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

me that night was disarming, and now was not a good time to get
into a fight with implacable vampires while I was unarmed.
    †
    After a shower and a long nap, I called a
cab to take me out to Holly’s high rise condo over in the Central West End of
downtown. It was a gift from her parents, but she had to finish college and
agree to grad school if she wanted to keep it.
    Her mom wanted her to follow in her
footsteps and go into med school, but her dad didn’t care either way, so long
as she sought higher education. She would be living under her parents control
whether she was out on her own or not, and she did it willingly without
complaint. She was a good girl and for that, the least I could do was get her
out of her place and give her a carefree night out every once in a while.
    It was about twenty minutes to nine when the
cab showed up, and I hopped in and prayed the spruce-scented air freshener and
cigarette smell wouldn’t rub off on me. The cab driver was a grungy guy,
probably in his 40s but looked closer to late 50s, no doubt due to the
excessive smoking and, I assumed, years of partying. He had long, stringy
unwashed hair with a grayish colored beard, bloodshot eyes and sunken face. His
skin hung off his bones loosely and wrinkled around his eyes and mouth. The
only thing he muttered our entire trip was my toll. Clearly, this was not the
direction he pictured his life going. Before I could offer to trade places, I
gave him my money and jumped out the door so he could get on with his dull
night, wishing mine could be that boring.
    I made my way through the spinning doors of
Holly’s condo preparing myself for the grand and overelaborate lobby. Every
time I saw it, I had to stop and seize a moment to take it all in. I felt like
I was walking into a museum because everything looked so valuable that I didn’t
want to touch anything. The marble floors were polished so well I could see my
reflection in them. The paintings on the walls looked expensive, and there was
a large seating area in the middle of the room made up of giant beige leather
couches that was crowned by a massive crystal chandelier hanging from the
24-foot ceiling. There were gold and deep blue and red accents throughout the
room, and the walls were coated in a rich Venetian plaster.
    I walked over to the main desk that was
straight ahead, past the seating area, and announced myself. “Lucille Masters
to see Holly Beckett.”
    The clean cut woman with slicked back short
brown hair barely regarded me with a nod as she scanned her visitors list. She
picked up the phone receiver after a moment of silence, she responded to the
voice on the other line, “A Miss Masters is here to see you Miss Beckett… Thank
you, I’ll send her up.” With a brief, tight smile she tilted her head up,
glanced at me and said, “Go on up.”
    I tilted my head up even higher than hers
and with the haughtiest voice I could manage, I said, “Thank you so much for
all your help.”
    Then, I turned toward the elevator and
punched in the visitor’s code. It was all very high tech and secure, which was
very good for Holly. I made my way to the 14 th floor and down the long,
golden hallway. Her door was open for me, and I let myself in following the
sound of Lil Wayne blasting from the bedroom, down the hall past the huge open
living and dining room area, decorated in Holly fashion with animal prints and
bright colors, and the large gourmet kitchen that was only separated from the
main room by a very large breakfast bar.
    “Hol, you in there?” I shouted, not sure my
voice could break through the heavy pounding of the speakers.
    Amazingly, she heard and responded, “Luce?
I’m in the bedroom!”
    Clearly. The music slowly faded as she
turned it down, and I stepped through the doorway into the master suite and
noticed she was in her bathroom standing at her vanity sink. Passing through
the brightly decorated Balinese-style bedroom, I made my way toward her. She
was curling