Burn Like Fire Read Free

the sound of her shoes clacking against the tiled floor again; it was followed by the sound of the door clicking open. When it closed, he breathed a sigh of relief and pulled his sheet over his head, blocking out everything except for the mental image of Lexi’s smiling face.
     
    *
     
    As Rhonda Kerrigan walked to her Stakeology class, she thought about everything that had just happened with Gabe. He had been acting different lately, and she couldn’t put her finger on why. Out of nowhere, he started to act mean towards her, even though she was constantly reminding him, through her mental commands, to be nice. It wasn’t working, though.
    For first time since Rhonda had become a vampire, she felt completely powerless.
    “Ah, Mademoiselle, it is kind of you to join us today after all of your recent absences,” Professor Fleur, Huntington High’s Stakeology instructor, said in his French accent. He stared at her expectantly, waiting to hear her explanation for not attending the last few classes.
    Rhonda put on her sweetest smile, hoping that it didn’t look too fake. “I’m sorry, Professor Fleur. You see, my boyfriend, Gabe, is having a hard time adapting to Veronica Hart’s death. She was the vampire who created him, you know.”
    Professor Fleur nodded at her understandingly, the long ponytail that he wore bobbing with his head. “I do feel his pain. You see, my life partner, Ricardo . . . He created me, too. He died a few years ago, and I was simply devastated.” He paused. “It is a very special thing—a certain bond—we have with our creators. But I’m sure that you are wise enough to understand that by now.”
    Rhonda nodded. “I do. And because of that connection, I feel his pain, so I want to be there for him. That’s why I haven’t been around much lately.”
    “I understand that,” Professor Fleur replied. More hesitantly, he added, “But, Rhonda, dare I say that I hope you are able to attend class more in the future because I believe you can do great things?”
    “What do you mean?” Rhonda questioned. Did Professor Fleur know about the mind-control she had over other vampires and, even more so, over humans? She hadn’t been around the man more than a few times and as far as she could remember, she hadn’t used mind-control around him at all. It seemed unlikely that he knew her secret. Unless he had the ability to read minds . . .
    “I mean, it is not very often that I see a student here at Huntington who I believe is capable of doing remarkable things. We’ve had a few vampire hunters who have gone on to kill vampires in large numbers, but none of them have killed the most powerful ones. You are one of the two vampire hunters in training who I’ve had the opportunity to teach in recent times who I feel is capable of extraordinary things.”
    “Who’s the other hunter in training?” Rhonda questioned, mostly out of curiosity, but also because part of her wondered if the other vampire hunter he was talking about was Gabe. She liked to believe that her creator was a powerful vampire and that, together, they would be able to take on the world.
    “The other hunter is on her way over here right now,” Professor Fleur said, pointing his chin in the other direction.
    Glancing over her shoulder, Rhonda turned to see two blonde-haired people strolling into the gymnasium, hand-in-hand, smiles on their faces. Two people who she saw often because the dorm room that they sh ared was right next to her own.
    Rhonda turned back to Professor Fleur. “Lexi Hunter?”
    He nodded. “Oui. She is a Hunter, so it is only natural that she should be very powerful.”
    Rhonda stared back at Lexi, who didn’t seem to notice that she was there because she was so deeply involved in a conversation that she was having with Dan Nichols, the guy who Rhonda had tried, but failed, to seduce.
    Even though Gabe no longer had a chance with Lexi, Rhonda knew that, deep down, he still wanted one. There had been a few