Page 24 of Slayer

I did, tipping my chin up, and she massaged the cotton swab on the inside of my cheek for about thirty seconds, the motion gentle but thorough, and then walked over to a machine at the back, fiddling with some things, screens lighting up one by one.

As we were waiting, Celia talked to Jane about sourdough bread, and I peered outside the glass at the passing students, trying to ignore the nervous energy buzzing through my body. Two girls had stakes shoved inside thigh holsters like it was a normal, everyday accessory. Black tattooed runes were imprinted on their forearms, similar to Celia’s but not the same. They looked older than me, maybe twenty.

“What are those marks?” I pointed to Celia’s arm.

“Hunter marks. You get them when you pass your high school final exam here. That’s what Asher and the others were doing last night when you were in the club. The final is a raid to vanquish as many vamps as possible to prove you’re ready for the next step into Nightguard Academy.”

My stomach dropped, a cold weight settling there. “Did Asher pass?” I suddenly felt responsible if he didn’t. He had saved my life at the club.

“He’ll…have another chance,” she said.

No. He failed because of me?

A loud beep came from the machine Jane was working at, sharp and sudden in the quiet room.

“Results are ready!” She moved to her computer, and Celia stepped behind the desk to look over her shoulder at the screen.

I hesitantly followed her and watched the big blue loading bar with the words scanning matches underneath, inching forward at a painfully slow pace.

“She does look like Molly,” Jane offered, and Celia grinned.

Hope bloomed in my chest as my throat tightened.

Molly. Mom. Mother. Mommy. Mama. Words I’d never said in my entire life. Words I desperately wanted to say.

If this Molly woman was a vampire hunter and had gotten into some kind of trouble on earth while going into labor, then it made sense why she dropped me off at the hospital. Maybe she’d been looking for me this entire time.

My stomach twisted into knots as the bar moved closer and closer to completion.

Jane looked up at me excitedly. “We have DNA samples of every hunter in Veil Haven, including other schools, all over the world. I don’t know a hunter alive who has not come up in the database. Even lost-born. There is always a grandparent or something that pops up to show us your lineage. Your parents will be in here, I’m sure of it.”

I began to bounce on my heels, rocking back and forth as I willed the name Molly Sinclair to pop up on the screen, my hands curling into fists at my sides.

The computer beeped, and Celia slipped her hand into mine and squeezed.

No matches.

The words hit me right in the gut, and I staggered backward, dropping Celia’s hand, the room tilting for a second.

Was this some sick joke?

“Oh,” Jane said.

“No. You said yourself every hunter has given a sample. Look up Molly Sinclair’s DNA sequence,” Celia ordered, her voice suddenly sharp.

Jane swallowed hard and peered up at Celia. “I don’t think I’m permitted to just pull up single hunter profiles⁠—”

“Jane, please. She ate a Celestis wafer last night and breathed fire on a bloodsucker. She’s a hunter, and I need to know who she belongs to,” Celia pressed her.

Jane looked over the top of the computer to the front door and then over her shoulder to a back door at the far wall as if checking that a supervisor wasn’t present, her jaw tightening.

Then she started typing furiously, pulling up files and opening windows, the keys clicking rapidly under her fingers. I stepped forward, trying to swallow down the tears when she typed Molly Sinclair into some gene sequence database.

File corrupted.

Jane and Celia gasped at the same time.

“Is that normal?” Celia asked.