Page 55 of Prince with a Chance of Darkness

Creepy Chick laughed loudly. “Silly goose, that won’t fix him. He sleeps the sleep of the dead. He will wake. Not now, but soon. You should be worried about your friends.”

I moved away from Drac and shot to my feet, running through the wall of darkness. It tickled, and I shook the feeling off, spinning around, searching for the source of the voice.

No one was there.

I spun, wanting to try to wake Drac again, but found I couldn’t get through the wall of darkness. I bounced off it and landed on my backside in the leaves. I tried again, only to repeat the process. This time, I touched it gently, trying to push my hand through. It didn’t work.

A giggle came from seemingly everywhere.

“Hurry home,” the voice said. “You’ll want to beat the storm.”

What storm? And who the hell was talking?

I stood there, torn between leaving Drac, going home, and running back to the cave I’d left my sister in. Guilt swept through me. I was the world’s worst sister. She was chained because ofme. Because of my recklessness and now, tonight, I’d run off and left her to deal with things herself all so I could have a random booty call with a hot vampire who fancied himself the Prince of Darkness.

As much as I wanted to stay and protect Drac from whoever the owner of the sing-song voice was, I had to check on my sister. Besides, I couldn’t get through the dark wall. Maybe no one else could either.

I took off in the direction of the caves only to have the feeling of someone tying a rope around my waist return. My slayer instincts went haywire, demanding I go toward Gallows Lane. Toward the house I shared with my roommates.

Dammit.

I pivoted, giving into the pull.

I sprinted through campus and was to home in record time. The feeling of being watched returned as my feet connected with the front porch. Ignoring it, I went for the door but paused before going to the window and peeking inside.

Thankfully, no one was under attack from demons or anything.

It took me a second to wrap my brain around what I was seeing. Krissy, Emily, Jessica, Stevie, and Colleen were on the floor. Jessica was lying in the center of a circle of lit candles with her arms folded over her chest, like she’d been laid to rest or something. The others were gathered around her, sitting on the floor. It was then I remembered Krissy wanting to have a girl’s night and do fun slumber party like things, like we were tweens.

Evidently, her idea of fun included light as a feather. No thanks. I lived and breathed the paranormal, I didn’t want to play party games revolving around it.

Torid was near them all. Emily and Krissy would have a lot to say about that. Neither of them were huge fans of him. I really hoped he ripped a stinky fart next to Emily.

Astria, whose head of shockingly purple hair was hard to miss, was seated at the dining room table.

I didn’t see Snow or Scarlett.

I adjusted my clothing and caught sight of my reflection in the window. I had a cut on my cheek I didn’t remember getting, leaves in my hair, and my chin was red. I looked like something the cat dragged in. If anyone asked, I’d make up something.

There was no point in freaking them out if nothing was wrong. I’d play it cool, check on them and make sure nothing nefarious was afoot. Then I’d get back to the cave and see how Willa was doing. Then I’d check on Drac again.

I really needed to be cloned.

“Is that it?” a girl asked loud enough that I heard her even though she and the girl she was walking with were a few houses down. She was pointing at our house.

The other girl checked a piece of paper she was holding. “Yes. I think so.”

“Um, I’m not sure how I feel about living there,” said the first.

I grinned but it faded when I heard the distant rumble of thunder. Creepy Chick was right. It was going to storm.

These must be the potential roommates we had lined up to view the rooms that would be available soon.

“Come on, Darling,” said the second. “It can’t hurt to look. The price is exactly what we need.”

I went to the door, turned the handle and stepped in, trying to appear aloof and not like I’d been spying on them through the living room window. “Tell me the creep-fest is over and not just getting started. Willa should be here any minute. Oh, I think the two prospects are walking down the street together. Can’t wait for them to walk in and think we’re devil worshipers. Fun. Also, no one mentioned it was going to storm. I thought the weather was supposed to be great all weekend.”

When I glanced up, Astria was standing, her foot crossing the circle on the floor, her eyes wide and locked on me. Fear was evident. “Mina, something is wrong!”

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