MARK BY A HALF BLOOD

of the mirror, pullin

art po

r back. It felt too real. And when she woke up, her body was still trembling. T

nds, she lifted the

here

ma

ped like an old rune-a swirling symbol with sharp edges, int

he whispered, running

r. It pulsed. Like it wa

down, breathing hard. Th

eded a

person could

-

e Aunt Martina was in town. She sprinted across the

is wound himself, and his posture was more alert. As if t

as he se

're

o show you," she sa

, then her eyes, and then the tens

led her shirt collar aside

nt of

arp inhale

oice low and cautious.

ing after a dream. It was burning in

ng her, but inspecting the mar

st any mark. I

sea

the old world, those marks were used to protect-or to trap. But th

nked. "Wh

hesi

it quietly. "

assed bet

How could she have an

ne of you,

ied. "But maybe... you'

-

ndy snuck into Aun

ainting in the hall. The library was a room of secrets-filled with leather-bound books

but it was clear: this

record of

s. Half-bloods.

edicta, she found a page with a symbol

ead s

he curse of two worlds. Neither beast nor human. Not born

steppe

phe

he had only just arrived in Santa Fe. How co

e behi

oor c

thinking it

one was

ble beside her, wa

e. Just a wax seal in th

as a sin

the only one

-

ly slept t

house was heavier than usual. The chandelier

ibrary. She didn't say anyth

w she had se

ft again-early-returning to

k at it and cursed

g," he said. "Th

ed, voice strain

The Hu

e w

n, half-shadow. They don't belong to any race. Their only mi

y m

said grimly. "You're part of our wo

-

dden by thick vines and enchanted stones. A stone circle stood in

," he said. "This is wher

ully into the circl

sides. My mother was vampire. My father, a werewolf

iet sadness. "And now they'

lowly. "You don't

k I alr

filled with tension neither of them understood

nec

i

scream echoed th

snapped to

arm. "Go back to

not lea

eyes. "Then

like that

-

Cindy's heart pounded as they moved like s

no older than Cindy, lying against a tree. Lon

hu

weakly as th

"The ones with no faces. They're

y fr

stood between Cindy and th

you?" Cin

name is Liora. I was sent t

ore

was t

air

th skin like ash, eyes like coals, and no

ugh Cindy's mind a

nt