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

her hair and by looking at her reflection in the mirror, I could
tell she had already applied her many layers of make-up she always wore. She
saw the look on my face. “Don’t say anything, you’re next.”
    “No thanks, I’m good,” I said halfheartedly,
knowing this was one battle I wouldn’t win. I shoved aside a pile of cosmetics
and slid up onto the ample counter space. I knew I’d be in that bathroom for a
while so I pulled my legs up under me.
    I watched Holly work through her hair while
I played with a frayed piece of material at the hem of my jeans. I tried to
hold a reluctant look on my face to convey my disdain for primping and playing
dress-up. She ignored it and continued rolling chunks of her straight hair with
the iron. Holly’s mom was from the Philippines, and her dad was of German
descent I think. It gave Holly an exotic look that was almost difficult to
place, but it drew guys in from across any room.
    This also made it more difficult when
protecting her, because vampires were partial to attractive humans. Shane
called it “fine dining” once and ended up with a stake two inches from his
heart. We almost killed each other after that but with a great deal of
restraint, we quit fighting. That was the same night I helped him with his
first big infestation problem.
    Holly finished her last curl and turned her
full attention on me. “Okay, your turn,” she said smiling.
    “Yay, I’m so excited!” I exclaimed with mock
enthusiasm.
    “Could you at least pretend to enjoy
yourself tonight so it doesn’t bring down my mood?” she pleaded.
    “No. You know I’m only doing this to protect
you. I’m suffering this for you, isn’t that enough?” I asked, a little
surprised at the harshness in my voice. I guess when it came to normal human
activities I was kind of resistant. Those types of activities weren’t for me,
and I knew I didn’t belong in Holly’s world. Doing things like this just
reminded me of how much I didn’t fit in and could never live a happy life.
Monsters didn’t deserve happiness.
    “How are you such a bitch all the time?” she
spit back.
    I knew she was right, and she didn’t deserve
that, so I tried to recover with my best look of shock and horror mixed with
feigned innocence.
    Her face turned apologetic and she said,
“You know what I mean. You’re just wound a little too tight. You really need to
get laid.”
    I felt my face get hot. How did I not see
that coming? Anytime I have ever mentioned a guy’s name to Holly, the
conversation would become all about sex or getting me a boyfriend. This was
usually a topic I tried to avoid, since it was never in my future. Maybe that
was why I never mentioned Gavin to Holly, not that I considered him in that
way, but I didn’t want her painting that picture for me. I was a little scared
of what it might look like, or what looking at it might do to me.
     After recovering from the shock, I snapped
back, “Oh thanks for clarifying. I was worried for a second that you were
insulting me. I was almost mildly offended.” Adding even more sarcasm to my
tone, I continued, “And yes, my ill temper has nothing to do with the dark,
evil world I live in and everything to do with sexual frustration.”
    I realized my tone had switched from
sarcastic to a little more skeptical toward the end of my rant when I
entertained the idea that being romantically challenged and terminally lonely
may be a logical explanation for my moodiness, or at least some of it. Great,
like I didn’t have enough issues at the moment.
    Holly observed the internal debate I was
struggling with and seized on my moment of doubt when she returned with, “Are
you sure, ‘cause you don’t look so sure anymore, darlin’?”
    Okay, so even if she was right, it didn’t
matter because I would never allow myself to let anyone into my messed up life.
Happiness, like I’ve told myself a thousand times, was not in the cards for me.
Besides, that pent up frustration