Page 47 of Fall into Place

She was about to let out a huge sigh and proclaim this entire outing a bust, but she stopped dead when she heard footsteps—and voices.

“This is a waste of time,” a man grumbled.

“That’s not for you to say,” a woman snapped in response.

Tess’s blood went cold—those were two vampires. Were they out hunting? Tess had gotten lucky the last time she ran into a strange vampire, but she was pretty sure that wouldn’t happen twice. If they found out she was here—and that she was human—she didn’t know if she’d leave this grove alive.

Chapter 11

Excerpt from Blood Feud

(book one, chapter four)

by August Lirio

“I don’t understand why you need a clan of your own,” Felix pleaded with Octavia. “You’re like a sister to me—surely we should be fighting on the same side?”

“You’re not my brother, and you never have been,” Octavia spat.

“We spent a hundred years together!” Felix insisted.

“Worst century of our lives, to be fair.” Callum rolled his eyes. “You were always going on about rules and regulations—”

“To keep us safe!” Felix shouted. “I know the two of you just did whatever you liked, traveling the world for Konstantin’s most secret missions, killing anyone who got in your way without a second thought because you enjoyed his unconditional protection.”

“He’s dead now.” Octavia narrowed her eyes. “He can’t protect anyone anymore.”

“But that’s exactly my point, don’t you see?” Felix didn’t understand why they were making this so difficult—though he supposed it might simply be habit. “We can only count on each other for protection now. If you join my clan, we can keep each other safe.”

“But we don’t need you to keep us safe,” Callum hissed. “Who knows how long we’re going to be trapped on this island? We’re certainly not going to spend our time here taking orders from you.”

“Can’t you picture it?” Octavia smirked. “Felix is our boss, making us punch our little vampire time cards, do our little vampire jobs in our vampire prison. Ooh, is it laundry duty today?”

“It wouldn’t be like that,” Felix insisted. “More than a thousand vampires trapped together on an island with no humans, no sunlight, no structure of any kind to keep us in check? It’s pure chaos. We need a clear-cut hierarchy to keep us civilized—sheriffs, deputies. Leadership. Accountability.”

“Vampire cops?!” Callum was incredulous. “That’s worse than laundry.”

“And I’ll thank you not to presume to tell me how to be civilized.” Octavia looked down her nose at Felix. “Who do you think taught Grace Kelly how to hold her pinky during tea?”

Felix sighed with frustration. “I know you two can protect yourselves without a system like this, but what about the vampires who can’t? Don’t you care about them? Or is it fine for all of them to die as long as you get to live, and never mind what that means for the future of our species?”

“So you’re the savior of our species now, is it?” Callum laughed bitterly. “So sorry, mate, didn’t realize we were in the presence of vampire Jesus.”

“He’ll call himself anything he likes, so long as he gets more power,” Octavia observed.

“You’d rather see that power in the hands of murderers like Nantale? Vicious criminals like Tristan?” Felix felt like he was going mad. “Do you really hate me that much?”

“It’s not about hate.” Callum folded his arms. “Vee and I? We don’t answer to anyone—not since Konstantin died. And we’re certainly not going to let a pretender like you take his seat.”

“So that’s it then?” Felix’s heart sank. “There’s no chance of us cooperating, bringing some kind of order to the Isle?”

“Sorry about that, mate.” Callum had a twinkle in his eye, the same way he always did before a fight. “But sparring sounds a hell of a lot more fun than surrender, don’t you think?”

Tess went perfectly still, straining to hear what the vampires were saying, but they were moving farther away. She had to figure out a way back to Artie—if she could just get to him, and if they could move quietly enough, she could ride out of here. Oh, why had she thought it would be a good idea to leave on her own, to prove to Callum how useful and independent she could be? Why did she care what he thought of her, anyway? He certainly wasn’t going to care when these vampires shredded her flesh into ribbons—if he did, he’d probably just be disappointed that they got to drink Tess’s blood before he did.

Tess tried to stay focused, but her panic was rising. She felt like every inch of ground around her was covered in dried leaves and twigs crunching underfoot, like she couldn’t take a single step without alerting the vampires to her presence. There were a few moonflowers growing very close together just a few feet from where Tess was standing—if Tess could slip between them, maybe she could stay hidden in the darkness, wait the vampires out? Hope they moved before they found her—or saw the horse tethered nearby? She wasn’t at all sure it would work, but it was the least risky option she could think of.

She took one very careful step in the direction of the moonflower formation. Then another. So far, so good—no noise, no movement.