Everafter Series 2 - Nevermore Read Online Free PDF Page A

entire circulatory system, eventually rendering me a full vampire. I would be even stronger, even faster, my senses even keener, but as my human failings waned, so too would my human compassion. I would become distant. Cold. Ruthless.
    Alexa was the only one who could save me from that fate—hers was the only blood that the parasite would accept as a substitute. I never would have wished on her the burden of sustaining me, but it was comforting to know that she was my soul mate all the way down to the chemical level.
    My phone rang, piercing the white mumble of the television. When I fished it out of my pocket, I hesitated. Sebastian Brenner, prominent nightclub owner and one of the celebrities in the up-and-coming generation of werewolves, was calling me at eleven o’clock at night. Either it was some kind of emergency, or he was bored.
    I answered the call. “Hey.”
    “Valentine,” he said, drawing out the first syllable.
    “You’re drunk.”
    “Am not.” The two words would have sounded petulant coming from anyone else. “I’m just glad to hear your dark and broody voice. Come to Luna, and I’ll make you feel better.”
    I had to laugh. For some unfathomable reason, Sebastian persisted in flirting with me. “Who’s with you?”
    “Karma is right here and promises to protect your virtue. And I think I saw your bloodsack friend Kyle on the dance floor earlier. Now will you come?”
    I bit back a suggestive reply. “Maybe.”
    “Maybe,” he said, a note of disbelief coloring his voice.
    “Maybe.” And I hung up.
     
    *
     
    Half an hour later, I trudged up the stairs from the subway, hoping that it would be cooler on the streets than underground. But the mid-August night was sweltering, and my gun, tucked into the back of my jeans, shifted uncomfortably against the moist skin of my lower back. Above the skyscrapers, the bulging moon, draped in haze, ruled the sky. It would be full in a week. Three days later, Alexa would finally come home.
    The line to get into Luna stretched for half a block, but I didn’t so much as slow my pace. The bouncer, Damian, had biceps as thick as my quads and spiked hair that looked bleached but wasn’t. I’d seen him shift only once—a few weeks ago, when some Were turf skirmish had spilled over into the club. It wasn’t every day that a polar bear materialized on a dance floor. I’d been tempted to snap a picture with my cell phone.
    “He’s on the roof, Val,” was all Damian said as he pulled the rope aside for me.
    “Thanks.” I threaded through the crowd inside and made my way up to the second floor. As I paused at the bar to order a scotch, I couldn’t help but reflect on my relationship with the Weres of New York. Many of them hated me, holding me responsible for Alexa’s rebirth, choosing to believe that I’d manipulated her into deliberately infecting herself with the Were virus so that I could be fed for eternity. Others sympathized with us and treated me as one of the family. For whatever reason, Sebastian had gone so far as to include me in his inner circle—which was otherwise populated by shifters. It was curious. It was confusing. But on a night like this one, when the loneliness was riding me just as hard as the thirst, it was a comfort.
    The door to the roof was guarded by another bouncer. I’d never seen him before, but when I approached, he moved aside. I stepped out onto grass and paused to admire the view, familiar by now, but still breathtaking. An immaculately groomed lawn—real grass, not turf—covered the expanse of the roof, contrasting sharply with the surrounding cityscape. Ten feet away, several people were lounging on blankets. Karma gave me a small wave as I approached. I smiled back as warmly as I could before turning to the alpha of the group.
    “I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist.” Sebastian was dressed as casually as I’d ever seen him, in slim-fitting khaki shorts and a tight black T-shirt. He was rolling the stem