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Back The Hollows Series
Chapters (154)
  1. THE HOLLOW SERIES BOOKS 1–4
  2. Contents
  3. Dead Witch Walking
  4. Title Page
  5. Dedication
  6. One
  7. Two
  8. Three
  9. Four
  10. Five
  11. Six
  12. Seven
  13. Eight
  14. Nine
  15. Ten
  16. Eleven
  17. Twelve
  18. Thirteen
  19. Fourteen
  20. Fifteen
  21. Sixteen
  22. Seventeen
  23. Eighteen
  24. Nineteen
  25. Twenty
  26. Twenty-One
  27. Twenty-Two
  28. Twenty-Three
  29. Twenty-Four
  30. Twenty-Five
  31. Twenty-Six
  32. Twenty-Seven
  33. Twenty-Eight
  34. Twenty-Nine
  35. Thirty
  36. Thirty-One
  37. Thirty-Two
  38. Thirty-Three
  39. Thirty-Four
  40. Acknowledgements
  41. The Good, The Bad and The Undead
  42. Dedication
  43. One
  44. Two
  45. Three
  46. Four
  47. Five
  48. Six
  49. Seven
  50. Eight
  51. Nine
  52. Ten
  53. Eleven
  54. Twelve
  55. Thirteen
  56. Fourteen
  57. Fifteen
  58. Sixteen
  59. Seventeen
  60. Eighteen
  61. Nineteen
  62. Twenty
  63. Twenty-One
  64. Twenty-Two
  65. Twenty-Three
  66. Twenty-Four
  67. Twenty-Five
  68. Twenty-Six
  69. Twenty-Seven
  70. Twenty-Eight
  71. Twenty-Nine
  72. Acknowledgements
  73. Every Which Way But Dead
  74. Title Page
  75. Dedication
  76. Contents
  77. One
  78. Two
  79. Three
  80. Four
  81. Five
  82. Six
  83. Seven
  84. Eight
  85. Nine
  86. Ten
  87. Eleven
  88. Twelve
  89. Thirteen
  90. Fourteen
  91. Fifteen
  92. Sixteen
  93. Seventeen
  94. Eighteen
  95. Nineteen
  96. Twenty
  97. Twenty-One
  98. Twenty-Two
  99. Twenty-Three
  100. Twenty-Four
  101. Twenty-Five
  102. Twenty-Six
  103. Twenty-Seven
  104. Twenty-Eight
  105. Twenty-Nine
  106. Thirty
  107. Thirty-One
  108. Thirty-Two
  109. Thirty-Three
  110. Acknowledgements
  111. A Fistful of Charms
  112. A FISTFUL OF CHARMS
  113. Dedication
  114. Contents
  115. One
  116. Two
  117. Three
  118. Four
  119. Five
  120. Six
  121. Seven
  122. Eight
  123. Nine
  124. Ten
  125. Eleven
  126. Twelve
  127. Thirteen
  128. Fourteen
  129. Fifteen
  130. Sixteen
  131. Seventeen
  132. Eighteen
  133. Nineteen
  134. Twenty
  135. Twenty-One
  136. Twenty-Two
  137. Twenty-Three
  138. Twenty-Four
  139. Twenty-Five
  140. Twenty-Six
  141. Twenty-Seven
  142. Twenty-Eight
  143. Twenty-Nine
  144. Thirty
  145. Thirty-One
  146. Thirty-Two
  147. Thirty-Three
  148. Thirty-Four
  149. Thirty-Five
  150. Acknowledgements
  151. Keep Reading
  152. Also by the Author
  153. About the Author
  154. About the Publisher

“That’s not it,” she said flatly, and I nodded. That was part of it, but not all.

Kisten leaned forward; I could hear the chair creak. “You think you don’t deserve anything good,” he said, and my face went cold, wondering if there was more to this than I had thought. “Afraid you’re going to ruin every decent thing you get, so you’re going to stick with this shitty half relationship instead of seeing where it might go.”

“It’s not a half relationship,” Ivy protested.

He touched the truth, I thought. But that’s not what keeps her silent.

“Compared to what you might have, it is,” he said, and I heard someone get up and move. “She’s straight, and you’re not,” Kisten added, and my pulse quickened. His voice was now coming from where Ivy sat. “She sees a deep platonic relationship, and you know that even if you start one, you’ll eventually delude yourself into believing it’s deeper. She’ll be your friend when what you want is a lover. And one night in a moment of blood passion, you’re going to make a mistake in a very concrete way and she’ll be gone.”

“Shut up!” she shouted, and I heard a slap, perhaps of a hand meeting someone’s grip.

Kisten laughed gently, ending it with a sigh of understanding. “I got it right that time.”

His liquid voice, gray with truth, sent a shiver through me. Back up, I told myself. Back up and go play with the cat. I could hear my heartbeat in the silence. From the disc player, the song ended.

“Are you going to share blood with her again?”

It was a gentle, hesitant inquiry, and Ivy took a noisy breath. “I can’t.”

“Mind if I do?”

Oh God. This time I did move, pulling the canvas bag tight to me. Kisten already had my body. If we shared blood, it would be too much for Ivy’s pride. Something would break.

“Bastard,” Ivy said, pulling my retreat to a halt.

“You know how I feel about her,” he said. “I’m not going to walk away because of your asinine hang-ups about blood.”

My lips parted at his bitter accusation, and Ivy’s breath hissed. “Hang-ups?” she said vehemently. “Mixing sex with bloodletting is the only way I can keep from losing control with someone I love, Kisten! I thought I was better, but obviously I’m not!”

It had been bitter and accusing, but Kisten’s voice was harsh with his own frustration. “I don’t understand, Ivy,” he said, and I heard him move away from her. “I never did. Blood is blood. Love is love. You aren’t a whore if you take someone’s blood when you don’t like them, and you aren’t a whore for wanting someone you don’t like to take your blood.”