Kissed by Darkness by Shéa MacLeod Read Free Book Online Page A

eggplant parmesan.” Now, I was not a vegetarian, but I found perverse pleasure in ordering vegetables in front of self-obsessed people like Edmond Winters. Especially ones who ordered veal. Even more so for ones who ordered veal for me like I was some helpless, brainless twit.
    I gave Edmond another fake smile and took a sip of wine for fortification. I had a feeling I was going to need a lot of fortification before this date was over.
    He did not smile back. In fact he looked extremely put out. Fine. Let him get his panties in a bunch. Nobody treated Morgan Bailey like a second-class citizen. Especially some jerk that thought he was superior to everyone else, including his date. What was my mother thinking?
    The meal dragged on with Edmond yammering nonstop about his job, his car, his health club, his money. Frankly, I tuned him out after the first two minutes. The only reason I didn’t get up and walk out was my mother. My mother would be heartbroken if I didn’t give this one a chance. She was convinced I would die an old maid. I really didn’t see what was so terrible about that, but as far as she was concerned, it was a fate worse than death. As far as I was concerned, the only bad thing about being single was the lack of sex.
    “So, what do you do for a living?”
    “Huh?” Had he actually asked a question? About me?
    “Your job. What do you do?” It was obvious he didn’t think I did anything interesting and that he really didn’t care. His eyes were scanning the dining room while he fiddled with his lapel.
    I didn’t mean to do it. It just sort of came out. “I kill vampires.”
    He blinked and shoved his glasses up his nose. “Excuse me?”
    I took a big gulp of wine. Shit. “Vampires. You know … the blood sucking undead. I kill them. For a living. Demons, too.”
    For the first time that evening he looked unsure. Maybe even a little scared. I could just imagine the tales he’d have for the office come Monday.
    “You kill vampires.”
    “That’s what I said.” I smiled sweetly and took another quick gulp of wine.
    He looked frantically around the room, probably for our waiter. Or maybe a straight jacket. The general public was not in the know when it came to things like vampires. People like me were well aware of the existence of such creatures, as were the members of certain government agencies and a few conspiracy freaks. People like Edmond Winters were not. “Um, right. OK. That’s great. And how is that working out for you?”
    “Love it!” I chirped merrily. This was kind of fun. The poor guy was starting to sweat. “It’s a really great workout, too, lots of cardio. Keeps me fit.”
    He gave me a startled look but managed to refrain from saying anything. I gave him points for self restraint.
    It wasn’t that I was fat. Exactly. I’d say average with plenty of curves. Not exactly what one might call “fit.” Certainly not buff, which you’d think I would be with all the exercise I got. But no, I was built more like America Ferrera than Keira Knightley. I blamed it on my mother. I much preferred inheriting her body shape than the dates she scraped up for me.
    I gave Edmond my brightest, most innocent smile. I think I might have even batted my eyelashes at him. That’s when he grabbed a wad of cash out of his wallet and threw it on the table. I guessed we were leaving. I didn’t know why I did it since the date had not exactly been stellar, but I snagged my coat and followed him out the door.
    That’s when I felt it. That thing I felt when a vampire was nearby. It started with a tingling at the base of my skull, gripping harder and harder as I got closer to the undead. I felt it the minute we stepped out of the restaurant. Well, shit.
    The only person on the quiet street in front of the restaurant was a well dressed man with short blond hair. He nodded to Edmond and me. Edmond nodded back. Then Blondie hit us, flinging Edmond into the brick wall of the restaurant and grabbing me