Read Online Vampire Hunt (Kiera Hudson Series #3) by Tim O'Rourke - Free Book Online Page B

built-up the courage. I didn’t know what was stopping me – but there was something. Murphy had positioned himself by the door again, as if he were on guard. I decided that I would wait for him to fall asleep, and if Isidor were still awake, I would speak to him about being a half-breed.
    Struggling to keep my eyes open, so as not to drift off, I looked at Potter. Although he was slumped against the wall, he looked taut and tense and I sensed that he was troubled about something. He had been quiet the last two days, barely speaking to anyone. He had either walked alone behind, or got ahead and waited for the rest of us to catch up. Sometimes, I caught him giving me a sideways stare, but when he caught me staring back, he would quickly look away. Pulling his coat about him and closing his eyes, I wondered what was going through Potter’s head.
    I lay for what seemed like hours – just watching him, and my mind went back to what had happened between us at the gatehouse and then how he had kissed me in the summerhouse when we believed that we were both going to die. I closed my eyes and tried not to think about it. The passion it stirred inside of me left me feeling scared and confused – and I’d had enough of those feelings to last me a lifetime. And what of Luke? Every time those confusing feelings that I felt for Potter came to the foreground, I would feel pangs of guilt for Luke. I felt as if I were betraying him and he deserved better than that. Maybe it was a good thing that Potter had kept his distance – perhaps seeing me and Luke share that kiss beneath the tree in the woods had made him think that I wanted Luke and not him.
    Trying to rid my mind of Potter, I opened my eyes again and looked at Murphy, who still sat by the door. Although his chin was slumped against his chest, I could see that his eyes were open. Isidor was still reading his book, which he held close to his face, so as to read the words in the gloom. Knowing that it would be some time before they slept, I rummaged in my coat pocket and pulled out my iPod. It seemed like forever since I’d listened to any music and I missed it – like so many other aspects of the life I’d had before. Closing my eyes for just a minute or two – it wouldn’t hurt just to close them for a second – I started to listen to Will Young sing Jealousy .

Chapter Eleven
    … I was underground. No, it was a cave of some sort. Huge and vast like a cavern. Water dripped from overhead and ran down the walls. drip-drip-drip…I was alone…but wait a minute, there was someone close by. Somebody was hiding in the shadows.
    “Who’s there?” I called out.
    Silence. Just the constant dripping.
    Then I caught a glimpse of something. It was large and covered in sleek dark hair. It slinked backwards and forwards in the shadows.
    “What do you want?” I shouted.
    Silence.
    I tried to move forward, but something was holding me back. Looking down, I could see that my arms were chained to rock..
    “Hey!” I hollered. “Unchain me!”
    Silence.
    Yanking on the chains, they rattled like shards of broken glass in a box. Then something else rattled, no rumbled, and I knew that it was the sound of my stomach leaping with hunger.
    I tried to call out again, to demand that I be freed, but my throat was dry and sore as if water hadn’t passed my lips in days. My lips felt swollen, blistered, and cracked. Looking ahead of me, the shadows moved again and out of them stepped not the hairy black shape that I’d seen, but my mother. Her black hair curled around her shoulders in long ringlets. Her lips were blood red and her eyes shone a brilliant hazel just like mine. She wore a black dress that clung to her perfectly, just like an extra layer of skin. Her hands were held out before her and they dripped blood onto the cave floor.
    Drip-Drip-Drip
    “Mum!” I managed to whisper.
    Coming closer, she smiled at me, just like she had before disappearing three years ago. I wanted to run