The Vampires' Last Lover (Dying of the Dark Vampires Book 1) by Aiden James, Patrick Burdine Read Free Book Online

night for their anniversary.”
    “So, you’ll have the entire townhouse to yourself?”
    I gave him a flirtatious wink and felt my arousal surge. The feelings had been simmering since breakfast just under the surface. The sense of danger enhanced my need for assurance things would be okay, something I’d say every girl needs when life is uncertain. My life over the past forty-eight hours certainly qualified.
    “Yes, I do,” he confirmed, straightening the collar on his blue polo shirt after he draped his jacket over the back of his chair. “This means
we
will have it to ourselves tonight!”
    Those eyes again, boring into my soul while he casually flipped through the Biology 101 lab book to our assignment. Normally, two other students shared the table with us, but they had yet to arrive that morning and I already assumed they wouldn’t be coming. No one wanted the condescending lecture Nancy Truitt always gave to her tardy students. Better not to show up at all. Seriously.
    I thought about Peter’s invitation. It would be really nice to get away from the dorm, especially after back-to-back vampire visitations. Peter and his roommate, Stephen Tolliver, both hailed from wealthy families residing just south of Nashville. Those families were also powerful alumni of the University, so their kids got to stay wherever they wanted, effectively being exempted from the usual first year requirement to live on campus.
    Some of my friends assumed Peter was a snob due to his living accommodations and pedigree, not to mention his impeccable wardrobe. Even his designer jeans were dry clean only and always pressed. I love fashion, but what a person chooses to wear has never mattered to me one way or another. At least not in a snobbish way.
    The townhouse he and Stephen rented was quite nice, with nearly every amenity money can buy. Sort of like a mini-resort with a hot tub and small theater room, and perfect for parties. The main thing I hoped for that night was for
all
vampires—good and evil—to respect our privacy and leave us the hell alone.
    My Internet search turned up only vague headlines like ‘Second victim found in Knoxville’ and ‘Security tightened after double murders at the University of Tennessee.’ Neither story gave much information. Nothing as far as details, with ‘the police are still investigating the crime scene’ and ‘the female victim’s identity is being withheld pending notification of next of kin’ as the only advisements given.
    So, we had another dead female and not much else to go on. Yet, I knew in my heart that by the day’s end, the crimes would be officially connected. Armando’s warning that ‘each victim will be taken closer to here’ rang true to me.
    After our three-hour lab session, we met up with Johnny and Tyreen again, this time at the Krystal’s near campus. An early lunch with a couple of tiny burgers sounded like a good idea. Something light, since Peter slipped and told me that we were having filet mignon that night. If only Johnny hadn’t felt the need to fill us in with some gory details, courtesy of his campus security friend.
    “Dude, this is way worse than the last one! The chick’s head was almost torn off, and her legs and an arm are missing!”
    He almost spilled his Coke onto his fries with his exaggerated hand gestures, the large cross on a gold chain he always wore swung wildly for a moment.
    “Do you really need to gloat about this shit?” Tyreen was especially irritated with his exuberance, as if he was happy the killer kept the party going.
    “What if it had been Txema this time?” she asked.
    Chilled by her words, I thought again of my midnight conversation with Garvan and Armando. Their comments about the others taking body parts with them for later snacks reverberated through my tired mind. I pictured my left arm, severed, still wearing the silver bracelet given to me by my grandmother last Christmas attached to the wrist. A chupacabra’s fangs