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393 pages, Hardcover
First published April 15, 2014
“Say you love me, vampire girl,” he whispered, his voice low and husky. “Tell me...that this is forever.”That sad, sad moment when your favorite YA vampire series turns into a soap opera.
“I love you,” I said immediately. “And if we have forever, there’s no one else I want to spend it with.”
“Puppy, I am getting so tired of listening to you whine about this,” he snarled at Zeke. “This isn’t rocket science. If you don’t want to be a monster, don’t be a bloody monster! Be an uptight stick in the mud like Kanin. Be a self-righteous bleeding heart like Allison. Or you can stop agonizing about it and be a fucking monster."See? Jackal represented the POV that I feel a lot of readers can understand. Kagawa made Allie to be a weak character, an unreasonable one, a stubborn one, and while I respect her choice as the writer to create her character in this way, I cannot love Allie knowing her incredible faults.
“Two lives for the rest of the world?” he continued. “Are you willing to sacrifice everything to save one and destroy another?”Allie needs to get her fucking priorities straight. I remained angry at Allie throughout the book because she was such an immature, madly romantic, wildly emotional and angsty character. She has her eyes on the prize: the prize being Zeke. The rest of the world? The fate of the world? Fuck them. All she cares about is Zeke.
“I want you to understand exactly what you are deciding, right now. If we return to the city for Jackal and Ezekiel, Sarren could reach Eden, complete whatever he is planning, and unleash a virus that could destroy everything. And if that happens, everything we’ve done here will be for nothing. Do you understand that?”It's pretty fucking clear. If Allie goes back, she risks endangering everything they've been fighting for. They are the last people who stand a chance at stopping Sarren. Without them, there is no hope. The fate of vampires and that of the surviving human rests on them. If they fail, the results are disastrous.
“I just want you to understand the potential consequences of tonight,” he went on. “If we are killed, if we cannot get to Sarren in time, everything could die. It will be like it was sixty years ago. You aren’t old enough to remember the days Before, but when Red Lung was at its peak, the entire world was madness and chaos. And when the rabids appeared, it became hell on earth.”Kanin makes it perfectly clear. It's up to them.
“It is...a very heavy weight to carry, Allison, the damnation of a world. I want you to be very certain, before we go any further. Is it worth it? Is he worth it?”And Allie's choice?
I already knew my answer. It was selfish, it was unreasonable, and I knew it was the wrong choice. But I looked up at Kanin, into his impassive face, and whispered, “Yes.”I am fucking DONE with Allie.
“You are willing to let others die for this. To let Sarren win.”
“I’m a demon, and the sooner I take myself out of this world, the better.”*While Zeke was crying, Khanh slowly switched her instrument to a cello. Khanh stops playing and bashes Zeke on the head with it*
“I only have to understand one thing—I’m a demon. I may not have wanted it, but it’s what I am now.”
“This is what I am, Allison! I’m a demon—you know it as well as me.”
“I’m terrified that I won’t be able to fight this, that I’ll turn into a demon and lose my soul forever, if it’s not already gone."
“Still incredible, vampire girl,” he whispered, sounding almost like himself again. “Dangerous, beautiful and unstoppable. You haven’t changed.”Jackal interrupts them to tell them to get their heads out of their asses and get back into the fucking moment.
“Oh, isn’t that sweet,” came Jackal’s loud, mocking voice before I could reply. “Let’s make goo-goo eyes at each other in the middle of a stinking corpse field, how very romantic.”I felt like Jackal was saying everything I was thinking. Every time Zeke or Allie have one of their nauseatingly self-pitying moments, Jackal is there to mock them to their face.
“Aw, isn’t that sweet.” And Jackal sauntered into view, smirk firmly in place. “But don’t wait around on my account. It’s not like I can’t wait for yet another riveting night of listening to you people whine at each other. Oh, woe is me, I’m a vampire. I’m a horrible monster who eats babies and murders bunnies, boo hoo hoo.”I would be ever so happy if Jackal had his own spinoff.
The door loomed dead ahead, and I didn't stop. I didn't pause to reconsider my plan. Whether I was walking into a trap or straight to my death. Katana at my side, I strode up to the door and kicked it below the knob. It flew open with a crash, nearly ripped off its hinges, and I stepped into the room.
"Hey old man," Jackal called in a mocking voice, "you forgot to say 'if you kids don't stop I'm going to turn this car right around and then no one will go to Eden.'"
I slumped in relief, then turned...to face a squadron of suspicious, hard-eyed soldiers, their assult rifles already trained on us all.
I didn't answer, walking faster to get away from him, and he quickened his pace to keep up.
“Come on, sister, where’s that obnoxious morality you kept throwing in my face every two seconds? You’re making it very difficult to take any sort of pleasure in mocking it relentlessly.”
Ignoring the pain, I snatched my katana from where it lay on the hood and roared a challenge to the giant bearing down on me. As it loomed overhead, smashing down with a huge fist, I dodged aside, and its arm crunched into metal, leaving a deep hole behind.
The smell of blood grew thicker once we were past the wall, though nothing moved on the narrow path that snaked between houses. The flimsy wood and tin shanties were silent, dark, as we ventured deeper, passing snow covered porches and empty chairs. Everything looked intact, undisturbed. There were no bodies. No corpses mutilated in their beds, no blood spattered over the walls of the few homes we ducked into. There weren't even any dead animals in the tiny, trampled pasture past the main strip. Just snow, and dark, and emptiness.
And yet, the smell of blood soaked this place, hanging thick on the air, making my stomach ache and the Hunger roar to life. I bit it down, clenching my jaw to keep from snarling in frustration. It had been too long. I needed food. The scent of blood was driving me crazy, and the fact that there were no humans here made me furious. Where were they? It wasn't possible that an entire outpost of mortals would up and disappear without a trace.
And then, as we followed the path around the pasture and up to the huge barn at the top of the rise, we found the townspeople.
A massive, barren tree stood beside the barn, twisted branches clawing at the sky. They creaked and swayed beneath the weight of dozens of bodies, hanging upside down from ropes tied to the limbs. Men, women, even a few kids, swinging in the breeze, dangling arms stiff and white. Their throats had been cut, and the base of the tree was stained black, the blood spilled and wasted in the snow. But the smell nearly knocked me over regardless, and I clenched my fists, the Hunger raking my insides with fiery talons.
"Well," Jackal muttered, crossing his arms and gazing up at the tree, "isn't that festive." His voice was tight, as if he too, was on the edge of losing it. "I'm guessing this is the reason we haven't found a single bloodbag from here all the way back to New Covington." He growled, shaking his head, lips curling back from his fangs. "This guy is really starting to piss me off."
I swallowed the Hunger, trying to focus through the gnawing ache. "Why James, don't tell me you feel sorry for the walking meatsacks," I taunted, because sometimes, goading Jackal was the only thing that kept my mind off everything else. He snorted and rolled his eyes.
"No, sister, I'm annoyed because they don't have the decency to be alive so I can eat them."
VENGEANCE WILL BE HERS
Allison Sekemoto once struggled with the question: human or monster?
With the death of her love, Zeke, she has her answer.
MONSTER
Allie will embrace her cold vampire side to hunt down and end Sarren, the psychopathic vampire who murdered Zeke. But the trail is bloody and long, and Sarren has left many surprises for Allie and her companions—her creator, Kanin, and her blood brother, Jackal. The trail is leading straight to the one place they must protect at any cost—the last vampire-free zone on Earth, Eden. And Sarren has one final, brutal shock in store for Allie.
In a ruined world where no life is sacred and former allies can turn on you in one heartbeat, Allie will face her darkest days. And if she succeeds, triumph is short-lived in the face of surviving forever alone.
April 29th 2014
And the monster rose up, embracing my pain, turning it to vengeance. This is what we are, it whispered, easing the despair threatening to crush me. We are vampires. We are not human, we do not need human emotion, we do not get attached to human beings. You knew that from the beginning.
I did. Allie the Fringer knew that, even before she was Turned. She'd tried to warn me to keep my distance, to guard my heart.
Lesson learned. I was a monster. I would never forget that again.
You can't save anyone now. The requiem has started, and when the last melody plays, the only applause will be sweet, eternal silence.["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>
-Sarren
“I am proud of you, Allison Sekemoto,” he whispered “Whatever you decide, whatever path you choose to take, I hope that you will remain the same girl I met that night in the rain. The one decision for which I have no regrets.”
“If we are talking about choice and regret, what has happened cannot be undone. And dwelling on the past changes nothing. You will only drive yourself to insanity if you do.”
“You know,” Jackal said, kicking a rabid in the face, sending it reeling, “it seems that whenever I’m with you, I’m constantly fighting my way into places I really don’t want to be. The sewers, the Prince’s tower, a bloody freaking church.”
“No.” Kanin’s voice was suddenly hard, terrifying. “You are simply using your demon to hide from what you really feel. Because you are afraid of what that means, that it might be painful. It is far easier to be a monster than to confront the truth.”
"Everything that's happened - from New Covington, to Eden, to here - is your fault, vampire girl. Jebbadiah is dead, because you couldn't save him. Kanin was tortured and nearly killed, because you had to see if Stick was all right, and he betrayed you both to the Prince. Everyone in Eden is going to die, because you let Sarren get away." His eyes glittered with hate. "And I... I'm dead, because you came into my life, and I was stupid enough to fall in love with a monster. You killed me, Allie. Not Sarren. I'm a vampire now, because of you."
Every word, every accusation, hit like a knife, slicing me open. But the last nearly dropped me to my knees. Tears blurred my vision, and I turned from Zeke, slumping against a section of roof that had fallen in. My fault. Jackal had been right. It was my fault that Zeke was dead, my fault for everything.
"Watch me, Zeke. I'll send your killer to hell, and I'll smile while I'm doing it."
"Sarren is not going to win. I am not giving our forever to that sick bastard. this isn't over yet.
"Does it matter?" asked Jackal behind us. "Who cares what he's up to? He can be planning to fill the world with puppies, and I'm still going to rip the shriveled black heart from his chest and shove it down his throat until he chokes on it."
Raising his head, he bellowed into the room: "Hey, minions! Daddy's home and he's not happy! But because I'm such a nice guy, I'm going to give you a choice. You can make it easy for yourself and blow your brains out right now, or I can slowly twist your head around until it pops right off your neck. Your move!"
"Oh, heads are going to roll for this. I'm going to set up a special lane and use their skulls for bowling balls."
“Oh, isn’t that sweet,” came Jackal’s loud, mocking voice… “Let’s make goo-goo eyes at each other in the middle of a stinking corpse field, how very romantic.”
“Go ahead, tell him that everything is going to be fine. All the meatsacks are perfectly content on their happy little island, Sarren has given up world destruction to raise kittens, and the magic wish fairy will wave her wand and turn shit to gold.”
“I’m still going to eat them. How much is going to depend on how seriously they piss me off by the time I get in there.”
“Puppy, I am getting so tired of listening to you whine about this,” he snarled at Zeke. “This isn’t rocket science. If you don’t want to be a monster, don’t be a bloody monster! Be an uptight stick in the mud like Kanin. Be a self-righteous bleeding heart like Allison. Or you can stop agonizing about it and be a fucking monster.”
4.5 “Now, can we please move past this and get on with saving the world?” starsThis is it. The end of Blood of Eden. The end of Allie. Kanin. Zeke. Jackal.
And as Julie says "As you probably know by now, your tears feed my muse."
"I will make your little bird sing for and hour. Her song will seep into the very walls and will remain here forever, and everyone who hears it will know how much she wanted to die. The longer this goes on, the longer her music will last, until she is begging for it to end. But it will not end, as long as you are still alive."
"But perhaps a song is worth a thousand pictures, hmm? Show her what I mean, Ezekiel. Sing for us."
Humans meant nothing to me, not anymore. They were food, and I was a vampire. I was done pretending that I was anything less than a monster.
But I would kill Sarren.
“Hey, vampire girl,” Zeke whispered, his voice slightly choked. “I knew...you’d come for me.”
* * *
This...can’t be real.
“You are so bloody frustrating!” he roared, back fisting another rabid with the axhead. “Do you really think the cure is worth this ? You think I’d be here now if that’s all I wanted?” He turned and sliced his weapon through the air, beheading one rabid and sinking it into another. “Get your damn head out of your ass, sister!” he seethed. “And give me a little fucking credit. That’s not why I’m here.” - Jackal
“It is...a very heavy weight to carry, Allison, the damnation of a world. I want you to be very certain, before we go any further. Is it worth it? Is he worth it?”
His words chilled me, but I already knew my answer. It was selfish, it was unreasonable, and I knew it was the wrong choice. But I looked up at Kanin, into his impassive face, and whispered, “Yes.”