Legally Undead
Page 25
It wasn’t in any of the other empty rooms I checked.
And when I sprinted through the garage, it wasn’t in the van, either—though the back was still covered in his blood.
When I finally left the building entirely, I stood bent with my hands on my knees, gasping, as much from panic as from exertion.
When I looked down at the end of the block, Nick was standing under a streetlight.
I swear to God I saw the light glint off a fang. My hand drifted toward the stake I had automatically shoved into my waistband when I dressed, but it never made contact before falling back down by my side.
Nick waved a sort of salute at me, and then the shadows swirled around him in that vampirey way and my eyes slid off him.
By the time I started running, he was gone. I stumbled to a stop in the pool of light and turned around in circles, peering down the streets that branched off to the sides.
But I knew I wasn’t going to see him, wasn’t going to catch him and stake him.
Not this time, anyway.
Epilogue
Since that night, I’ve wondered if Nick’s last words to me—“it’s okay”—meant that he knew he had been turned, or if he really thought he was dying and was trying to tell me that he was fine with that.
In either case, he was wrong.
It’s not okay.
Nothing is okay. Not really.
I never planned to become a vampire hunter. Then again, I don’t think anyone ever plans on something like that. It’s not usually considered a viable career path.
But with Nick gone, I don’t have much other choice. Alec Pearson says he has a call in to someone to come take Nick’s place—the woman who used to be on Nick’s team, the one he mentioned when we were training. Scarlett. No one will tell me much about her except that things didn’t end well. The guys get all shifty-eyed and evasive when I ask for details and Alec just shook his head and said, “Let’s wait to see if we hear back from her.”
I’m worried, though. Nick trained all of us. He knows everything we know, and more. Some small part of me hopes that just because Nick turned doesn’t mean he’s suddenly on the other side, instantly a bad guy. But the fact that he didn’t stick around to discuss it with us suggests otherwise.
So now I spend my days training with the rest of the team. I took a leave of absence from my graduate program; suddenly, things that happened in England’s history seem much less important to me than the things that are happening right now in New York. Things that I might be able to help change.
Greg turned Nick because of me—to punish me for killing Deirdre. I can’t change that.
And I can’t change the fact that I didn’t kill Greg when I had the chance—any of the times I had the chance.
I will regret that every day for the rest of my life.
So when I’m not training, I’m hunting.
I don’t know where Greg is, but I know that I will find him. And when I do, I will put a stake through his heart.
I know I said that the worst thing about vampires is that they’re already dead. But that’s not strictly true.
The worst thing about vampires is that some of them used to be my friends. One of them used to be my fiancé.
And now I have to hunt him down and kill him.
Review this Book
Don’t forget to leave a review of this book online at Goodreads, Amazon, Barnes&Noble.com, or wherever you buy books or discuss them online.
Acknowledgments
First and foremost, the thanks for this book goes to Bill Gerke, who suggested all those years ago that I give NaNoWriMo a try and thereby jumpstarted my fiction-writing again. The Vampirarchy wouldn’t exist without you, my dear friend. And without my husband Elson, there would be no time for the Vampirarchy—as ever, thank you for all you do! A special shout-out to Wes Beck, for reminding me when I was a child that even a child’s writing mattered (and for spending hours searching for that lost folder). To my editor Eileen, for seeing the possibilities in Elle and for helping me straighten out her story—you rock! To Deb, Christina C., and Lia for reading the early versions of this draft and providing commentary and support; I love y’all. Special thanks to my parents for their unending support—and for babysitting and carpooling beyond the call of duty. To the rest of my family, for always believing I could do this (and for being my best fans). And always, always, always, to Isabel, who is growing up to love stories as much as I do. You’re my best story ever. I love you.
About the Author
Margo Bond Collins lives in Texas with her husband, their daughter, several spoiled cats, and a ridiculous turtle. She teaches college-level English courses online, though writing fiction is her first love. She enjoys reading urban fantasy and paranormal fiction of any genre and spends most of her free time daydreaming about vampires, ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and other monsters.
Sign up for her newsletter at MargoBondCollins.com to get notification of new Vampirarchy novels as they release, or visit her online @MargoBondCollin and many other social media sites.
More Urban Fantasy Available Now from World Weaver Press
Glamour
Stealing the life she’s always wanted is as easy as casting a spell.
Andrea Janes
Townie. That’s what eighteen-year-old Christina Sundy is. All year round she lives in a one-stoplight town on Cape Cod, and when summer comes, she spends her days scooping ice cream for the rich tourists she hates. So when one of them takes a job in the ice cream shop alongside her, she’s pissed. Why does a blonde and perky Harvard-bound rich girl like Reese Manning want to scoop ice cream anyway?
Something else weird is happening to Christina: tiny blue sparks seem to be shooting off her fingers. It isn’t long before she realizes the truth about herself—she’s actually a powerful hereditary witch. But her newfound powers are too intense for her to handle and, in a moment of rage, she accidentally zaps Reese into another dimension.
So that no one will notice that the rich girl has disappeared, Christina casts a disguising spell, or “glamour,” and lives Reese’s life while she tries to find a retrieval spell.But as the retrieval spell proves harder than anticipated, and as she goes about living Reese’s life without anyone on the outside noticing the switch, Christina realizes that there’s nothing to stop her from making the glamour permanent… except, of course, her fellow witches, a 16th century demon, and, just maybe, her own conscience.
The Haunted Housewives of Allister, Alabama
Cleo Tidwell Paranormal Mystery, Book One
Who knew one gaudy Velvet Elvis could lead to such a heap of haunted trouble?
Susan Abel Sullivan
When Cleo Tidwell said, “I do,” for the third time, she had no idea her marriage vows would be tested by a tacky piece of art. But Cleo’s not the kind of woman to let a velvet-offense-against-good-taste just hang—oh no, she’s on a mission to oust the King. Trouble is, Elvis won’t leave the building. And he’s attractin’ all manner of kooks, fanatics, and looky-loos to Cleo’s doorstep, including the entire congregation of the Church of the Blue Suede Shoes.
Everyone wants a piece of the painting, but Cleo’s starting to suspect that whatever’s haunting the Velvet Elvis wants a piece of her husband. Why else would her hubby trade in his car for a ‘56 pink Caddy, moonlight as an Elvis impersonator, and develop a sudden hankering for fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches? Certainly it can’t be anything as simple as a mid-life crisis, because Cleo is not getting divorced again—her mother would never let her hear the end of it.
Heir to the Lamp
Book one of the YA series The Genie Chronicles
Michelle Lowery Combs
Ginn thought she knew all there is to know about how she became adopted by parents whose Number One priority was to embarrass her with public displays of affection, but that changes when a single wish starts a never-ending parade of weirdness marching through her door the day she turns thirteen.
Gift
ed with a mysterious lamp and the missing pieces from her adoption story, Ginn tries to discover who…or what…she really is. That should be strange enough, but to top it off Ginn’s being hunted by the Order of the Grimoire, a secret society who’ll stop at nothing to harness the power of a real genie. Ginn struggles to stay one step ahead of the Grimms with the help of Rashmere, Guardian of the lamp and the most loyal friend a girl never knew she had. But the Grimms are being helped, too—but by whom? As much as she doesn’t want to, Ginn’s beginning to question the motives of her long-time crush Caleb Scott and his connection to her newest, most dangerous enemy.
New and Forthcoming World Weaver Press Titles
Beyond the Glass Slipper
Ten Neglected Fairy Tales to Fall In Love With
Some fairy tales everyone knows—these aren’t those tales.
Edited by Kate Wolford
Shards of History
Fantasy (NA)
Only she knows the truth that can save her people.
Rebecca Roland
The King of Ash and Bones
Breathtaking four-story collection
Rebecca Roland
Opal
Fantasy fairy tale retelling (YA)
White as snow, stained with blood, her talons black as ebony…
Kristina Wojtaszek
The Haunted Housewives of Allister, Alabama
Cleo Tidwell Paranormal Mystery, Book One
Who knew one gaudy Velvet Elvis could lead to such a heap of haunted trouble?
Susan Abel Sullivan
The Weredog Whisperer
Cleo Tidwell Paranormal Mystery, Book Two
The Tidwells are supposed to be on spring break on the Florida Gulf Coast, not up to their eyeballs in paranormal hijinks… again.
Susan Abel Sullivan
Heir to the Lamp
Genie Chronicles, Book One (YA)
A family secret, a mysterious lamp, a dangerous Order with the mad desire to possess both.
Michelle Lowery combs
Specter Spectacular: 13 Ghostly Tales
Anthology
Once you cross the grave into this world of fantasy and fright, you may find there’s no way back.
Edited by Eileen Wiedbrauk
Specter Spectacular II: 13 Deathly Tales
Anthology
Coming in 2014
Edited by Eileen Wiedbrauk
Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures
Science fictiction in the Grand Traditon—Anthology
Edited by Bascomb James
Glamour
Stealing the life she’s always wanted is as easy as casting a spell. (YA)
Andrea Janes
Forged by Fate
Fate of the Gods, Book One
After Adam Fell, God made Eve to Protect the World.
Amalia Dillin
Fate Forgotten
Fate of the Gods, Book Two
To win the world, Adam will defy the gods, but his fate rests in Eve’s hands
Amalia Dillin
Beyond Fate
Fate of the Gods, Book Three
The stunning conclusion, coming September 2014
Amalia Dillin
Tempting Fate
Fate of the Gods Novella, #1.5
Mia’s lived in her sister’s shadow long enough
Amalia Dillin
Taming Fate
Fate of the Gods Novella, #2.5
Amalia Dillin
Cursed: Wickedly Fun Stories
Collection
“Quirky, clever, and just a little savage.” —Lane Robins, critically acclaimed author of MALEDICTE and KINGS AND ASSASSINS
Susan Abel Sullivan
A Winter’s Enchantment
Three novellas of winter magic and loves lost and regained.
Experience the magic of the season.
Elise Forier Edie, Amalia Dillin, Kristina Wojatszek
Fae
Anthology of Faries
Coming July 2014
Edited by Rhonda Parrish
The Devil in Midwinter
Paranormal romance (NA)
A handsome stranger, a terrifying monster, a boy who burns and burns…
Elise Forier Edie
Ailen Ways
Darci Salazar Mystery, Book One—Coming 2014
The trick to working with drug-addled aliens is not to lose your head…
David J. Rank
Blood Chimera
Blood Chimera, Book One—Coming 2014
Some ransoms aren’t meant to be paid.
Jenn Lyons
Virgin
Young Adult Paranormal
Coming Fall 2014
Jenna Nelson
He Sees You When You’re Sleeping
A Christmas Krampus anthology
Coming Holiday 2014
Edited by Kate Wolford
For more on these and other titles
visit WorldWeaverPress.com
*
World Weaver Press
Publishing fantasy, paranormal, and science fiction.
We believe in great storytelling.
Table of Contents
LEGALLY UNDEAD
Copyright Notice
Legally Undead
Prologue
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Epilogue
Review this Book
Acknowledgments
About the Author
More Urban Fantasy Available Now from World Weaver Press
New and Forthcoming World Weaver Press Titles