Almost Final Curtain by Tate Hallaway Read Free Book Online

teeth. “Perhaps we should test this junior hunter’s skill.”
    “Wait!” I shouted to Elias, but it was too late. He launched himself into the air. Like some unholy bird, he stretched out his arms, as though they could slow his descent. In midair, he flipped over and tucked himself into a tight ball. He landed in a predatory crouch in front of Nikolai. I swear I could hear his snarl from this distance.
    For his part, Nik shouted in surprise and anger. He stumbled back, plastering himself against his car.
    Elias uncurled himself slowly, deliberately. “You intrude on my territory, apprentice.”
    “Your ‘territory’? I don’t think so,” Nikolai growled. “You don’t belong here. Not with Ana, not on earth. Make one move, demon, and I’ll send you straight back to the hell that spawned you.”
    Like a stab to my own heart, I felt Nikolai’s blade surge into life. I could almost see its orange flame flickering around his fist.
    Elias had the good sense to stand perfectly still.
    I held my breath. I had to stop them somehow.
    Before I could call out, the front door slammed open on its hinges. I nearly leaped from the roof in surprise. Mom stuck her head out. “What’s going on out here?” Her power shot up, cold and hard, when she recognized who stood on her sidewalk. “Vampire,” she hissed. “Strike him dead, Kirov.”
    “No!” I shouted. “Don’t you dare!”
    Heads swiveled in my direction. Just as I’d hoped, Elias took advantage of the resulting confusion. With speed too fast for a human eye to track, he dashed from sight. Not being human, however, I noticed his slight hesitation. Before he disappeared, our eyes met, and without words, I knew how much it disturbed Elias to leave a fight—to leave me.
    “Ana?” Nik said at the same time as Mom’s confused, “What are you doing on the roof, honey?”
    More important, how was I going to get down?
    I looked over at the tree.
    It would take a superhuman jump, but, well, I had the ability. I just had to allow that part of me to surface.
    “I’ll get the ladder,” Mom was shouting.
    “Where did the vampire go?” Nikolai asked no one in particular as he scanned the street. “Damn, they’re fast.”
    “I can get myself down,” I said, even though Mom was already starting toward the carriage house/garage. I closed my eyes and let the nighttime surround me in an embrace. I surrendered to its call, and when I opened them again, I was sure my pupils changed to catlike slits, because I could see everything as though it were the light of day. Fangs descended with a flash of pain. My body felt light and ... in tune, somehow, with the very fabric of nature.
    The tree pulsed with a life of its own and seemed to reach out to me. I took a running jump, and fell into its awaiting arms. They caught me easily, and seemed to lead, like a stairway, to the ground.
    Before Mom had even reached the backyard, I landed on the soft, richly scented grass. “Sorry,” I whispered to the tender shoots I’d crushed underfoot.
    Nikolai’s eyes were wide, and his fist stayed clenched at his side. With my vampire sight, his blade burned white-hot. I could see its pointed tip jutting from the center of his knuckles. Power sizzled through his aura like tiny flashes of lightning.
    Raising my hand to shield my eyes from the intensity, I turned my head.
    “Is this why you invited me here tonight?” he asked, his tone remarkably calm, almost sad. “So I could see you, like this, with him?”
    Okay, Ana, don’t mess it up this time.
    I squared my shoulders and faced him. His aura continued to crackle. But if I didn’t look at the blade shimmering in his hand like a small sun, I could meet his gaze without blinking. “That wasn’t the plan, but—you know, we should talk about this.” I waved my hand to indicate my face and the fangs and the crazy cat eyes I was sure he noticed, even in the dark. “I feel like it’s coming between us.”
    Mom came around the