Page 115 of Slayer

Since I’d met Asher, it finally felt like things were slipping into place.

It was slow going in my heels, and I was already ten minutes late for my rooftop date with Asher. The campus was eerily deserted, every light and laugh pulled toward the dance, leaving the paths quiet. I popped off my heels so I could walk faster across the cobblestone pathway, the cool stone biting into the soles of my feet as I lifted my dress and hurried. I was just nearing the dorms when a slice of shadow burst to life in front of me, the darkness tearing open like fabric.

I instinctively leapt backward, dropping my heels and tossing my dress upward as I grasped my stake, my heart slamming into my ribs.

Emilie stepped out of the darkness like she owned it.

“Hello, Stella.” She grinned, slow and pleased, her gaze dragging over my dress. “Oh, big night?”

“What do you want?” I gripped my stake tighter, feeling the runes on my arm tingle, heat blooming beneath my skin like they were waking up.

Her gaze dropped to my arm, her smile sharpening as if she sensed the power stirring there. “Oh, just like your mother.”

What the hell did that mean? Did my mom have a lot of hunter runes? My pulse hammered as I swallowed the question down. “What do you want?” I asked again.

“Thanks for depositing that money.” Her tone was casual, conversational. “But with inflation and all, I’m going to need you to raise it to thirty grand a month.”

“Go to hell!” I snapped and surged forward, rage cutting through the fear.

She sidestepped me in the blink of an eye, faster than thought, and suddenly she was behind me. My breath caught as my gaze snapped up, and my stomach dropped.

Asher had been standing there the entire time.

“Money?” He was holding his sword, his knuckles white around the hilt, his hands shaking.

“Do it or else,” Emilie growled from beside me, her voice curling around my spine. Then she was gone, swallowed by the shadows as if she’d never been there at all.

“What the hell was that, Stella?” Asher demanded. He still held his sword out, his stance defensive, like I was the threat now. “Why are you working for the vampires?”

“No!” I stumbled forward, panic clawing up my throat, but he backed up a step, putting distance between us.

“Then why the hell did a sire just thank you for sending her money?” he screamed, the sound ripping through the quiet night.

Crap. This was bad. “Listen, my mom was mixed up with something, and I’m trying to figure it out. She was wiring her money and… I canceled it.”

He frowned, confusion warring with anger. “It didn’t sound canceled.”

I cleared my throat, my chest tight. “I canceled it and then…restarted the payments⁠—”

Asher’s eyes went wide. “You’re working with the bloodsuckers!”

“No.” My voice broke. “She told me at our hunter mark assessment that if I didn’t start back up the payments, she’d kill my mom.”

Asher dragged a hand through his hair, frustration pouring off him. “Your mom’s been dead almost two decades, Stella. Tell me you’re not that naive.”

I whimpered, tears filling my eyes before I could stop them. Was I? Was I really that desperate to believe she was alive? So desperate for a mother that I bent to a vampire’s threat?

“I—”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” His voice cracked, the hurt finally breaking through the anger. “You realize how hard all this is to believe, right?”

Crap. Why hadn’t I told anyone? Because of my mom’s letter. Because of the warning.

“I’m not used to having people care about me.” My voice came out small. “I thought you’d all look at me the way you’re looking at me now.”

He shook his head slowly. “I don’t know what to believe, Stella. You need to tell someone. Celia. The guild. This is big.”

No.