The Vampire's Mate (Tales of Vampires Book 3)

by Zara Novak

  “I don’t remember you getting hurt during the attack?”

  “It was before the main one. A few months before actually. A wolf got me bad. Eli saved me at the last minute.”

  “Can I see?”

  She nodded and pulled her towel down in hesitation to reveal her scarred back. Three pink lines ran down the middle of her back, scoring her white flesh forever.

  “Christ. Those claws really fuck shit up.” Susan’s eyes traced the scars all the way to the bottom of Jess’s back, where they curved off to the left. “It got you good.”

  “Yes.” Jess said, pulling her towel back up and tying it tight. “I lost a lot of blood, it was a horrific attack, I’m okay now though.” She pulled herself up straight and pushed the memory of the attack to the back of her mind. She turned to face an open mouthed Susan.

  “Sorry.” She said. “I didn’t mean to make a big deal out of it.”

  “It’s okay.” Jess laughed. “I survived didn’t I? Come on. Let’s get dressed and grab some food. I’m starving.”

  As usual, Susan finished dressing first and went outside to wait for Jess with the others. With the changing room to herself, Jess was free to inspect the scars in the mirror. She stood in front of her reflection, turning and tracing the scar lines with her eyes. The wolf really had made a mess of her body, transforming her snow white skin into a checkerboard of red lines. Her eyes stopped at the small spot at the small of her back, where the wolf’s claws had removed all evidence of her secret, the one small silver lining she found in that attack.

  She blinked and turned away from the mirror to finish getting dressed. Jess didn’t know what she made of all this prophecy business. Everyone in the castle was so preoccupied with finding these spiral marked girls, but Jess and her team had more important things at hand. They were so close to finally solving their research and aiding the vampire kind with something amazing—synthetic blood! Giving all of that up now to follow the whimsy of some stupid prophecy seemed plain moronic.

  “Hurry about Jess, I’m starving!” Peter groaned as Jess finally emerged from the changing rooms.

  “I’m ready! Let’s go!”

  They left the basement laboratory and began the walk back upstairs to the main castle for dinner. Relieved that another day was over, her colleagues practically bounced their way upstairs, their warm chatter filling the corridors as they joked and laughed. Jess joined in with their good mood on the surface, but on the inside she was suffocating under the weight of her secret.

  When that shifter attacked, its claws tore away all evidence of her true identity. The scars left behind on her skin perfectly removed the small spiral birthmark that had been at the bottom of her back. She’d had the mark since she was a child, but the attack a year ago removed it forever. When their research was done, she might considered revealing that secret to someone. She was the only one who knew the truth, and things would stay like that until she was ready to come clean.

  Prophecy or not, Jess had work to do. She wasn't going to let one small spiral get in the way of that, even if she was the lost daughter.

  Also by Zara Novak

  Tales of Vampires Series

  The Vampire’s Slave

  The Vampire’s Prisoner

  The Vampire’s Mate

  Bite Club Series (Coming Soon)

  Thanks for Reading

  Thanks for dropping in again! I’m happy to report that Tales 4 is nearly done and will be on its way in the next month. Sign up to my mailing list below and I’ll send you a message as soon as my next book is up. You wouldn’t want to miss it would you? :)

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