The Longest Night: A Drake Chronicles Novella Read Free Page A

choose your moment,
     not to let it choose you. If she waited too long he’d be too close to the house. There
     were practical precautions like blood stocked in all the vampire rooms, deadbolts,
     UV lights, and nose plugs scattered everywhere; but there were also magical charms.
     Aggie got herself caught in a spell on her first night at the farm. She was so determined
     to prove that magic didn’t exist and vampires needed to be dusted, she’d ended up
     swinging from a tree in a net, covered in some kind of magical blue slime that made
     her smile goofily at everyone, including Cal. That he’d been the one to find her still
     made her grit her teeth.
    She lunged for him, stake in hand.
    He dropped low at the last second, and Aggie flew over his head, too far into the
     leap to correct herself. Momentum carried her forward, despite her flailing arms.
     She had just enough time to hook her ankle around the back of his head. He stumbled
     and they both plowed into the snow, leaving deep grooves.
    Cal twisted so that he took the brunt of the fall. His arms closed around her shoulders,
     pinning her on top of him. She snarled. His fangs elongated in a responding hiss.
     She kneed him in the groin. He grunted in pain but didn’t let go. He did go faintly
     cross-eyed, which she’d gloat about later.
    Much later, since right now all she could think about was the shape of his lower lip
     and his chest pressed against hers. If she leaned down slightly they’d be kissing.
     She should lean down slightly.
    “Pheromones!” Aggie shouted wildly, suddenly realizing why she was thinking about
     kissing him. Her carefully planned attack veered ever so slightly into panic. She
     struggled like a cat being dropped into a cage of dogs. “Asshat!”
    “It’s instinct!” he shouted back, still not releasing her. “Move your damned knee
     and I’ll let you go.”
    “Paige, he’s hot!”
    “I know that,” Paige replied from the bushes. “But I don’t play for that team.”
    “Pheromones!” Aggie yelled. “Pheromones!”
    “Watch your knee!” he bellowed.
    An arc of freezing water stabbed between them. They yelped, jerking apart. Aggie was
     soaked through, her teeth chattering before she’d even had time to wipe her eyes clear.
     Cal rolled to his feet, shaking his head until his hair stood up in dark spikes. The
     line of his jaw was distracting. He was still too close. Aggie crab-walked backward
     frantically before standing. Paige snorted a laugh.
    Lucy stood nearby, a garden hose in her hand. She wore striped hand-knit mittens and
     a hat with a pom-pom. “Are you two quite done?”
    Cal spat out a mouthful of water. Aggie crossed her arms over her chest, her lips
     turning blue. There was already a bruise on her elbow where she must have landed on
     it. There was a rip in Cal’s shirt which vindicated her slightly.
    “If you’re flirting, you’re doing it all wrong,” Lucy said mildly.
    “This from the girl who broke my nose,” Nicholas interrupted, amused. He came out
     of the shadows, gray eyes gleaming. “A lot.”
    “That wasn’t
flirting
,” she insisted. “Mostly.” She nudged him with her shoulder. “Shush, I’m about to
     go all Yoda and shit.”
    “We weren’t flirting,” Aggie replied tightly, horrified. “I was trying to stake him.”
     If Cal thought for one second that she had a crush on him, she’d stake
herself
. Just because Lucy and Nicholas—a human and a vampire—were disgustingly cute together
     didn’t mean it was normal.
    “I don’t know why I bother patrolling. No one out there wants to kill you as much
     as you want to kill each other,” Nicholas said. “Why, this time, Aggie?”
    “He’s a
vampire
.” Her explanation might have had more impact if she hadn’t said it to another vampire.
    “You know the house rules.” Lucy tossed the hose aside. Paige scrambled out of the
     bushes to get out of the way. “And you know there are magical wards set all over