I had never seen such fire in any woman. Miranda’s eyes were lit and dancing. Spittle shot out of her mouth as she screamed. Her knuckles went white as she clawed at the ruined metal of the locker. I almost felt bad for her, having just lost her witch-mentor to a giant gaping hole in the ground, and now her undead love. Almost.
Kale paused, the brimstone and fire fading away behind her. She crossed her arms in front of her chest.
“Let me get this straight: You are going to be with him,” she said, her voice calm.
“And you are going to leave us the hell alone.”
Kale cocked her head, considering. “So you’re saying that Vlad, the man that I’ve dedicated the better half of my year with, is going to be with you? Is that what you’re saying?”
Miranda seemed to lose a little bit of her swagger, but she pumped her head anyway.
“Cuz if that’s what you’re saying”—she took another step closer and narrowed her eyes—“you better back off, bitch.”
Will and I both dropped to the ground. I had my palms pressed against my ears and my eyes pinched shut. There was smoke and heat, and fire alarms wailed. Sprinklers rained from the ceiling. A wisp of smoke sailed up around the singed outline of what used to be Miranda.
“I probably should have stepped in,” I said, as Kale broke Vlad out of his cuffs and threw her arms around him.
“Nah,” Will said, shaking his head. “I think you did the right thing.” He slung an arm over my shoulders. “Don’t you just love young love?”
Chapter Nineteen
It only took twenty-four hours for things to go back to normal. Kayleigh was back to reigning with Fallon, the other girls were in counseling, and no one, conveniently, wanted to know where Heddy Gaines or Miranda Shepperd were. I had my shoulder bag hiked up and was ready to go back to work at the Underworld Detection Agency when I opened my front door and caught Will standing there, mid-knock.
“Good morning,” I said with a smile. “Did you forget we’re not working at the school anymore?”
“No,” he said, handing me a paper cup that percolated with the aroma of hazelnuts and whipped cream. “But I thought I could walk you, just for old time’s sake. And also because you totaled my car.”
I bit my bottom lip. “Yeah, Will, I’m really, really sorry about that. The thing is—”
“You don’t have insurance?”
“I have insurance. Not American insurance.”
He rolled his eyes, but there was still a hint of playful smile behind his coffee cup. “The thing is, I actually want to talk to you about something.”
He stepped aside and opened the vestibule door for me. I tugged my jacket tighter around my shoulders. “Let me guess—you’re really digging the supernatural crime fighting and want to come on board officially? UDA offers great dental.”
Will stopped on the sidewalk and faced me. “Sophie, I’m serious. This whole Guardian thing. It ends, you know?”
I took a step back. “No, I don’t know. Aren’t you going to be here, guarding me?”
“As long as you’re the Vessel of Souls.”
I frowned. “And if I’m not?”
He shrugged. “Then I get reassigned.”
I had never wanted Will in my life, but now I couldn’t imagine my life without him.
“Why are you telling me this, Will? Why are you telling me this now?”
He sucked in a deep breath and looked down at me, his eyes the color of honey and warm. “Look, I know you’ve got a thing with Alex—”
“No.” I held up a hand. “I don’t have a thing with Alex.”
At least I was pretty sure I didn’t.
Will looked at his feet, then up at me again. “Well, that’s good, because I lov—”
His voice was drowned out by the sound of horns honking as a woman zigzagged her way across the street, making a direct path through the cars for Will and me. She grinned when she crested the curb in front of me, a wide, thrilled smile that cut across her wrinkled face and pushed up her ruddy cheeks. She reached out and wound her fingers through my hair, still smiling.
Everything inside me told me to bolt, to put distance between this crazy woman and me, but I couldn’t. My legs were leaden and I was rooted. Her eyes raked over me and finally locked on mine—hers a filmy, water blue.
“He’s been looking for you for a long time, Sophie. He’s been looking and he’s so happy that he’s finally found you. It’s only a matter of time, now.”
I pulled back, stunned. “Who’s found me? Who are you?”
Immediately, the smile dropped from the woman’s lips and they went to a tight purse. She stepped back from me as if I had burned her and yanked her hand out of my hair, breaking a few strands as she did so.
“Get away from me,” she said, her voice sour, her eyes frightened. “I don’t know you. Get away from me!”
She reeled backward, then was swallowed up by the crowd. She was gone, but her voice kept swirling in my head:
Please turn the page for an exciting sneak peek of the next installment of Hannah Jayne’s Underworld Detection Agency Chronicles coming soon from Kensington Publishing!
I could feel the cold stripe of fear going up my spine-like icy fingers walking slowly up vertebra after vertebra.
“Is she dead?” The voice was a faint whisper but it throbbed through my head, singeing the ache that was already there.
“Maybe we should go.”
I hoped that they would. I prayed that they would. I remained as still as possible, breath barely trembling through my body, willing my heart to thrum silently because I knew that vampires can hear everything. Every little whisper, every little thought.
And then the icy breath was at my ear. “Sophie!”
Now the voice was incredibly loud and I jumped straight up until the tops of my thighs mashed against the underside of my desk. I missed the chair coming back down and flopped unceremoniously onto my ass.
“What do you want?” I glowered, rubbing my tailbone and seeing Nina and Kale through narrowed dagger- eyes.
“Were you asleep?” Kale asked, cocking her head so that her newly pink hair brushed against her cheek.
I pressed the pads of my fingertips against my temples, making small circles. My head kept aching. “I was trying to. I have a headache.”
Nina rolled her eyes and hopped up onto the corner of my desk, her tiny butt and weightless body not making a sound. “Are you still trying to claim PTSD for the whole back to school thing? It’s over, all right? You closed up the hell mouth or whatever, and never even had to wear the school uniform.”
“What do you guys want?”
Nina whipped out a nail file from I-don’t-know-where and began working on her right hand. She blew a bubble from the wad of gum she was chewing and after twelve years with Nina LaShay as my co-worker, roommate, and best friend, I’ll never get comfortable seeing a vampire blow purple Hubba Bubba bubbles. It just
