when the sun had been down for hours. A breeze offered some respite and brought with it the sweet scent of honeysuckle, a flower that bloomed nearly everywhere in town.
I was dressed in a green sports bra and matching running shorts, my red hair pulled into a ponytail. Tamara, as usual, was dressed in unrelenting black. She eschewed the term “Goth,” though she kohled her eyes, wore blood-red lipstick, and brought the word “sullen” to whole new level of meaning. Her hair was cut chin-length and colored raven-black except for the two cherry-red stripes on either side of her face. She also had one eyebrow and her belly button pierced with silver rings—and that was the compromise . My darling daughter had wanted her tongue pierced and a coiling snake tattooed on her ankle.
“I thought Jessica was coming with you tonight.”
“Nope. Her mother is still upset.” Jessica’s mother unexpectedly arrived in town yesterday evening and discovered that her daughter had been turned into a vampire. Not only that, Jessica had also gotten remarried—to one of the most gorgeous vampires on the planet—Patrick O’Halloran.
Patrick had an equally gorgeous twin brother, Lorcan O’Halloran, but he didn’t hang out with the townsfolk. After all, he was the rampaging beast who’d attacked eleven of us single parents, draining us of all blood and unintentionally killing us. If the Consortium—a sorta vampire Peace Corps—hadn’t rolled into town and brought several vampire Masters willing to Turn us—none of us would be alive. Well, undead .
Three months had passed since Lorcan yanked me out of my car and noshed on my neck. If you’ve ever read those romance novels where the soul-tortured vampire hero reluctantly brings his mortal woman to the Other Side—well, my experience was the exact opposite of that.
I had just returned from an ice cream run and had gotten out of my little VW bug. As I shut the door, I heard a shuffling noise, followed by a growl. There was nothing sexy about big, furry paws grabbing my hips and or sharp, icky teeth digging into my throat. The scariest thing about what happened was that I couldn’t see my attacker. I felt him—he’d been huge, hairy, snarling. When he was finished, he tossed me into the driveway and loped away.
Then I died.
The worst part was that I never got to eat that pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.
When I woke up, I was latched to the neck of a vampire named Mortimer. Yeah, I know—someone named Mortie saved my life. After Tamara got over the shock of my death and my vampification, she often crooned lines from “The Monster Mash” just to annoy me. As for Mortie, he’d returned to his wife in London and left my vampire lessons to the other Masters who’d decided to stick it out in Broken Heart.
Y’see, Lorcan had been suffering from the Taint, a terrible disease that only affected vampires. Everyone was scrambling for a cure, including the Consortium. They’d managed to rid Lorcan of it, but whatever they’d done seemed to only work for him.
After we got all the vampire stuff straightened out, the Consortium revealed it had been buying out residences and businesses in Broken Heart. They wanted to build the first ever paranormal community in the States. Over the summer, nearly all the human residents had moved out. The town was practically empty, its buildings under constant demolition and construction.
“Sunrise is in one hour,” said Tamara sternly, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“I know how to tell time.”
“I wasn’t sure,” she said drolly, “since you don’t have a watch.”
“I have acute vampire senses, thank you very much.” I did a few stretches and then jumping jacks.
“If your senses fail, then it’s ustulation via dawn’s early light.” She
I was dressed in a green sports bra and matching running shorts, my red hair pulled into a ponytail. Tamara, as usual, was dressed in unrelenting black. She eschewed the term “Goth,” though she kohled her eyes, wore blood-red lipstick, and brought the word “sullen” to whole new level of meaning. Her hair was cut chin-length and colored raven-black except for the two cherry-red stripes on either side of her face. She also had one eyebrow and her belly button pierced with silver rings—and that was the compromise . My darling daughter had wanted her tongue pierced and a coiling snake tattooed on her ankle.
“I thought Jessica was coming with you tonight.”
“Nope. Her mother is still upset.” Jessica’s mother unexpectedly arrived in town yesterday evening and discovered that her daughter had been turned into a vampire. Not only that, Jessica had also gotten remarried—to one of the most gorgeous vampires on the planet—Patrick O’Halloran.
Patrick had an equally gorgeous twin brother, Lorcan O’Halloran, but he didn’t hang out with the townsfolk. After all, he was the rampaging beast who’d attacked eleven of us single parents, draining us of all blood and unintentionally killing us. If the Consortium—a sorta vampire Peace Corps—hadn’t rolled into town and brought several vampire Masters willing to Turn us—none of us would be alive. Well, undead .
Three months had passed since Lorcan yanked me out of my car and noshed on my neck. If you’ve ever read those romance novels where the soul-tortured vampire hero reluctantly brings his mortal woman to the Other Side—well, my experience was the exact opposite of that.
I had just returned from an ice cream run and had gotten out of my little VW bug. As I shut the door, I heard a shuffling noise, followed by a growl. There was nothing sexy about big, furry paws grabbing my hips and or sharp, icky teeth digging into my throat. The scariest thing about what happened was that I couldn’t see my attacker. I felt him—he’d been huge, hairy, snarling. When he was finished, he tossed me into the driveway and loped away.
Then I died.
The worst part was that I never got to eat that pint of Ben & Jerry’s Chunky Monkey.
When I woke up, I was latched to the neck of a vampire named Mortimer. Yeah, I know—someone named Mortie saved my life. After Tamara got over the shock of my death and my vampification, she often crooned lines from “The Monster Mash” just to annoy me. As for Mortie, he’d returned to his wife in London and left my vampire lessons to the other Masters who’d decided to stick it out in Broken Heart.
Y’see, Lorcan had been suffering from the Taint, a terrible disease that only affected vampires. Everyone was scrambling for a cure, including the Consortium. They’d managed to rid Lorcan of it, but whatever they’d done seemed to only work for him.
After we got all the vampire stuff straightened out, the Consortium revealed it had been buying out residences and businesses in Broken Heart. They wanted to build the first ever paranormal community in the States. Over the summer, nearly all the human residents had moved out. The town was practically empty, its buildings under constant demolition and construction.
“Sunrise is in one hour,” said Tamara sternly, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“I know how to tell time.”
“I wasn’t sure,” she said drolly, “since you don’t have a watch.”
“I have acute vampire senses, thank you very much.” I did a few stretches and then jumping jacks.
“If your senses fail, then it’s ustulation via dawn’s early light.” She
Similar Books
