Page 129 of The Order of the Bitter Hunt

The backyard of my family home is a suitable place to bury Tobey, and they’re beneath the ground now. Dirt coats my manicured nails and covers our dark attire. Putting their cold, dead body into the dirt would have been a terrifying task, but I was the one to kill them. I’ve drained the life from my best friend, and nothing else can scare me.

“How did you do this to Maman?” I ask my father through a tight throat. “It feels like I killed them.”

He smiles sadly. “It did not feel this way with your mother. It was a victorious thing. We spent years together, months planning for it, and she requested it. But this… this is different.”

Tobey didn’t get a choice. I had to do it—to drain her life and give her a new one. I still don’t know if I did the right thing. What was I to do? Give her soul to Strode? Perhaps this wasn’t theright choice, but with the pressure of a demon breathing down my neck, I did what I had to.

Now, no one can threaten her life again, or use her against me, and I can’t find it in me to have a regret—unless she doesn’t spring back to life.

Caldwell hasn’t spoken to me since the ceremony, and two hours of silence feels like a lifetime. It’s selfish to wonder whether he’s mad at me, but I do. He probably is. I would be, if the roles were reversed.

Jun doesn’t let go of my hand, and I don’t want him to. We crush each other, and so much between us goes unsaid, lacking words to share aloud.

Our terror, hope, and confusion.

The mouth of Hell is open. I don’t know what that means—but I bet Jun does.

The dirt beneath us moves, and from within, there’s a screaming, crying, retching sound.

“She lives,” Caldwell whispers.

I move to the dirt, but my father holds me back, his hand in front of me. “They have to do this alone, or the transformation will fail. Trust their strength.”

If there’s one person who can be determined enough to claw themselves from the ground, it’s Tobey. They spring to life with dirt coating their hair and filling their mouth. When they spit, it’s full of mud and blood.

For the first time, I’m grateful to be a dhampir. I never had to live through this.

And now… I’m a vampire—a full vampire. Even though I didn’t finish the sacrifice, Strode couldn’t take the immortality back, just as he couldn’t take my father’s.

Tobey clawing their way to life is proof I’mm immortal, but it doesn’t feel real yet.

I let go of Jun’s hand, moving to Tobey’s side.

They glare, wiping dirt from their face. “Where the hell is Poppy?”

My eyes widen. “What?”

“I heard her! Where is she?”

Jun steps forward with a frown on his face. “She’s in Hell now. She’s with my father.”

The one who owns her soul. I shudder.

“But there is good news,” my father says. “Now, the mouth of Hell is open… and we can find her. We can bring her home.”

“Easy now,”my mother says, encouraging, just as she was to me when I was young. “Don’t take too much. It will get easier each time.”

Tobey’s hands are shaking as they detach themselves from Caldwell’s neck, wiping away the blood. They were starving, as all newborn vampires are, and Caldwell was willing…

Though he seems quite pale now.

“Lick the wound,” I whisper. “That should close it.”

Tobey whimpers pathetically and does as I ask. Their retreat is swift, zooming to the other side of the room in a blur.

Jun extends a cookie to Caldwell. “This’ll help.”

Caldwell shakes his head. “I need to check?—”