Bring on the Night by Jeri Smith-Ready

Author:Jeri Smith-Ready
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Vampires, Horror, Contemporary, General, Fantasy, Radio stations, Supernatural, Zombies, Occult fiction, Fiction, Occult & Supernatural, Paranormal
ISBN: 9781439163481
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Published: 2010-07-27T01:14:57+00:00

21

Pardon Me

That night, Shane and Regina took me home to collect my belongings, in preparation for a long recovery. Jeremy’s blood had given me the strength to walk in a straight line, at least temporarily.

Outside, the shadows had gained nuance and depth, as if yesterday the world had held only two and a half dimensions and was now appearing in true 3-D. I stared out the car window, eyes devouring the familiar new landscape with one burning new purpose: blood.

The Smoking Pig had become a hunting ground. In the bar’s dark, empty interior, the exit lights leaked red over a forest of upside-down chairs perched atop tables. As we passed the wide front window, I searched the chairs’ shiny wooden legs for reflected movement.

I fingered the car’s electric window switch, longing for a whiff of night air. The switch clicked, but the window didn’t budge.

I looked at Shane, sitting beside me in the backseat. He shook his head and tightened his grip on my wrist.

Regina glanced at me in the rearview mirror. “You’re lucky we let you come with us at all.”

I sighed and turned back to the window. The thought of drinking from a willing donor like Jeremy still made me feel gross and subservient. But the thought of tracking, hunting, and bringing down my own prey made the tips of my fingers and tongue tingle.

I pressed my nose to the cool glass. Sherwood might as well have been a ghost town—Sunday night plus a chicken pox scare meant there was nothing to see, move along now. But surely someone yummy would be walking a dog. Maybe my superstrength could force open the car door. Regina and Shane would catch up to me, but not before I had a taste.

Oh, who was I kidding? I didn’t even have fangs.

When I entered our apartment, my melancholy returned along with the last memories of my life as a human.

I slipped into the bedroom alone, leaving the door open. I set my open suitcase on the bed, where the sheets were still rumpled from sex and sleep. I wondered if I’d ever again feel like doing the former and would ever stop wanting to do the latter. Even now I wanted to sink onto the bed and let the dark steal my consciousness.

I wanted to be alone, something I would never truly be again.

On my nightstand lay two of the books I’d been using for my Eastern European History term paper. I slipped them into my suitcase, determined to finish the assignment. Even if I never graduated, I needed to do it for Aaron.

I turned away from the bed and went to the dresser. Shane entered the room as I was giving my underwear drawer a dull, unseeing stare.

“Need some help?” His voice and posture were one of a calculated calm, the way one acts around someone on the verge of a nervous breakdown.

I ran my hands through the silk nightgowns and lace teddies. My hypersensitive skin tingled at the feel, awakening memories of the material sliding between me and Shane.

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