Page 60 of Dark Embers

“Ashlyn? What are you doing here?” I asked, surprised and confused to see my fire-haired phoenix friend in the mer hallway.

Only a few of the mer students had returned yesterday evening, but not one of them would have allowed an outsider into the dorms—especially not Ashlyn. “How did you get past the mermaids?”

“Everyone’s too distracted right now to care. I slipped right in.” Her voice was excitable, but I got the gist that it wasn’t about something good.

“Distracted? Why, what’s going on?” I yawned, then leaned forward into the hallway to try to catch a glimpse of whatever might have the mers preoccupied.

“There’s been a vampire attack on a student!” Ashlyn burst in a hushed voice.

“What?!” I was suddenly very awake.

Ashlyn came into the room and closed the door. “Some students found her mangled body on the secret platform. She was almost completely drained of blood, and she just barely made it past the security door. It’s amazing that she didn’t lead the vamps right to us!”

“Omigod,” I gasped.

Memories of the night I found Mom’s body on the kitchen floor flashed in my mind in bright technicolor, the pain of it suddenly just as fresh as when it actually happened.

“Who was it? The girl who got attacked?”

Ashlyn’s lips twisted in a grim frown. “I don’t know how you’re going to feel about this…but it was Letti.”

My heart plummeted to the bottom of my stomach with a deepthud. Ashlyn was right. I didn’t know how I felt about the news, either. As much hostility as there was between the two of us, I would never wish ill on her—okay, that wasn’t exactly true, but I would never wish a vampire attack on anyone. And after the way Letti’s confession had sort of humanized her during our last tutoring lesson, I felt a little sorry for her.

But it wasn’t just that. The news of her attack was frightening on several levels.

What if someone else had been coming to the Dome at the exact same time? What if Kendall had gotten attacked? Or Ashlyn or Tobias?

Or me.

We looked very similar. That could easily have been me. I couldn’t even beat the low-level vampire simulation. I wouldn’t stand a chance if I came up against a real-life vampire. Especially if someone as skilled in mer abilities as Letti couldn’t.

“Is she okay?” I asked, instantly feeling stupid when the words left my mouth. “I mean, is she…?”

“Still the reigning wicked sea witch?” Ashlyn asked in a hushed but guiltless voice.

“Ash,” I scolded quietly. I didn’t feel comfortable talking that way about someone who had gone through such a terrible ordeal, no matter how vile she was.

“Yeah, she’s still holding on,” she answered with a nod. “They rushed her to Ms. Heather’s office this morning.”

I opened my mouth to insist in outrage that Letti needed a hospital, but then closed it when I remembered how Ms. Heather had healed Tobias after his session in the Simulation Room a few days ago. Harpies were far more powerful healers than any human doctor or nurse.

“I don’t understand,” I said as I sat on the edge of my bed, Ashlyn following my lead. “Why are vampires so dead set on wiping out mermaids? First, my mom, now Letti. Who’s next?”

“Vampires are dead set on wiping out all shifters,” she said. “They want us all eliminated so they can take over the humans with no opposition.”

“Maybe, but they seem especially interested in getting mers out of the way,” I mused. “How many attacks have you heard of lately on any other type of shifter?”

Ashlyn shrugged. “I guess you have a point there.” She dangled her feet off the bed as she thought for a moment. “Maybe vampires hate the elitist mer attitude as much as the rest of us?”

I gave her a sidelong frown. “That might make sense for Letti, but my mom was as far from elitist as a mermaid could be.”

Her face saddened, and she looked down at her lap. We sat in the room for a silent moment, the thoughts in my head louder than the stage of a rock concert.

“I want to go see Letti,” I decided finally.

“What? Why on earth would you want to do that?” Ashlyn asked.

“Well, for one, I need to make sure she’s going to be okay. I wouldn’t say she’s my favorite mermaid in the world, but we have sort of…bonded since she’s been tutoring me. And two, maybe she can give me some clue as to why the vamps attacked her. If there’s any connection that could explain why my mom was murdered… It’s just too big of a coincidence.”

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