www.alyxandraharvey.com
Alyxandra Harvey is the author of The Cinderella Society, The Dainty Devils, The Drake Chronicles, The Witches of London, Haunting Violet and more!
She likes chai lattes, tattoos, and books.
Sometimes fueled by literary rage.
“He’s supposed to look out for you.”“I do!” Kieran sounded offended. “You should be proud of her. Hart requested her presence personally at the Drake coronation.”I closed my eyes briefly. We were doomed.“You went to a vampire ceremony?” Grandpa asked evenly.“He didn’t know?” Kieran asked.“No, he didn’t.”“Sorry.”Grandpa vibrated with rage. “I will not tolerate this kind of behavior in my family!”“It’s different now,” Kieran tried to assuage him. “I’m dating Solange Drake. They’re a good family.”Grandpa went red, then purple. Kieran took a step back. I whacked Grandpa between the shoulder blades.“Grandpa, breathe!”
“I closed my eyes, wondering why it was no effort at all to call up the exact shade of his dark eyes, hostile as they were. I should be thinking about the bounty on our heads, not whether or not I’d get to see him again. Because of course I’d get to see him again; he’d probably try and stake one of my brothers, if not me. Hardly a promising start to a relationship.Relationship?What the hell was I thinking?No doubt my impending birthday was making my head fuzzy. There was no other explanation. I just needed more sleep.”
“Logan?''Yes?' I pulled my clothes back on even though the fabric stuck to my wounds. So much for trying to keep them clean.'How did you know it wasn’t really me?''Are you kidding? Your eyeballs could be on fire and you wouldn’t bat your lashes at me like that.”
“You’re being an ass.” But she tilted her head so I could continue nibbling. Centuries of her hunter ancestors rolled over in their graves.""Chapter 24”
“You should see some of the stuff she keeps." He shuddered. I couldn’t help but be curious."Like what?""Finger bones."Um … ew.""You want ew? She keeps them in an old Cadbury box. Try being seven years old and thinking you found the jackpot secret stash of chocolate. Talk about a rude awakening.”
“It’s weird, isn’t it?”“What is?”“Treaties and all that. It’s like we woke up one morning and we weren’t supposed to be enemies anymore. It’ll take some getting used to.”“True,” I said. “I think it’s really cool though.”“Unfortunately, not everyone agrees.”I thought of my grandfather and what he would do if he could see me now. “I know. But it’s worth protecting.”“Yes,” he said, and something about the way he was looking at me made me think he was talking specifically about me. “It is.”
“Only you would reduce centuries of the mythical undead to ‘fangy. ’ ” (Quinn to Lucy)”
“I’d learned long ago you had to block out the rush of regrets that followed the adrenaline dip after a fight. Otherwise the loop of thoughts could pull you under. Did you just kill someone? Or was it a monster, plain and simple? Did that make you a monster? Was it murder if you were defending yourself? Was it a war and were we just soldiers trying to survive?I preferred the adrenaline rush. (Quinn)”
“Chloe nodded meekly. I’d never seen her so demure.“What’s the matter with you?” I hissed at her as we followed Kieran and Solange inside.“She’s royalty!”“And a vampire, remember?”“Oh yeah.” Chloe paused. “Nope, princess trumps vampire.”“Does not.”“So does.”
“Hey.” He watched me back away as if he was dangerous. He looked entirely too pleased with himself. “Where are you going?”“To bed.” Double crap. What if he thought that was an invitation? Was it an invitation? And when, exactly, had I lost my mind? “Uh, I meant to my room. Where my bed is. And—shit.” I forced myself to stop babbling.”
“So you did get it?” I asked, suddenly babbling. “I wasn’t sure. I mean, sometimes we don’t get very good reception at school. But I guess you know that, living on a farm and all.” Shut up, shut up, shut up .He smiled slowly. “Hunter, are you nervous?”“Shut up.”“Are you going to ask me to prom?” he teased.“Shut up,” I repeated, choking on a horrified laugh.He grinned. “I look pretty good in a tux.”I rolled my eyes, suddenly comfortable again. “And you’re so refreshingly modest.”
“I’m here to take you on a date.”I blinked. “A date?” I repeated as if it was a foreign word I’d never heard before.“You know, where we go out, hold hands, cast longing glances at each other? It’s tradition. You might have heard of it.”“But I have class.”“Class?” Now he was looking at me as if I was speaking a different language. “But it’s ten o’clock at night.”“We have classes until midnight.” I smiled pointedly. “The thing about vampires is that they kind of like the night. It’s tradition. You might have heard of it?”“Oh, smart mouth.” He grinned back. “Sexy.”
“Okay, listen up, people,” Kieran raised his voice so that it was all gravelly and impressive. I wasn’t particularly impressed since we’d grown up together and I’d force-fed him mud pies when we were little, but it seemed to work on everyone else. Lia actually sighed.Only a thirteen-year-old vampire hunter would get a crush in the middle of a vampire attack.I was a little bit proud of her actually.----------------------His grin widened and he nudged my shoulder companionably. “I like you, kid.” (Quinn)I tried not to groan out loud. I was as bad as Lia.I had totally developed a crush during a vampire raid.”
“It was a beautiful night, warm and filled with stars and the songs of crickets and frogs. White flowers glowed in the grass. It was a night made for poetry. We should have been kissing. A lot.Instead we were sneaking out of the caves to a blood-soaked clearing where we’d been ambushed not twenty-four hours earlier. Not exactly an ordinary date.”
“All right.” Lucy shouldered her way to my side and made a waving motion as if they were annoying flies. “Shoo!” She narrowed her eyes. “I said shoo.”They dispersed, mostly startled into moving. Only Logan remained, leaning casually against the wall.“Darling, I’m not some insect to be chased away.”“Darling?” She snorted amiably. “You’re not ninety years old, either.”He straightened. “I’m charming,” he informed her. “And women like endearments.”
“(Lucy to Isabeau)"“Cool.” She tilted her head. “You don’t look crazy.”“You’re like a runaway train,” Logan groaned at her. “Can’t you shut her up?” he asked his brother pleadingly.“How?” Nicholas said somewhat helplessly.“Kiss her, you idiot.”
“Solange leaned back against the wall, bored. “Are you done yet?”“Hell no,” Lucy said. She’d left nose prints on the glass. Nicholas smirked up at her. She blushed. “Ooops. Busted.”“I told you they could hear your heartbeat,” Solange said.“Even from up here.”“I can’t help it. Even if they all know they’re pretty and are insufferably arrogant,” she added louder. “Can they hear that?”“Yes.”“Good.” She glanced at me. “Yummy, right?”“I’m sure Isabeau would rather recover, not ogle my brothers,”Solange said. “You remember how stressed you were after the Hypnos?”“Please,” Lucy scoffed. “This is totally soothing.”
“Lucy said, her nose pressed to the window. “Misunderstanding. No big deal.”Solange quirked a half smile. “You might try complete sentences, Lucy.”“Can’t. Busy.”I was curious despite myself. “What are you doing?”“Drooling,” Solange explained fondly.“I totally am,” Lucy admitted, unrepentant. “Just look at them.”Lucy moved over to give me space. She was watching five of the seven Drake boys repairing the outside wall of the farmhouse, under our window.”
“Yummy,” Chloe murmured to me. Quinn flashed us a grin. I fought a blush.“Vampire hearing, remember?” I murmured back.She shrugged, grinning back.""Chapter 10”
“It was the first time I could actually understand the seduction and the allure of baring your throat to a predator. It had always seemed like madness to me, or the result of reading too many novels. It still did. But there was the barest sway of my body toward him.His hair swung out to briefly curtain our faces. There was something in his expression that I couldn’t entirely decipher.And then he stepped back abruptly, his familiar smirk erasing that mysterious warmth I’d glimpsed.Chloe was the first break the silence. She let out a shaky breath.“Is it suddenly hot out here, or what?”"Chapter 10”
“Any more packages for Solange?”“Twelve letters, three packages, and a box of puppies.”I winced. “Puppies?”“They’re fine. Isabeau took them all.”“Good. Who eats puppies?” I shook my head.“Yeah, Isabeau swore in French. A lot.”“Hot.”“Yeah, Logan nearly went cross-eyed.”"Chapter 12”
“Hunter pulled away, rolling her eyes.“Hey, where are you going?” I murmured. “We’re not done making up.”“We’re in crisis mode out there,” she answered, reluctantly taking another step back.“It’s always crisis mode in this house,” I said with disgust.""Chapter 24”
“Hey, get off my sister,” Kieran barked from the other side.“Get lost, Black,” I called out. “And she’s not your sister.”“May as well be.”“Well, you stop kissing Solange and I’ll stop kissing Hunter.”Silence.""Chapter 24”
“I’m just trying to do the right thing. I’m a vampire.”“Duh.”“And you’re not.”“Again: duh.”“I could hurt you. I could lose control.”“If you were anyone else, I’d have kneecapped you by now.”
“She craned her neck, glared at me through the small opening, and took a step back.And then she kicked my door in.Was it any wonder I was falling for her?""Chapter 24”
“Finally, a bit of luck. Rat bastard,' I hissed down at Montmartre. 'Mangy dog of a scurvy goat.''That doesn’t even make sense,' Isabeau murmured.'Feels good though. Try it.'She narrowed her eyes at the top of Montmartre’s perfectly groomed hair. 'Balding donkey’s ass.''Nice.''Sniveling flea-bitten rabid monkey droppings.''Clearly, you’re a natural.”
“He … loves her. Well, he’s crushing on her anyway.”I didn’t know the term but I understood its meaning well enough. I sighed. “I thought she’d be smarter.”He raised his eyebrows. “She’s plenty smart.” He looked thoughtful. “You don’t believe in love then?”“No.” I wanted to look away, couldn’t. “I don’t know.”
“Logan,” one of them drawled. “Your technique’s slipping if you need dogs to keep them from running away.”-----------“Why are you on the floor?”“Hypnos,” I said.Quinn snorted. “Dude, Hypnos and dogs? I thought you were the one who was supposed to be good with the girls, Darcy?”
“Where is Nicholas?” Kieran asked.“He’s locked in a closet,” Lucy said with grim satisfaction. After a moment of stunned silence, Quinn snorted out a laugh.“You locked your boyfriend in a closet?” I asked.“Cool,” Chloe approved. The rhinestones on her earrings caught the blue lantern light.Lucy shrugged. “Serves him right. He locked me in there last week.""Chapter 11”
“I bet it’s never happened to you."She was right. But that was only because I’d been five years old when Grandpa had started my training. When I’d thought there were monsters under the bed, he taught me how to do a proper sweep to get rid of them.”
“He went farther into the shadows to exchange his pants for the leather breeches. Too bad. When he emerged again, he looked pretty good even though it wasn’t his style. And he was lucky there were no tights, after all. He tilted his head.'You like it.''Shut up.' I blushed. I hated vampire extrasensory perception. It wasn’t fair that he could hear my heartbeat or smell my skin or what ever.'Girls are so weird.'Kieran snorted. 'No kidding.''Please, you two were fighting ten minutes ago, and now you’re the best of friends?' I said witheringly. 'Guys are weird.”
“We have the same symptoms as tuberculosis, especially in the eyes of the Romantic Poets. Pale, tired, coughing up blood.”“That’s romantic?”I had to smile. “Romantic with a capital ‘R.’ You know, like Byron and Coleridge.”He gave a mock shudder. “Please, stop. I barely passed English Lit.”I snorted. “I didn’t have that option. One of my aunts took Byron as a lover.”“Get out.”“Seriously. It makes Lucy insanely jealous.”“That girl is . . .”“My best friend,” I filled in sternly.“I was only going to say she’s unique.”
“Logan, don’t be an ass.”“I have been sleeping in mud. I’m covered in dirt and blood and these were my favorite pants before I landed in raccoon shit.”
“Something bloomed right then and there in the small dark space between us. I didn’t know what it was, but I knew enough to know it was rare and delicate. And it felt so real I might have been able to reach out and touch it if I tried.”
“Her lips pursed. My palms went damp. Her fangs were out, as pointed and delicate as little bone daggers. "That’s disappointing, Solange."I was going to die because I couldn’t embroider roses on a pillow.”
“I have to console myself with the hope that I'd seen Isabeau soften, even hesitate, as if she might actually have taken my arm. It was suddenly very easy to picture her in a gown with petticoats and ringlets in her hair and diamonds at her throat. It was just as easy to picture Magda with horns and pitchfork." - Logan, page 95”
“Cross a small dog with a pig and you have a pug.”
“My parents want to do things differently. Dad's big on treaties.''And your mother?' Isabeau inquired.'She's big on making grown men cry.”
“We had a short reprieve as Dad cupped Mom’s face and ranhis hands down her neck, over her shoulders. “Helena, are youhurt?”She waved that away. “I’m fine.” She smiled briefly, thenturned hard eyes on us. Each of us took a healthy stepbackward and not a single one of us felt any less manly for thewise retreat.”
“Don’t you read?” I asked Nicholas, disgusted. “If you leave me here now that you’ve got Solange all safe, they’ll grab me to get to her.” Solange opened the back door and I leaped in. The car sped off . Shadows flitted beside us, menacing, hungry. I shivered. Then I smacked the back of Nicholas’s head. “Idiot.”
“There was a family joke that Lucy's first words were, "Nicholas is bugging me!”
“I nodded. “Where’s your hunter?” She flinched. “He went home. We thought it would be best.” Her eyes went from worried to warning. “He’s under Drake protection.” “So am I, or so I’ve been led to understand.”“Of course you are,” Lucy said, her nose pressed to the window. “Misunderstanding. No big deal.”Solange quirked a half smile. “You might try complete sentences, Lucy.”“Can’t. Busy.” I was curious despite myself. “What are you doing?” “Drooling,” Solange explained fondly.”
“Embroidery?" I sucked at embroidery. Aunt Hyacinth had tried to teach me, but we'd both given it up as a lost cause.Lucy, strangely, had picked it up really quickly and embroidered a tapestry of Johnny Depp as Jack Sparrow for my last birthday.”
“Well, we can’t sit around here worrying all night. I have to do something. ” “Why don’t you call up another vampire hunter for tea?” he suggested drily.”
“Why are you limping like that?' Nicholas demanded.'I'm swaggering,' I informed him.'You look like you're wearing a diaper.'Charming. And I had a crush on this guy.Wait. I had a crush on this guy?'Now what?' he asked. 'You're making weird faces.''Nothing,' I said quickly. 'Never mind.”