Nineteen
Gracie waited until it was nearly dusk, and then she left her room.
As she could feel that night was falling, she heard stirring in the basement. She hurried back to her room and eased the door shut behind her. She didn’t want to talk to any of them, not even Bo.
She needed to keep a low profile until this was over.
But when would it be over? What was her plan? She couldn’t let them hurt Fraze. At the same time, she was powerless. She couldn’t even call him, because she’d destroyed her damn phone.
As soon as she could get away from everyone, she’d find him. The hell with keeping safe by not speaking up. Her loyalties had officially changed. She’d tell him everything, and they’d run off together.
It was the dream of a little girl, though—not the reality of an adult. She’d been trapped in an eighteen-year-old’s body for over a hundred years, but she’d matured on the inside. Maybe no one took her seriously because she was so small and looked so young, but she was strong, and fierce, and she’d protect Fraze no matter what the cost.
And after that? Was the dream of being with Fraze a real possibility? Could they actually run away from everything and everyone they knew? Would he be willing to do that? When they were together, she had no doubts at all that she was the center of his world. But this was fast. They’d known each other maybe a week, nothing more.
But she had seen inside his mind last night. She’d seen his true feelings for her, and those feelings…they’d been just as strong as hers. Could she believe in that?
Voices were muffled through her door, the court getting ready to go out and hunt. She waited. After they left, she’d leave.
Her door burst open. Gracie stood. There in the doorway was Ana. Behind her, Bo, Mikhail, a Nocturne vampire…and Cosette.
“I hear you’re keeping some secrets from me,” Ana said, her gaze like ice on Gracie’s face. “I hear you’ve been seeing your shifter friend.”
Gracie looked to Bo. He shook his head, no, he hadn’t said anything. Gracie trusted him. She looked to Cosette, whose mouth was quirked up in a smug smile.
Gracie shrugged. She wasn’t going to lie about it, because it was true, and because a lie wouldn’t save her now.
“This isn’t about Clive,” Ana continued. “Your human boyfriend from before. No, this is bigger, dear.” She advanced into Gracie’s room, her footsteps slow and measured.
Gracie was a giant compared to Ana, but Ana had all the strength and age.
“This is about our court. Protecting the strength of the court,” Ana said. “Do you know what happens when one bad apple starts rotting? It spoils the rest of them. That’s what you’re doing, little apple. Spoiling the lot. I knew there was something weak about the Corona Court. I’d thought it was Maslin. Obviously, it’s more than him—it’s some of the lesser members. Like you.”
Gracie couldn’t look away from Ana’s cold gaze. She stood as straight as possible. “I haven’t done anything wrong. I’ve followed my heart. I forgot I had one, but I found it again with him.”
“So romantic!” Ana’s laughter was like tinkling glass. In a harder, angry voice, she said, “Grab her.”
Cosette came forward, along with Mikhail and the Nocturne Court vampire. Gracie looked at Bo again, but he was looking away, anywhere but at her.
He was a coward. She’d protected him, fought with him, fought alongside him. Hunted with him. Spent hours in his company. Reminisced about Clive. But now, when she needed him the most, when she needed someone on her side more than anything else, he was turning away.
Cosette, Mikhail, and the third vampire marched Gracie out of the house and into the forest. The air smelled full, warm and expectant. Gracie tried digging her feet into the soft earth, but her captors simply lifted her. Cosette and Mikhail held her arms, and the Nocturne vampire held her legs. Kicking was no use. Squirming was no use.
She turned her head and caught sight of Bo, standing still in the doorway. The regretful look on his face said everything—he had tried, and failed, to get Gracie to see reason.
They carried her for miles, out into the forest. Over logs, through trees and brush. Nothing slowed them down. Ana trailed behind—Gracie couldn’t see her, but she could smell her ancient scent of copper and flesh.
After what felt like hours but was probably no more than forty minutes, Ana said, “Stop. This is the place.”
Gracie looked around. There was nothing here but a clearing. Grasses punched up from the ground that was clear of pine needles. Shrubs, too. Aspen lined the clearing, forming a long oval. At one end, a dead pine tree rose from the ground like a petrified giant.
Silently, two large animals stepped forward from the shadows. Painters, Gracie’s uncle had called them. Cougars. They circled around for a minute, as if checking to make sure they weren’t surrounded, and then one of them started glowing with an ethereal light before transforming into a man. He had reddish-brown hair, and his amber eyes were bright in the darkness.
Naked, he stood up from his crouch and strode forward as if not even aware of his nudity. “This is the gift?”
Ana nodded serenely. “We give her to you. You raise your status in your pride.”
“What do you get out of it?” he asked, scratching the back of his head.
Ana’s voice grew cold and thin. “We rid ourselves of bad blood.”
The man nodded. “Hand her over, then.”
Ana flicked her head in a quick nod, and the Nocturne vampire let go of Gracie’s legs. Cosette and Mikhail let go of her arms. She darted to the left, but her path was suddenly blocked by a huge mountain lion. Gracie shrieked, but the naked man came up behind her and covered her mouth.
Ana and the other vampires were already gone. Bo was never here to begin with.