Fading Darkness (Bloodmarked #1) by Alicia Deters Read Free Book Online

couldn’t leave her alone, and why I couldn’t just leave her
now.
    “Come on, I know you don’t think that’ll
work do you? Actually, that’s one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you today.
I want to go out tonight. I’m going stir-crazy, so I need my bodyguard,” she
said triumphantly.
    There was really nothing I could say,
because she knew I wouldn’t let her go out without me. Defeated, I sighed,
“What time are we going out?”
    “Yessss! That’s what I’m talking about!” she
exclaimed in excitement. “Come over at nine and we’ll go from there.”
    “Can’t wait,” I said around a mouthful of
Caesar salad. I finished the rest of my lunch in defeated silence while she
babbled on about this new night club that just opened up in one of the newly
renovated buildings downtown. It had a really cheesy name like The Dark of
Night or something like that.
    She still had my fake ID from the other times
we snuck into 21 and over clubs. We usually used back doors, so the ID was more
of a precaution in case we encountered a bartender who was a real hard-ass and
wanted to see it. She had just turned 21 a month ago, so she was finally legal,
not that it mattered for her. And it wasn’t like I benefited from drinking.
    I couldn’t get drunk unless I consumed my
weight in alcohol. My body just recovered from poisoning too quickly. But Holly
loved the escape from life when she got the chance. She didn’t have a completely
terrible life, though, as she would say.
    Being the chief of police’s daughter had its
perks, like all the cops knowing who you are and not arresting you. She could
do anything she wanted in this town and a lot of people knew who she was. In
fact, I‘m sure we would not have even gotten into this café without a two-hour
wait if not for her pull with the owner. Another added bonus was that she had
all the protection a person could get. That was one of the main reasons I
thought I could tell her about my world, because I knew she could handle it.
Plus, she was freaking out so much after her attack that she kept going on and
on about telling her dad what happened. I thought if I told her and helped her
understand I was doing something about the vampires she wouldn’t involve the
entire force. It would only cause mass panic and there was nothing cops could
do about vampires anyway.
    “Lucy! Luce, hello, pay attention,” Holly
said, and my mind drifted back to the present.
    “Nine ‘o clock, yeah, I got it,” I said
hoping that was enough to show I was paying attention.
    “Actually, I was telling you to dress nice
tonight, but I have my doubts that you even own anything club worthy. So I’ll
just find something in my closet,” she said peeved.
    “And it just keeps getting better,” I
complained.
    The waitress came back with our bill and
strategically placed it closer to Holly. Smart girl.
    “Hmph, Guess this one’s all you. Thanks for
lunch, Hol,” I said.
    “Yeah, what else is new? So I’ll see you at
nine,” she said, solidifying the plan for the last time in case I was still
contemplating a way to get out of it. The waitress was approaching as we were
standing, and Holly handed her the money as we made our way back through the
café.
    We parted ways, and I breathed a sigh of
relief for not having to bring up the more persistent concern that was gnawing
at my brain, the one who now had a name that I refused to let surface.
    Gavin. Shit! What was wrong with me?
    I never told Holly about Shane because I
have always adamantly voiced my hate for vampires, and trying to explain Shane
to her would only confuse her. Gavin was different though, somehow. I didn’t
even know anything about him, so bringing him up would open up a whole new
round of questions I couldn’t answer. Thinking about him only stirred something
inside of me and gave me that odd sense of familiarity again. I shut out those
alarming feelings before I could identify the root of them. Something about how
he looked at