Blood Life Seeker by Nicola Claire Read Free Book Online Page A

Jerome is the Westside Hapū's leader, he's big and gruff and rough around the edges, but he's got a heart of gold in there too.
    “He doesn't know yet. Rick has managed to keep this very quiet. They meet in secret, at night and off Hapū land. I only know because he talks in his sleep.”
    That little bit of information I didn't need to know, but I pushed it aside. None of my business. And anyway, how could I possibly talk? I slept with one of the undead.
    “What do you suggest I do, Celeste? You know how he feels about my current domestic situation. I can't help thinking he wouldn't hear me out on this one. Have you confronted him?”
    “He'll listen to you, Luce. You've been his best friend for so long. He looks up to you, he adores you. He'll listen to you, I know it.”
    I wasn't so sure any more. Maybe once upon a time, but lately Rick had been growing more distant, unable to comprehend why I would be in Michel's, the Master V ampire of the City's, arms.
    “I don't think I have that kind of sway any more, Celeste. I'm sorry.”
    “Please, Luce.” She was really crying now, I could hear the sobs between the words, the hitch in the breath, the whimper as she let it out. Crap.
    “OK. OK. I'll talk to him.”
    “Oh thank you, Luce. I know you'll make him see sense. I know you will.”
    I wasn't so convinced, but I didn't say it.
    “Look, I've got to get ready for work now, but I'll try to swing by the gym on my way home, OK?”
    “Yes, yes, that'll be great. Thanks, Luce. Thank you.”
    She hung up before I could say good bye. She'd accomplished what she rang for, she obviously didn't want to risk me changing my mind by hanging around for a girlie chat.
    Damn. A rogue pack of shape shifters in my city. Could my life be any more complicated?

Chapter 5
Lynch Mob
    Work was busy. Sale season. There's always a good sale on when winter winds down. Spring was just around the corner, but not yet fully blossomed. The days were getting slowly longer, the nights shorter. I always loved the onset of summer. Vampires did not.
    I'd had a steady flow of customers all morning. Sales mean money, shops don't want to hang on to that kind of cash, so they high tail it to the bank. I'm the business banking teller for Queen Street's BNZ branch. The others do everything else, I just deal with the big deposits.
    Counting coins is my day job, but it's the one thing that keeps me sane the most. There's just something so comforting about counting coins. Hunting vampires at night can be unpredictable, counting coins is not. I know what my day will bring from the moment I step in the door. It's cathartic, relaxing, reliable. Michel wanted me to give up my day job, he didn't feel being a bank teller was an appropriate job for the kindred Nosferatin of the Master of the City.
    Needless to say, he didn't win that argument.
    By the time the big clock on the wall behind our counters read 5pm, I was centred and calm and felt well and truly ready to face the night. Whatever it would bring. Even my fear of what would happen when I slept next didn't sway my good mood. Would I Dream Walk again? Would Gregor be there? All of it had faded away to just a soft shushing in the back of my mind.
    I wasn't trying to ignore it. I was trying to control the fear. You never stop being afraid when faced with so much personal danger, I had just got good at breathing through that fear.
    I changed into my jogging gear and headed out the door. Luckily for me, Tony's Gym is on the way home. I run past it on the way to and from work daily. It's handy, that's why I joined up as soon as I came to Auckland. I'm a gym junky and always have been. Sure, I've done the martial arts thing, a little Karate, a little Judo, but Kick-Boxing is where my heart is right now. That's how I met Rick. He's the kick-boxing instructor at Tony's . I met him three days after I arrived in the city and we've been friends ever since.
    It didn't take long for us to share all our dirty secrets. Me