Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 112849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
No wonder I saw that witch the other day. But I don’t want to bring that up around them. I don’t want to give them anything. For some reason, I’m extremely worried about Dahlia now. It feels far too dangerous with demon-hunting witches on the loose, let alone the other things that will crawl out of hell. Let alone me, a relapsed monster that just killed an innocent man.
And while Dahlia isn’t a witch, slayers do use glamor to disguise themselves so that they seem like any other human. What if Saara and Aleksi discover her and think that she’s a witch? They’ll kill her without remorse.
She isn’t a witch, right?
“Well, I’m sorry that the party is over so soon,” Saara says in a tired voice. “I was hoping after the meal, you could at least see the portal, the result of your efforts. But hey, if it ever pops open and you want a look, you’re welcome to come back.”
I am never coming back here.
I give her a tight smile. “It’s getting late. I trust the boat will take us back.”
“Of course,” Aleksi says, putting his arm around Saara’s waist and kissing her shoulder, his eyes on me as he does so. “Thanks again for your service, Valtu. Remember what we talked about. We don’t have to be your enemy, not anymore, and especially not now. It just wouldn’t be wise.”
I grumble and turn on my heel, eager to leave this creep-show of a place, heading out into the cold night air.
Bitrus is standing on the dock by the boat. He looks as relieved to see me as I am to see him, but we just nod at each other, and I step into the boat.
I stare at the plague doctor and I wonder if under the mask I’d find a creature from the Red World, a creature no one had ever seen before.
I try not to think about it.
Bitrus takes the seat beside me and we fall into silence for a few moments. There’s no point speaking about what happened. He knows.
“I don’t think I can see Dahlia anymore,” I say in a weak voice as the boat pulls away from the island and starts heading back to Venice. I swallow hard, too many emotions competing inside me, the worst one of all is how damn good I feel for drinking as much as I did. “I don’t think it’s safe for her.”
Bitrus just puts his hand on my shoulder and squeezes. “Vampires and humans never work out, Valtu. You know this yourself.”
I squeeze my eyes shut and nod.
I know it far too well.
Chapter 16
Dahlia
“Did you hear about that woman who was found last night?”
“Yes, such a tragedy. I always say that people drink too much and go out on the boats. The police should be more vigilant!”
“Imagine that, falling over onto the propeller and having it do that to your body. I just didn’t think a prop was strong enough to do that sort of damage.”
“I agree, something very odd about it all. Perhaps keep an eye on your Enzo tonight, huh? There’s a strange feeling in the air. I may have to wear my cornetto.”
I’m standing at the corner of the espresso bar half-way between my apartment and the school, listening to a couple of elderly local women talking. It’s been a strange couple of days here in the city. First, a couple of nights ago, a pair of nineteen-year-olds who were visiting with a church group went missing, now last night a woman had been found washed up on the steps into the water in San Marco, her body completely mutilated. Officials are saying it looked like damage from falling overboard and onto an engine, but no one seems to believe it.
I want to ask Valtu about it but he’s been completely unavailable all week. We don’t act any different in class with each other, lest we make people suspicious, but even so I feel like he’s giving me the cold shoulder. Like his eyes are cagey when he talks to me. And I haven’t seen him after class at all the last few days because suddenly he has some friend over who came in from out of town. A doctor from England, who I assume is a vampire too.
Everything had been going so well. I told Livia about my progress, which she relayed to Bellamy, so they’ve been off my back lately. I’ve come far in my playing and now that we’ve been rehearsing with the string section a few times, I’m confident for the recital.
And then there’s the fact that I’ve been getting railed by Professor Aminoff nearly every single night. For obvious reasons I haven’t brought him back to my apartment. I’m afraid that he’ll be able to sense the blade of mordernes in my closet, and there’s all my other witchy stuff, but he seems more than content to keep our nights at his place. Besides, his house is a gorgeous gothic dream with everything you could want, including a lush garden out back overlooking a canal, that has oranges, lemons, limes, olives, and rows of dark roses, plus red and orange dahlias (obviously my favorite) which are still blooming despite the fact we are heading into frosty mornings soon.