Page 24 of A Grave Girls' Getaway

A high-pitched scream sounded behind me. I turned, seeing a brown-haired boy struggling between several witches. Freckles or pimples dotted his face, and his frame had that awkward, bones-too-big-for-his-skin look that some teens had. When his eyes met mine, horror, shock, and fear practically spilled from his gaze and his thoughts were a jumble of pleas and shrieks.

Firecrackers of rage went off inside me. “Another kid? What the fuck is wrong with you? If the goddess you worship must have a living sacrifice, chose a murderer or a pedophile like a normal person!”

“That’s what I said,” one of the nearby witches muttered, garnering her an instant censoring look from Morgana.

“We hold to the old ways of offering a pure sacrifice—”

My loud scoff cut her off. “First of all, you’re evil. Second, purity is a spiritual state, not a sexual one, and third, wow are you dating yourself as an old, out-of-touch vampire if you think ‘teenager’ automatically means ‘virgin.’”

“I’m done speaking with you,” Morgana said, and picked up one of the sticks from the now-destroyed bonfire. Then, she poked it at a splotch of melted silver near her feet.

“I couldn’t agree more,” I spat and marched toward her, throwing aside the witches who tried to stand in my way.

Morgana didn’t move. Instead, she threw the stick at me.

I didn’t even duck. What was this, kindergarten?

The stick changed into a large snake that hit me right in the mouth. I flung it off, yelping in a very un-badass way, but I hated snakes, and now I’d just gotten to first base with one.

“Really?” I snapped when dozens of other branches suddenly morphed into serpentine life. Now, I had a field of snakes between me and Morgana. Gross, but did she actually think this would stop me from reaching her—

Ouch!One of the snakes bit me, and wow, it hurt. A lot.

I yanked the snake off, not caring that I ripped my flesh in the process. Its fangs were still oozing venom, only it wasn’t normal-looking venom. It was shiny and metallic.

“Silver,” I breathed out.

A single touch confirmed it. Only silver stung that much. All vampires were allergic to it, even freaky former half-breeds like me. Worse, liquid silver couldn’t be removed with the same ease as yanking out a weapon, and until the silver was removed, I’d be weaker and I wouldn’t heal as fast.

I hurled the snake aside. “Magic snakes? You need therapy!”

Morgana only tossed her hair. “And you need to sit quietly until our goddess comes to claim you, but I’m guessing neither of us is going to do what’s in our best interest, are we?”

Denise grabbed my arm. “You okay?”

The bite in my calf burned like hell, but I’d be all right. I just needed to keep from getting bitten again.

“Fine,” I said through gritted teeth. “Hold the other witches back while I kill her, will you?”

Denise dropped my arm and backed away a few feet.

“With pleasure.”

I rose into the air, a little more wobbly than usual, but at least the snakes couldn’t bite me up here.

“You’re dead,” I said to Morgana, and flew at her.

She shot upward right before I reached her, leaving me to plow into the spot where she’d stood. After I spat out a face full of dirt, I saw her flying in a graceful circle above me.

“I don’t think so,” she said in a pleasant tone.

Bitch could fly. She was also creative, powerful, and beautiful. If I weren’t straight, married, and repulsed by child murderers, I might have developed a crush.

“Fellow coven sisters.” Morgana raised her voice. “Teach this impudent vampire to show me the proper respect!”

The witches grabbed the magic snakes and hurled them at me. I flew up, avoiding most of them, but at least two sets of fangs sank home. That deadly silver venom scalded me from the inside out. I tumbled out of the sky, hitting the rapidly disappearing beach hard enough to scatter sand in every direction.

I staggered to my feet, cursing when I tried to fly and couldn’t. Fucking liquid silver was weakening me by the moment, and only massive cutting could remove it. I’d do it, too, if I had any weapons, but thanks to Morgana, I didn’t.

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