Free Fallen Ever After by A. C. James Page B

time. It seemed like some of them melted faster than others, now that I think about it,” I said.
    Why am I not dead? And how on earth did I manage to save her?
    I desperately wished that Rue were here, because if anyone would be able to explain to me what I’d done, it would be her. Something happened the day that I materialized the dress for the gala. It felt like the burst of light that emerged from me and broke the nut had tapped into something else that had been there all along.
    I’d just never known it.
    I’d only found out that I was a witch when Rue shared my family history with me, but if I was being honest with myself I’d always known there was something different about me. Normal people don’t See things. I’d thought that being a seer was a burden, but tonight it had saved my life. And it had saved someone else’s life. Luckily I’d retained those powers even after I’d turned. And who was I to question it? The only kind of luck I’d ever had was bad luck. I wouldn’t start asking questions now.
    “None of them can be more than a hundred,” Victoria said.
    Victoria walked over to one of the bodies, crouching by its blackened remains. Her blonde, almost white, pixie hair spiked out in varying directions. My head felt thick; I hadn’t even noticed her leaning against a wall, quietly observing. “They’re newly made vampires. I’m sure of it. This one isn’t even wearing bloodstone.”
    “Victoria is right,” Arie said. “If he was old enough to know better, he’d be wearing bloodstone. No doubt the irresponsible fuck who made him didn’t bother to explain it, and he must have been turned recently if he’s not wearing one.”
    Julian shifted from one foot to the other. It seemed like he wanted to be anywhere else. Honestly, I couldn’t blame him. I didn’t even want to be there. And this had nothing to do with him or his missing cousin. I looked around, but the waitress whom I knew without a doubt was responsible for the death and destruction wasn’t there. Not that I really expected her to be. I knew she’d be long gone by now if she knew what was good for her.
    The elevator chimed, breaking the stillness of the bar, and the doors swung open. Tessa walked through them, her spike heels clicking across the black marble. She stopped short, her mouth pursing together at the scorched scene that unfolded in front of her.
    “Good God, what’s with the barbecue?” Tessa asked, gesturing toward the three remaining corpses. “Could someone please explain to me what the hell is going on?”
    The bouncers had been clearing the bar, and the waitresses had started to clean up the broken glass and blood. Donors were serving the wounded, who were mending with each minute that passed.
    “Well?” Tessa said, her impatience clear. “Someone start talking.”
    Arie coughed. “Holly told me not to drink the Puncture. I think she had a vision right before it happened. Then they started bursting into flames left and right.”
    “The young ones didn’t make it,” Victoria said.
    Tessa walked over to the bodies, quiet fury etching her face. “I want to know who’s responsible for this. I want whoever did this with their head on a pike.”
    “I’ll get right on it,” Victoria said with conviction in her voice.
    I had a feeling that Victoria was deadly serious. And I imagined that Tessa was old enough that she would know what a staked head looked like from firsthand knowledge.
    “It was the waitress who served our drinks,” I said. “I’ve never seen her before tonight. I imagine she’s fae. She had a blue trail behind her that reminded me of the silver trail that flows behind Luna. I saw her break into Tessa’s office, use a key that she keeps in the pottery, and steal money from her desk. She paid a fire faerie for whatever she put in the Puncture that did this.” I waved toward the all the damage and the injured vampires that sat at the bar. “She met with him here.”
    “Naida.