Bloody Lucky

By Cali Mann

Luck's a funny thing. 

 

Hunted by bullies and mourning the death of everyone I've ever loved, I am the least lucky vampire alive. Until I find a charm that turns my life upside down and brings me three men who were always meant to be mine.

 

Bloody Unlucky is a standalone short story in Cali Mann's bestselling Thornbriar Academy world. Expect bullies, romance, and surprises in this hot paranormal romance.

 

This story was previously released as part of the limited edition Into the Dark anthology. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Thornfire Publishing Co
• Release date: Aug 4, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201116033

Book preview

1

Chapter 1

Luck’s a funny thing. One never realizes how important it is until you lose it. I’d always remember the day I lost mine, the day I accidentally walked through a fairy ring. A week later, my parents didn’t come home, and my aunt packed everything I had into a box and took me to her house to live. I started a new school and tripped over my own feet on the way in the door. My aunt burned my breakfast every morning until she gave up and started serving me cereal. It was always stale. No use wasting good food on someone as unlucky as you, she’d say. And she was right.

I shook my head, my dark hair falling around my bare shoulders. That was a long time ago. Now, I knew how to control the bad luck. If I punished myself first, the luck didn’t need to. That’s why I was burning out here in the hot sun, my vampire skin frying. Of course I’d been born an air shifter, the only kind susceptible to the vampire virus and its sensitivity to sunlight. Sure I’d be able to turn into a bird after I was eighteen, but it was a small consolation now. .

Margarite! Dominic called, leaping from the tree into the pond. His lanky teenage form diving through the air into the pond.

Already in the water, Cameron dived to the side to avoid being plowed into by his brother, and I laughed, lying back on my blanket. It hurt out here in the sun, but I’d be a greater danger to them in the water.

The brothers looked alike, same long noses and strong jaws, but Dominic’s hair was darker. Long and lanky, they were in great shape, and I loved to watch them swim, cutting across the water of the pond. Cameron’s water element was evident in his skilled flips and dives, where Dominic only seemed to be having fun.

Dominic swam toward the edge, his exertion showing in his muscled shoulders. Why won’t you come in with us?

I lifted my book. You know why, Dom.

It’s just water, Cameron said, his sandy-brown hair flopping over his eye.

My luck . . . I shook my head. Just last week, Mr. Williams caught us in his shed. I blushed at the memory. Leaning back against Cameron while Dominic tasted between my legs had been exquisite bliss, but my luck couldn’t let me have that. Old Mr. Williams had come barging in with his shotgun and chased us off.

Dominic stepped out of the water, his tanned skin steaming. Though we wouldn’t shift until we turned eighteen, his internal flame burned the water right off him—a sign of just how strong his fire powers would be when he came into them. Shifters derived their powers from the elements of air, water, fire, and earth, and some from spirit but we rarely spoke of those. The twins were fire and water respectively, and when they were older would be able to transform into creatures of their element. Usually for fire, this meant a kind of rock creature, and for water, a sea mammal of some kind such as a shark or