Death Charmed by Reeder Erica

Author:Reeder, Erica
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-1-954286-03-0
Publisher: Ferry Tales, LLC
Published: 2021-01-11T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

I pushed in the two-story black door that led to Mother's apartments. My muscles flexed with the effort. Let it never be said going to see my mother was easy.

I stepped inside. Blood dripped down the walls in sticky chunks: half-dried rivers of horror. Vampires hung from the ceiling like humanoid bats. Their eyes red, and their expressions slack. They wanted blood. My blood. I could feel their hunger pulse. Could feel them looming ever closer.

Terror raced through my veins, turning me into an immovable statue. It was my worst nightmare.

Avalynn slanted me a look. "What is it?" She asked.

Then it hit me: she couldn't see what I was seeing. It was all a trick. Damn it, Mother. Would the games never stop?

It took everything in me to grit out, "You should go."

She searched my face, her eyes unsure. With effort, I nodded. Everything would be ok. Now, I just had to believe it. Her brows knitted together before she slipped me a quick hug. Focusing on breathing, I continued into the room. The door closed with a soft whoosh of air.

It took a few seconds of knowing she was gone before the knot in my gut loosened. Just a little. Until my eyes settled back on the vampire closest to me, that is. His long talonlike fingers crossed over his chest. They were fingers that could rip my chest open with barely a thought. My pulse jumped in my throat as their hunger beat at me.

Years of practice kept my voice even as I called out. "Mother?"

One of the vampire bats swooped down. He came at me like a dark angel of fury, the power behind his flight, making my knees quake. His feet hit the decadent, thatched floor with a whisper.

In a second, he was at my side. He hulked over me, his dark gray flesh stretching over grotesque muscles as he bent towards me. I held my ground as his mouth stretched wide; his hot breath slid across my neck like the devil's snake.

I wanted to throw up a hand to stop its descent, to push it back. The worst thing you could do was battle it, though. I'd learned that long ago, the best thing you could do was remain impassive.

Fear of being killed by a vampire was nothing new. What was new this time was the fear of becoming one of them. As the realization hit me, I brought up my hand and watched it turn gray. My fingernails grew to claws.

Keeping the fear out of my voice, I said, "Mother, do you want to talk or not?"

And just like that, the illusion vanished. Cold relief washed through me. I wanted to gulp it down. Instead, I took a shallow breath. Evenly, I let it out, so Mother couldn't hear me. You never wanted to let Mother think she'd gotten to you. It made things worse next time. I knew.

My shoes whispered across the thatch as I crossed to the main room. Mother was

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