Page 76 of Born Reckless

My world goes cold, and my knees give out. I reach a hand up and pull the stake from my chest, pain obliterating everything left in me.

“Juliet?” Roman asks as he turns, his eyes filled with panic. His entire front is covered in blood.

But it’s too late.

I collapse to the sidewalk, and I meet death for the final time.

Chapter Seventeen

A raging freighttrain on a runaway track. A bullet fired from a gun. A 747 on takeoff.

I feel this... rush. And with a gigantic gasp, my eyes rip open, and I sit up.

“What the hell?” someone yells, and then the world lurches to the side, and then the other side. And then there’s the sound of screeching tires and my head smacks into a back seat. Then it cracks back into a windshield.

I was lying in the trunk of an SUV, and with an angry curse on my lips and a hand on my throbbing head, I look to the driver’s seat.

Roman De Luca looks back at me with huge, terrified eyes.

“What?” I groan. My head hurts, but my chest hurts worse. “Why the hell are you looking at me like that?”

“Because you were dead five seconds ago!” he bellows. He throws the SUV into park and twists around. His eyes scan what he can see of me, complete horror and confusion in his eyes.

And the memory comes back to me. Pablo. The stake.

My hand rises to my chest and my eyes drop.

There’s a hole in my shirt, right above my heart. And beneath that, my skin is angry and red.

But there’s no hole.

I rip my shirt off, down to just my bra without thinking and blink in confusion at myself.

There’s definitely no hole in my chest.

“How…” Roman stutters, narrowing his eyes as he stares at my chest.

“Vampires are supposed to die when they get staked, right?” I ask. My words come out breathy and panicked.

“It’s a hard rule, yes,” Roman growls. “Juliet, Iwatchedhim stake you. I watched you turn gray and fall to the ground. I checked after I killed Pablo. You were definitely dead.”

“Well, how long have I been dead for?” I grasp for any words, any logic, because right now, there’s too much of both missing.

“It’s been twenty minutes, but it shouldn’t matter!” Roman yells. “Dead is dead when you’re a vampire!”

My eyes flick over to him, and cold realization washes over me.

Roman is dangerous. He’s the person who hates me the most in this city.

And now he knows my biggest secret.

Being different is dangerous. Being different puts you under a microscope. People feel threatened bydifferent.

“You’re a vampire who apparently can’t be killed,” Roman says, his voice low and dangerous, his eyes dark, sparking red. “How?”

I start shaking when his words hit me.

Gifted.

Cursed.

A vampire who can’t be killed.

What the hell?

THE END OF BOOK ONE