Page 6 of Seph

Emily Van Helsing leaned low over the wheel. She should have stopped hours ago. She should not have climbed through the Endless Mountains and over the New York state line, not in this weather. Snow was falling faster than her wipers could keep up, and she’d passed three wrecks since leaving Binghamton.

“But a Van Helsing doesn’t quit.”

Simeon Crow had been her great-grandfather Abraham’s failure, her grandfather Arthur’s failure, and her father Egon’s failure. If she had a brother, the notorious vampire that had terrorized London for over a century would have been his failure, too.

But not hers.

Not hers.

A dark shape flew across the road—not man, not beast, but something in between.

Monsters. She’d heard rumors about a place called Pine Ridge, a place where monsters were “nice” and “civilized.”Ha. No such thing as a decent monster. No such thing as a harmless vampire, no matter what Simeon Crow claims.

When she’d cornered Simeon in London two years ago, he told her he hadn’t killed a single soul in years—and then he’d kicked her through a second-story window.

“Two years of tracking your pale ass down. I’m not going to stop until you’re a little pile of dust in the wind—oh-ohhh!”

Emily gripped the wheel. She’d fought demons and vampires alone since she was sixteen. She could handle her car skidding in the snow.

But the car didn’t behave like a monster that she could stake or stab. She turned into the skid—and the car ran out of road.

The world went up and down, over and over, like the world’s most evil carnival ride. Her car skidded, flipped, and bounced down the lower foothills of the mountains, just a few miles ahead of the Pine Ridge exit.

Everything was red. And white. And still.

“Thank God the Lumberjacks had a late game tonight!”

“Thank God I decided to fly instead of riding in your car, Jakob.”

“You would barely fit, friend.”

“No one would have found her until daylight.”

“Who is she? Is she local?”

“I don’t think so. It’s a rented car with out of state plates and I don’t recognize her. She’s breathing, but she’s hurt pretty bad. The car is totaled.”

“Should we get her to the hospital ourselves or call for an ambulance?”

Emily winced but couldn’t open her eyes. Her brain was too heavy; it had pinned her eyelids shut. And her ribs were smashed into her chest. Her heart felt heavy and slow, too.

“I’ve got no signal.” A voice with a faint Polish accent was coming from far away.

“I’ll fly you to somewhere with signal, Jakob, and you call for the ambulance. Simeon, you stay here with her. Flag down the ambulance if you see them first.”

Simeon. Simeon Crow.

The other two voices were gone.

With all of her strength, Emily managed to pry open her eyes. Badly blurred, the vampire’s face stared back at her. “Crow.”

“Miss Van Helsing.”

“Why don’t you run?” He’s been running from me for months, sending me on false trails.

Why would he run from you now, Emmeline?Her grandfather’s voice was severe in her head.You are no longer the hunter.

She wanted to struggle, she wanted to rise and fight, but her body betrayed her.He’s going to kill me. That’s why he’s not running.

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