Vampires Gone Wild by Kerrelyn Sparks

Author:Kerrelyn Sparks
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2013-01-31T16:00:00+00:00

ESME THREW OPEN the door of the little house, and the walls shook.

“My goodness, child, no need for—”

Esme threw her arms around her grandmother’s neck and knocked the words from her as Esme began to sob. Again. She took in a deep, safe breath of her grandmother’s baby-powder scent and tried to focus on that one thing instead of the fifty-seven other things running through her head.

Her grandmother stroked her hair and cooed in Spanish. “It’s okay, little bird. It’s okay, palomita. You’re safe here. You’re safe now.”

Esme let herself be led to the couch and dropped down into the well-worn cushions. The flight response had left her body tired and her bones aching.

Her grandmother locked the door and kicked down the ash branch that always rested in front of it. Within minutes, Esme’s hands were wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate with a bit of her grandmother’s special spice. One sip, and she immediately calmed down, her mind seemed to focus, and the fear of monsters’ chasing her subsided.

Her grandmother sat next to her, her knees creaking all the way down. “What happened, little bird?”

The words flew out of her mouth so fast Esme didn’t have time to filter out any of the crazy. “This guy asked me for coffee and I met him at the same place I always go, and then he got this stony look and said we had to go and I thought he was just ending the date early because I’m not the most interesting person in the world. When he walked me to my car, this guy, like, attacked him, but it was like he couldn’t see me and then he gave me his phone and then this shadow thing knocked him down and he told me to run. So I did and then I called his sister or something and she knew who I was and then I drove home because I got the distinct feeling they wanted to eat me.”

Esme watched her grandmother process the information, too calm for Esme’s liking. Her grandmother stirred her cocoa. “You had a date?”

“That’s the part of the story you’re paying attention to? These things were monsters. They moved too fast. He moved too fast, and he had a freaking sword down his back.”

“Iron or silver.”

“What?”

“Was the blade shiny silver or a dull gray?”

Fear crept across Esme’s skin despite the hot drink in her hands. She didn’t need to think about it. The image of his pulling the blade out of his coat like a sinister magic trick was burned into her retinas. “Dull. Not like the ones in the movies.”

Her grandmother let out a long breath and muttered something in Spanish Esme didn’t catch. “What?”

“Drink your cocoa, palomita.”

Esme did as she was told. She relaxed again, swirling the spicy flavor around in her mouth before swallowing.

Her grandmother’s eyes focused sharply on Esme. “The others didn’t see you?”

“Looked right past me, like I wasn’t even there. But everyone looks past me. Except Val.” That thought kept dancing around her brain.

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