Extraits

CHAPTER 1

A long howl ripped through the night. Everyone in the crowded space fell silent. Even though it was a Wednesday night, Blue Moon Tavern was bustling with activity from a peculiar combination of humans, mages, and vampires.

When word had spread through the magical community about what I’d done to repair the alliance between the vampires and the Bone Coven, the bar where I worked had turned into a verifiable hub for supernaturals. Half were curious about the newest bone witch on the scene and half were just glad there was another haunt to add to the college bar crawl. The latter was humans, mostly.

Not that the majority of the humans here had any idea they were rubbing elbows with bloodsuckers. The vamps were allowed to chug cheap beer in the tavern on one condition and one condition only: no feeding on my customers. But not all humans were still blissfully unaware that danger lurked under the surface of the normal world. There were rumors circling through the underground Boston scene, ones that spoke of demons and vampires and mages who killed.

“What the hell was that?” One of the locals asked from where he was perched on a barstool next to Anastasia, the female Daywalker who still showed an uneasy amount of interest in my best friend, Laura, even though it had been three months since Laura got her coven mark.

Anastasia twirled a long strand of blonde hair around her finger and smiled at where Laura wiped away a spillage of port. “Sounded like someone screaming in agony, though sometimes pain can be pleasurable. Don’t you think, Laura?”

I scowled at the vampire. She’d been saying shit like that to Laura far too much for my liking. Her smile only widened as I raised my voice for the entire bar to hear. “Nothing to worry about, you guys. Just the upstairs neighbor’s dog. He’s been howling like that for months. Now, drink up!”

Immediately, the mood shifted back into rowdy dive bar mode. Shot glasses clinked against shot glasses, a group of frat boys howled in the back corner, and a cluster of vampires began swaying lustily to the melancholy rock ballad playing on the jukebox. Just another night at Blue Moon Tavern.

As I turned to grab two pint glasses for the next customer, Laura scooted over to my side and dropped her voice to a whisper. “We really should talk to Juno about that damn dog.”

“No kidding,” I said, glancing up at the ceiling. While the dog had been howling off and on for months, he had gotten a hell of a lot louder recently. Ear-splitting was a pretty accurate description. Like Anastasia had said, the poor creature sounded like he thought the world was ending. “That’s two nights in a row the howling has freaked out customers. This place is booming right now. Don’t want to scare people off.”

“Or, maybe that’s part of the ambience,” Laura said, blushing as she glanced over her shoulder at Anastasia. She still hadn’t gotten over her embarrassment about what had happened a few months back at the vampire club, Slayerville. Without understanding the repercussions, she’d downed a vampire elixir that had caused all her inhibitions to go flying right out the window. And she’d ended up in Anastasia’s lap, getting fed upon.

Back then, Laura had been an unmarked witch, which meant she hadn’t officially belonged to any coven. So, she’d been fair game for vampire dinner. Not anymore though.

“You mean, the creepy supernaturals like the creepy vibe? Who would have thought?” I turned the tap and watched the foamy liquid fill the glass. “Are you sure you’re okay with Anastasia being here? I can escort her outside if it’s too weird for you. Plus, I don’t want her getting any bright ideas about having a second helping of Laura blood.”