B005EMAYWS EBOK by Lorraine Kennedy

hearing. “My best friend was just murdered, and you want me to leave? I’m not going anywhere while her killer is still out there.”
    “You are chasing a phantom. The killer is not what you think he is,” Anton told her with a tired sigh.
    Summer narrowed her eyes and glared at him. “What do you know about this?” she demanded.
    Anton’s gaze was turbulent, and laced with pain. “I must confess … I have seen this before.” He stopped, waiting for her to interrupt, but Summer remained quite.
    “At first I wasn’t sure … not until I found out about the black roses. It was then that I realized that this killer … was no ordinary killer.”
    “Is it a Vilka ?” she asked, hoping beyond reason that it was not one of Anton’s people.
    Anton shook his head. “No … this is not a being from Outerlands , but he is not human either.”
    “Okay, I’m confused.” Summer was becoming impatient.
    “Many years ago, I was married. My wife was murdered in the same way as your friend. We found a black rose with her.” Anton swallowed hard.
    “I’m so sorry!” Summer reached across the table to lay her hand over his.
    “It was a long time ago,” Anton forced a smile.
    “I never knew you’d been married. I guess I thought you have always been a Zen.” Summer told him, still unable to picture him with a wife.
    “I was a young man when I married … it was an arranged marriage, like yours will be.”
    Summer opened her mouth to tell him that she had no intention of getting married, but he held up his hand to stop her.
    “Yes … I know. You don’t plan to get married, but we’ll let your parents worry about that when you get home. For now, we have to get you out of here … you are no longer safe,” he explained.
    “No one is safe here … if you haven’t noticed.” Summer gave him a sour look.
    “You don’t understand Summer. You are not safe here any longer.”
    “What do you mean?” she asked.
    “The killer is a vampire,” he told her.
    Summer stared at him in shock. “A vampire?”
    She knew there were vampires in the human world. In fact, it was the world of man that was the realm of the immortals. The vampires’ hunting ground, but she had never actually seen one or heard of any deaths connected to them. She suspected that they were very careful to only prey on those that would not be missed. At least that was her understanding from Lex, the Vilka that had the most contact with vampires. It had been Lex that brought Sarah to stay with her because of some danger. Summer now had to assume that it might have something to do with the recent murders.
    “That’s not all,” Anton continued. “There have been similar murders throughout the country, but without the rose. That’s what makes me think that this particular vampire is the same one that killed my wife.”
    “Well I am still not going until the killer pays for what he did to Penny. He won’t get away with it.” She lifted her chin defiantly.
    “There is no more to argue about! You are coming back with me.”
    “I’m not!” Summer folded her arms in front of her chest.
    Anton sighed. “Summer … I haven’t told you this because I didn’t want to frighten you, but there is another reason that your father wants you to return.”
    Summer eyed him curiously, but said nothing.
    “The immortals are up to something. There have been rumors that they plan to declared war on the wolves. There is to be a gathering of the packs at Beaver Creek. Your father wants you there so that you can be married at that time.” Anton reached for her hand.
    “He felt it was the best time to seal the arrangement with the Vilkas , especially with the trouble that’s brewing.”
    “So that’s why they are so anxious to get me back there?”
    “Partly,” he admitted, “but I think that they are concerned for your safety too.”
    Summer decided it was time to change the subject.
    “So you think these murders have something to do with that?”