Dark of Night: Beautiful Monsters: Ashwood Red by Lane Jex

Author:Lane, Jex
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Jex Lane
Published: 2018-01-28T16:00:00+00:00

13

Kat

Kat stood in the doorway. Waiting.

“Where the fuck were you?” Chase asked.

Really? He was cussing now? Kat nearly said something about it, but snarky remarks wouldn’t earn her any brownie points. And she needed the brownie points. Still…

She pulled out half of the stake from her pocket and waved it a little. “I was fighting a vampire lord named Ascelina. How was the event tonight?”

The team exchanged glances. Chase shook his head. “If you had faced her, you’d be dead.”

“Fine, you’re right. It wasn’t much of a fight. She mostly toyed with me. And killed a lot of Ashwood Yellow.”

Poor Walla. She wasn’t looking forward to the nightmares she’d no doubt have, playing through his death over and over, wondering if she could have done something—anything—else to save him or his team mates.

Another moment of silence passed as the team weighed her words.

“She wears no contacts,” Brick said softly.

Javi said something in Spanish to Dawn.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it,” Dawn answered as she crossed the room and put her hand on Kat’s forearm and closed her eyes.

Dawn’s touch grew uncomfortably hot, and Kat fought the urge to pull away. “What’s she doing?”

“Quiet, let her work,” Chase said.

Dawn removed her hand. “No, no compulsion.”

The tension in the room drained a little.

“What was that about?” Kat asked.

“Vamps can compel humans…” Javi started. Kat knew that. That’s how her monster-dad had forced her to invite him in. “It usually only lasts a few moments. With a vampire lord as old as Ascelina, she could plant something in your brain to trigger later, or enthrall you permanently.”

Dawn pushed down the strap of her dress, pointing to a tattoo on her shoulder. “I have an affinity with this rune. Lets me tell if someone’s been compelled.”

Necrus plopped on Kat’s bed. “It’s super rare. Only like one out of a thousand hunters can use it. You should have come tonight. The Lord General has a new vampire slave—”

Chase shot Necrus a now’s-not-the-time glance then returned his gaze to Kat. His dark eyes and scarred face made him look anything but friendly. “When alarms sound, the protocol is to locate teammates. You told Javi you were staying in your room. From now on, until I say so, none of you are allowed to leave campus without another teammate with you.”

That earned him a few groans. When Kat opened her mouth to protest, he held up his hand to silence both her and the team. “I don’t want to hear any complaining. We’re soldiers, and since some of you have forgotten that, I’ll be happy to remind you all day tomorrow starting at five a.m.”

There were no groans that time, but no one looked happy. They wouldn’t be getting much sleep before they had to get up to train.

“I’ll take her to get her physical tomorrow. Dawn, teach her about the contacts.” Chase didn’t wait on any acknowledgements as he brushed by Kat and left.

“Contacts?” Kat asked.

Dawn pointed to her eyes. “We all have them in, prevents compulsions. You’ll have to wear them every time you leave.

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