Page 12 of Watch Me Burn

When I believedIwas human…

I’m stubborn. No one can tell me I’m a witch. How would that be possible anyway? Wouldn’t one of my parents have to havebeen a witch? And, sure, they’re both gone now so it’s not like I can ask them, but if one of themwas?Shouldn’t they have been able to use magic to stop the car from hydroplaning off the road and smashing past the guardrail?

I’ll explain to the head vamp he’s got the wrong girl. I’m still working hard to figure out the whole fire thing, but given enough time, I’m sure I can.

If only I had more than the handful of minutes it takes to go from the lower level of the Homequarters building up to Thorn’s office on the penthouse floor…

I can’t help myself. Elise moves right at my side as we follow Jasper like he told me to. The blond vampire didn’t say anything when she left the cell as I did, and I figure that her ‘claim’ to me means it’s okay if she tags along. Glad she’s there even as I peer nosily into the row of cells attached to mine, I say, “You guys got a ton of empty cells down here. Expect a lot of trouble from us humans?”

“Vampires are a ruthless lot,” grates out our guide, “but we are fair. Seek sanctuary in our city, abide by our rules, and the Cadre will protect you.”

“And if you don’t?”

“You die,” is his flat response as he uses his pointer finger to summon the elevator.

He took off my handcuffs. He’s bringing me up to meet the guy—sorry,vampire—who runs this town. I had hoped that meant I wasn’t in trouble anymore, but I’m guessing that’s not the case.

Well, that explains why the cells in the basement are empty. If anyone who breaks the laws bad enough to catch the Cadre’s attention ends up as worm food—or vampire food, I guess—there’s no reason to waste time, dicking around by putting them in a cell first. Vampire justice must be swift, and I can only imagine how the Cadre metes it out.

“Is that what’s going to happen to that man?” I ask Elise, a couple of steps back from Jasper, while we wait for the elevator door to open. “I didn’t kill him, but the vampires will?”

Elise’s gaze flickers ahead of us at Jasper. When he doesn’t react as if he heard my question—though I’d put fifty bucks down that he did—she bites the corner of her bottom lip. Her fangs are so much daintier than Jasper’s, and it’s hard for me to look at my friend and thinkvampire. But she is, and if she can be a vampire, can I really be a?—

“It depends on what Thorn decides.” She adjusts the skirt of her silky black dress. “Remember how you seemed so amazed that there’s never any trouble in Clarity?”

I did. Up until the moment I was attacked, I thought it was very weird that such a big city had a cozy, small town vibe. “Yeah.”

“That’s because of the Cadre. Because of Thorn, and his soldiers, like Gilda and Jasper, too.”

“The Cadre,” cuts in Jasper without even turning around to look at us, “is judge, jury, and executioner. Abide by our rules or perish. Take no blood but that is offered to you. Do no harm. Keep the peace and keep the wolves out. That male attacked a citizen of Clarity. Whatever happens to you, witch, doesn’t change that fact. He will pay for his crime.”

Ruthless. Right. I’ll have to remember that.

“And me? Elise said I was defending myself. I totally was. Does that count for anything here?”

Ding.

The elevator door opens. Instead of answering me, Jaspers walks in first. Holding the door, he waits for me and Elise to join him.

The ride up is silent, my heart racing the damn elevator.

This building has thirty floors. Thorn’s located on the top one, and I try to swallow my nervousness as we get closer. I don’tdo the best job of that. My blood is rushing through my veins, and all I can think about is that I’m flanked by two vampires who probably can tell.

Jasper’s reflection in the mirrored walls looks bored. Elise takes my fingers in hers, gives them squeeze, then lets go right as the elevator doors open a second time.

The basement was sterile. Empty. Bright. Everything was shades of grey, cream, and white, with the silver a shiny accent.

The hallway we step out into is cozier. Expensive, too. The carpet beneath my sneakers is lush. The walls are papered in a brown and gold design that matches the gold sconces holding unlit candles. A pair of burgundy stuffed chairs wait outside the closed door, each one on the other side of a small mahogany table stacked high with a pile of modern magazines that seem weirdly out of place.

It smells nice, at least. Like lemons, I think. That’s much better than blood.

“Should I wait outside, Jasper?” asks Elise.

He shakes his head. “If Thorn didn’t want you to witness this meeting, he would’ve sent you home, Elise. Come. He’s waiting for us.”

After rapping neatly on the door, Jasper turns the doorknob, pushing the dark brown door inward. He steps aside so that I can go first, followed by Elise. He brings up the rear, closing the door behind him before he takes his post next to it.

It was cozy out in the hall. Inside Thorn Wilkin’s office? It’s understated elegance everywhere I look, including the man—vampire—himself sitting at his large desk, leaning casually into his even larger black leather chair.

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