Page 18 of Awakened Light

Dragging my fingertips through the sand, I drew a spiral. “Well, he was kinda funny.”

“Funny? A vampire?”

I nodded. “Yeah. A funny vampire. And he was really curious about our tribe and our traditions.”

“Probably so he could learn more about us to come back with his clan and kill us all.”

Chuckling, I rolled my eyes. “That’s not what he was doing. He was legitimately curious.”

“So you think.” She raised her eyebrows and pursed her lips into a tight line.

“Thorne wouldn’t hurt us. I’m certain of that.”

“Well, I, for one, am glad he’s gone. I didn’t sleep a wink knowing that he was prowling around the island.”

I wanted to defend him more, explain to her what an incredible man lay inside the body of a vampire, but it didn’t matter. We’d never see him again and talking about him only ripped open the crack in my heart I already struggled to heal. Everywhere I looked, I saw his face. The skin on my cheek still tingled from his touch. I heard his laughter and voice in my mind each time the world around me quieted.

“Catrain,” I heard a deep voice echoing around us.

I furrowed my brow and looked behind us, but no one was there. I waited for a moment, then decided it must have just been the wind.

“Catrain.”

There. I heard it again.

My heart stalled out for a beat. It sounded just like...

Thorne.

“Did you hear that?” I asked Alpia.

“Hear what?” she said, stopping to listen.

For the love of the Goddess. I’d officially lost my mind. Now I wasn’t just remembering Thorne’s voice... I actually heard it.

“Nothing,” I answered, struggling to slow my heart down after thinking for a moment that Thorne had returned. “It was just the win—”

“Catrain!” he called, and this time it wasn’t a soft echo. It was a shout.

“I heard that!” Alpia said as she looked around. “Who is that?”

My mouth went dry while I searched for the answer to her question. Finally, I coaxed the word out of my mouth. “Thorne.”

Her eyes widened as she looked at me. “The vampire? Where?”

He called again, and I knew it came from the lake. Thorne wanted entrance to the island... entrance only my mother or I could give him.

“Catrain!” he shouted, and I heard the desperation in his tone.

I jumped to my feet, but Alpia grabbed my wrist and stopped me from sprinting off.

“What are you doing?” she asked as she tried to tug me back down. “You’re not going to let him in, are you?”

“I have to. He needs something. I can feel it.”

“Catrain! You can’t! He could be here to kill us all! Please don’t do it!” she begged, but I shook my wrist free from her grasp.

“He won’t hurt us. You have to trust me.”