A Gift of the Darkest Magic Read Free

her, but she knew how empty those words must
    sound. Love wasn’t something replaceable. Marsha gave her a little, sad smile.
    They left the house and climbed into Caren’s small blue Toyota. Her favorite angry metal
    band began screaming from the speakers. She quickly flipped the radio off. Clarissa was a
    country music girl all the way, so they seldom listened to the radio together; death metal and country never found common ground. Clarissa’s palms were sweating, so she wiped them on her
    skirt.
    A Gift of the Darkest Magic

    8

    “I told Tiffany I’d pick her up. She said she doesn’t need a ride home. They have a
    courtesy service to take donors home after they check out with a clean bill of health. I guess vampires are more conscious than the movies would have us think,” Caren teased, but the words only increased the thick tension in the car.
    “You just had to go there?” Clarissa growled at her sister.
    Caren shrugged. She turned the corner and they pulled up in front of Tiffany’s apartment
    building. The short redhead came out of her door. She was wearing a short, red leather skirt and fishnet stockings. She wore a corset style top, and her breasts looked ready to spill out of it at any moment. Clarissa noticed a large hoop ring in her nose and a smaller hoop in her eyebrow.
    The woman’s hair was a riot of curls, and she wore thick black eyeliner and the reddest lipstick she’d ever seen. Clarissa was shocked. She’d only seen the woman at PTA meetings, but this
    wasn’t the Tiffany Morgan she knew.
    “Hi.” Tiffany giggled as she slid into the back seat. “Ground rules, you don’t make eye
    contact with anyone. You don’t tell them you know what they are. You don’t ask for blood. You don’t say the word blood. Any questions?”
    “How are we supposed to get blood if we can’t talk about it?”
    “I have a few regulars that have special…feelings for me. A bond grows from regular
    donations to the same vampire. There’s something about the magic, if I ask and bring you the
    blood, it doesn’t work. Since it’s for someone you love, you have to be willing to sacrifice
    something for the blood given to you. I’ll do the talking. One or both of you might have to
    donate for it. I promise you won’t suffer any lasting harm. You might even like it. I do.”
    “How can you let strangers bite you? You have kids, aren’t you worried you’ll get a
    disease?” Clarissa asked. Tiffany laughed with genuine amusement. Clarissa didn’t see anything funny about her question. “I’m serious.”
    “I know, and I appreciate the concern. They aren’t like us. I don’t know how much you
    both believe, but these are not humans who might have AIDS. We’re going to a vampire club
    tonight, ladies. Yes, vampires live in our small, sweet Midwestern town. Vampires are
    everywhere. They have the resources to stay hidden, but they exist. This is dangerous. They
    aren’t going to like it that you know. I thought it would just be Caren and me going in. This is even trickier with two of you. We have to avoid drawing attention from the more powerful ones.
    My particular vamps are small fries, young vampires. They’re more likely to be sympathetic,
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    9

    because they still remember being human. Old ones, like Lord Drago, are more likely to kill you first and ask questions later. We could all die, for real, so please don’t do anything stupid.”
    “Oh, anything stupid like going into a place supposedly run by blood sucking movie
    monsters? Gee, let me jot that down,” Clarissa said sarcastically.
    “If you’re not going to believe me, I’m not getting you in. This isn’t a game, and these
    aren’t just lonely gothic teens looking for a thrill. This is for real. The people in the club, most of them are vampires. You’ll see once you get inside, but you have to promise me you’ll trust me and not get us killed. I’m not kidding. This isn’t a prank or a joke. This