Hunting Tess by Kathryn Summers (best novels to read in english .TXT) 📗

this my whole life and to find out it’s actually possible . . . I want to become a vampire. I knew what Dmitri was the moment I saw him.” She rises on shaky legs as she crosses the mattress trying to get to me. “And this is the last thing I have to do before they make me like them.”

“Vampires aren’t made, they’re born. If a vampire bites you at the neck you aren’t going to change into one of them. You’re going to die from blood loss,” I speak, scampering out of reach. My mind feels like it’s been flipped on its side as I try to piece together what’s going on while staying away from the loon.

“You’re wrong!” she cries, swinging at me with childlike strength. That’s the only thing I can compare what her dangerous delusion has dwindled her to. “I will be their princess! The Master has promised me! Now hold still!”

If it were to come to a fight, I would win with hardly any effort. But this is Emily. I’m not going to attack her. “Emily, listen to me. You’re sick. We need to get you into a hospital.”

“You’re just selfish!” she screeches, hunting me into the sitting area where she pauses by the main door. “I have done everything they’ve asked. I got them onto campus and gave them the distraction they needed to get to you, yet you’re the one with the prized position! You have always been one step ahead of me, but not anymore. I will be the one on top. And you will not get in my way!”

Lobbing the needle in my direction, I easily swat it aside letting it hit the ground with a dull thud. Prepared to catch her when she inevitably dives for her small weapon, I don’t expect an arm to slink through the cracked door and break her neck.

Emily drops in slow motion, her form reminiscent of a rag doll as her baby doll curls bounce once against the floor before going still.

The violent and sudden end of a friend, however misguided, rolls my stomach. Finding the solid form of a table I lean my weight against it, worried of fainting. The arm becomes more visible as the door swings open revealing Dmitri. “You need to leave. Now.”

He withdraws a folded paper from his jacket pocket. “Here are directions on the quickest way out of the citadel and into the Rhodope Mountains. Keep going south until you hit the town of Paranesti, then you’ll know you’re in Greece.” His outstretched hand holds the directions and I don’t get why he doesn’t come into the room and hand me the paper.

“You want me to leave?” I ask slowly, taking longer than normal to understand his words.

“You are the bane of my existence,” he seethes, heavy bags sitting beneath his eyes. “I don’t want you or your scent anywhere near me.”

Walking toward him I have to blink my eyes several times to stop the carpet from moving. “Your pupils are dilating.” Dropping the paper into my chained outstretched hands, I see delicate cursive marking the path for escape. “You only have a couple of hours until sundown so you should use that time to get as far away from here as possible.”

I look down at Emily.

“Believe me when I say it was a mercy killing,” he claims, his haggard face growing more worn by the second. “My father had something much more painful in mind.”

“Why?” I ask, wondering what would possess him to help me.

“If I kill you, then no matter how many times I wash my father will still smell your scent and know what I did, making my life forfeit. My brother is dead because of you. My few years in the sun were wasted because of you. I would gladly rip out your throat where you stand. But my desire for self-preservation is stronger. Barely. And maybe this way the elements will kill you.”

By the time I look back up from his instructions, he’s gone. I would question why he didn’t try killing me with a sword, or even a gun. But that would produce blood. Maybe his self-control isn’t so great.

Running back to the bed for the thick down comforter, I cast one final glance at Emily on my way out. At the girl who supported me when all the other girls mocked. An outcast befriending an outcast.

Swallowing a painful lump in my throat, I step around her, focusing on solving the labyrinth and going free.

CHAPTER 18

HER

Focus on the branch.

On second thought, maybe climbing a tree to hide wasn’t the best idea. Especially considering the fact everything is spinning. Gripping tightly to the closest branch, I rest my forehead against my knees. Hopefully whatever Emily dosed me with will wear off soon.

Leaves crackle on the forest ground in the last of the dying light as woodland creatures make their way home. The area is beautiful and poetic, but a terrible location to be hunted by vampires. A better spot to hide would be over a pit filled with silver spikes at the bottom.

Pulling the blanket over my head so I can keep a firm grip on the surrounding branches, I wonder if I did enough to offset its blinding whiteness sure to be visible in the dark. Dragging it through mud on one side will hopefully help. What did not help was traveling down the river. I tried to keep most of the material above my head but had a nasty moment when I slipped on a rock. I doubt the vampires will give up just from losing my scent for a moment, but hopefully it’ll buy me time.

I can travel in the dark. I can travel less quietly when bumbling through bushes because I was drugged with who knows what.

The warning squawk of a bird cries from the distance and I feel as if the countdown on the gameboard just hit zero and the pregame is over. Now the