A light rain pattered on the gravel of the parking lot, but the whistling wind promised a storm. Chelsea leaned back in the seat of her car, studying the boarded windows of Boney’s haunt.
She’d been inside a handful of times before she’d decided not to hunt monsters. Dark, dirty, and usually full of surly hunters, it was the natural place to meet and discuss the reaver hunt.
. “How long do you think you’ll be in town?”
Amber shrugged. “Boney’s place comes with a reaver hunt attached. So at least until that’s done. Two, maybe three days, and then a week at the apartment.”
“Reavers?” Chelsea winced even as she said it. She’d sworn off monster hunting.
Amber, bless her, didn’t even flash a knowing look as she answered. “A type of vampire. Like the exact opposite of a nightling: animalistic, solitary, and ugly as sin.”
Chelsea’s hair whipped in the hot storm winds as she stomped across the empty quad. The dark clouds and thunder matched her mood perfectly. She flew through the doors of the tiny student-run coffee shop as heat lightning raced overhead
It’s a new Chapter in the Chelsea Childling story: Chelsea and Amber.
Back at college, Chelsea is trying to forget about monster hunting, especially the parts of it regarding Jackson Hawk.
A new threat and an old friend might make that impossible.
Mama gave her rolling laugh. “You’re barely old enough to drink. Give yourself some time, and some slack. Now, do you have a young man?”
“Mama…”
“Or a young lady. I’m not making assumptions.”
Her vision reduced to a slim sliver, Chelsea ignored the shelves digging into her back and tried not to breathe loudly. As she stared into the darkness in the kitchen, doubt wormed into her stomach. It was all well and good to hide in here, but what, exactly, was her plan?
Chelsea slid her hands up his arms. “Only one shot, Jackson?”
“Monsters aren’t known for their mercy.”
Amber whistled as she spun in a circle, taking in the warehouse apartment. “Jack did this?”
Chelsea nodded, her face warming a bit. “Yeah, he set it up…”
The monster hunter turned, hands on her thick hips. “Jackson?”
“Yes.”
“Jackson ‘I didn’t catch her name’ Hawk got an apartment, to share, without being prodded, in any way?”
As Chelsea raced to her class, one thought kept repeating: My hair is sticking up in the back
Words That Burn Like Fire 