Vampire Miami by Philip Tucker Read Free Book Online Page A

both stopped talking as Selah walked in. She ignored
them and their stares and hit the mirror. Shook her head. A
complete mess. And no purse, no makeup, nothing to work with. Ah,
well. All the more reason to hide in a corner like Maria Elena had
instructed.
    The two girls had gone back to talking.
“Whatever. Some things never change. Anyways, are you going to go
with me or not? Or am I going to have to take Max?”
    “Girl, are you serious? You really did score two
tickets?” asked the second, leaning back to stare at the first as
she applied eyeliner.
    “You doubt it? They’re not exactly front row,
but who cares. It’ll be my first night at a Freedom Fight. And it’s going to be a special event. They say some big
fighter from UFC is being flown in to compete. Max won’t shut up
about it.”
    “I bet you could shut him up if you really
wanted to,” said the second, straightening and checking out her
work. Her eyes slid over to where Selah stood watching, and she
raised one painfully elegant eyebrow. “Can we help you?”
    Selah didn’t say anything, embarrassed at having
been caught. She wanted to ask questions, always with the
questions, but instead turned and fled back into the nexus. Stood,
irresolute, and then walked into the blue room with the bar. Up
three steps that she nearly tripped over, and then out to the left,
following the far wall. The music was almost punishingly loud, and
she watched people yelling into each other’s ears so as to be
heard, holding drinks and looking anxiously at the entrance every
few moments. Were any of them vampires? Selah found a vaguely
uncomfortable yet very modern black chair to sit on and scrutinized
them.
    No. After a long search, she decided they
weren’t. Just regular people, nervous and getting drunk fast.
Occasionally, one of the women would laugh almost hysterically and
then begin to dance, arms raised, the guys turning to watch. It
never lasted more than fifteen seconds, though, and then the woman
would bend over laughing, as if what she’d done had been incredibly
brave and hilarious.
    Selah felt lonely. She missed her friends. She
thought of Jairo, of Tomika, of Susan and Alessandra and her newest
friend Natalie Ballard. She wished they were here, or better yet,
that she were back with them. She dug out her Omni and checked the
connection. Alpha. She blinked. No way! She grinned and wished
she’d brought her Goggles and FingerTips, but what could you do?
She dipped into her Garden, and was pleased to see dozens of her
friends’ avatars standing there in states of suspended alarm. She
idly circled the Fountain, and almost went up to Jairo where he
stood in his Mecha avatar, his robotic face somehow still
expressing concern. But it was too loud in the bar, and if she
opened a connection, they wouldn’t be able to talk.
    Instead she quickly began to sort through her
messages, reluctantly asking her Omni for subtitles, discarding and
saving them as they came. A glance at Connection Wall showed
literally hundreds of messages from acquaintances and people she
didn’t know, but even here in her Garden were dozens of recordings
from friends. It hurt so good to see their faces. Several messages
were group recordings, people together peering into their own Omnis
and sending her love, good wishes. Jairo’s latest poem that he’d
posted in her Garden was awful, as she had known it would be, and
she added commentary with a grin.
    From there she entered her private Shrine but
suddenly impatient, she flew into Jairo’s Garden, and from there
visited each of her friend’s Shrines in turn, catching up on their
news, updates, what other friends had been telling them and more.
It was all so familiar, so achingly normal. After awhile, she
slowed down and stared at the screen. Alpha connection, but she
didn’t want to read about how Natalie was upset with her boyfriend,
or how Scott was thinking about saving up money for the latest Omni
upgrade. She sighed and looked up