Page 44 of Hot Vampire Next Door: Season Four

The door across from Damien’s catches my eye. “Is she really in there?”

“Yes.” Bran pulls away, satisfied with the state of my face, neck, and body.

“Can I…” I huff out a breath, trying to keep the emotion at bay. I will be practical about this. Kelly is unconscious because of witch magic. This is fixable. We’ll find the solution and we’ll fix her.

“Go see her,” Bran says. “I’ll come with you.”

I give him a nod and reach out for the handle. The door clicks open and I peer inside.

There is a small figure in the giant bed across the room. There are more lights on in here—small lamps glowing on several end tables.

My steps are slow as I approach the bed.

I’m not sure what I expected to find—Kelly looking like a corpse? Like a sleeping Snow White?

Her eyes are shut and her breathing even. Her skin is pale, yes, but there’s still a healthy glow to her cheeks. When the witch spell hit Kelly and Damien at the Pledge Hall, blackness spread beneath their skin. But it’s gone now. Like it never was.

“What are we going to do?” I muse.

“Did you feel it?” he asks.

I cut my attention to him.

“Was Damien right? Were you both feeling the fae trying to get through?”

Pressure builds at the bridge of my nose. “I don’t know. I felt…something.”

Arion thinks my blood can open the gate. And the spell used against Damien and Kelly is linked to magic on the fae side. It would make sense that we would feel any attempt to break the seal on the gate.

Bran leans a shoulder against the thick wooden post at the bed’s footboard. “We need allies, Mouse. Fae ones.”

“Arion,” I say and he nods. “Does that worry you?”

“Nothing worries me. There is only strategy and outcome.”

“You’re lying.”

His mouth is pursed, the glow gone from his eyes, but I can tell he is worried. Maybe even a little afraid.

I turn back to my sister, the odd stillness to her body. I reach out for her hand and the second our skin touches, I’m crying.

Not giant heaving sobs. But slow, painful tears.

I can’t ignore the hope that I can save her.

I think it might be the only thing I have left.

I’m not afraid.

I’m hungry to prove myself.

“I’m going to Arion tonight,” I say and wipe the tears away with the pad of my thumb. “And you’re coming with me and we’re going to make a bold statement.”

The corner of Bran’s mouth lifts. “You’re sexy when you’re determined.”

“I’m serious, Bran.”

“So am I, Mouse.”

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