Blood Fever: The watchers

Authors: Veronica Wolff

A killer among us…

The door opened, cutting me off. I was ready to scowl—but then I saw who stood in the doorway. It was our headmaster. Silence smothered the room, sudden and complete.

Headmaster Claude Fournier rarely made an appearance in the classroom. This was unprecedented. Unheard of.

He didn’t bother with niceties; he just dug right in. “A girl has been discovered,” he said, only a hint of his French accent detectable. “Just beyond the cove. A dead girl.” His tone was flat, but his quiet delivery told me just how furious he was. “Somebody killed her, anonymously and without permission. Someone on this island bled her dry.”

I’d thought it was already silent—until we all held our breath. This was shocking news. Nobody on this island acted—or killed—without it being somehow sanctioned by the vampires in charge.

Sure, deaths happened all the time. But random, anonymous slaughter? There was no such thing. Nobody crossed the Directorate.

For Headmaster to stoop to a classroom visit meant this death had upset them. It meant this was a mystery.

And then an even more frightening question popped into my head: Why had he come to
this
class? Was he visiting all the classes? Why not just hold a general assembly?

The hairs on the back of my neck prickled. Headmaster Fournier scanned the room with his shuttered gaze. “The question is, who among us would want to see Guidon Trinity dead?” He pinned that icy stare on me.

My nerves became nausea.

ALSO BY VERONICA WOLFF

Isle of Night

Vampire’s Kiss

BLOOD
FEVER

the watchers

VERONICA WOLFF

NEW AMERICAN LIBRARY

N
EW
A
MERICAN
L
IBRARY

Published by New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.,

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First published by New American Library,

a division of Penguin Group (USA) Inc.

First Printing, August 2012

1 3 5 7 9 10 8 6 4 2

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form without permission. Please do not participate in or encourage piracy of copyrighted materials in violation of the author’s rights. Purchase only authorized editions.

REGISTERED TRADEMARK—MARCA REGISTRADA

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATION DATA:

Wolff, Veronica.

Blood fever: the watchers/Veronica Wolff.

p. cm.

ISBN: 978-1-101-59054-6

1. Women college students—Fiction. 2. Vampires—Fiction. I. Title.

PS3623.O575B58 2012

813’.6—dc23 2012008366

Set in Bembo

Printed in the United States of America

PUBLISHER’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

The publisher does not have any control over and does not assume any responsibility for author or third-party Web sites or their content.

ALWAYS LEARNING

PEARSON

For Ivan Wolff,

who treats me like his own kid,

and also for Susan Goldstein—

I might write books about women who fight,

but she’s a lesson in real guts and grace.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I owe so much to so many:

Thanks, as always, go to my amazing editor, Cindy Hwang, who gets it, then helps me get it on paper.

Publicist extraordinaire Rosanne Romanello, whose hard work and enthusiasm blow me away.

Leis Pederson and all the impressive talent working on Drew’s behalf at Penguin.

Robin Rue for the unflagging support, and Beth Miller, who’s a dream to work with.

I owe so much to Kate Perry—she’s been my critique partner from almost the beginning, and her wisdom and sparkle make my writing that much better.

It’s great to have a Viking in the family—thanks, Gudmundur Audunsson, for the continued Icelandic expertise.

Thanks to Iris Krause for help with German translation.

Big, grateful hugs to my friends: Tracy Grant for always being ready to brainstorm over palak paneer. Martha Flynn, Connie O’Donovan, Joey Wolff, Jami Alden, Monica McCarty, and Anne Mallory for being such encouraging early readers. And Carol Grace Culver, Barbara Freethy, and Bella Andre, who also always have my back.

Last but not least, this book wouldn’t be in your hands if not for the support of my dearest husband and partner, Adam.

BLOOD
FEVER
Table of Contents