All Just Glass - Amelia Atwater-Rhodes [25]
“I’m just trying to—”
Michael stood abruptly, his chair clattering to the floor behind him as he grabbed Jay by the shirtfront and shoved him back against the wall. “Trying to what?” the Arun said, challenging him. “Make us realize how hard this is? Trust me, we’ve got that covered. Zachary and I have known Sarah all her life. We trained with her and fought with her. We have watched each other’s backs in fights none of us would have survived on our own. You and Sarah have barely even been introduced. You think this is hard? You have no idea.”
He slammed a fist into the wall only inches from Jay’s head, as if his self-control was sufficient to keep him from hitting the other witch, but not enough to keep him from needing to lash out. Jay shut his eyes as plaster shattered, and then Michael dropped him, the argument abruptly forgotten as his attention shifted. It took Zachary a moment longer, but then he, too, sensed what had silenced Michael.
The power was faint, even with the wards around the house acting like an antenna. The vampire was lingering at least a block away, not coming closer at that moment, but near enough that they could all feel her there.
Her. Not Kaleo. The power Zachary could sense was not nearly enough for the ancient Roman to be approaching.
Was it Sarah? Could things be so convenient?
It had to be a trap. He stretched his awareness, trying to find more of her kind but knowing it was pointless, since they could appear at any time with no warning. Did she think she could trick them into trusting her and letting down their guard?
Had she come to turn herself in?
He squashed the thought. The vampiric animal always sought survival. He had to brace himself, because he knew that the vampire outside would look like Sarah, and sound like Sarah. But it wouldn’t be Sarah; it would be the thing that had killed her.
Maybe, it occurred to him, Kaleo had threatened her. Zachary hadn’t considered that obvious possibility before, that the other vampires might have turned on her. The twins were very protective of their sister, and the hunters had threatened her. Kaleo was incredibly possessive of the individuals he considered his. Maybe they had sent their newest fledgling here as a sacrifice to appease the hunters.
Or it could be a trap.
CHAPTER 8
SATURDAY, 7:29 A.M.
GIVEN THE HOUR at which Heather had received her phone call, Adia was not entirely surprised to find that the Makeshift bookstore was connected to a twenty-four-hour coffee shop. The bookstore itself was closed, but the café had its own door to the street.
Adia damped down her witch aura as she stepped out of the car, and as she crossed the threshold, she mentally donned a mask. Who should she be today? A college student, probably, on the way home from an all-night study session at a friend’s house, and not quite ready to go back to her roommate. She was social and friendly, confident, but possibly a little naïve about the real world.
In theory, the Vida line was the most famous line of vampire hunters in history and should therefore be the most recognizable. In reality, especially in this generation, there were a lot of blond girls with blue eyes in the world. It meant she could be anyone she needed to be, and while she was lost in that role, she didn’t need to think about anything more than the immediate objective. The person she chose to be didn’t need to have a sister, or a grim duty to fulfill.
She knew her cheeks would be pink from having driven the last mile with the window down. She let herself shiver as she came in from the cold.
At seven-thirty in the morning on a Saturday, the atmosphere was subdued. The two young girls seated at a back-corner booth, eating sweet sticky pastries, both felt like bloodbonds, but there was also an older woman, reading the Boston Globe and sipping coffee, who probably had no idea that the man behind the counter was a vampire.
That bloodsucker smiled at Adia, his expression tired but friendly.
“I’m sorry, but if you’re looking for a place to