Read The Sunlight Slayings for Free Online Page A

looked hard at Oliver for a moment. In the past, Theo would definitely have said something mean right here, but he just shook his head. “Nothing. What are you doing here?”
    â€œSame thing.”
    â€œHuh.” Theo shrugged. He sat up, and when he spoke again, his tone had lost some of its edge. “Not a lot of action with this rain, though.”
    â€œNah,” Oliver agreed.
    â€œBoo,” Maggots said disappointedly. Brent just eyed Oliver.
    The wind picked up again, rustling the wet pine trees. It had shifted slightly, probably not enough, but Oliver glanced in the direction where Emalie had been—
    And saw a figure lurking in the shadows. Was that her? The figure looked about her height, but now disappeared behind a tree. Oliver peered into the dark.… Suddenly the figure darted back out. Something flashed orange from him or her, like the burst of a match being lit, only larger and brighter—
    Oliver heard a sizzling sound and felt a wave of warm energy pass over him. It came and went in an instant.
    â€œWhat was that?” Theo was spinning around toward the trees, but the figure was already gone. He turned to Oliver. “Did you see something?”
    Oliver shrugged. “See what?”
    â€œHey,” Maggots said from beside them.
    Theo narrowed his eyes at Oliver. “Are you up to something, Nocturne?”
    â€œHey!” Maggots said more urgently.
    Oliver and Theo turned. Maggots was staring at Brent, who was still sitting on the seesaw.
    â€œNnnn,” Brent moaned. He was bent over the handle.
    â€œWhat’s up with him?” Theo asked.
    â€œNnnnnnn …” Brent rocked back and forth.
    â€œWhat’s happening to him?” Maggots asked worriedly.
    Brent was starting to glow. There seemed to be a faint aura of golden light around him—
    â€œNnnnnnnaaaaaaaa!” He lurched off the seesaw and collapsed to his knees in the sand, his face contorted, eyes shut, fangs bared.
    â€œB-Brent?” Theo stammered.
    â€œAaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!” Brent’s head whipped up. His eyes and mouth popped open and brilliant, blazing light shot out. His head thrashed about, and when the light hit Oliver, he felt an unmistakable sting and leaped backward in panic. It felt exactly like—
    â€œSunlight!” Theo shouted, grabbing at his chest. His shirt was on fire where the light had hit him. Oliver saw that his sweatshirt was singed. “Run!” Theo vaulted off the jungle gym and sprinted for the nearby trees. Maggots fell over himself, tumbling to the sand and crawling beneath the seesaw.
    Oliver stumbled back. Brent staggered to his feet, the light blazing from his eyes, mouth, and ears. His chest began to glow. The beams swept by Oliver and the leg of his pants caught fire. There was searing pain. He tried to run—
    â€œ Tsss! ” His side suddenly seized up on him. The pain from his amulet wound shot like a spear up and down his side. He lost control of his legs and fell to the sand.
    There was humming, buzzing light everywhere in the night. Oliver felt heat on his back and managed to roll over, his side screaming in pain. Brent was floundering in his direction, sunlight bursting from every inch of his body now as his skin seemed to crack open. He became only an outline in a tiny supernova. It grew brighter and more intense, and Brent’s features were lost completely.…
    Then it went dark.
    Oliver blinked back blindness. He slapped at his legs and torso, putting out small fires on his clothes. As the green spots in his eyes faded, he saw only a lingering wisp of smoke where Brent had been.
    Maggots walked slowly over. He kicked at the sand beneath where Brent had stood, scattering a pile of fine, silver ash. Brent had been turned to dust.
    â€œBrent?” Maggots said weakly. He stared at the ground, then turned to Oliver. “What was that?” Vampires were not ones to get too saddened when another was