Killing the memories. The vampire focused on me, questioning, its eyes draining of life already, and a flicker of recognition passed across its face. Fast reflexes, stronger than human women, immune to the mist – it knew what I was. The pain of betrayal was the last emotion it displayed before its face went slack, […]
I nodded and read the papers again. This piece of land, this age-old cemetery, had belonged to a human. He’d been about ninety when he died, and the land had been transferred from one generation to the next. “Has Mrs. Bluegrain contacted you?” I asked. Mr. Williams nodded. “Yes.” I saw him roll the word […]
I carried a lot of heat. I had a gun in a holster under my jacket and another tucked into my waistband at the small of my back. But guns didn’t work on vampires. Their ability to heal rapidly was a pain in the ass when it came to self-defense or hit jobs. The vampire’s […]
He looked around himself as if he was unsure where to stand. He was only human. He couldn’t feel what I could feel now that I was on higher ground. A ripple traveled through the ground and shivered over my skin. Maybe this was what they were talking about. “Please, call me Amber, Mr. Williams.” […]
I flipped my hair over my shoulder to get it out of the way. In the tussle, I’d lost the hairband that kept my black mass of hair out of my face. I killed for a living, and my biggest stumbling block was keeping my long hair out of the way. Beauty was a bitch. […]
A thin man with graying hair and round glasses waved at me with a hand over his head when I reached the top. He was standing under a lone tree that had grown on the top of the hill, the only tree left in the whole cemetery. The rest had been removed to make space […]
Blue and red lights suddenly danced on the street at the alley entrance, and we both froze. The battle between us was one thing; neither of us wanted the police involved. I didn’t, because my work had a lot of moral pitfalls. The vampire didn’t, because when a vampire and a human were caught in […]
The cemetery was gloomy, even when the sun was bright overhead. We’d been warned to stay away as children – the ghosts could drag you under and you’d never see the light of day again. With what we knew of magic, we believed them. Now the stories seemed ridiculous. Gray tombstones sprouted from the ground […]
The vampire tried to dodge me and escape, but I had the upper hand. I knew about the vampire’s speed; it had underestimated mine. I was in front of it before it could get past me. It skidded to halt, gaping at me. In a life-and-death fight, there isn’t a lot of time for questions. […]
Fern was being stupid. I knew why she wanted to get out. Hell, we had seen her fire – her eagerness to leave – since she was a child. My mom used to warn her mom that she was going to be trouble. She should have been a fire talent and left earth to the […]