you on the ass.
***
Mixed in with my terror was an edge of humiliation for being caught in vampire movie cliché #1: Helpless female runs into dark alley with vampire.
“You’re bleeding.” Her voice slimed across my skin like leeches.
The fear that had made me run now turned my feet to cement. She walked toward me with an insectoid grace, as if she’d learned to walk from a string marionette. Like she piloted her body instead of being a part of it. The asynchronous jerks seemed to add up to an odd dance, almost lyrical in their awkwardness.
She nodded toward my left foot.
I glanced down to see a rusty rivulet a few inches above my heel. A blood blister, and it had broken, letting the taste of my AB positive into the air and attracting the vampire.
I was going to die because of a bad fashion choice. But I wasn’t going out without getting in a crack at her. I flipped one shoe into each hand and stood barefoot on the frigid concrete, wielding the heels as weapons. I sneered at her in my best threatening manner.
She wasn’t threatened. “You smell good,” she told me.
I took a step back for every one she took forward, until I hit something behind me. A wall.
It had been like this for my mother. In my mind’s eye, I saw her body again, lying broken open in an alley like this one. Her heart, dripping scarlet, in the hand of a man—no, a thing—she’d trusted.
The vamp continued her slow stalk toward me, her face obscured by shadow. At least I wouldn’t die at the hands of someone I’d called friend. That had to be something.
White glinted from her mouth. Her fang. The bone spike beneath her tongue that would pierce the artery in my neck before my heart pumped my blood into her mouth. It was all I could do not to scream.
I saw something flicker through the mist of her wavy black hair, a movement in the alley behind her. I tried to ignore it. I could worry about it later, if there was a later. But it came closer. And it seemed to be sort of person shaped.
After I blinked twice, it resolved itself into a life-sized Viggo Mortensen action figure, complete with Lord of the Rings sword and black armor. It only took me a second to decide it was an insane Internet fan boy living out vampire movie cliché #2: Dark knight rescues helpless girl from vamp in alleyway. Somebody had read one too many urban legend websites and decided the evil forces stalking the night are real (well, that was true), and all it took to fight them was a pure heart and a replica sword from eBay (not true).
The wind suddenly gusted, smacking an empty Cheetos wrapper against Viggo’s leg. The slight rustle rang with Dolby Surround Sound in the silent alley. The vampire whipped around with unearthly speed.
But Viggo was gone.
He’d disappeared before the vampire could turn around. How could he, without near-supernatural speed? And where had he gone?
This was no fan boy. Maybe he knew what he was doing. A crazy hope bloomed inside me. Maybe he could help me. And I could make it easier.
All my life, I’ve attracted monsters like some kind of strange magnet. I’ve never known why, but at that moment, the most important part was how. If I could just do it to her...
I licked my lips and concentrated on how beautiful she was. Ethereal. Flawless. Powerful. A goddess on Earth.
Like me, I willed her. Want me.
I don’t know whether it worked, but the vamp turned back to me with an addict’s hunger in her eyes.
