Read Blood Rock for Free Online Page A

in a vicegrip of steel. Typical—you couldn’t date Savannah without learning to deal with being tugged around—but now she had vampire strength I stayed extra close so she didn’t accidentally pull my arm out of its socket.
    Cinnamon started actually skipping alongside us, a victorious little smirk on her face as she watched me being dragged along. I reached out and snagged her wrist, and Saffron led us both up onto the gazebo in a little train. Happy happy, joy joy.
    “Something to drink?” she asked, releasing me and gesturing towards a wicker table, where a frosted pitcher filled with a green liquid sat precariously close to her laptop. She picked up a heavy-bottomed glass and twirled the green leafy sprig sticking out of it. “Mint juleps?”
    “Sure!” Cinnamon said brightly.
    “No, and no,” I said. “I’m driving, and she’s underage. And really? Drinking, before one in the afternoon? Isn’t that a bit early—”
    “A bit late, actually,” Saffron smirked, sitting down in the table’s matching wicker chair and bumping the mouse on her laptop to bring it to life. “I should have already turned in hours ago, but I’ve been burning the mid day oil working on my thesis.”
    “That’s … wonderful,” I said. I couldn’t complain: I’d been on her about her unfinished PhD for years. “But for us it’s too early, in Cinnamon’s case by several years. Sweet tea?”
    “ Certainly , Dakota,” she said, tapping the laptop and speaking into its microphone. “Nagli, could you—” There was a curse out of the laptop’s speakers and then the “intercom” went dead. “Well!” Saffron said, mock shocked. “You certainly can’t get good help these days. But no matter, I’m so glad to see you! You never come around anymore. Cinnamon keeping you busy? How is the school shopping going? You must look into a Montessori school—”
    This was ridiculous. Whatever Saffron was, she was no Scarlett O’Hara, and the weird bomber goggles made her look more Victorian steampunk than Civil War plantation. Finally I could take it no more, and said sharply, “Kill the Southern belle act, Savannah .”
    “Now, Dakota,” Savannah smirked, “I’ve told you never to call me that, not here—”
    “You’re right,” I said, remembering my real reason for being here. “My Lady Saffron, I’m here on Consulate business.”
    Saffron froze, staring at me with those bizarre goggles; then she lifted them up and squinted at me. “But … I haven’t given you any Consulate responsibilities—”
    “No, but wearing the sign of the Consulate means responsibility can fall in my lap,” I said, leaning forward to pat her dress. “Saffron, I have terrible news. You remember Revy?”
    “Revenance, from the Oakdale Clan? Of course,” she said … and blanched. “No!”
    “Yes,” I said. “He … he’s dead.”
    “You’re certain he’s not just … missing?” Saffron said, leaning forward. The wicker arms of the chair creaked under her delicate gloved hands. “Are you absolutely certain? ”
    “Yes,” I said. “He died right in front of me, Cinnamon and Rand—”
    “Dear God,” she said, crossing herself, her mouth opening in unguarded shock, exposing her cruel fangs for the first time since we’d arrived. “Wait, Rand? You mean, Revenance died in front of Uncle Andy ? But why … why was he even there? What happened?”
    “It was a magical attack,” I said. “The police’s expert couldn’t handle it, so they called me in. I tried to save him, but … ” My face fell. “But I failed. I’m so sorry.”
    “A magical attack?” Saffron asked suspiciously. “You mean a wizard attacked him?”
    “No. Not directly,” I said; vamps and wizards didn’t mix. “It was enchanted graffiti.”
    Saffron’s eyes widened. “I … didn’t even know that was possible.”
    “I didn’t either. Incredibly powerful magic—and fast too,” I said, gesturing at my forehead. “That’s how I got