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TasteBy Kate Evangelista
Description:
At
When
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Taste
Excerpt
I mentally stomped on the
intimidation their perfection brought into my mind and said, “Excuse me.”
The group froze, startled by
my words. The girls had their brows raised and the boys stopped mid-speech,
mouths agape. They stared at me with eyes the shade of onyx stones.
I smiled and gave them a
little wave.
The boy a step ahead of the
rest recovered first. His stunning features went from shocked surprise to
intense interest. He reminded me of a hawk eyeing its prey. I gulped.
“A Day Student,” he said, his
eyes insolent and excited.
Something about the way he
said “Day Student” made my stomach flip. “Excuse me?”
They snickered. The boys
looked at each other while the girls continued to stare, muffling their
laughter by delicate hands. I seemed to be the butt of some joke.
“You broke the rule.” The
boy’s grin turned predatory.
The students formed a loose
semi-circle in front of me. My gaze darted from face to face. Hunger filled
their eyes. The image of lions about to chase down a gazelle came to mind. I
mentally shook my head. I was in the mountains not the Serengeti for crying out
loud.
I took a small step back and
cleared my throat. “Can any of you give me a ride back to the dorms?”
The boy wagged his forefinger
like a metronome. “Ah, that’s unfortunate for you.”
One of the girls pinched the
bridge of her nose. “Eli, you can’t possibly—”
“It’s forbidden, Eli,”
another boy interrupted, pronouncing the word “forbidden” like a curse.
The nervous murmur at the pit
of my stomach grew louder. Six against one. Not good odds. Instinct told me to
cut my losses and run. Bad enough I faced expulsion, now it seemed like weird,
beautiful people who’d suddenly appeared on campus wanted to beat me up. No,
scratch that. Judging from the way they studied me, beating me up wouldn’t
satisfy them. Something more primal prowled behind their looks.
I definitely wasn’t going
down without a fight. Years of self-defense and hand-to-hand combat classes had
me prepared. While other children from rich and important families got
bodyguards, I got defense training. But I think my father meant for my skills
to go up against potential kidnappers, not against other students who may or
may not be crazy. Oh God! Maybe I stepped into a parallel universe or something
when I reentered Barinkoff.
“None of the students are
supposed to be on campus,” I said. Then, realizing my mistake, I added, “Okay,
I know I’m not supposed to be here either. If one of you gives me a ride back
to the dorms, I won’t say anything about all this. Let’s pretend this never
happened. I didn’t see you, you didn’t see me.”
“We’re not ordinary
students,” Eli answered. “We’re the Night Students.”
He’d said “Night Students”
like the words were capitalized. I didn’t know Barinkoff held classes at night.
What was going on here?
Eli smiled with just one side
of his mouth and said to the group, “She’s right, no one will have to know.
We’re the only ones here. And it’s been so long, don’t you agree?”
The rest of them nodded
reluctantly.
“What’s been so long?” I challenged.
I fisted my hands, ready to put them up if any of them so much as twitched my
way.
“Since the taste of real
flesh passed through my lips,” Eli said. He came forward and took a whiff of me
then laughed when I cringed.
“Flesh.” Yep, parallel universe.
“Yes,” he said. “And yours
smells so fresh.”
Someone grabbed my shoulders
from behind and yanked me back before I could wrap my mind around the meaning
behind Eli’s words. In a blink, I found myself behind someone tall. Someone really
tall. And quite broad. And very male.
I realized he wore the same
clothes Eli and the other boys did. Not good. He was one of them. Although… I
cocked my head, raking my gaze over him. He seemed born to wear the uniform,
like he was the pattern everyone else was cut from. My eyes wandered to long,
layered, blue-black hair tied at the nape by a silk ribbon. Even in dim light,
his hair possessed a sheen akin to mercury.
I looked down. The boy’s long
fingers were wrapped around my wrist like a cuff. His fevered touch felt hotter
than human standards, hot enough to make me sweat like I was standing beside a
radiator but not hot enough to burn.
“I must be mistaken, Eli,”
the boy who held my arm said in a monotone. “Correct me. Did I hear you say you
wanted to taste the flesh of this
girl?”
A hush descended on us. It
had the hairs at the back of my neck rising. How was it possible for the
atmosphere to switch from threatening to dangerous? Unable to help myself, I
peeked around the new guy’s bulk. Eli and his friends bowed. They all had their
right hands on their chests.
“Demitri, I’m sure you
misheard me,” Eli said.
So the guy standing between
me and the person who said he’d wanted to taste me was named Demitri. I like
the sound of his name. Demitri. So strong, yet rolls off the tongue. Definite
yum factor.
“So, you imply I made a
mistake?” Demitri demanded.
“No!” Eli lifted his gaze. “I
did no such thing. I simply wanted to show the girl the consequences of
breaking curfew.”
“Hey!” I yelled. “Don’t talk
about me like I’m not here!”
Demitri ignored my protest
and continued to address Eli. “So, you threatened to taste her flesh.” His
fingers tightened their grip around my wrist. “In the interest of investigating
this matter further, I invoke the Silence.”
All six students gasped,
passing surprised glances at one another.
Before I could ask about what
was going on, Demitri yanked me down the hall toward the library. But why
there? Oh, maybe we were getting my things. No, wait, he couldn’t have known
about that. Everything was too confusing now.
Eli and the others didn’t try
to stop us when we passed them. Demitri’s cold command must have carried power.
Handsome and powerful, never a bad
combination on a guy.
We reached the heavy double
doors in seconds. He jerked one open effortlessly. I’d needed all my strength
just to squeeze through that same door earlier. To him, the thick wood might as
well have been cardboard. I raised an eyebrow and mentally listed the benefits
of going to gym class.
“Why are we here?” I asked
after my curiosity overpowered my worry. I’d almost forgotten how frightened
I’d been right before Demitri showed up. I wasn’t above accepting help from
strangers. Especially from gorgeous dark-haired strangers with hot hands and
wide shoulders.
Demitri kept going, tugging
me along, snaking his way deeper into the library. I had to take two steps for
every stride his legs made. I tried to stay directly behind him, praying we
didn’t slam into anything.
He stopped suddenly and I
collided with him. It felt like slamming into a wall.
“Hey,” I said, momentarily
stunned. “A little warning would be nice!”
He faced me, and I gasped.
His eyes resembled a starless night, deep and endless. Their intensity drilled
through me without pity, seeming to expose all my secrets. I felt naked and
flustered beneath his gaze.
“You could have died back
there,” he warned.
A lump of panic rebuilt
itself in my throat.
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Don't forget to check out the Trailer:
Song Credits: "Hunger" © Noelle Pico.
Full Download available at http://sheisnoelle.bandcamp.com
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When Kate
Evangelista was told she had a knack for writing stories, she did the next best
thing: entered medical school. After realizing she wasn't going to be the next
Doogie Howser, M.D., Kate wandered into the Literature department of her
university and never looked back. Today, she is in possession of a piece of
paper that says to the world she owns a Literature degree. To make matters
worse, she took Master's courses in creative writing. In the end, she realized
to be a writer, none of what she had mattered. What really mattered? Writing.
Plain and simple, honest to God, sitting in front of her computer, writing.
Today, she has four completed Young Adult novels.
Author Website: www.kateevangelista.com
Twitter:
@KateEvangelistaFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Kate-Evangelista/165693410143202
Find Taste on Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/13484226-taste
Crescent Moon Press page for Taste: http://crescentmoonpress.com/books/Taste.html
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