Min's Vampire Read Free Page B

not painfully vivid. But his human life was lost to him. All but
a few faded, dubious images remained.
    He could hear their every word, though
the blonde kept her mouth shut, and the witch was busy keeping an
eye out for him. He could still hear the blonde’s heart inside her
chest, racing still with fear. Its beat fluttered at every stray
sound.
    But he couldn’t hear the
witch’s heart. She was human, he could smell that clear enough. But
somehow her heartbeat was mute to him. He shook his head. Unimportant. What is important is following her
home to watch her there . The better he knew
her, the better he could hunt her, the better he’d be at seducing
her when the time came.
     
    ~*~
     
    Min stood at the door to the blonde’s
apartment building. A rundown husk of a building, yet the walls
were of stone, and the windows were good. It would keep its
inhabitants warm and safe, if nothing else.
    Blondie took her keys out of her purse
and then hesitated before walking up the steps to the front door.
“What if he’s waiting for me?”
    “ His kind can’t get in if
they’re not invited.”
    The blonde looked at Min
mystified.
    “ Just don’t invite him in,”
Min snapped. “You’ll be fine.”
    The blonde shook her head and grasped
the sleeve of Min’s jacket. “I saw what he can do.”
    You have no
idea...
    “ There’s no way I can defend
myself against that.” She wouldn’t let go of Min’s
sleeve.
    Min reached out and pried the blonde’s
hand from her jacket and then handed it back to her. “Just stay in
at night for a week or two. By then I’ll have taken care of
him.”
    “ But how can you
know—”
    “ He’s after me now.” The prickling
truth of what she’d just said froze Min to the core. What have I gotten myself into? “So, don’t worry. You’re safe. Just stay inside
for a while and it’ll all blow over.”
    “ Really?” The blonde sounded
so relieved.
    I should belt you in the
teeth right now! But instead Min said, as
reassuringly as she could, “Really.”
    The blonde threw her arms
around Min and pulled her tight into an uncomfortable yet heartfelt
embrace. Ah, cripes. Next she’ll be naming
her cat after me!
     
    ~*~
     
    The vampire watched as the witch left
the blonde at her apartment building, watched as she strode quickly
yet elegantly along the sidewalks. Her boots clicked neatly as she
crossed streets. Her dark silk skirt billowed, and her long leather
coat whipped behind her like a cloak. Her gait never lengthened,
her pace never quickened. She wasn’t acting afraid. But, then
again, she hadn’t stopped to call him out from the shadows,
either.
    Luca moved in behind her, maybe twenty
feet back, and fell into step with her as she turned a corner and
headed heedlessly down a long, dank stretch of urban jungle. He was
not the only monster out that night: drug dealers, pimps,
gangbangers, corrupt cops.
    Luca picked up his pace. He wanted to
reach out and shake her. It was fine for him to want to kill her;
he was almost positive he was going to bring her back as one of the
undead. He would have to work fast—ridicule her and dodge her
fireballs…and anything else she could find to drop on his
head.
    But as he picked up his
pace, so did she. Odd… He hadn’t expected her to bolt. She seemed so self-possessed
and bold. Rushing away from a pursuer, even a killer vampire,
didn’t seem like something she would do.
    He started to run, using his
preternatural speed to catch up to her. But still he could not
overtake her. She didn’t seem to be running, merely walking at a
normal gait. Luca stopped and listened. The witch’s breathing
hadn’t quickened. And then he sniffed the air.
    Nothing.
    He stopped and gritted his
teeth. No perfume, no flesh, no
blood .
    Whatever it was he’d chased, whatever
it was that walked away from him even now, it wasn’t
her.
    A glamour! He chastised himself. This
one is tricky...
     

Chapter 4
    When Min got home she pulled her thick,
oak