#hyde chronicles

This one is from Rooked, the newest book in the Hyde Chronicles. Only a snipped this time.

The Pawn's Play trailer

Sort of a behind the scenes look from the Hyde Chronicles. Could take place in any book. First chapter of each book can be found on my website.

“Violet, are you almost done with the computer?”

I looked up at my roommate, Ilse. “Almost. Just need to finish one more paragraph. Two at most.”

Ilse nodded regally. I turned my attention back to the computer. Ilse remained standing there. Which surprised me a little, as her usual dedication to etiquette would normally have had her sit down, or walk away, or really do anything other than stand there staring at me.

Continuing to type, I cast a side glance over at her. She was staring at me. More specifically, she was staring at my neck.

I didn’t spend a lot of time thinking about the fact that Ilse was a vampire anymore, but she didn’t spend a lot of time staring at my neck, either. Her eyes were clear, no sign of her hunger tells. “Um, Ilse?”

“Yes, Violet?” Her eyes never left my neck.

Right, how did you ask a vampire if they were considering the food value of your neck? “Are you alright?”

“Perfectly fine.”

My typing was getting clumsy, with typos multiplying. I saved my paper, I could work at it later. “I’m done. Computer’s yours.” Jumping up and away, I offered her the seat.

Ilse glided over, eyes still on my neck. “Thank you.”

Okay, I had to ask. Before I really creeped myself out and possibly ruined a friendship. “Ilse? What are you staring at?”

The vampire froze. Ilse took a deep breath and pulled herself together. “I do apologize. Your necklace, I was attempting to count the beads.”

Automatically, I put a hand to my necklace. One I hadn’t worn since coming to Hyde. It was a fairly simple one, but it was made up of three or four strands of seed beads. Undoing the clasp, I handed it over. “Here, have fun.”

She took it, and immediately set it so that the strands were held separate and she could count them easily. Leaving her to it, I picked up my Bio textbook, and sat on the couch studying.

Five minutes later, Ilse gave me my necklace back. “Three thousand, five hundred twenty-three.”

“Um, thanks. I actually was a little curious now.” I put the necklace back on, relieved to discover that Ilse no longer seemed interested in it. “So, counting?”

Ilse gave an almost shrug. “I like to count things. It isn’t an obsession, but I do enjoy it.”

“Uh-huh. So, how many windows are in the dorm?”

“One hundred ninety-eight.”

“Stairs?”

“From here to the the ground floor is two hundred fifty steps, if you count the underground floors, then there’s three hundred twelve.”

I tried not to laugh. “Okay, Ilse. Not an obsession.” As I stood up, I accidentally knocked over one of the boxes of toothpicks Ilse used to make scale models of famous buildings. “Sorry, I’ll get that.”