A Violet Fire (Vampires in Avignon Book 1) by Kelsey Quick

Author:Kelsey Quick [Quick, Kelsey]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-12-08T18:30:00+00:00

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“Did you hear from Madam Seriesa?” A supply unit says in passing while I head for the outer recreation area.

“No, what?” the other indulges.

“Lord Giomar from the Alaysian Province is here. Apparently he made a surprise visit to see our gracious Lord Zein.”

I put my head down and side step around the two girls. So that’s what the commotion has been about. A relentless circulation of chatter had been spreading through the seraglio, traveling from group to group, girl to girl, blood sac to blood sac—like a wildfire since midnight. Giomar, huh? I could really punch him in the face after what he did to Savvy. Come to think of it, do Savvy and Katarii know? I stop on the last few steps, preparing to turn around.

Thinking on it twice, however, I continue toward the recreation area. No, they were together on the work line where no rumor stone is left unturned. If they are upset, anything I say probably won’t help. Giomar’s rejection and their mutual disappointment is yet another thing they have in common, and my ultimate advice to ‘suck it up’ wouldn’t sit too well with either of them.

I scowl as I push open the door to the outside. The small world of pines and stone walls is a dark and cascading blue, the air still carrying with it the scent of winter despite the mid-season warmth. This small outdoor space for supply unit recreation is a five-story climb from the bottom of the seraglio. A rusty old door at the back leads up to the hatch, where the outside world lies. It’s a modest space for athletics and mild sunbathing. I had already scoped out the area for possible escape routes, but the perimeter of the enclosure is secured by a wall and guardsmen every fifty meters.

The space itself gives me small sense of nostalgia. Each time I step out into this small section of normalcy, my soul rekindles its spark; it’s joy for life. Running is my only escape.

Humming cicadas, thin wildflowers, a moon as bright as candlelight; the utter lack of care for anything but the present reminds me that simpler times existed, and could still exist again.

A soldier standing adjacent to the door greets me.

“Well?” His voice spikes at the end. “Get going, then.”

This particular guard is always here when I run in the evenings and seems to hate when I linger. Since I know that it bothers him, sometimes I make a point to do it.

“Bite me.” I dare him.

My tag goes off in response and nearly sends me off my feet.

But I was summoned yesterday, what in the—?

The soldier scoffs. “Unfortunately, it won’t be me doing the biting but the job’ll get done, it seems.”

Of course the tag would go off now, right in the middle of a comeback war. Pushing my way past him and back into the castle, I descend the steps in a trot. The nefarious beeping clings to my ear drums like a tick on a goat.

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