Page 5 of A Grave Girls' Getaway

“Spending time with you,” I replied. “Like you said, it was too loud to talk before, and I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you, too.”

We kept walking, chatting with an openness we hadn’t managed in a while. Calls, texts, and video chats were great, but they didn’t beat the joy of being together.

Soon, we reached what was left of the tide pools. I slowed my stride to avoid slipping, and then caught Denise’s shoulder when she almost stumbled on the uneven rock.

“Want to head back to the street and call a Lyft?” I asked.

“Or you could fly us over these,” she pointed out.

I could, but vampires had kept their existence hidden from humanity because we avoided public displays of power. Still, it was pitch dark, and the nearest hotel was a good mile away. I sent my senses outward. Nope, I didn’t hear anyone else along the beach…Wait. I strained my senses more.

There. Someone was in the caves tucked into the bluffs bordering the beach and the sea. If I were human, I wouldn’t have heard the low murmur of voices that almost blended with the sounds of the surf, and I really wouldn’t have caught the new tang to the air before the sea spray snatched it away.

Still, that brief, sharp, new scent was unmistakable, especially to a vampire.

Blood.

“Earth to Cat,” Denise began.

I pressed a finger to my lips in the universal gesture for silence. Then, I leaned in and whispered, “Stay here. Something’s wrong,” against her ear.

Maybe that blood was from a normal crime, or maybe I wasn’t the only person out here with supernaturally great hearing.

I flew toward the sounds and the smell of blood.

At first, I was confused when I reached the spot where the scent and sounds were strongest. Nothing but smooth, unbroken cliff wall met my gaze. Where was the entrance? There had to be one, and…what was that? A new, stronger wave had swept seawater all the way up to the cliff. It stopped everywhere except in one spot, where the water somehow disappeared into the rock.

I tried to touch that spot, and like the water, my hand vanished as it appeared to go through the wall of stone. I pulled it out and did it again. Same result, only this time, I concentrated and felt cool air coming from the side where I could no longer see my hand.

This part of the wall wasn’t real. It was glamour, the term for a magical mirage. To use this, someone really didn’t want their bloodletting interrupted.

Too bad.

I felt around until I found the rest of the entrance. Then, I squeezed into the hidden cave. Once inside, the glamour disappeared, revealing a narrow passageway. The smell of blood pointed my way, as did the sounds that I realized were chants in an unfamiliar language. Now, I caught snatches of thoughts, too.

…can’t be happening…oh God, no…no, please, stop!

Chanting, pleas, magic, and blood—never a good combination.

I kept going, ducking when a new, flickering light appeared after a sharp bend in the tunnel. I could pick out several voices from the chants, and underneath them, the ominous sounds of grunts, as if someone was trying to scream and couldn’t.

I pulled a knife from its sheath beneath my skirt. Since I found out at sixteen that silver through the heart killed vampires, I’d never left home without one. I’d barely palmed the silver blade when icy water soaked me to the ankles.

The incoming tide had reached the cave. This whole place would be underwater soon. I might be beyond drowning, but whoever was bleeding wasn’t.

Fuck being stealthy. It wasn’t my style, anyway.

“Housekeeping!” I sang out, and flew around the corner.

Nine hooded heads jerked up. The robed figures all appeared to be women, and four of them were vampires. Weak ones, if their auras could be trusted. Must be why I hadn’t felt their energy before now. Strong vampires usually gave off vibes like an electrical current.

“Get out,” a vampire with hair as red as my own snapped.

Torchlight revealed runes and other ancient markings drawn onto the cave walls. The women were standing around a pentagram that had a gagged, panicked boy inside it. He couldn’t have been more than seventeen, and runes had been carved onto his chest, leaving bloody trails running down his body. No surprise, the mental pleas I’d overhead were coming from him.

“Hell no,” I said, pissed for more reasons than their clear intention to murder this kid. “Less than a year after magic’s been declared legal, you bitches are doing a ritual sacrifice of a teenager? First, that’s evil, and second, are you trying to give the vampire council a reason to ban magic again? Innocent witches did not fight so hard for freedom from persecution for you selfish schmucks to fuck it up this way!”