Presidential Vampire: First Sun [Presidential Vampire, Book One]: A Young Adult Vampire Romance

by Holly Hook

I tense, and I shoot Victor a warning glance. He's the only one who hasn't insulted me under his breath lately, among the other human panelists.

  Go home and recharge.

  Die.

  Becky continues. “Some of you can stay on and sharpen your political skills. We've all been watching you closely. Warrington and other Heart Party lawmakers have really liked what Victor and Colleen had to say during their meetings, and Ember, you've turned several heads with your unconventional style.” Becky winks at me. “We'd love to keep the three of you on for other political opportunities.”

  My breath catches.

  I passed the test?

  “What about me?” Ariana asks after a gasp.

  “Ariana, we do sense that you need a bit of time away from this atmosphere before moving on, which is why we've secured you a flight home this afternoon. Take a month off and then come back.”

  Her chin wobbles.

  Ariana. I’ve paid little attention as she stuttered through her speeches and failed to speak over lawmakers. In fact, her speeches never grabbed my attention much at all. She’s always read off her notes quickly, too nervous to slow down, and never drew questions from her listeners.

  And I want to throw up on the table.

  I know what this means for her, and it's not a window seat.

  Jeremy snaps his gaze to me again, and there's no smile there. The seriousness in his green eyes shakes me to the core. Yes. This is it.

  When Ariana leaves this room, she dies.

  They’ve chosen her for death, just like Silvia.

  I swallow.

  I can't let this happen again.

  One person is dead because of me, and I've been ignoring the other human members on this panel for too long. Shit, I'm not much better than the vampires.

  “Yeah. That might be good,” Ariana says. “I'll think about coming back in a while.”

  No, no, no. I look at Ariana. “We can't let them grind us down.” Don't leave. But if I try to warn her now, in front of everyone, I'll land right beside her no matter how many heads I turned. Or they'll just choose to turn me now instead of waiting for later. Why not?

  “Do you know where the West Entrance is?” Becky asks Ariana as she stares at the door behind her. “It's near where they’re building that new wing to the Freedom Center. You go downstairs, pass that area, and then there's another flight of stairs that leads downward. Take those and go straight ahead to the exit, and then you'll find a cab waiting for you. From there, you can head to your apartment and pack your things.”

  That doesn't sound ominous at all. Ariana rises, the tears of disappointment shining in her eyes. “Thank you. I hope to see you soon.”

  My heart races and my ears ring as I try to think of what to do. I have to try something.

  Ariana walks to the door and heads out. The door swings shut behind her.

  I will not be like the vampires.

  Now is the time to fight against becoming what I hate.

  Then I rise. “I have to go to the bathroom, and I'll be right back. You'll be here, right?”

  Becky nods, though alarm widens the pupils of her eyes. Does she know I get what's wrong here? “There's one just outside the door, and as soon as you leave, turn left. It's down the hall and behind an orange door.”

  “Thanks.” I force a smile.

  “Where is she going?” Jeremy asks in disgust as I force myself to stroll to the door.

  Once in the hallway, I do not turn left.

  I wait for the door to swing shut, and I spot Ariana dragging herself down the steps to the first floor, alone.

  If I run, the vampires still in the dining room will hear me. Jeremy must be freaking out, but unable to follow without looking obvious. I watch Ariana's silver hair clip vanish, and then I remove my shoes and follow down the steps.

  “Ariana,” I hiss.

  She's at the bottom of the steps and walking past the entrance to the new wing when I reach the bottom of the steps. Already, two young guys descend the steps to the fake West Entrance, and another young woman is right behind them. They're just going into slaughter. I leave my shoes under the steps and run after her. “Ariana.”

  I clamp my hand down on her shoulder.

  She jumps and curses me out, and I find myself eye to eye with her. “What the hell is your problem?” She narrows her eyes. “Isn't it enough that you slept with Jeremy to get that law through while the rest of us fell on our faces? If you were going to whore around, you could have at least included our causes, too.”

  So that's what they think? I don't care.

  “If you go that way, you'll die. The vampires. They're killing everyone who goes that way. There's no cab. Fuck, that's the basement.”

  Her eyes widen as the three others vanish down the stairwell. “What do you mean? I'm getting out of here.” She doesn't want to believe it.

  “Go another way.” I stare daggers at her as I muffle my phone in my pocket with my hand. “Just run. Drop your phone. Get out of here.”

  “Ah. Ember.”

  Ariana's eyes widen as she looks over my shoulder, and as Zara Silverton's wicked, razor blade voice slides over me.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

  I whirl.

  Ariana jumps back.

  Zara stands just five feet away from me, between me and the steps. Her dark eyes are crisscrossed with the angriest red I have ever seen. I'm no longer staring into the eyes of the FHDA leader, but into the irises of a demon hell-bent on destruction and taking me with her. Her dark hair is for once disorganized, and she's no longer a dignified predator but one who backed into a corner.

  Zara has nothing left to lose.

  And that’s dangerous.

  A small, terrified voice rises in my mind. Run. But I can’t move.

  “Ember,” she says. “Are you pleased with yourself?”

  “Run,” I tell Ariana.

  Her heels click, and she lets out a gasping scream as she bolts down the corridor.

  I don't follow.

  I'm the only thing standing between her and death, and it has to stay that way.

  “I--” I start.

  Zara seizes my shoulder before I can think. She grinds her fingers into my shoulder, drawing pain. My feet come off the floor as she flicks her gaze through the doorway and into the new wing.

  With a fling, I'm flying, carried by a demon of wind. I fly through a doorway and into spinning plywood and paint. I sail through white, tan, and gray until I strike something that cracks with a deafening roar in my ear. Then something soft embraces me before I fall to the floor. I land on my side. Numbness shields me from the impact for a precious few seconds as I find myself in a tent of pink insulation and a shattered piece of plywood.

  I suck in air. My senses clear and the world stabilizes.

  Zara's thrown me into the renovation area, and I'm lying under a split piece of plywood.

  The insulation broke the impact.

  Otherwise, she might have broken my spine.

  “Ah. So we have her,” a man says with a cough. “Stroke of luck.”

  Andrew Acton.

  I can't see him past the plywood that lies over me, but I know he's somewhere in the space beyond.

  The two of them are working together.

  I’m alone with them.

  And I know what they want.

  “Yes. Keep this quiet. No gunshots. I'll take care of this,” Zara says, her heels slowly clicking into the room. “Oh, Ember. Where are you?”

  I remain still and hold my breath.

  I’m going to die.

  She knows where I am, and she's playing games.

  Jeremy. Will he risk it all to come after me, or will he leave me to die in my stupidity?

  “I knew you'd try to save the unworthy today, just as you tried to do for the past month,” Zara continues. Her heels click closer, and then away. Surely she knows I'm under this piece of shattered plywood. I remain still.

  Survive, Ember.

  You'
ve made it this far.

  But Zara will be on me as soon as I try to stand. She wants me to feel like prey. This is about revenge. Power. Control. She doesn't care that the other vampires have chosen me to live.

  The plywood flips up, and the demon stands over me, smiling. We’re in a narrow room made of concrete pillars, open windows, and palates of supplies. “I thought you'd be more of a fight. How disappointing.”

  Stay alive.

  Stall.

  I reach for something, anything, and close my still-hidden hand on a piece of busted plywood. I hold it close to me as Zara seizes the front of my blouse and yanks me up with so much force that it closes around my windpipe and I choke. Andrew Acton swims in my vision behind her, shifting and nervous. The first of the day's light spills through the open windows, but they're too far away to help me. Zara's snarl fills my vision, and I kick as she holds me above the concrete.

  “I said, what do you have to say for yourself, bringing my daughter into all of this? I know you and Jeremy framed her, just because she rightfully wanted the First Son. You know, she never invaded your apartment or killed your friend,” Zara says, flashing her fangs. They're going into my neck next, and she won't be gentle. “Ah. You can't talk?” She twists her hand, and my blouse loosens just enough to let me breathe.

  Zara did it.

  She's been tracking me all along.

  I've got to stall. Then maybe the other vampires will find out what she's doing. “You never wanted me to survive this panel thing. Or Silvia, either. All you wanted was your money.”

  Zara just smiles wider. “Nobody has to know I made you vanish.”

  “We have to get to the airport in less than an hour,” Acton says, but he's in the background. “Your cab is waiting.”

  He's going to watch me die.

  I destroyed them both, but they're here to make it mutual.

  “Then I suppose we should get this done,” Zara says.

  Bloodfoodmoneynothing--

  I tighten my grasp on the plywood piece that dangles by my thigh. “You're just pissed I got something done.”

  Zara eyes my neck, then stares into my soul. “That's not how it works here in Washington.”

  And she bares her fangs, lowering them to my neck.

  I manage a tiny scream and shove the piece of plywood into Zara's abdomen.

  It contacts her blouse, and then flesh, and then Zara gasps with shock as she lets go of me and I fall to the floor. I retract the plywood—a long piece with a jagged end—as she grasps her solar plexus. A dark spot forms there.

  I've drawn blood.

  “You bitch!” she shouts.

  Acton scrambles for his hip, but my senses sharpen. The concrete glitters. The paint shines. And the pink light across the room has formed a long rectangle that stretches across the floor second by second.

  I charge Zara as she checks her wound. We collide, and I shove her back into the first of the day's sun. Pink light falls on her blouse, her hair, and she snaps her hand up to shield herself from the rays.

  Zara seethes as she grabs not her wound, but her head.

  She's stunned.

  Sick.

  Weak.

  Killable.

  I raise my plywood dagger—no, stake—as Zara backs out of the light, shielding her head and her eyes. Instinct takes over. Fight back.

  “You!” Acton shouts as something clicks.

  I freeze.

  “Drop that,” he demands.

  I whirl as Zara continues to seethe behind me.

  Acton points a small silver pistol at me, and insanity shines in his eyes.

  “Drop that,” he demands as Zara whimpers behind me, stunned.

  Ice floods my veins.

  He'll kill me, just like Zara will.

  My breath catches.

  I'm so damn close.

  So close to getting out of here, and now I'm going to--

  A dark figure emerges from behind a concrete pillar, green eyes trained on Acton, and a second emerges from behind another pillar. Slowly, and with calculation, Jeremy and Nathan creep towards Acton, who shakes as he holds the pistol in front of him.

  No.

  If Jeremy kills a human, then--

  I drop the stake. “Just lower the gun. Please.”

  “Shoot her,” Zara demands, her voice weak and struggling. “Shoot her, right now!” Her heels slide across the floor as she seeks shelter.

  Acton shakes, finger curling over the trigger--

  And then Jeremy seizes the man around the torso, baring his fangs and pulling him back so fast that he drops the gun.

  I can't let him kill.

  But Zara--

  I grab my weapon and find her straightening, hands curled into claws, and approaching despite the morning light. Her eyes have dulled but look no less savage. She bares her teeth as her skin reddens with irritation. Zara trembles as she approaches.

  I charge her, stake raised, and I seize all my rage and focus it into my strike.

  And this time, I find my mark.

  The plywood, despite its weakness, plunges into her chest, splintering itself. The disgusting sound of a cracking rib follows, and Zara freezes, mouth falling open, as I let go of the plywood and back away.

  She remains in the sun, weak, as the jagged piece sticks out of her heart.

  Smoke rises from the wound.

  Zara falls to her knees, eyes blank as she grasps at the wood, but it's too late.

  The smoke intensifies, and she falls, growling and thrashing under the oppressive first sun as glowing orange embers and ash spread across her chest. She opens her mouth in a silent scream as her entire body spasms, turning to blackness and destruction.

  “Shit,” Acton shouts. “Let go!”

  Jeremy.

  I whirl. He drags Acton into the darkest corner of the wing, green eyes flashing with rage and hatred. Jeremy moves his hands to Acton's neck, ready to twist, as Nathan holds up his pistol, ready to end Acton's life before Jeremy can. A growl rips from his throat. A monster lives in Jeremy after all, one that wants to kill and join the cesspit.

  “No,” I shout, bolting across the room as Zara seethes and whispers into ash. “Jeremy. Let him go. Now!”

  I reach them, and Acton's face turns purple as Jeremy slowly closes his hands around his windpipe.

  “Ember. Stay back,” Nathan warns me. “He's out of control!”

  Rage flashes in Jeremy’s green eyes. His jaw works.

  I grab his cheeks and I know what I have to do.

  “Justin!”

  He blinks as if coming back to reality for the first time.

  And then Jeremy loosens his grasp on Acton as his jaw goes slack.

  “Don't kill,” I say. “Please. Don't kill. Let him go.”

  Acton takes a gasping, whistling breath, and then Jeremy lets his jaw fall open.

  “Fuck,” he says, releasing Acton. “He wanted to kill you, Ember.”

  Acton falls to the floor, grasps his throat, and crawls away.

  We stare at each other, and at first there's nothing but acid green hatred in those eyes. Then wide-eyed horror replaces it.

  Jeremy’s shaking.

  “Let. Him. Go,” I say. “You can't do this.” As much as I want Acton to die, Jeremy can't do the deed.

  Or he's lost, just like the rest of them.

  “Leave,” Nathan orders Acton. “Without your weapon. You are a very lucky man today.”

  I pay no attention to Acton as he pushes himself upright, faces us, and then runs over to the sunlight, to where a pile of ash and glowing remains crackles quietly. Acton scrambles out of the window, gasping for air and coughing as he vanishes into the morning.

  What the hell just happened?

  I just killed Zara Silverton.

  And Jeremy almost killed Acton.

  “Ember,” Jeremy says, blinking and regaining his composure. “I told you not to say that name.”

  But no anger lives there.

  This time,
it's only relief.

  I shake as I fall into his embrace. “I'm not sorry.”

  Jeremy puts his shaking chin on the top of my head. “Good. It's about time.”

  CHAPTER THIRTY

  “Go after Acton,” Jeremy orders Nathan as I rest my head on his chest.

  Nathan remains close. “He is taking the daylight's advantage, sir. And sir, you are not at liberty to order the Service around.”

  “He knows about Ember,” Jeremy growls. “And he needs to die.”

  “I will see what I can do.”

  “He's gone now,” Jeremy says, running his hand through my hair. “I got down here because the other vampires were chasing someone else. A young woman.”

  I pull my head off his chest. “Ariana?”

  Shit, shit. I warned her. Then Zara found me and threw me in here. I lost track of her after that.

  A hole opens in my chest. “Did she survive?”

  Jeremy releases me, faces the door, and sniffs. “I don't know. I smell no spilled blood. But the basement--” he leaves it at that and faces me again, perfect features morphing into a glare.

  “I know. I did something stupid,” I say, tears brimming in my eyes. Despite everything, I fight to stop them from falling. “Go ahead. Say it.”

  “You did the right thing,” Jeremy says.

  I wipe my eyes and face him. “What the hell?”

  “If she got outside, then there's a slight chance she'll survive, if she has the thought to ditch her phone.” Then he takes my arm and turns me towards the middle of the new wing. The sunlight has turned orange now, and Jeremy seethes as we face something dark and crumbling on the floor. “If I was as dumb as you when I was a panelist, I could have saved a good friend I made.”

  His voice drops into the center of the world, and we stare at what I realize is the remains of Zara.

  She's ash and dust. A vaguely human-shaped shell of black and gray tilts in the wind and then crumbles to the concrete and scatters.

  The plywood stake, now dry, falls to the floor.

  “I killed her,” I choke.

  “Good,” Jeremy says. “By the way, vampires leave no bodies. You're in the clear, so long as you get back to Becky and the surviving panelists.” He levels a severe look at me. “This has been a very long bathroom break, and if you stay too long, someone will notice on the GPS.”