Free Darkness Falls by Mia James

were hunters and, as such, tried their best to blend in with their surroundings. Anyone being so blatant in their desire for blood risked exposing all of them.
    ‘Maybe I annoyed him. Ben thinks he was jealous,’ said April with a laugh. ‘Either way he’s gone now, thank God. Where do you think he is?’
    ‘I don’t know, but I’d certainly advise him not to come anywhere near me ever again,’ said Davina. A casual observer would have thought she was being protective of her friends and family when she said that, a sort of ‘I’ll give him a piece of my mind’ statement, but the look of hatred on Davina’s face was chilling. April didn’t need to wonder what Davina’s feelings were any more. It was clear she wanted Marcus dead.
    April rubbed her bare arms, feeling goosebumps. ‘Ooh, I’m suddenly feeling cold, can we go inside?’
    ‘Of course,’ said Davina, ‘I should have thought. You can’t be a hundred per cent yet, can you? Anyway, Caro had a great thought about how to warm us all up.’
    They walked back in and Davina stood on a chair. The party goers gathered around in front of her.
    ‘Okay everyone, we’re going to play sardines. For those of you who have forgotten your childhoods, it’s like hide and seek in reverse; one person goes to hide and the rest of us try to find them. The difference is, when you find their hiding place, you have to get in with them, until we’re all hiding together.’
    ‘Mmm … cosy,’ said Layla with a hint of sarcasm. Davina ignored her.
    ‘As it’s April’s party, I think she should be first to hide. April, we’ll give you a five-minute head start, then the search begins.’
    There were hoots and cheering. As April moved towards the door, Caro whispered ‘library’ in her ear. April immediately understood; this was an ideal time to look for the book. She had explored the house a little at the previous party and she knew that the southern part held a study and some other rooms. That was the most likely location for the library, so she headed down the corridor to the side of the stairs. As she did so, all the lights in the house went out. There were theatrical screams from the living room.
    ‘Don’t panic,’ she could hear Davina calling, ‘we’re just making it a little more interesting.’
    Interesting is right , thought April, feeling her way down a corridor. Tactless might be another word, considering the last time I was here, I was hunted through the dark by a maniac . Luckily, April didn’t have time to dwell on it as she knew she wouldn’t have much time to search the library before the ‘hunters’ got there – and she still didn’t know where it was. In the dark, the house took on a sinister feel, with creaky floorboards and half-open doors leading into rooms full of shadows. Doesn’t help that the place is full of vampires, either , she thought, peering around another corner.
    ‘That’s got to be it,’ she whispered to herself as she spotted a door wider than the rest. She pushed it open and sure enough, there was the library, a large room with French windows at one end and an old walnut desk at the other, the walls covered with floor-to-ceiling shelves, crammed with serious-looking leather-bound books. April closed the door quietly and clickedon the desk lamp. God, there’s got to be thousands of books , she thought. How the hell am I going to find anything in here?
    ‘Psst!’ Caro put her head round the door and April jumped.
    ‘You scared me!’ she hissed angrily. ‘And what the hell are you doing coming up with this stunt? It’s hard enough to come back to the scene of the crime without you saying “let’s terrify the birthday girl”.’
    ‘Sorry A,’ said Caro, ‘but it was the only way I could think of getting everyone out of the way while we looked for the book.’
    April shook her head. ‘No, I’m sorry too. I’m just a bit on edge. Davina said she saw Gabriel going off with Chessy.’
    ‘Oh, don’t worry