Forbidden (The Preternaturals) by Zoe Winters

she didn’t
hear the small, quiet footsteps until they were in front of her. The
first thing she noticed when her vision cleared from the tears were
delicate, bare feet.
    She startled as her gaze rose to take in the girl in front of her. She
couldn’t have been older than twelve. The vampire licked her lips.
It had been a while since she’d had a good veal. The girl still had
the tiniest bit of baby fat around her face. If only Angeline could
get the gag out of her mouth and the ropes off.
    Had he sent some child out here to taunt her? Was that part of the
punishment he’d cultivated for her sins? Was it penance? Whatever
happened to the Hail Mary?
    “Can you kill me?” the girl said as if she were asking someone to pass
the butter.
    Now Angeline knew the priest was messing with her. And with the gag still
in her mouth, she couldn’t even yell at the stupid child.
    “Can you?” the girl persisted. “Your priest was too young. I knew he
was, but figured it was worth a try anyway. If you’re older, maybe
it will work this time.”
    Angeline’s eyes widened as she looked more closely at the girl. Blonde,
shoulder-length hair, delicate pixie features. Her white dress
swallowed her, but would have perfectly fit the adult witch the
vampire had brought for Hadrian’s first feeding.
    But she was dead. Angeline had seen it. She’d heard her heartbeat slow
and stop like butterfly wings on their last flap. She’d carried the
lifeless body and laid it on the altar.
    “I’d hoped that death card was for me,” Tam said. “It has to be for
me.” The girl pulled the gag from Angeline’s mouth and spoke to
her as if she were the child. “I want you to try, all right?”
    The vampire looked around. This had to be a trick, a test. If she bit the
girl, Hadrian would be upset. Or would he? He’d killed her the
first time around, after all.
    “What are you?”
    The witch rolled her eyes. “Something far older than you. I’m hard to
kill, and I’m tired of running. My power needs to die with me. I
can’t allow it to get into his hands.”
    “Hadrian?” Angeline hated when people spoke in riddles.
    The girl laughed. “No, silly. Someone else.” Madame Tam gave
her an assessing once-over. “How old are you?”
    Angeline balked at giving the girl her age. It was such a personal question
for a vampire, filled with so much nuance. It was more than just a
number. It was the evidence of how much you’d survived, how much
history you’d seen and lived.
    “Two hundred and twenty.”
    “Hmmm.” Tam paced, lost in thought. It was strange seeing such a grown-up
look on such a young girl. “My kind can only be killed, truly
killed, by another of our kind, or a very old and very strong being.
I know because one of us has been killed that way, by a
three-thousand-year-old vampire. As you can imagine, those are hard
to find, and they tend to be gruesomely creative with killing,
something I’m not too keen on. I don’t think you’re nearly old
enough, but we can try.”
    The girl sat across Angeline’s lap and pulled her hair back. The
vampiress was going mad. She had to be. None of this was happening.
It was a dream. Some crazy daymare. Perhaps Hadrian hadn’t risen
yet. Maybe she was still in her resting place below ground, dreaming.
It was all too unreal and strange.
    Although the promise of the girl’s blood was intoxicating, Angeline hoped it
was a dream and that she could start this night over without making
the same mistakes. Maybe she’d stake Hadrian before he rose, just
in case his chanting was a genuine threat.
    The girl cleared her throat. “This is the most formal invitation you’re
getting. I know my blood is delicious. I’ve been fed on by vampires
a few times before. They went on about me like I was a royal feast.”
    Angeline knew just by the smell of the girl that it was true. “How long have
you had this death wish?”
    “Off and on for about a thousand years, more often since he’s