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Contents ( 114)
  1. THE HOLLOW SERIES BOOKS 1–4
  2. Contents
  3. Dedication
  4. Contents
  5. One
  6. Two
  7. Three
  8. Four
  9. Five
  10. Six
  11. Seven
  12. Eight
  13. Nine
  14. Ten
  15. Eleven
  16. Twelve
  17. Thirteen
  18. Fourteen
  19. Fifteen
  20. Sixteen
  21. Seventeen
  22. Eighteen
  23. Nineteen
  24. Twenty
  25. Twenty-One
  26. Twenty-Two
  27. Twenty-Three
  28. Twenty-Four
  29. Twenty-Five
  30. Twenty-Six
  31. Twenty-Seven
  32. Twenty-Eight
  33. Twenty-Nine
  34. Thirty
  35. Thirty-One
  36. Thirty-Two
  37. Thirty-Three
  38. Thirty-Four
  39. Acknowledgements
  40. THE GOOD, THE BAD,
  41. AND THE UNDEAD
  42. Dedication
  43. Contents
  44. One
  45. Two
  46. Three
  47. Four
  48. Five
  49. Six
  50. Seven
  51. Eight
  52. Nine
  53. Ten
  54. Eleven
  55. Twelve
  56. Thirteen
  57. Fourteen
  58. Fifteen
  59. Sixteen
  60. Seventeen
  61. Eighteen
  62. Nineteen
  63. Twenty
  64. Twenty-One
  65. Twenty-Two
  66. Twenty-Three
  67. Twenty-Four
  68. Twenty-Five
  69. Twenty-Six
  70. Twenty-Seven
  71. Twenty-Eight
  72. Twenty-Nine
  73. Acknowledgements
  74. Dedication
  75. Contents
  76. One
  77. Two
  78. Three
  79. Four
  80. Five
  81. Six
  82. Seven
  83. Eight
  84. Nine
  85. Ten
  86. Eleven
  87. Twelve
  88. Thirteen
  89. Fourteen
  90. Fifteen
  91. Sixteen
  92. Seventeen
  93. Eighteen
  94. Nineteen
  95. Twenty
  96. Twenty-One
  97. Twenty-Two
  98. Twenty-Three
  99. Twenty-Four
  100. Twenty-Five
  101. Twenty-Six
  102. Twenty-Seven
  103. Twenty-Eight
  104. Twenty-Nine
  105. Thirty
  106. Thirty-One
  107. Thirty-Two
  108. Thirty-Three
  109. Acknowledgements
  110. A FISTFUL OF CHARMS
  111. Also by the Author
  112. About the Author
  113. Copyright
  114. About the Publisher

Ivy blinked. Slowly she sat on the edge of the couch, her elbows on her knees and her forehead cupped in the cradle of her hands. Her thin body looked vulnerable in the light from the three candles on the table. Crap. It suddenly occurred to me that not only did she want a closer relationship with me, but that Kisten was her old boyfriend. “Ivy? Are you okay?”

“No.”

I cautiously sat on the chair across from her, the corner of the table between us. By any standards, this was a complete shitfest. I cursed silently, then reached out. “Ivy. God, this is awkward.”

She jumped at the weight of my hand on her arm, looking up with frighteningly dry eyes. I pulled back, laying my hand like a dead thing in my lap. I knew I shouldn’t touch her when she wanted more. But to sit and do nothing was so cold.

“It just kind of happened.”

Ivy touched her lip to see that it had stopped bleeding. “It was just sex? You didn’t give him your blood?”

The vulnerability in her voice struck me. My head bobbed. I felt like a doll, my eyes wide and my thoughts empty. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I didn’t think you and Kisten …” I hesitated. This wasn’t about the sex, but the blood she thought I had given him. “I didn’t think you and Kisten had a formal relationship anymore,” I fumbled, unsure if I was putting it right.

“I don’t share blood with Kisten but for the rare occasion when he’s been dumped and needs some TLC,” she said, her gray silk voice soft. Still she wouldn’t look up. “Blood is not sex, Rachel. It’s a way to show you care for someone. A way to show … you love them.”

It was barely a whisper. My breath grew fast. I felt we were balanced on a knife’s edge, and it scared the crap out of me. “How can you say sex isn’t blood, when you’ll have sex with anyone?” I said, adrenaline making my voice harsher than I intended. “Good God, Ivy, when was the last time you had sex without blood?”

Only now did she bring her head up, shocking me with the fear in her eyes. She was afraid, and not because she thought I’d given my blood to Kisten. She was afraid of the answers I was demanding. I don’t think she had faced them before, even in the chaos her desires had left her in. I felt hot, then cold. Pulling my knees to my chin, I tucked my bare heels against me.

“Okay,” she said with the last of her exhaled breath, and I knew the next thing she said would be stark honesty. “You have a good point. I usually include blood with sex. I like it that way. It’s a rush. Rachel, if you would only …” she said, her hands coming up from her knees.

I felt myself pale. I shook my head, and she changed her mind about what she was going to say. She seemed to deflate, all the tension pooling out of her. “Rachel, it’s not the same,” she finished weakly, brown eyes pleading.