Rachel Caine & Kristin Cast & Claudia Gray & Nancy Holder & Tanith Lee & Richelle Mead & Cynthia Leitich Smith & P. C. Cast Read Online Free PDF

wails “murderer, murderer!” again.
    â€œYou’re right! Sonia, you’re right!” I never intended to kill my uncle, even though sooner or later, he probably would’ve killed me. I just wanted to become stronger, strong enough to protect myself. I didn’t know that the blood lust would
come with that strength. I hadn’t gained control of it yet. “Sonia, stop! Please! Punish me!”
    I’m resigned to face her judgment when Ben tears into the lobby from the service hallway. He has a battle-axe in one hand and—dear God—the decapitated heads of Ginny’s parents, by the hair, in the other.
    Ben tosses them onto the red carpet. “Howdy, Ginny!”
    Has Sonia possessed him? Has he lost his mind?
    Ginny is on her knees, her head bent, her hands covering her face.
    She’s an easy target.
    â€œMurderer, murderer, murderer!” Sonia charges again.
    Ben hesitates, his gaze searching for the speaker.
    â€œSonia!” I duck a box of Milk Duds that whizzes by. I want to help. I need to, but the supernatural wind is holding me back. “Let her go! He’ll kill her!”
    Ginny looks so small, huddled on the red carpet. We’ve known each other only a couple of days, but she’s brought sunshine into my life and made me feel like I belong in the glow. It’s not love. It’s the hope of love. But it’s the closest I’ve come to it since I was ten years old. If Ginny wants me, how can I be a monster?
    I reach for the Bible again and hold it over my head, ignoring the pain. “In the name of. . . .” I raise my voice, start again. “In the name of the Father, the Son—”
    With a roar, Ginny raises her face. Her mask of innocence melts away, and I see her for what she is. Undead. Demonic. Like me, a vampire.
    I drop the Bible, clenching my blistered hands. “Ginny?”

    Ben looks from her to me, like he’s trying to figure out whose side I’m on.
    â€œI was going to tell you,” Ginny says, her voice pleading. “When your profile showed up on the system, I thought it was a sign.” Her shoulder jerks, struck by the ghost. “I want the kind of love that lasts.”
    The system. “Love That Lasts.” She’s talking about the blood dealer’s matchmaking service. Ginny must have the same supplier.
    â€œSonia!” she screams. “Don’t you have anything better to do? You were a loser in life, and you’re still a loser now. I told you this town would be mine someday!”
    â€œMurderer!” Sonia replies. “Katie, murderer!”
    So, Ginny was the one who killed Sonia. Sonia was never trying to scare her off, to protect her from me. When Sonia said “murderer,” I wasn’t the one she was talking about. Ginny had been Katie, Katherine, the girl whose body was never found.
    From her crouched position, Ginny lunges at Ben as a swath of blood appears across her torso, staining the white shirt. She knocks the axe from his hand and kicks his boots out from under him. He’s no match for her.
    Ginny can’t fight Sonia, but she could tear Ben apart.
    â€œLet me help him,” I say, and the ghostly force dies as quickly as it rose. I vault over the concession stand, snatch the axe from the carpet, and stand between them.
    For a moment, I see the hope in Ginny’s eyes. Unlike Ben, she knows that I’m one of her kind. She’s already admitted that she wants me. She’s already called me her “hero”
twice. I slowly shake my head, leaving no doubt about my intentions.
    â€œYou wouldn’t,” Ginny breathes as reality sinks in. She’s been beaten by me, Sonia, and Ben together. Her voice is resigned. Her last words are: “Daddy had such big plans.”
    I sever her head with the blade and, shaking, drop the axe handle.
    After a stunned moment, Ben climbs to his feet and puts a hand on my shoulder. “You