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  I looked up. And this was how my story of survival ended: with a small, immature mistake, and my sarcastic intolerance for stupidity.

  “You, with the grey hair. What’s your name?” She poured that much honey into her voice I could choke on its sweetness, and I desperately needed to vomit that sugar right away.

  My hair isn’t grey, bitch. It was white. Or silver, like my brother used to say to make me feel better about myself. But not grey. I eyed a little silver curl that had freed itself from under the scarf. Little traitorous fuck.

  “Summer.”

  The vampire chuckled. She was looking me up and down, and up and down.

  “You will do, Summer.” Then, she waved her slim hand at two other vampires. “Wrap it up.”

  Son of a groupie, I was royally fucked. And very soon, that phrase could become something much more literal—the blonde chick was a butcher for one of the royal families, and she was on a harvest mission.

  In the blink of an eye, a vampire appeared in front of me and grabbed my forearm. To say he wasn’t gentle would be an understatement. Somebody else grabbed my other arm.

  “You never were one of us.” Rita was spitting saliva in my face. “And now, you will take a spot that belongs to our people. You will burn in hell for that!”

  Just great. Exactly the words of courage I needed right now.

  The vampire dragged me up the stairs where the blonde had disappeared a moment ago. There were candles all over the walls. Not like vampires needed light to see, but theatric drama…

  I’d never been inside the tower. Only a few people from the village were usually allowed in there. They kept track of the people chosen as an offering to the vampires or werewolves, got meetings organized, and stuff like that. I had lived in a lot of places before this one and knew from my own experience that they all ended up the same. They took more and more people until there was nobody left to take. The war had taken a lot of lives, but nobody knew how many lives had been taken just to feed them. To serve them. To be killed by them.

  I must have zoned out for a moment, because the vampire pushed me forward. I almost tripped on my own two feet. I had a lot to say to this butthole, but wisely decided to keep my mouth shut. Probably my best decision of the day, since I’d screwed up so badly before.

  I was wondering where we were going. Not like some helicopter from old times could pick us up from the top of the tower. I’d seen one maybe twice in the past five years. Nowadays, they were like dinosaurs.

  The place didn’t look so big from the outside, but we’d been walking for a good two minutes already. I thought you could cross the tower in ten seconds.

  Then, I noticed it: we were going down; the air became heavier. The tunnel led underground, probably. But when the hell did we pass the doorway, or something that at least looked like one? I didn’t even notice a change in our surroundings—not that it had changed much. Candles still flickered all over the place, there were the same stone walls, but the air was different, indeed. It had become thicker and more humid.

  Definitely underground.

  Huh. They’d made a tunnel under the village so they could come and watch us as they pleased? Nice touch for the so-called ‘freedom’ of all species.

  As we went deeper, I felt my chest tighten. The air became even more humid, and I started to cough. I heard a sniff, full of disgust, on my right. Yeah, of course, vampires didn’t get sick—far from human health problems.

  I looked at the vampire walking next to me: tall, broad-shouldered, red-haired. Well-bred. I even noticed a couple of freckles on his nose, and that made him look almost human. It didn’t cancel the fact that he wasn’t nice, though.

  But who was I to judge this piece of work, while I was the thief who stole groceries from the last village and escaped in the dark of night? I could justify myself with my survival instinct. I could…if I hadn’t done the same before. Repeatedly.

  Finally, we were going up. The air cleared, and my coughing stopped. The blonde was waiting for us about a hundred feet ahead. Of course, super speed, and all that. She waited till we reached her magnificent person, with an arm crossed over her big chest that rested above a small waist. Several years ago, I could blame her perfection on plastic surgery, but those times had long passed, so I had to envy her gorgeous, nicely-shaped body from my five-foot-six elevation. She tilted her heart-shaped face to the shoulder a little. She was searching for something in me again.

  Nah, lady, nothing special in there. Just a blood bag, as your kind used to call mine.

  Finally, she clicked her tongue, and said, “Food.”

  I beg your pardon, missy! Just food? Not even a servant? I wasn’t too shocked she didn’t want to use me as a whore or anything like that—if I was being completely honest about my appearance, it was nothing special. But to skip to the food category right away without any consideration of the other possible options? That was just offensive. Mean.

  To my surprise, my ‘guiding’ vampire felt the same way. “Marena, she is strong, I’ll give her that. The chick almost kept up with my pace. Plus, strong muscles. You can find a better use for her.”

  Obviously, the blonde’s name was Marena. She clicked her tongue one more time and looked at me with more interest.

  Thank you very much, freckles. You probably just signed me a death sentence in the most painful and lengthy way.

  She saw something she liked, because she gave me an evil smile, and said, “Yeah, could be an unusual course of meal for somebody with…mmm…specific taste. Clean her up.”

  Whoa, I did not like the sound of that one bit. Specific taste? Like, beat me up shitless and eat me after with blood smeared all over, specific? Or, like, tie me to a bed and do whatever the hell those people did, specific? I didn’t judge, especially not with my limited experience—or lack of it—but that kinky stuff creeped me out a little. The times of books in which a vampire was a sexy-boy billionaire with a penthouse and a huge, sleek cock sliding in and out like a pumping machine were long gone. Now, vampires and werewolves were exactly what they are: powerful killing creatures who took over our world just because they’re stronger and faster than us. And I wouldn’t want to be a ‘specific’ interest to any of them.

  Freckles grabbed my elbow again and dragged me along with him. After a length of time that could easily pass for ten minutes or twenty, he suddenly said, “Calm down your heartbeat. You are drawing way too much attention.”

  Wait, what? I looked at him while he kept his eyes trained on the tunnel ahead. I didn’t imagine him saying that…right?

  “You generate waves around you. Calm yourself down, or they will know who you are.”

  Who I am? Who the hell am I?

  “What on earth are you talking about?”

  “Now, she speaks.” He chuckled and glanced at me. “Ready for a new adventure?”

  “No, I am not. Who are you again?” I felt my eyes become the size of a tea cup, that’s how many questions were boiling inside that thick head of mine, waiting to explode through my big mouth.

  He laughed again, and said, “I am the one who just added value to your meaningless life. You can thank me later.”

  Now, I was absolutely lost. This vampire looked almost human. I was quick to judge before; he had some compassion, but what for? In this Brand-New World, you learned not to trust anybody because good intentions always came at a price, and I was afraid that this one would cost me a lot. Especially if he came from bloodsuckers.

  “Come again, who are you?”

  He kept moving without a word. Freaking Zorro. Always loved those stories about that hot Spanish hero. I always imagined young Antonio Banderas riding a raven horse (like he’d ever been young, right?). He was so mysterious. When I was a kid, I saw the movie over my brother’s shoulder once. I couldn’t get closer without our poor old TV exploding, but I could enjoy it from a distance. Good thing I always had great vision—thumbs-up to my genes. But after meeting this freckled guy, I had to rethink my passion for hideous men with big secrets. This guy knew something or felt something—or both. Who was he?

  I had to figure out the mystery as soon as I could, because it might cost me my life, and I wasn’t planning on losing that anytime soon. He’d mentioned that they could find out who I was. Well, they already knew I was a human. What else was there to find out?

  I was so busy attempting to resolve the mystery that I forgot to watch my step, stumbled, and almost kissed the floor, but Freckles grabbed me and put me over his shoulder, so I was facing his fit ass now. A better alternative, I should mention, but still not my first choice.

  “Try not to throw up on my back.”

  “Wha—?”

  But then he used his full speed—or, I imagine it was, because nobody actually knew their full abilities—and we took off through the tunnel faster than lightning.

  Oh, now I knew what he meant by that. I hung over his tall body with my stomach on his shoulder, fighting the urge to puke. Not a fun story to tell grandkids (if I survived to have any…). I tried to close my eyes, hoping it would help. It didn’t. Just as I was about to show him what I ate that morning, Freckles stopped suddenly and put me on the floor.

  Of course, I immediately fell down. That was one bad, very bad roller-coaster.

  “Get yourself together, little one. Your new life is just about to begin.” He chuckled, standing over my poor self while I clung to dear life on the floor.

  I looked up at him and asked, “Do you know me?”

  With an obscure wink, he reached down and pulled me up by the elbow, ready to lead me along the last few steps toward my fate.

  CHAPTER 2

  And the price tag for you is nothing.

  Freckles took me to a room bustling full of people and left my dizzy ass there. At least they were humans. A major level-up from bloodsucking monsters.

  I mentally smacked myself for being so stuck-up toward the black and white of this world. That young vampire had helped me. Well, sort-of…in his own way. It was safe to assume that he was young, because specks of sanity still remained in him. Maybe he hadn’t killed many people and could still see the good and the bad, or maybe he needed something from me? I still couldn’t shake the feeling that he had so much more to say. But who knew? I guess I liked the guy. I imagined he probably had the same cool sense of humor that my brother and I found so attractive in people from our old lives—like his friend Levi, who had a joke in his pocket for every situation. They weren’t poopy jokes, they actually were funny.

  I always saw my brother having fun with Levi, but I never used to play with them. Nobody wanted me to join their crew because I had a bad reputation for bringing disaster to people around me. One time, back when we were little, my brother tried to take me everywhere with him like I was his shadow, but when he slowly became an outcast, too, I decided not to take his normal life from him and separated my miserable self from all his activities. It didn’t stop me from peeping through the hole, but since then, I had always been hidden in the closet like a dark little secret. Which I was.

  While I was burying myself deeper in my sad memories, the room cleared out. A round-faced woman in her thirties came closer and looked me over. She wore a long dress typical of servants who worked in royal houses.

  “You must be a newcomer here.” She wiped her hand on her apron and extended it to me.

  I shook it. My father used to say that a handshake can tell you a lot about a person, and I strongly believed and lived by his words. This lady’s grip was firm and strong, which said to me that she was a very direct person, yet compassionate, and probably even trustworthy. Not for me, of course—I placed trust in no one—but for others, she could make a good friend.

  “I am Lena, the senior maid here. If you’re arranged into my division, you’d be well fed and safe. As long as you follow rules,” she added in a firm voice, which didn’t leave me much choice of reply.

  Here we go… “Yes, ma’am.”

  She narrowed her eyes in interest and tightened her grip. “I might even like you. Here, this way.” She moved through the room, which was apparently a sort of meeting place, opening a door on the other side and offering for me to go first. It wasn’t an option, so I stepped through. The maid smiled, hesitated for a second, and then followed me.

  The room was one gigantic bathtub. Or bathtubs. I couldn’t see clearly through the thick steam.

  Lena shoved me forward. “Wash yourself. They don’t like any smell on the skin. I’ll leave you some clothes on this bench.” She pointed to a big lacquered bench along the wall. She walked off, about to leave, but then turned around, and said, “You are trouble, I see it in your eyes. Don’t think about getting up to anything here. This is my place, and I like it drama-free. Are we clear on that?”

  “Absolutely.” I’d have said or promised anything out of sheer self-preservation right then.

  “Good, I’ll pick you up in twenty minutes. Enjoy this time to yourself. You might not get any afterward.” She pressed her lips tight, looked me over one more time, and then left through the same passage from which we came.

  I strained my eyes against the steam to peer at my surroundings. Dozens of naked women were walking around the room, some of them inside the tubs, some in the showers. They didn’t look beaten-up or starved, as I’d imagined before. Quite the opposite, actually. They looked like they were enjoying themselves and were just staying in some spa hotel like we were still living in the Old World. Didn’t matter the age, or race, or number of limbs still attached to their bodies—they all looked at peace.

  I found an empty tub and tested the water with my toe. It was deliciously hot. Stripping off my clothes, I stepped inside.

  This. Was. Heaven. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d taken a hot bath, but it had been sometime back in my old life. Nowadays, it was hard to boil enough water to fill a tub. While you boiled the second pot, the first would already be starting to cool, so the bath would only ever get half-full. Instead, we got used to taking quick showers. Electricity and hot running water were considered luxuries in this life.

  Funny, how you don’t appreciate the little things in your everyday life, and sad, how you miss them where they’re all gone. When I was a kid, I used to read the news about people in third-world countries who didn’t have a drinking water or simple medicine, let alone electricity or plumbing for a toilet. I used to cry because they didn’t have what I had every day. I could never imagine myself as a poor kid, but now, the whole world was a big third-world country in a state of constant war. When the gates opened, whatever came into our world from the other side messed up all our systems completely. In some places, the benefits of civilization still existed, but those places were very rare.

  When heat from the water reached my cold bones, I leaned back and relaxed. At the orgasmic sound that came from my mouth, I could’ve sworn I heard someone chuckle. I opened eyes to find a woman, probably in her mid-twenties, standing above my tub.

  “Mind if I join?”

  I did mind, actually. She was naked and gorgeous…butt naked…but gorgeous…but still naked. Her dark, wavy hair reached to her slim waist, and she touched it with her hand, sending me a questioning look that reminded me to answer.

  Making enemies on the first day—hell, within the first hour—wasn’t smart, so I played along. “Sure.”

  She stepped into the tub—thank bollocks it was big—and relaxed against the other side of it. The woman watched me silently while drawing circles in the water with her long finger. She kept looking me over, and over, like she was trying to remember something. The situation made me uncomfortable, so I decided to break my vow not to talk to anybody.

  “So, you’ve been here for a long time?”

  She smiled at me, and said in the sort of low, sexy voice I could imagine coming from the trained mouth of a Greek hetaera, “Long enough.”

  Oh, I could tell that. She’d mastered her ways of communicating, and that must have done her a ton of good in this house—or anywhere, really.

  I couldn’t help myself. All this mystery was driving me nuts.

  “For what?” I asked.

  She smiled again. “For everything.”

  “I see.”

  God knows, I tried (very, very hard—in my mind, at least) to close my eyes and relax once again.

  “That hair of yours… I think I know where you will go,” she said, in a voice that poured like honey.

  “Good for you.” I didn’t open my eyes because I didn’t want to show the amount of interest I had for what she was saying. I remembered Marena’s words about a ‘specific taste’ and my possible future assignment.

  “It will be good for you, too. If you survive…” She sighed dramatically.

  I still kept my eyes shut, but the muscles in my cheeks gave me away.

  She laughed softly. “Yes, you will definitely be going. Don’t be afraid. It’s way better than what’s out there.” She waved her hand at something imaginary in the air.

  Now, she had all of my attention. “Out where?”

  “Behind the gates, of course, silly.” She looked at me as if I were a stupid child.

  My spine straightened. Now, she had me.

  “Have you been behind the gates?” I asked in my steadiest voice, trying not to show how badly I needed her answer.

  “I have.” She smiled wittingly.

  “What did you see?”

  “Ask me what I didn’t.” Her smile vanished as soon as she said it.

  I stared at the woman, waiting for her to continue, but she didn’t.

  When I couldn’t stand waiting any longer, I asked, “Have you seen them?”

  “Yes. And I am trying to forget about it every second of every day.” She stood up. The water barely covered her hips. “Trust me when I say, don’t seek them out. Everything anyone says about them is true. They are monsters. Painfully beautiful monsters, who steal your mind and your body.” She took a deep breath, and added, “And your blood.”

  She was almost at the top step out of the tub when I grabbed her arm. “What about the monsters here? The ones we’re forced to serve?”