Page 64 of Top Secret Vampire

I heard it again, coming from my office if I wasn't mistaken.

Maybe I should wake Wolf. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe . . .

No.

I was done with this. Done with dancing to the strings of whoever was stalking me, manipulating me. Enough was enough. Time to take them down and put an end to this.

Steeling my nerves, I ghost-walked down the staircase, taking each step lightly, my heart drumming in my ears. I paused at the bottom. The air felt charged, like something wasabout to break. I listened, and there it was again, subtle but unmistakable movement coming from inside my office.

Anger flared in my chest, burning away the last of my fear.

I crept across the foyer to my open office door. Tension whipped back and forth inside me.

Someone was in there, moving, quietly shuffling through my things.My office, the place where I wrote, where I felt most myself.

Whoever this was had crossed a line.

With the bear spray cocked and my teeth clenched, I peered inside.

I froze.

Charmaine.

She didn’t hear me creep up behind her because she was too absorbed in rifling through papers, drawers, and even my laptop bag. A silver jewelry box sat open beside her. In her right hand, she held something shiny—a penlight, flicking the small beam over one of my recent manuscripts. Charmaine, frickin’ Charmaine. Her presence was a sucker punch to the gut.

My shock melted in milliseconds, replaced by a wash of ice-cold anger.

“Looking for something?” I snarled, stepping across the room, the bear spray clenched tight in my hand. “Or are you planting something else to frame me?”

That jewelry box.

She snapped upright and spun around, the penlight slipping from her hand, clattering when it hit the floor. “Reese?”

“Why are you doing this?”

Her eyes darted between the bear spray and me. She tried to force a smile, but it came out a wince. “I was just—” A flick of her hand and the can was wrenched from my grip. It went flying, smacking into the wall and dropping to the floor with a loud bang. With a snarl, she pointed her index finger right at me.

I froze. I couldn't move, though I could breathe—for now.

“Witch,” I hissed, my voice only a whisper.

She huffed and advanced toward me. “Yes. You finally figured it out.”

We’d shared everything in the past. Silly me for using the same passwords I had back in college. “You hacked into my social media accounts.”

“You really need to change those passwords.”

I had but it was too late now. “You messed with my blender. Cast a spell on the seagull that attacked me. Wrote on my mirror.”

“If only it had worked.”

“I don’t get it. You also slashed my tires and snuck into my house to plant the statue in my attic.” My gaze fell on the jewelry box. “Where did that come from, the local jewelry store?”

Her slick smile grew.

“Youframedme.”

“Such a clever girl, aren’t you? Although, it took you a long time to figure it out.”

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