Free Sleeping Angel (Ravenwood Series) by Mia James Page B

of zombies.’
    ‘Ah, do I detect my favourite vampire hunter is feeling a bit down?’
    April smiled. ‘You could say that. Sometimes it all just feels a bit too ... much.’
    Fee clucked her tongue. ‘That’s only a natural reaction, hon. It is all a bit too much. You’ve basically got the weight of the world on your shoulders – if you don’t sort this crap out, we’re all going to hell in a hand basket.’
    ‘Oh, thanks for the uplifting pep talk,’ said April, sarcastically.
    ‘Sorry, but if your best friend can’t tell you the truth, who can? It’s serious, babe. I really don’t need to tell you that. People keep trying to hurt you, and, unlike my game, the stakes are as real as it’s possible to get. But even so, you can’t let it overwhelm you; let’s be logical here. Start with what’s most important to you.’
    April thought about it for a moment. ‘Gabriel,’ she said, blushing a little as she said it. ‘I – I’m worried about him, Fee.’
    ‘Worried? What about? I thought you were all loved-up together now.’
    ‘We are – at least I think we are. But he’s been acting strange. He couldn’t remember what happened at Sheldon’s house that night. I can’t put my finger on why it bothers me, but it’s odd.’
    Fiona paused. ‘Well ... the night of the fire was traumatic for him too, you know. He got set on fire, then had to fight the head of a vampire clan. It’s a lot to deal with.’
    ‘Maybe, but I’m still desperate to get him out of this dark hole he’s in. I—I just want him back.’
    ‘Okay, let’s work out how to do that.’
    April shook her head. ‘It all just seems so impossible, like I’m weighed down by everything.’
    ‘I know, I know. But just take it one step at a time. What’s the first thing you need to do? To get Gabriel back, I mean?’
    April looked down, thinking about Gabriel, seeing his face. And to her surprise, she didn’t think of the sleek, polished Gabriel, the dashing young man in the dinner jacket at the Spring Fundraiser – she thought of him as he had been that morning, sitting at the top of Primrose Hill: ill, grey-skinned, in pain. That was the real Gabriel. Yes, though frail and sickly, at the same time he’d been so real, so alive, someone who could register pain and cold and the passing of the hours. And she knew she had to do everything she could to get him – the real Gabriel – back.
    ‘We need to find the King Vampire,’ she said finally. ‘I mean, that’s the only way we can release Gabe from this curse.’
    ‘Good,’ said Fiona. ‘Then at least we know what our goal is.’
    ‘But how do we ...’ began April.
    ‘It doesn’t matter how,’ said Fiona firmly. ‘You don’t need to have all the answers. Right now, Gabriel just needs to know that you’re fighting his corner and that you’re doing all you can to save his life. Okay, so it’s going to be difficult, but the best way to get him out of that hole is to show him the way, isn’t it?’
    Suddenly April fell much better – having it all laid out in such a straightforward manner really did put it all in perspective. And only in speaking about it had she realised how worried she had been about Gabriel.
    ‘Thanks Fee,’ she said. ‘Seriously, thanks.’
    April loved that, despite being separated by hundreds of miles, her best friend still knew her better than anyone and could cut straight to the heart of what she was feeling. More importantly, April could see that Fiona’s no-nonsense approach might answer some of the other things weighing heavily on her too. Find the King Vampire and there was a good chance she might find out who had killed her father. And if they could stop the King, they might stop the vampires once and for all.
    ‘Of course,’ said Fiona, ‘There are a few tiny problems with your plan.’
    ‘My plan?’ smiled April. ‘I thought it was your plan.’
    ‘Well, if it works, it was all me. If not ...’ Fiona didn’t need to finish