Melissa Darnell - Crave

Savannah

A wave of pain rose up to slam into my stomach and chest, wiping the smile right off my face. This was an ache I knew far too well. It hit me every time he came within a hundred yards of me, usually before I even saw or heard him.

Michelle let out a dreamy sigh, confirming what my body already knew.

“Please let me trip him,” Anne muttered once she’d glanced back over her shoulder and spotted him, too.

I kept my gaze on Michelle, though the tiny blonde’s moonstruck expression was tough to watch. Anything to keep me facing forward.

Just a few more seconds and he’d pass right behind me. I told myself I didn’t care, even as my skin tingled with some secret knowledge all its own that he was drawing closer.

I groaned inside my head. How did he do this to me?

Tristan

Even in the middle of a noisy mass of students, one girl’s laugh grabbed my attention.

I couldn’t figure out how she did it. The hallway was loud, with at least a hundred students all talking and yelling in a space only a few yards wide and a hundred yards long. But every time Savannah Colbert laughed, the husky sound somehow managed to reach out and twist up everything inside me.

I and all the rest of the descendants of the Clann had been forbidden to have anything to do with Savannah. Supposedly she was a dangerous influence or something. Whatever she was, she was definitely on the Clann’s list of social outcasts. And Mom made sure I knew it, too, constantly pounding it into my head for the past five years to “stay away from that Colbert girl.”

And yet I couldn’t stop myself from turning to look at her now.

The Clann

Crave

Melissa Darnell

www.miraink.co.uk

As always, thanks goes out first to my hubby, Tim … not just for being my soul mate in every sense of the word, but also for being my best friend, the bouncing board I run all my plot ideas by, my confidant and therapist, the best short-order cook I’ve ever seen, the ultimate beta reader, not to mention so romantic you put me to shame and inspire me daily to write another story! Thank you for showing me just what a true romantic hero should be like! I thank God every day for bringing us into each other’s lives.

To my boys, Hunter and Alex … you gift me with tons of laughter and smiles and hugs every single day, fueling me to keep on keeping on. I hope that I can make you proud of your mother. I love you guys!

A huge THANK YOU also goes out to my editor, Natashya. You are truly one of the great unsung heroes in the publishing world, and this story would not be even half what it is without you! Thank you for believing in me and my characters and helping make them so much better. If they live on in even one reader’s mind, it is because of you and your genius suggestions! Also, thank you to everyone at Harlequin TEEN for your awesome ideas and creativity and support for this series!

Thank you to my agent, Alyssa Eisner-Henkin, for your enthusiastic support and all your hard work. You are an amazing and tireless warrioress for authors, and I am truly blessed to get to work with you!

To my friends Melissa, Mandi and Corrie … you have shown me the true meaning of lasting friendship over the years, no matter how much or little we had in common (or how bad I stank at sports!), and regardless of how time and miles and crazy schedules have separated us. I miss hanging out with you guys and think about y’all every single day.

And last, but NEVER least … thank you to my family. You have taught me how to be strong, have faith and have the courage to keep reaching for my dreams. Thank you for your love and your support!

Savannah

I edged closer to my unconscious boyfriend cuffed to a chair nearby.

My judges gathered in a tight half circle a few feet away. Probably so they could see me better as I failed their test.

The guard’s face looked bored, as if to say this was nothing personal. Which was a lie. This was totally personal. And all my fault.

He reached inside his inner jacket pocket and took out two items … a syringe and a scalpel. Their clear plastic protectors made loud snicks as he removed them.

I gulped, the air rushing in and out of my lungs in noisy gusts I couldn’t hide within the silence of the cold cement room.

The guard stepped closer to us. My thigh muscles tensed, the instinct to fight pulsing through me, and the guard’s eyes grew cautious. He knew I was desperate. But that didn’t make me stupid. The guard was big, built like a linebacker beneath his badly fitted suit. And even if I could somehow fight him off, my audience of judges would step in to stop me.

I struggled to breathe, calm down and think straight. Time for logic, not emotion.

Okay. So we were in deep this time. But we weren’t totally doomed. Yet. The judges had promised that I had only to pass one test, and then my boyfriend could go free.

An innocent boy who wouldn’t even be here if I hadn’t fallen in love with him. My fault he was in danger …

No, no time for a guilt trip right now. I had to focus on passing this test so we could go home.

Just one test to pass.

A test I was genetically destined to fail.

Savannah

The last day I was fully human started off like any other April Monday in East Texas. Oh, sure, there were all kinds of warning signs that my entire world was about to come crashing down around me. But I didn’t recognize them until it was too late.

I should have known something major was wrong when I woke up that morning feeling like utter crap, even though I’d just snagged a full nine hours of sleep. I’d never been sick before, not even with the flu or a cold, so it couldn’t be anything like that.

“Good morning, dear. Your breakfast is on the table,” Nanna greeted me as I shuffled into the kitchen. As usual, she was the ultimate in contradictions, her voice and smile a Southern mixture of sweetness and steel. Like your favorite old baby blanket wrapped around a mace. “Eat up. I’m going to go find my shoes.”

I nodded and plopped down into one of the creaky chairs at the table. When it came to cooking, Nanna rocked. And she made the absolute best oatmeal in the world, maple and brown sugar with a ton of butter just the way I liked it. But it tasted like flavorless mush today. I gave up after two bites and dumped it in the trash can under the sink seconds before she came back.

“Finished already?” she asked before slurping her tea. The sound grated over my nerves.

“Um, yeah.” I set the bowl and spoon in the sink, keeping my back turned so she couldn’t see the blush burning my cheeks. I was a horrible liar. One look at my face and she’d know I’d just thrown out the breakfast she’d made me.

“And your tea?”

Oops. I’d forgotten my daily tea, a blend that Nanna made just for me from the herbs she spent months growing in our backyard. “Sorry, Nanna, there’s no time. I still have to fix my hair.”

“You can do both.” She held out my mug, her cheeks bunched into a bright smile that didn’t do much to disguise the snap in her eyes.

Sighing, I took the cup with me to the bathroom, setting it on the counter so I could have both hands free to do battle with my wild, carrot-colored curls.

“Drink your tea yet?” she asked ten minutes later as I finished taming my hair into a long ponytail.

“Nag, nag, nag,” I mumbled.