Page 49 of Foes & Cons
“Happens with what, Sadie?” says Roxy.
“InNever Leave,” she turns to me, her vampire eyes wide, “does Viggo get to Orion in time? Does Lila lose her connection to the ghost of Desvoria?What happens?”
Roxy looks round at me, but I can’t take my eyes off Sadie who just said a bunch of words that wouldn’t mean anything to anyone who hasn’t read that particularVampire Fallsfan fiction. Or anyone who didn’t write it.
“You’re readingNever Leave?” I ask.
“Uh-huh, but no, because I can’t see the final chapter,”she says, waving her phone again.
It’s been so long since I even thought aboutNever Leavethat I forgot it was still out there.
“How did you find it?” I say.
“Charlie showed it to me,” says Sadie.
I look at Charlie, who shrugs immediately and frowns.
“I didn’tshowit to her. I mean, I just explained what fan fiction is and she found it.”
“No, you said you’d show me something cool,” says Vampire Sadie, shaking her head, “and you found it on Wattpad and then we read the first three chapters together on your iPad, Charlie.”
“Oh,did you, Charlie?” says Roxy.
Charlie Chamberlain clears his throat and looks everywhere apart from directly at me.
“I’m reading it too,” says Vivian.
“What?” I say, gaping at her, my entire ecosystem turning on its head.
“It’s really good,” she says, raising an eyebrow. “When’s thefinal part going up?”
“It’s not,” I say, folding my arms.
Sadie steps forward and looks up at me, her red eyes burning into my soul.
“Why not?” she gasps.
“I . . . I just stopped writing it,” I say, wondering if I should beg for my life.
“Why?”
Damn these children and their incessant questioning.
“Because . . . I just did,” I said.
“When?” demands Sadie.
I swallow, desperately trying not to look at Charlie Chamberlain.
“About a year ago, I guess.”
“Butwhy?” implores the tiny vampire.
Why indeed, Sadie, I think as my eyes flick to Charlie Chamberlain of their own accord, much like my memory has a tendency to do.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
LILA MURPHY
