Tuesday, December 28, 7:45 p.m.
North Central Shopping Center
N othing brings out the predators like a seventypercent-off sale.
Talia Rostova wheeled her Prius into the North Central Shopping Center for their After-Christmas Clearance Madness. The lot was jammed, vehicles crawling over the icy pavement in a slow-motion game of musical parking spaces. Exhaust clouded the cold air like the breath of dragons.
Talia thought of all those lovely bargains in the sales flyer, and felt a pang of unease. She’d been delayed at the nail salon, and now the door-crasher specials were in full swing. The mall was giving out half-price coupons for designer leather wear at eight o’clock sharp.
Unfortunately, it was now seven forty-five, and she still had to park.
Crum.
Aggression hung in the air, vibrating like a sour note above the rumble of engines and the crunch of tires on the frosty ground. Talia shivered, the mood rousing her own adrenaline. A vampire knew bloodlust when she sensed it. Bargain-hunters could be serious fiends, with or without pointy teeth.
Talia zipped into the last empty parking spot almost before she saw it. I may be dead, but I’m fast. Someone honked. Talia bared her fangs at the honker’s blinding headlights, and the noise stopped.
Talia locked the car door and trotted toward the entrance of Howard’s Department Store, the heels of her suede ankle boots slipping on the slick pavement. The temperature had been dropping all day, and the rain had frozen into treacherous patches of black ice. Vampire or not, she’d be flat on her designer-denim backside if she wasn’t careful.
Howard’s was still decked in Christmas splendor, all tinsel garlands and fairy lights. The glitter delighted her, pulling her through the doors like a fish on a line. Talia’s family hadn’t been into celebrating—that was Dad all over, every minute all about work even when she and her brother were little. Too bad she had to die to experience a little ho-ho-ho.
A kid of about fourteen shoulder-checked her as he pushed past. Jerked out of her thoughts, Talia grabbed him by the collar, hauling him up until his high-tops barely touched the floor. Bad for the manicure—after all, the polish was barely dry—but oh so squirmydelicious. Her jaws began to ache, itching to bite. The kid’s blood would be hot and tasty.
“Mind your manners,” she said, showing a bit of teeth.
“Says who?”
“Says your nightmares. Y’know, I used to dream of doing this when I taught school. So how are you doing in English Lit?” She grinned wider.
The boy turned the color of Cream of Wheat, kicking against the iron strength in Talia’s thin wrist. After a moment, the disbelief in his eyes melted to terror. She let him go, giving just enough shove to make him skitter.
“Skinny vampire bitch! The law’s gonna stake your ass. Just you wait.” He dove into the crowd before she could catch him again.
Stupid brat. Talia drew a breath, squashing the urge to pursue the running prey. Inhaling only brought a wave of warm, blood-scented air. She sucked in her lower lip. Too many humans around. Shouldn’t have done that.
Calm, calm, calm. Close your eyes and think of coupons . Talia blinked, straightening her coat and scarf, swallowing down the saliva that suddenly filled her mouth. She’d been Turned for only three years. Her body still got ahead of her mind half the time. It made it hard to fit in.
Nope, shouldn’t have done that. It had been pure instinct. It had felt so good. You’re supposed to be under the radar, not making the headlines because you chomped on a mall rat. You’re as good as finally, totally dead if somebody back home sees your picture.
Her phone jingled “Material Girl.” Who had her number? She fished it out of her purse, her throat closing with panic. If anyone finds you . . .
It was suddenly too hot in the store. She turned around and headed back toward the entrance, the primitive part of her brain screaming that she had to flee. Her eyes skated over the caller ID the first time without reading it. The second time, she realized it was her own home phone number.
What the hell? Who was at her place? For a second, she froze, but curiosity won out.
She answered. “Hello?”
“Hey, girl, guess what.”
Oh, thank God, it was Michelle. Relief made Talia suddenly giddy. “What are you doing home? You’re not supposed to be there! I thought you were gone for weeks yet.”
“You make it sound like I’m back from outer space.” Her chuckle was dry.
“You might as well be.”
Michelle was a hostess on the Queen Anne cruises, gone for months at a time. Since she was rarely in Fairview, she’d given Talia use of her condo.
“Yeah, well, some of the vacationers certainly behave like they’re in orbit. So what are you doing?”
“Shopping. I came for a door-crasher special, but I think I missed out on the coupons.” I was busy sowing terror and dismay.
“Poor baby. I’d have thought you were bored with shopping. I mean, it was never your thing before, well, before.”
“Hey, if I’m going to live forever, I may as well look good.” Besides, it’s an excellent disguise. No one would look at me and see the old, plain Talia.
“I like your attitude.”
Talia listened to her cousin’s voice, a different kind of hunger flooding her. Michelle was the one person from Talia’s old life who’d risked helping a newbie vamp. She drank in the warm, laughing voice on the phone, an ache in her lifeless heart. She wanted so badly to hug Michelle, to show her all the gratitude she felt.
“Listen.” Michelle cleared her throat, a small, tight sound. “My schedule changed. I’m between cruises. I just got home.”
Talia jammed her hand through her hair, her rings catching in the long, dark strands. “I’ll get a hotel.”
“Why? We’ve got two bedrooms. We live at the same address, and I haven’t seen you in forever. It’s reunion time, sweetie.”
Talia realized she had wandered blindly into the dress department. Women milled around her with armfuls of clothes. They smelled warm and savory. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? We agreed I’d always leave when you came back. Just to play it safe.”
“I’m okay with you sleeping here if you’re comfortable with it. I mean, you’ve had time to adjust, right?”
The words shocked Talia, and then her throat began to ache with emotion. Michelle’s level of trust was incredibly rare. One bite and a vampire’s venom enslaved a human with its erotic, fatally addictive high. Michelle knew she was taking a huge chance. Talia could hear the tension in her cousin’s voice.
And yet Michelle was willing to give her a chance to prove she wasn’t a killer.
“Let me think about it.” Talia disconnected, suddenly losing her nerve. I can’t do this. Too much risk.
Outside in the stark, black night beyond the tinseled doors, Talia saw a swirl of snowflakes. It never snowed in Fairview. The universe was going crazy.
No one ever invited a vampire to sleep over.
As kids, they’d had pajama parties at Michelle’s house. Junk food, movies, secrets, the works. They’d steal Michelle’s mom’s cosmetics to play dress-up because Talia’s mom never wore makeup—Dad’s rules.
Michelle had always been her window into the normal world. Talia felt like a puppy shivering to death in a filthy alley, aching to get into that golden world of loving hands and warm fires.
On the other hand, a bad vampire joke went that family members were like potato chips. Can’t stop snacking once you start. And she knew from gruesome experience that it was absolutely true.
Never trust a bloodsucker. Her dad had been right.
