by: Sharina Harris
Series: The American Slayer Society
Genre: Upper YA Fantasy/Urban Fantasy/Fantasy Romance
Release Date: August 29, 2023
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Full Metal Alchemist meets Vampire Diaries in this fun and clever dark academia series…
High school is supposed to be about studying, socializing, and marching-band practice. Not fighting vampires. Then one night flipped my world inside out―now, my life sucks. But it isn’t all bad. I’m at a slayer academy, learning things like the real origin of vamps and how to make serious weapons out of thin air.
Every last one of them will pay for what they did. I’m doing great.
Until I come face-to-face with the actual vampire prince…and I’m not sure of anything anymore. Vampires are supposed to be soul-sucking demons. But Khamari is…something else. He’s intelligent and reasonable―and he seems to know things about me that could change everything.
He’s also hiding something big, even from his own kind. And when a threat from an ancient evil is so extreme that a vampire will team up with a slayer to take it down, it isn’t just my need for revenge that’s at stake anymore.
It’s the whole damn world.
I’m jarred awake as my head slams against the back of the seat in front of me. The felt material that scrapes my forehead feels like steel, and I know I’ll have a carpet burn.
Instrument cases fall like raindrops and crash like thunder from the racks above our heads. I duck and dodge the raining horns and flutes and clarinets.
Deidra screams beside me, and my head snaps toward the sound of a crack. She grabs her bleeding forehead and looks down at her hands. Her fingers shake with blood.
Deidra whimpers. Her mouth moves soundlessly. Strings of saliva drip from between her lips.
“Shit.” I grab her head, holding her together. “We had an accident. I’ll get help.”
She grabs my wrist, holding me in place.
“Okay. I’ll just…” I look around. The bus has stopped, and people are standing and scrambling—struggling to get out of any open window.
A high-pitched scream fills the air. No, not a scream. Screams near the front of the bus.
“R-raven?” Tears roll down Deidra’s cheek.
Someone must’ve died.
A low growl from outside curls around my bones as something rams against the side of the bus and knocks it clean off its axis. It teeters and totters and finally rights itself, but not before my mouth fills with blood. My tongue throbs.
The growling grows louder, nastier. Closer.
The screams bouncing around inside the battered steel grow scarier.
I peer out the window. Stare at the hulking shadow moving along the side of the bus.
A bear? No, that’s impossible.
“Raven?” The pain in Deidra’s voice grabs my attention. Even in the dim light, her eyes look unfocused, as if she is about to pass out. I press harder on the wound. “You’ll be okay,” I say, desperate to help her, to take her pain away, to focus only on her…when the thing from outside suddenly fills the front of the bus.
My hands fall from Dee’s head. How did It get inside?
Air clogs my throat. I blink once, twice, not believing my eyes.
This is no animal—not a bear, not a jackal. It looks like a man. Skin as pale as the moon highlights ruby lips. The irises of his brown eyes are tainted crimson, while the surrounding whites transform to obsidian. Like a snake making room for larger prey, his jaw unhinges as his fangs, dripping with thick, yellow saliva, lengthen.
Holy crap. That’s not… It’s not what I think it is. It can’t be.
I lean closer to Deidra and press my palm against her forehead. I pull her close when I feel her shivering.
Dr. Jeffries pushes himself from the seat.
“Kids, go out the back exit. Now.” His voice is calm in the storm, and he snaps his command as if we’re running drills at practice.
Everyone scrambles, but I’m rooted to my seat, one arm around Deidra’s shoulder, one hand against her forehead. Her sticky blood seeps between my fingers.
Dr. Jeffries shoots the thing a hard glare, and for a split second, I think maybe, just maybe, he can reason with it. “You need to—”
His words are cut off.
The thing, the monster, grips its gnarled finger around Dr. Jeffries’ throat. His extended fangs sink into his neck. He sucks down Dr. Jeffries’ blood, grunting like a wild hog.
“Oh, my God,” I whisper while everyone screams. “A v-vampire?”
God, how can this be real?
Deidra grabs my fingers and whimpers, and I squeeze back as cold realization hits me. We’re sitting ducks packed in a tin can.
Instrument cases fall like raindrops and crash like thunder from the racks above our heads. I duck and dodge the raining horns and flutes and clarinets.
Deidra screams beside me, and my head snaps toward the sound of a crack. She grabs her bleeding forehead and looks down at her hands. Her fingers shake with blood.
Deidra whimpers. Her mouth moves soundlessly. Strings of saliva drip from between her lips.
“Shit.” I grab her head, holding her together. “We had an accident. I’ll get help.”
She grabs my wrist, holding me in place.
“Okay. I’ll just…” I look around. The bus has stopped, and people are standing and scrambling—struggling to get out of any open window.
A high-pitched scream fills the air. No, not a scream. Screams near the front of the bus.
“R-raven?” Tears roll down Deidra’s cheek.
Someone must’ve died.
A low growl from outside curls around my bones as something rams against the side of the bus and knocks it clean off its axis. It teeters and totters and finally rights itself, but not before my mouth fills with blood. My tongue throbs.
The growling grows louder, nastier. Closer.
The screams bouncing around inside the battered steel grow scarier.
I peer out the window. Stare at the hulking shadow moving along the side of the bus.
A bear? No, that’s impossible.
“Raven?” The pain in Deidra’s voice grabs my attention. Even in the dim light, her eyes look unfocused, as if she is about to pass out. I press harder on the wound. “You’ll be okay,” I say, desperate to help her, to take her pain away, to focus only on her…when the thing from outside suddenly fills the front of the bus.
My hands fall from Dee’s head. How did It get inside?
Air clogs my throat. I blink once, twice, not believing my eyes.
This is no animal—not a bear, not a jackal. It looks like a man. Skin as pale as the moon highlights ruby lips. The irises of his brown eyes are tainted crimson, while the surrounding whites transform to obsidian. Like a snake making room for larger prey, his jaw unhinges as his fangs, dripping with thick, yellow saliva, lengthen.
Holy crap. That’s not… It’s not what I think it is. It can’t be.
I lean closer to Deidra and press my palm against her forehead. I pull her close when I feel her shivering.
Dr. Jeffries pushes himself from the seat.
“Kids, go out the back exit. Now.” His voice is calm in the storm, and he snaps his command as if we’re running drills at practice.
Everyone scrambles, but I’m rooted to my seat, one arm around Deidra’s shoulder, one hand against her forehead. Her sticky blood seeps between my fingers.
Dr. Jeffries shoots the thing a hard glare, and for a split second, I think maybe, just maybe, he can reason with it. “You need to—”
His words are cut off.
The thing, the monster, grips its gnarled finger around Dr. Jeffries’ throat. His extended fangs sink into his neck. He sucks down Dr. Jeffries’ blood, grunting like a wild hog.
“Oh, my God,” I whisper while everyone screams. “A v-vampire?”
God, how can this be real?
Deidra grabs my fingers and whimpers, and I squeeze back as cold realization hits me. We’re sitting ducks packed in a tin can.
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Sharina’s contemporary romance series under the pen name, Rina Gray, was named Book Riot’s 100 Must Read Romantic Comedies. When not writing, she can be found with her head stuck in a book, rooting for her favorite NBA teams, and spending time with friends and family. Sharina resides in Atlanta, GA with her husband and son. Sharina is represented by Tara Gelsomino at One Track Literary Agency.
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