Vampire Apocalypse (The Arcadia Falls Chronicles #3) Read Free

up into the messy but
comfortable interior.
    The truck roared to life and Drew
pulled out of the parking spot, heading down the long driveway.
Zander opened the gate automatically from inside without Drew
having to show his face to the camera, which was mounted on top of
the key pad.
    The mechanical iron gates rolled open
and Drew roared past them, emerging onto the deserted back road
that led to the highway.
    “ Where are we headed
today?” I asked because it was only around four in the afternoon.
It was July, so it didn’t get dark till really late and the
vampires wouldn’t be out until then.
    Drew took his eyes off the road and
threw a glance at me. “You’ll see.”
    I sat back against the seat and put my
feet up onto the dash. “You know I don’t really like surprises that
much.” I looked out the passenger window. The trees this time of
year were full and green and the terrain always smelled fresh …
like it had just rained. I cranked the old handle on the door and
rolled down the window.
    Drew kept his eyes on the road, but
his lips formed a grin. “That’s too bad.”
    I sighed purposely to let him know he
was annoying. “I wish that we could go up to the falls. It sucks
not being able to get into the community.”
    He nodded, agreeing with me. I knew
that he missed me, but he was not going to leave Luke to come stay
with me. And Luke sure as heck wasn’t going to move away from the
home he had lived in since before my mother was born.
    We turned off onto another back road a
few minutes before we got to the highway and the road immediately
turned into dirt. I didn’t ask, because I knew that Drew didn’t
want me to. The truck’s tires crunched over the loose gravel, and
dust churned up and followed behind us in large cloud.
    After about twenty minutes of driving,
he finally pulled off onto a tiny road … if you could even call it
that. It was more like a trail since it was barely big enough for
his truck to fit. Branches, which had become overgrown, swiped at
the sides of the truck as he slowly maneuvered over the pothole
infested earth.
    After a few minutes the road finally
ended, exposing a wide dirt lot where the trees had been cleared
out. Someone had made a fire pit by erecting large rocks into a
ring. Remains of charred firewood were left in the pit, as well as
a scattering of beer cans and other garbage.
    Drew parked and hopped out from behind
the wheel. “Come on.” He waved, urging me out of the
truck.
    I opened the door and jumped down, but
immediately fitted my bow and quiver back onto my shoulders. “Drew,
we should be out there scouting already. I know you’re trying to be
all romantic or whatever, but we are wasting time.”
    My hunter boyfriend merely shrugged
his shoulders. “The vampires will still be there, but you need a
time out.”
    “ What?” I felt the heat
rise into my cheeks. “A time out?”
    Drew ran his hand through his blond
hair, which had grown longer over the last few months, and then he
reached out for me. “Just come with me before you get all bent out
of shape, all right?”
    I gave him my hand and let him lead me
toward the trail. “I don’t need a time out,” I mumbled.
    “ Shhhh” He pushed aside
some of the brush that had grown over the unused trail.
    “ Don’t you shhhh me!” I
growled at him, feeling myself getting more and more frustrated by
the moment. “Ahhh!” He let go of the branches he had been holding
for me to pass by and they swung back, hitting me right in the
face.
    “ Don’t be a pansy, oh
fierce hunter,” he teased.
    “ Shut up.”
    We walked in silence for a few
minutes, and the trail gradually sloped downward. Eventually we
emerged from within the brush and found ourselves on the bank of a
small lake.
    I held my hand over my eyes to shield
them from the hot sun, which shone down onto the calm, flat surface
of the water. If we had been above the lake it would have been like
looking into a mirror. Even from where we stood