Crimson Debt: Book 1 in the Born to Darkness series Read Free Page B

voice had that
tight sound you get when you’re trying to talk without crying.
“Could, uh, could I come over?” she asked. “Not to eat or anything.
Just to talk?”
    “Sure,” I said, repressing a sigh. My day had
started almost twenty hours ago with a dawn execution and I was
completely worn out. But I couldn’t say no to Taylor—after all, it
was my fault she was a vampire in the first place.
    “Okay. I’ll be at your place in twenty.”
    “See you there,” I said, sliding into my car
and starting the engine. “I’m on my way from my monthly inspection
of Under the Fang. ”
    “Oh, I’m sorry.” Taylor sounded concerned.
“Did Alec Corbin give you shit again?”
    “Like you wouldn’t believe .” I sort of
regretted telling my best friend about the perverse attraction
Corbin seemed to feel for me—mostly because I knew she couldn’t
keep secrets from her mistress—the vampire who had made her. But we
had always been each other’s confidants and it was a hard habit to
break. Besides, I reasoned to myself, what did it matter if other
vamps in Tampa knew Corbin seemed to have the hots for me? If
anything it would just prove that he was crazy—not that anyone
would dare to call him that to his face since he was the most
powerful vampire in the state.
    “We can talk about your shit first if you
want,” she offered, breaking my train of thought.
    “No, I think I’d be better off just trying to
forget it,” I said, thinking of Corbin’s offer to heal my scars. It
was true they were unsightly and hard to explain, which meant I
spent a lot of my time in long-sleeved shirts. In Tampa, where the
heat and humidity were a punishment to begin with, that was no
laughing matter. But saying so would only hurt Taylor’s
feelings.
    “Okay, then. Whatever you want.” She sounded
subdued again. I wanted to ask her what was wrong but I resisted
the urge to get the bitch session started over the phone. It was
late and I was tired. I should hang up and concentrate on
driving.
    “I’ll be there soon,” I said, wishing I could
promise her a pitcher of margaritas, extra salty, the way she used
to like them. But vampires aren’t able to ingest anything but blood
and sometimes a little weak tea or watered down wine so a trip to
Margaritaville was out of the question.
    “See you.” She hung up with a click and I
sighed, then put the cell back in my pocket. So much for going
straight to bed. From what I knew of Taylor and her current
troubles, it was going to be a long time before I visited
dreamland.
    As I navigated my way through Tampa’s
darkened streets, I remembered the night six years ago that had
started it all and how my best friend had become one of the living
dead in the first place.
     
    It had been a night not unlike this
one—meaning it was hot and sticky, too humid to go out. I had been
in favor of staying in our cozy little two bedroom apartment,
ordering pizza, and whipping up some frozen drinks in the blender.
But since my break-up with Todd, the guy I’d been sure was Mr.
Right for most of college and part of grad school, staying at home
was all I did.
    Taylor was always on me for moping around our
apartment and she pointed out that we needed to go cut loose and
have some fun, or as she put it, “Get off your ass and try to
forget about Prince Charming turning back into a frog.”
    I reluctantly agreed and when Taylor won some
tickets to see Celeste, Mistress of the Night’s Vampire
Bedazzlement on a radio show during her drive home, it seemed
positively providential. We went for the Goth-chic look, wearing
all black like the real fang freaks and Taylor even produced some
black lipstick and nail polish to top it off. By the time we got
out the door, nobody would have known the difference between us and
a couple of glam-heads looking for a fix.
    We were as giggly as a couple of school girls
as we entered the Embassy Suites banquet hall where the show was
being held. Celeste was a very strong