Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 97229 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 97229 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 486(@200wpm)___ 389(@250wpm)___ 324(@300wpm)
“Time for you to meet your father,” Hans whispered to me, and my undead heart pounded.
My father.
Grandma was mute as I took tiny steps towards the man I’d never had the chance to know.
“Katherine,” he said and both he and Mum held out a hand to me.
Just crazy. Wow, it was just fucking crazy.
The tears streamed down my face as I joined my parents in their embrace. I let them hold me, the three of us together, and there were no words needed. The unspoken said it all, like it so often did these days.
“You’re all sinners!” Grandma hissed, but I didn’t care. None of us did.
My father broke the embrace and me and Mum stood by his side as he faced the old witch.
“All said and done, there’s only one sinner here,” he said.
Grandma held the crucifix to her heart, her lip twitching with disgust.
“Time for you to leave this time,” my dad said.
Grandma hesitated, glancing from one to the other.
“Thomas is right,” Mum said. “There’s nothing for you here. Nothing but love.”
Grandma recoiled at that and she spat. She actually spat on the ground in front of us.
“Sinners,” she said, “this isn’t the end of it!”
And with hatred burning in her eyes, she stormed away into the night, a fresh breeze washing over us as she left us behind.
“Goodbye and good riddance,” Mum said.
Hans walked up and cleared his throat. My father stepped over and held out a hand.
“Good evening, Hans,” he said. “Lovely to see you.”
“And you, Thomas,” he replied. “Sorry for the short notice.”
They shook hands, and it was another round of crazy. These two men knew each other well.
My father pointed back to the car and the driver waiting there.
“Time to get back to the manor,” he said with a smile. “Edwin has the merlot ready to flow, and well. We have a lot to catch up on.”
He was holding my mum’s hand tight as we walked the path, and I was right behind them, with Hans holding mine.
Yes, it was true. Finally.
My soul was home.
Epilogue
I checked out my fangs in Mum’s bathroom mirror, beautiful pointed and white. They looked perfect. I was still getting used to the fact they were so much more pronounced now. I was grinning at myself. No doubt the novelty would last a long time to come. Quite possibly for ever.
“They do really suit you,” Mum said.
“Thanks.”
She wrapped an arm around my shoulders and landed a kiss on my cheek.
“Such a shame I can’t make you any lovely jam sandwiches anymore.”
As it turns out, I wouldn’t want any jam sandwiches anymore. The very first moment I’d tasted blood, I was done for. The cravings were intense. Merlot had nothing on it, jam had nothing on it, and neither did rare steak; there wasn’t anything that could compare to the insane taste of rich red life, fresh from the vein.
Hans had been keeping us close to the blood house. I’d been sucking at Sarah’s neck so many times these past few weeks that I’d lost count. Hans and I had been having the time of our lives.
I wondered if he was taking a nip at Daniel while Edwin watched on, over at the manor, quenching his thirst a little as I embarked on my first ever Herefordshire coven adventure.
Maybe I’d take a nip of Daniel myself when I got back…
“It’s definitely at the Garway community hall tonight?” Mum asked me, interrupting my thoughts.
“Yeah, it is.”
“But you still don’t know who is going to be there?”
“Nope. I have no idea. I can’t wait for the surprises.”
It had been almost a full month since the night in Garway church when I’d become an immortal, and the full moon was glowing bright outside. It was time for the witches to be meeting, and I – Katherine Blakely, of the long line of Orcop witches – was about to reveal myself as the ninth of them. The spring was in full flow and I was the latest in the family tree, about to take my place amongst the coven.
“Almost time,” I said, and Mum took a breath.
“Are you ready for this?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
I checked out my hair in the mirror, and smoothed down my dark green dress. I was paler now than ever as a vampire. My hair looked a lot, lot darker for it, and my eyes were hazel with a glow.
I was nervous as I walked down the stairs, the tension growing inside me as Mum got her car keys ready to drive me to Garway community hall. I felt like I was back to being a teenager driven around by a parental chauffeur, but it was nice these days. Our bond was growing stronger every day.
Just a shame Grandma didn’t want to be a part of it. She’d disappeared off down south to some kind of holy refuge centre, no doubt preaching about us being sinners. Oh, the joy of a disjointed family.