A Glamour of Blood by L.E. Sterling

Author:L.E. Sterling
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Teen & Young Adult Coming of Age Fiction; Teen & Young Adult Magical Realism Fiction; Teen & Young Adult Loners & Outcasts Fiction; Teen & Young Adult Paranormal & Urban Fantasy Romance eBooks; Teen & Young Adult Romance eBooks; Teen & Young Adult Social Issues eBooks; Entangled Teen; YA Dystopian Romance; YA PNR; YA Romance; Forbidden YA Romance; Young Adult Romance; YA Dystopian Series
Publisher: Entangled Publishing, LLC
Published: 2023-08-03T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Sixteen

My chest hurts. I groan and roll over in my tiny bed, only to stare into the glassy eyes of the giant, talisman-coated rat who decides to pop out from the hole it ate through the wall last night. It raises its snout and wriggles its nose at me, as if sharing in my displeasure at the evil ruckus happening downstairs.

Thump, thump, thump. Ding! Ding!

“Why don’t you make yourself useful then, and go answer the door?” I yell at the rat. With one last, evil squeak, it stares me down, apparently disgusted, before heading back into the wall. “Starting next month, you’re paying rent!”

I roll onto my stomach…and instantly regret it. My thin mattress bounces up and down with the sound of my lungs exploding from my body. A minute later, I sit up, sleep vanquished, and listen. Silence. Then it starts again.

Thump, thump, thump. Ding! Ding!

I stagger to my feet and patter down the hall to the stairs. “Carl! Door!” I yell and punch at his bedroom door as I pass by. The answering loud snore—so fake!—says it all. The door feels like it’s a million miles away. I stare daggers at it, and when I get to the intercom, I push the button and snarl. “You had better think twice about what you’re doing here, because I have an Uzi and I really feel like using it.”

“Don’t you use that tone on me, young lady. Open this door right now. We are going to talk.”

Marjorie? I sigh and slump against the wall, quickly cycling through my options. Ignore her and hope she’ll go away (she won’t). Or open the door and hope she’s brought an herb chest to help with the hundred-pound elephant sitting on my chest. Yesterday’s smoke didn’t affect Carl or Storm very much. As True Borns, they heal quicker than mere humans. It sure as hell affected me.

I turn back to the console and hit the button. “If I let you in, do you promise to speak quietly and let me drink my coffee in peace?”

She lets out an exasperated hiss that I roughly translate to, You’re lucky if I let you live, missy, but we’ll start the torture session with coffee, sure.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

I step back and buzz her in. A waft of outside air stirs the hallway as Marjorie and her robes glide into the kitchen like they own the place. Muttering at her back, I follow her wake of sweet amber down the hallway.

“By all means, come right in, Marjorie.”

She rounds on me, a scowl warping the tracks on her face. Her cowl is down, leaving her curly hair flopping around her shoulders. “Well?”

“Well, what?”

She looks heavenward. “What on Cernunnos’s coins do you think you were doing last night?”

I cut her off with a gesture and make for the stove. “Coffee, Marjorie. You promised.”

She hisses behind me as I pull out the coffee pot and pour water into the basin. Oddly enough, she does give me this moment’s peace.

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