Free Vampires & Vinca (Hawthorn Witches Book 4) by A.L. Tyler Page B

decided to come and lay eyes on you, because the moment she did, Draven knew where we were!”
    Martha barely dodged the kick that Kendra sent her way, and then went running from the room with her ears folded.
    Everything was quiet for a minute.
    Then Lyssa scooted her stool back across the floor with a loud screech and stood up.
    She faced Kendra without blinking. “He’s going to come after us. The whole family? My family?”
    The remorse on Kendra’s face settled deep, and I thought for a moment that I could see wrinkles on her unnaturally young visage. “He might think he has ownership of you. You, and Annie, and Rosie. That might spare your lives, if he’s desperate enough for family blood to trade with his enemies. I fear for the rest of us.”
    Lyssa’s face turned red, and she marched from the room, mumbling something under her breath.
    I looked from Kendra, to Charlie, and finally to Gates.
    Her large brown eyes were wide. “Sorry, Annie… that sucks.”
    I raised my eyebrows and sarcastically nodded. “Yeah, well, I’m property. I’m pretty sure that book can only be read by you, though, as long as you’re still alive. And Draven seems to really want that book. How’s that magic working out for you, now?”
    Gates looked sharply back at Kendra, who had pressed her fingers together and raised them to her lips. She slowly shook her head. “If Gates dies, the book loses all meaning. He needs her to translate, just like me. And I’m sorry, Annie, I had nearly forgotten… he won’t spare you. As Martha said, in the most politically incorrect way, you’ve been touched by the darkness and you’re not fit to be a member of the House.”
    Gates looked back at me, and then off into space. I took it to mean that if we lost this fight, I was dead, and Gates was likely to spend the rest of her life as a servant to a megalomaniac vampire.
    “Do they drink blood?” Gates asked distantly. “Like vampires in the movies?”
    “Yes,” Kendra said without hesitation. “Among other things, and worse. The way we view this garden is the way they view every living being on the planet. We’re their garden. They grow and prune and train us, and when they want items for spells, they harvest them. They steal life force, and it gives them unnatural longevity. Their magic is more virulent than ours, but it isn’t any stronger.”
    “Can it be learned?”
    Kendra made a face. “Oh, Gates…”
    “Can it be learned?” she asked again with more force.
    “No,” Charlie supplied, throwing Kendra a sharp look. He hadn’t known about any of this, and he seemed just as surprised and angry as the rest of us that she would hide it. “Necromancers and vampires are witches. They’re born with their abilities, and none of it can be learned. I assure you, warlocks can do just as bad, if—”
    “You’re not teaching her anything Stark had,” Kendra said flatly.
    Charlie narrowed his eyes. “I believe the situation warrants it. Have you ever even fought a vampire, instead of running away? Because I have. And if you hold to your principles, you’re going to lose, Kendra.”
    She started to stalk away. Charlie snapped his fingers, and they both disappeared.
    I sat with Gates for a while, but neither of us had anything to say. We were royally screwed this time, and even Charlie thought so. Charlie was usually right.
    After a while I got up and found my way back to my apartment. There wasn’t any getting out of this one. Not now, and not soon, and not ever.
    Kendra had said that the vampires had unnatural longevity, and that meant that unless I killed Draven, my uncle—as strange as that felt—he would hunt me the rest of his life. And even if I did kill him, I had no idea how many relatives stood in line behind him to continue the quest. They would outlive me, and I would run forever.
    If I ever got to live my life, it would never be normal again.
    I picked up my phone and dialed Vince.
    He picked up just before it went