Page 52 of Shut Up and Bite Me

Guiding him to the driver’s-side door, I open it for him. “To meet with the High Council. We’re going to track down the vampire responsible for this before it’s too late.”

I usher him inside, and he slides into the seat. Before I shut the door, I lean down, cup his face, and kiss him as deeply as I possibly can before vanishing, running to the Barlowe, crossing miles in a matter of seconds.

And I don’t stop until I burst through the High Council office doors.

BOOM.

Like a bomb going off, the doors splinter apart, exploding into a million pieces as Jason jumps from his chair and takes cover.

Woah.

The doorknob falls from my hand, crashing to the pile of splintered wood. All I meant to do was grab the doorknob and open the door, not destroy the whole thing. I guess this is what Autumn was talking about when she said I’m getting stronger.

“Vivian?” Jason gasps, standing up from behind the desk. “Is that you?”

Taking heavy breaths does little to calm my erratic heart. And it has nothing to do with what just happened to the threshold of the office. “I need the records from the Culling. A boy named Ethan. Brown hair, brown eyes, maybe five foot ten inches tall. I need to know who his chosen was. And I need itnow.”

He remains frozen for a moment, processing my words before jumping into action. “Yes, of course. One second.” He pauses, rapidly typing into his computer. “His chosen was Sarah Albrightson. What’s going on?”

“Sarah?” I scoff. She would never have done this. “Text me her address, please. Sarah’s bloodling has been nearly drained. He was forced to take the bite, and I don’t know how long we have before the venom runs its course.” His face pales, the same disgust and disappointment setting into his features as I feel. “I’m going to her house to see what she has to say about it. I doubt she would have done it. But you never know. Meet me there when you’ve called the rest of the council.”

“You’ve got it,” he states, immediately reaching for his phone.

Checking the text he sent, I look to see where her house is located. Not too far from my home. I take off running, racingout of the building, traveling faster than I ever have, feeling the power course through my veins with each step I take.

My senses are wide open when I near the house, not feeling anything coming from inside.

Knocking on the door, I wait all of two seconds before twisting the doorknob, finding it unlocked. Pushing it open, I prepare myself for anything, my shoulders stiff and reflexes sharp.

“Sarah? Are you home?” I call out, carefully stepping into the dark room, dimly lit by the sun peeking around the curtains.

No answer.

Sliding my hand up the wall, I feel the light switch and flick it on, immediately discovering exactly why Sarah didn’t answer me.

Her body lies face down on the living room floor, the only exposed skin of her arms dried and shriveled, her veins now black as coal. Deadly nightshade poisoning.

If there was any doubt this was an accident, there isn’t now. This was intentional. It would be damn near impossible to accidentally intake the amount needed to kill one of us. She was murdered, and her bloodling was taken.

Digging my phone out of my pocket, I call Jason, and he answers on the first ring. “We’re on our way.”

I fill him in on what I know so far. “She’s dead. Nightshade poisoning. We’ll need to take her body back to the Barlowe for now.” I pause, an idea coming to mind. “I need to reach out to a friend of mine who might be able to help track down whoever did this, and then I’m going home to check on Ethan and Greyson. Keep me updated on what you guys find.”

“We’ll get Sarah to the hotel and see what evidence might have been left behind. Be careful. We don’t know who’s behind this or if they’re working alone,” he warns me, and I can’t helpbut smile. I wish I would run into them—it would make this a hell of a lot easier.

Ending the call, I let myself out of the house, securing the door behind me before speeding off to my next stop, Hale Bar.

Werewolves and vampires like to keep their distance from each other. There’s no rivalry like there is in the movies, no wars. At least not for a long time. Before I established the High Council and the network beneath us, vampires had a well-earned reputation for using humans like Capri Suns. Since the Culling became rooted in tradition, the relationship between werewolves and us has improved greatly since we aren’t actively draining humans left and right.

Lachlan Hale is the alpha of his pack, heading the strongest and one of the largest packs in the country right out of Saint Eldritch. I’ve known him for a few years now. We met after a little girl in his pack went missing, allegedly abducted by a vampire.

I offered my assistance immediately, but they didn’t want my help. I couldn’t blame them though—I was the first one to approach them with good intentions.

He told me to stay out of it, but of course, I didn’t listen. I tracked the vampire down within hours, thanks to decades of honing my hunting skills. They would have been able to find him faster had they had his scent. But they didn’t know where the little girl was taken from, and they had no place to start looking.

I wasn’t going to sit by and let this vampire drain this little girl. But I also wasn’t going to directly piss off the local alpha either. I wanted our relationship to grow, not suffer.

Having venom antidotes readily available, all I needed was a few drops of the rogue vampire’s blood to stop it from spreading in her system.

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