Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 64030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 64030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 320(@200wpm)___ 256(@250wpm)___ 213(@300wpm)
“She bit you?”
“As far as I can tell.”
“How come you never said anything?” I asked.
“Would you?” he asked.
“Probably not.” I sighed. “I thought the same thing after Ronnie killed Deedee and attacked me. Montgomery Stark showed up and stopped him.”
“I figured something like that happened.” Jimmie scratched his head. “I just didn’t want to ask and upset you.”
“So what are we going to do?”
“About?” he asked.
“We can’t have vampires runnin’ ’round town, gobbling people up.”
“The way I see it, they’ve saved me twice. And now you. So how are they the threat when it’s humans who do most of the killin’?”
That was only partially true. It had been a vampire who almost killed Jimmie last night. “He wants me, Uncle Jimmie. Stark thinks I’m his reincarnated bride or something.”
“What’re you talkin’ about?”
“He says I smell like her—it’s what caught his attention.” I held back telling Jimmie that the only reason he’s alive is because I agreed to spend the night with Stark.
“Do you think you’re her?”
“Heck no,” I replied.
“Well, I think he’s a good man, Masie. You should give him a chance. True love is a rare thing.”
I blinked. What in the world had gotten into my uncle? “You think I should date him?”
“Why not?”
“Uncle Jimmie, the man’s a killer. He drinks blood. He…” It suddenly dawned on me that something more was happening here. My uncle was very protective. He would never advocate for me to go out with a dangerous creature. “Stark did something to you.”
“Yeah, he saved my ass.”
“No, I mean, he turned Ronnie. Did you know that? And as a gift to me, he brought Ronnie to my house and told Ronnie he had to obey me completely. It was some mind-control thing.” I left out the part about telling Ronnie to die and him actually dying.
“Well, I’m not under his control.”
“Really? Then why’re you encouraging me to hook up with Stark?” I asked.
“I was just sayin’ that the man can’t be so bad. He saved your life. He saved mine, too.”
“What if I told you I wanted to date Murrey Wilks? Would you be okay with that?”
Murrey was a guy in town who went to prison five years ago for murdering his parents. He claimed they were possessed by demons. The irony was that Murrey was a pastor and considered to be an upstanding citizen up until the murders.
“Why would I tell you to date that monster, Masie?”
See. My uncle would never want me to date a killer, but here he was pushing me to date a vampire? All they did was kill, kill, kill. Sure, maybe they saved a person every once in a blue moon, but so had Murrey. He’d saved hundreds of souls before being put away.
Uncle Jimmie’s been brainwashed.
“Never mind. I’m glad you’re feeling okay.” I turned to leave. “I gotta get to the Rooster and set up for the day. Joe has the lead tonight. I have some important business to take care of.”
“Tell him to call if he needs anything.”
It was a weeknight. “It should be slow. Either way, I think you need to stay home and rest.”
“I feel great. Thanks to Montgomery Stark.”
“Yep. A genuine hero.”
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Because I knew nothing about the effects of sipping on vampire blood, I was beyond worried for my uncle. Of course, my ignorance was something I intended to change tonight no matter the cost.
I looked in the mirror and adjusted my girls, which were pushed up so high they reminded me of weather balloons. “This bustier doesn’t leave much to the imagination, that’s for dang sure.” I turned and stared at my rear in the leather pants. I’d never worn anything this provocative, not even on Halloween when all my friends went as a pack of Daisy Dukes.
I put another bobby pin in my hair, which I wore up in a big topknot. My lips were bright red, to match my heels, and I’d taken great care to play up my dark eyes with smokey eyeshadow and thick lashes.
I took one last look in the mirror, hardly recognizing myself. You’re still you, Masie Kicklighter. Don’t let that nasty ol’ vampire convince you otherwise.
I grabbed my black satin clutch, the only one I owned, and added my lipstick, cell, ID, credit card, and new pepper spray. Thank you, Thomas. For once he’d come in handy.
At seven on the dot, a black sedan rolled up to the front gate. I buzzed the driver in and went outside to wait.
As I stood on my porch, I looked up at the sky, noting how the lack of moonlight made the stars shine brighter than ever. A great metaphor for my life. The darker things got, the more determined I became to show strength. Not that I was special. People around here always rallied when the going got tough—tornados, floods, the odd blizzard. We always pulled together, which made me wonder: What would the town do if they found out about vampires? What would the world do?