The Shadow Empire [SAMPLE]

Chapter 5

"Woah, are you alright?" Eden immediately shuts her book when I walk inside.

"Sure." I smile in what I hope is a convincing way.

She looks at me doubtfully. "Are you sure? Your aura is super dark right now. Did something frighten you?"

Damn psyches and their aura readings.

"Yeah, kind of," I admit. Eden pats the seat on the couch next to her. I practically crumple in it, exhausted from the night. Eden scoots closer to me, putting half the blanket over my legs.

"What happened?" she asks gently.

I sigh. "I don't know. Nothing, I guess. A cop came from a noise complaint."

"Did you have to kill him?" Her voice is hesitant. She's far more reluctant about killing than I am. In fact, I'm not sure if she's ever even hexed someone before.

"No, nothing like that. A vampire was able to persuade him to leave, no one got hurt." I don't tell her how close it came to the cop getting killed. Not by my hand, but one of the vampires would have broken his neck and dumped his body in the Atlantic.

That would have more than likely upset Eden.

"Oh, good." She relaxes, chuckling slightly. "Then what's the problem?"

"The vampire..." I pause, unsure how to phrase it. At least Eden wouldn't think I was a lunatic. "I don't know. I got weird vibes from him. He was kind of freaky."

"Vampires usually are," Eden agrees, seeming unbothered by it. She hasn't met many of them, and the ones she has have all been upper class, more refined versions of the ones I've seen at the Empire. Ones her parents would approve of, or at least classify them as decent enough to do business with, despite being less-than-decent people.

"No, not like him." Involuntarily, I shudder.

She laughs, poking my side. "Did he just give you goosebumps, Jade? Are you sure you're scared of him, and not just attracted to him?"

My response is immediate. "No."

"So, he wasn't attractive?" Eden asks, quirking an eyebrow.

I wrinkle my nose. I hadn't thought of anyone as attractive. Not since...

"You wouldn't have to feel guilty," she says quietly, her eyes sad. "If you did find someone else attractive. It's been over three centuries, Jade. Maybe it would do you some good to get back in the dating game."

"It's not that," I say defensively, and it's a half the truth and half a lie. "Maybe he was attractive, maybe not. It wasn't that which was disturbing. He was just... I don't know. Something about him was off. I can't explain it but... I just know. He was evil, Eden."

Eden gnaws on her lower lip, thinking for a few moments. "I don't know, Jade. He persuaded the cop to leave, right? So that you didn't have to kill him? He doesn't sound all that evil to me."

I consider her words. She's not wrong. If he was truly sinister, I doubt he would have bothered helping with the police situation. He definitely didn't have to do that. "Yeah," I say slowly. "Maybe he was just a creep."

"Ooh, maybe he's just killed a few people and that's what you were picking up on?" she suggests. "Do you really believe it's true that whenever a vampire kills someone, they have to one century in the afterlife per murder alone?"

"Of course I do," I respond immediately. "That's what makes them one of the damned, Eden."

She shrugs. "Kinda sucks for them, but sucks way more to get killed. I feel like that's a pretty fair punishment, don't you?"