Reaping Desires — Sarah Kahn

Normal is a word with much elasticity because in reality, everyone has their own definition. Left at an orphanage in Miami, Florida at the age of two with her younger sister, Nikita Morris doesn’t remember a thing about her parents. All she has is a beat up picture of a man and a woman she can’t relate to and a sister that looks nothing like her. Brought up by people she doesn’t know, she found the ability to build a family of her own in the group home she has learned to love, especially her best friend, Jessica Reynolds. From the time that they were young, it was obvious there was something different about Jessica but it didn’t stop Nikita from growing close to her. It was when the attacks began that Nikita saw who Jessica really was – a vampire hunter. Nikita hid in the shadows, watching as her best friend would take on the fearsome creatures. Jessica was her protector and it seemed as though it would always stay that way... until Nikita was bit. After her near death experience, not only did Nikita live through the bite of the vampire but the poison within the saliva had given her vampire-like qualities leaving her in a human-vampire limbo. Even a year after the change and the move to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Jessica keeps Nikita from harm’s way making Nikita feel less than special with her new found abilities. In return, Nikita starts to rebel and put herself in dangerous situations. That was until a shady, yet informative vampire named Gabriel warned her that there were prying eyes hiding in the shadows. That she wasn’t the only one hunting and she may very well be prey.