CHAPTER 29

AT SUNSET, Kristopher still sat by Sarah’s side, waiting anxiously for her to stir.

Had he been too late? He cursed himself for wasting time arguing with the hunter, but he doubted that Sarah would have forgiven him if he had hurt Adianna. His system still hummed with the power of Sarah’s witch blood, and if he had fought the hunter he probably would have killed her out of reflex.

His brother was pacing in the back of the room, his power crackling around him like a net of sparks, and as always Kristopher could feel the connection between them. Nikolas had a right to be there; they were in his house. It had been the only location that Kristopher had trusted to be safe enough.

A less intrusive presence, Nissa waited calmly in one of the other chairs. He wasn’t sure why his sister was there — maybe to diffuse the situation if Sarah woke up hating him.

He brushed a long black hair from his face, the only movement he had made in almost twenty minutes, and glanced briefly at the abstract black-and-white clock on the wall. The sun should have set by now. She should have awakened.

Finally Sarah moaned lightly and Christopher’s guilt came around to hit him again as he heard the pain in her tone. He knew that a newborn vampire, before she had ever hunted, was wracked by bloodlust so strong it could drive reason completely from the mind. Without killing, it was almost impossible to sate that hunger.

Sarah moaned again and sat up slowly, blinking to clear her vision. They all knew her mind was foggy. Her memory might not even return until after she fed. Kristopher and Nikolas both reached to help her up.

Sarah could barely stand on her own, and she leaned on Kristopher as he held her. “I need to bring her someplace she can feed safely,” he told his sister. Once Sarah had fed she would probably hate him. Worse, she might put her own knife through her heart.

Nissa stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. “Don’t let her kill anyone, Kristopher.”

Nikolas laughed, and Nissa flinched at the cutting tone. “That’s impossible, Nissa. She’s a new fledgling, and her change wasn’t nearly as easy as yours was — if she doesn’t take a life, she won’t be able to sate the bloodlust, and you well know it.”

“She’s a Daughter of Vida. She won’t take a human life,” Nissa argued.

Nikolas looked at Sarah doubtfully as Kristopher gently smoothed a hand down her silky hair, trying to comfort her as much as he could while his siblings argued.

“I’ll take her,” Nissa said, her voice strong. “There are people I know at SingleEarth who will be willing.”

Kristopher mirrored his brother’s expression, doubtful. “Not willing to die.” Like his sister, Kristopher had gone through the change easily; only Nikolas had woken to the mind-numbing pain that Sarah was going through.

Nikolas and Nissa continued to argue, but Kristopher had already made a decision. Human blood was too weak to sate the bloodlust without a kill. Witch blood would have been best, since it was strong enough to quench the thirst without killing the donor, but every instinct rebelled against bringing Sarah to her kin. The witches answered to Dominique, and Dominique was the last person who could know what had become of her daughter.

There was only one choice left — had always been only one choice. Tilting his head back, he drew Sarah to his own throat.

The Den of Shadows Quartet
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_cvi_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_adc_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_tp_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_toc_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_p01_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_col1_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_col2_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_fm1_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c01_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c02_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c03_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c04_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c05_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c06_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c07_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c08_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c09_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c10_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c11_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c12_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c13_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c14_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c15_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c16_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c17_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c18_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c19_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c20_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c21_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_p02_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_col3_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_col4_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_fm2_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c22_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c23_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c24_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c25_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c26_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c27_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c28_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c29_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c30_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c31_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c32_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c33_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c34_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c35_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c36_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c37_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c38_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c39_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c40_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c41_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c42_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c43_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c44_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c45_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c46_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c47_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c48_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c49_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c50_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c51_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c52_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c53_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c54_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_p03_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_col5_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_fm3_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c55_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c56_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c57_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c58_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c59_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c60_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c61_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c62_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c63_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c64_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c65_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c66_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c67_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c68_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c69_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c70_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c71_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c72_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c73_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c74_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c75_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c76_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c77_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c78_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c79_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c80_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c81_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c82_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c83_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c84_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c85_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_p04_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_col6_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_col7_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c86_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c87_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c88_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c89_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c90_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c91_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c92_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c93_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c94_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c95_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c96_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c97_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c98_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c99_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c100_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c101_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c102_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c103_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c104_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c105_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c106_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c107_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_c108_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_bm1_r1.htm
Atwa_9780375896767_epub_cop_r1.htm