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counter. Her
    anxiety rose higher as she stared at the
    stain on her clothes. Closing her eyes,
    she started counting to calm herself
    down. One, Two, three—
    “Hey, what do you do for an
    encore?”
    She spun around and came face
    to face with Garren. “What do you
    want?” She didn't even try to hide the
    irritation in her voice.
    “We need more catsup.”
    Four, five, six...
    “Lighten up, it was a joke,” he
    said with a little laugh.
    “You know what? Why don't you
    stay here with your friends next
    weekend? Thane and I are perfectly
    capable of taking care of ourselves and
    finding,” she lowered her voice to a
    whisper, “you know who.”
    “Nice try, but you’re not getting
    rid of me that easily.” He leaned against
    the counter right next to her. “You know,
    Ivy, we need to work together or we
    could get into some big trouble. Truce?”
    He held out his hand.
    She grabbed his hand and flipped
    it over, exposing his palm. Nope, no spit
    or anything else equally disgusting.
    Could this be real?
    “I’m serious. No more pranks.”
    He was right. They couldn’t be
    distracted with their ongoing rivalry or
    Eradicators would take them out easily.
    Reluctantly, she shook his hand.
    He smiled and patted her on the
    shoulder. “Great. Of course, as soon as
    this is all over,” he said as he backed
    out of the kitchen, “you’re going down.”
    *****
    Finally, her shift was over and
    she was free. At this time of night, the
    trip back to the boarding house was
    always quiet. Breathing in the cool night
    air and coasting on her skateboard under
    the stars was the perfect way to let all
    her tension go. And tonight, she had a lot
    of it.
    About half-way home, the fine
    hairs on the back of her neck stood on
    end. A feeling of being watched prickled
    her skin. She slowed down as she
    searched all around her, but found no
    one.
    Maybe it's that vampire . She
    shook
    her
    head. Now I'm being
    paranoid. Her right wrist burned under
    the leather strap more intensely than it
    had in over a year. Out of instinct, she
    reached back to grab the dagger she
    usually kept on her at all times. It wasn’t
    there, of course; no place to keep it on
    her uniform. Not that it would do much
    damage to a vampire— that required a
    wooden stake to the heart. At least she
    knew she wasn’t in any danger of being
    turned into a bloodsucker. Not just
    because the magic that made vampires
    who they were couldn’t live with her
    own magic, but because, like bees, only
    queens could create more vampires. And
    there were no more queens. And after
    her total beat down by Mr. McGregor
    the other night, her confidence was still
    waning.
    Gliding on her skateboard, she
    strained to detect any signs of danger,
    but the only sound was the click-
    clacking of her wheels over the
    sidewalk lines. In fact, the lack of noise
    was unsettling. Being surrounded by
    forests usually meant being serenaded by
    various nocturnal creatures. She pushed
    faster.
    As the lights of the boarding
    house came into view, she relaxed her
    shoulders a bit knowing she was almost
    home.
    The burning increased. There
    was
    definitely
    something
    there;
    something unnatural and getting closer.
    Her heart was beating a tattoo in her
    ears. She skated home as fast as she
    could, her foot slapping the pavement
    with every push. Finally reaching the
    house, she hopped off her board and
    plowed through the small, wire gate
    leading to the walk-way. A tingle grazed
    the back of her neck as if she narrowly
    escaped being grabbed. Running up the
    front steps, she didn't even glance
    backwards as she yanked the door open
    and slammed it shut behind her.
    She peeked out of the side
    window. No one was there. Maybe I
    imagined it. Slumping against the door,
    she concentrated on slowing her
    breathing. Mr. McGregor stood before
    her, staring with one eyebrow raised.
    Not wanting him to think she was
    going insane, she glanced down at her
    watch and smiled. “Beat my best