The Taste of Night Read Free Page A

Changed his mind.
    One last kiss for my daughter. A good-bye kiss.
    Good-bye, Livvy.
    He lowered his face to her cheek.
    And he let out a startled cry as her hands shot up. Her eyes opened wide. She grabbed him by the neck and tightened her fingers around his throat.
    â€œOhh—” he gasped.
    She stared up at him, and the fingers squeezed tighter, tighter…
    â€œNO!” he choked out, struggling to free himself from her grip. “NO! LIVVY—PLEASE! NO!”

chapter five
LIVVY’S GRADUATION PARTY
    â€œI LOVE THE BLUE EYE SHADOW. IT’S SO RETRO ,” Livvy said. She turned to her two new friends, Suzie and Monica. “How does it look?”
    â€œAwesome,” Suzie said. “But wait. You have lipstick on your chin.” She dabbed a tissue over the dark spot on Livvy’s chin. “There.”
    â€œIs that the cinnamon lipstick or the grape?” Monica asked. She shoved Suzie aside to get a better look at Livvy. “It’s so hard to tell in this light.”
    A single sixty-watt bulb hung on a long cord from the ceiling.
    Livvy took the tissue from Suzie and dabbed at her lips. “It’s black. For nighttime. My favorite time.”
    Monica grinned at Livvy. “My favorite time too. Partytime.” She licked her full, dark lips. Then she picked up her hairbrush and began running it through her long, straight black hair.
    â€œHey, it’s date night,” Suzie said.
    â€œEvery night is date night,” Monica said, “when you’re hungry.”
    Livvy turned to Suzie. “Are you coming with us?”
    â€œI think we should go out on our own,” Suzie replied. “See what’s out there. Check out the fresh meat. You know. And then we can meet later.”
    Livvy studied Suzie’s face, so pale, nearly white as snow. Suzie had been an immortal for a long time, for so long Suzie didn’t remember when she made the change.
    One night when the moon was still high in the sky, and the three girls had fed well and were feeling comfortable and full, Suzie told Livvy and Monica her story. She’d had a tough time, chased from town to town, nearly caught by vampire hunters in a city near Dark Springs.
    Her troubles showed on her face, Livvy thought. Suzie’s pale, papery skin was pulled tight against her skull, so tight her cheekbones nearly poked out. Her hair was patchy and thin. Her arms were as skinny as broom handles, her fingers bony, almost skeletal. Her eyes had started to sink back into their sockets.
    She tried to cover it up with loads of makeup and by wearing trendy clothes, young people’s clothes. And she stayed in the darkest corners of the night, swooping out only when prey was near. But Suzie was too far gone to hidethe fact that she was an immortal.
    That won’t happen to me, Livvy thought. I won’t let that happen to me.
    Livvy tossed back her blond hair with a shake of her head. She had cut it short—short as her sister’s—and she loved the way it felt now, light as a breeze. “Wish we had a mirror,” she murmured.
    Suzie laughed. “What good would that do? We don’t have reflections, remember?”
    The lightbulb over their heads flickered and went out. Livvy sighed. “The generator must have conked out again.”
    Some clever immortals had hooked up a power generator to the building across the street. The stolen electricity provided light for the whole building. But the generator was too small and kept blowing out.
    â€œWish we lived in a fancy hotel,” Monica said, still brushing her hair. “Instead of this empty apartment building. We could send down for room service. You know. Dial the phone and say, ‘Just send the waiter up. We don’t need any food.’”
    Livvy laughed. “Forget room service. I just want to live in a place where the lights stay on.”
    â€œLights hurt my eyes,” Suzie complained, furiously powdering