Vampire Wake (Kiera Hudson Series #2) by Tim O'Rourke Read Free Book Online Page A

from Sparky, no one believed what had happened in The Ragged Cove. As I looked around at the piles of newspapers and the thousands of cuttings pinned to my wall, I knew deep down that I had to get away; but more than that, for the first time since leaving the Cove, I had a problem – something to solve – and that to me was irresistible.
    With my rucksack hung over my shoulder, I switched out the light in my bedroom and closed the door behind me. Lady Hunt was standing and peering at the newspaper cuttings. Hearing me entering the room, she turned and smiled at me.
    “Ready?” she asked.
    “I guess,” I said.
    “Let’s get going then.”
    I locked the door to my flat and followed Lady Hunt down the stairs and out into the street. It was near dark, and parked by the curb was a sleek black Rolls Royce Phantom. Its body glistened like glass in the darkness and in it I could see my own reflection. Parked just in front of my Mini, or piece of junk as Potter had called it, the Rolls Royce looked like something from another planet. Lady Hunt was wealthier than I first realised. Oddly, the chauffeur stayed seated behind the wheel as Lady Hunt opened the back door for me to climb in. The interior of the car was upholstered in off-white leather, there were dark navy curtains at the windows, the glass in them was tinted, and a flat-screen T.V. hung down from the ceiling.
    Lady Hunt closed the door shut behind me, walked round the rear of the vehicle and got in beside me. The vehicle purred into life
    and crawled away from the curb. I looked back at my flat and my little red Mini, and as they disappeared into the distance, I got the strangest feeling that I might not ever see them again. Telling myself that I was just scared of stepping out of the comfort zone that I had entombed myself in, I faced front.
    “The cuttings?” Lady Hunt asked.
    “What about them?” I asked back.
    “Why so many?”
    “I’m working on a project,” I lied. “I’m doing a study on offender prof -” I started.
    “I thought that perhaps you were searching for someone or some thing ?” she cut in.
    I knew by the way that she emphasised the thing that she was possibly referring to vampires. Trying to keep myself composed, I just stared back at her.
    “You don’t really think I would leave you in charge of my daughter without doing some research into your background first, do you?” she said.
    “What did you find out?” I asked her.
    “You tell me,” she smiled.
    “I guess it all depends on who you spoke to,” I smiled back.
    Glancing out of the tinted windows, Lady Hunt said, “I know about your tales of vampires.”
    Looking at her almost perfect profile, I said, “You must have believed my account of what happened to me.”
    “What makes you think I believe you?” she said without turning to face me.
    “If you believed me to be a liar, you wouldn’t have hired me to babysit your daughter,” I said back.
    Then turning to face me she said, “I haven’t hired you for your storytelling abilities, Kiera Hudson. I’ve hired you to protect my daughter from whomever it is that lurks in the shadows at night and watches her.”
    “What makes you think I can offer your daughter any protection?” I asked.
    “I take it you’re not a liar?” she said, her eyes almost seeming to twinkle in the gloom of the rear of the car.
    “Correct,” I said, sounding defensive.
    “Well then,” she smiled. “Your account of what happened to you in The Ragged Cove must be true. And if that is the case, who better to look after my daughter than someone who managed to survive the odds against all those vampires!”
    Before I’d the chance to say anything back, the car was slowing and pulling into the curb outside Havensfield Railway Station. Lady Hunt pushed open her door and started to climb out.
    “We can’t be here already?” I said, knowing that we had only been on the road ten minutes.
    “This is as far as I go,” she said, looking back