The Vampire Debt by Ali Winters

Author:Ali Winters [Winters, Ali]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rising Flame Press
Published: 2020-04-27T18:30:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Clara

Sweat beads along my forehead and drips down the side of my face. Autumn has come in full force and is already being pushed aside for the colder months.

I throw the dagger and it imbeds in the trunk of the tree I have decided to use for practice. Chunks of bark are missing from the weeks I’ve spent trying to perfect my aim, or rather develop my aim. I would be much better at this if I had my bow and arrow instead, or someone to teach me how to properly wield a dagger.

Instead, I must figure this out through my own trial and error. Constantly creating bad habits only to realize once I’ve ingrained them, it is ineffective.

Alaric and I see each other at dinner each night. He doesn’t touch me, as per our agreement, nor does he get close.

It’s good. Better that he doesn’t. When he’s near, I forget Xander… his power is too consuming.

I can’t be sure he won’t try something to get me to unwittingly make contact with him. I swallow down the feeling that is too close to disappointment for my taste.

Gripping the hilt, I brace my other hand against the tree and pull. It doesn’t give at first, then like a hot knife through butter, it gives way and I stumble back several steps. The strike was good, but off target.

I wipe my forehead with the back of my hand then rest my back against the tree. I’m more comfortable with the blade in my hand, it feels more like an extension of me.

I turn my head to look up at the window on the third floor of the manor. I see the faint light of a fire roaring in Alaric’s study. I can’t tell if he’s in there or not.

With every passing day I grow more and more restless, anxious to get home to my sister. I hope she is doing well. I have sent two letters but have yet to hear back, which makes me worry all the more.

I have asked her about Xander as my letters to him have also gone unanswered. It makes me wonder if they are getting to him at all. He would have been worried when I never showed up that night as we had planned.

It is only the prospect of me attempting to cut Alaric and failing… the thought of his mouth on mine that I cannot risk. It seems a simple enough request, but I can’t help but feel as though it will lead to something far more dangerous than a simple kiss would imply.

I need to draw blood from him soon… but worry is making me hesitate.

I move around the tree, using it to hide my body as I slip the swathed dagger into my pocket and practice ways of reaching for it that seem natural. I do everything I can think of with the dagger, wanting every movement with it to feel as natural as everything else so when I go to strike, Alaric will not see it coming.

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