Read Online Love Is Fear by Caroline Hanson - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Caroline Hanson
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was like porcelain, her dark brown hair pushed behind her ears. It was short and thick. She looked different than usual. Softer. More feminine. Less murderous.
She wore black linen pants and a pink, silk camisole-top that showed her pale arms. Incongruously, she wore flip-flops with a pretty gold bow on them. Her toes were painted the same color red as her lips and she looked like she'd just come from a pedicure.
She looks better dead than I do alive. Bummer.
“ Valerie, Lucas sent me to check on you. Don't run, it'll just make me hungry. And Lucas would kill me if something happened to you. Come have a chat. I brought you a present.” She gave Valerie a pretty smile.
Val went to the bed first, reaching under her pillow for her stake. Lifestyle hazard. They hadn’t brought guns to Hawaii, what with not wanting to be arrested and all. Plus they hadn’t thought they would need them. Hopefully, that was still true.
Val went outside, making sure the stake was in plain sight. Rachel was sitting in a chair, legs crossed. A manila folder rested on her lap. Rachel looked at her carefully. From head to toe, then back again. It wasn't sexual, or even predatory , but studious.
“ What, is he going to quiz you?” Val asked.
Val thought Rachel smiled for a moment, but it was fleeting. “He will want to know everything ,” she said dramatically. “Look at you, a simple human snaring the Big Bad. Well, almost human, hmm?”
“ He told you?” Val asked, shocked.
“ Oh, yes. Only me, though. It’s not something he wants to get out.”
“ You stabbed me and almost killed me. You almost killed him, too! Why would he tell you anything?” Val said, incredulous.
Rachel looked unimpressed, stuck her leg out and looked at her toes, no doubt examining her recent polish job. “I'm one of Lucas' favorites. Well, probably the only favorite. He's really gone off vampires, in the last, what, three, four hundred years? But that's just what I hear. I'm only around a hundred, so just about everything I know is history or rumor.”
“ Around a hundred?”
“ Yeah. I’m 106, but when vampires talk time they usually round to the nearest century.”
That was bizarre. “You cannot be his favorite,” she said indignantly.
Rachel actually laughed. “Oh ho! Look at you thinking you know so much about him.”
Valerie gave her an are-you-fucking-crazy-look. Although, she was Marion’s girlfriend , so maybe she was crazy. “He turned your girlfriend into a dried-out mummy and put her in a box before torturing you.”
“ Yes. And he also made me super-powerful and sent me to check up on his sweetie.”
Val ran her hands through her hair. It was brittle and knotted with salt from the ocean. And she suspected it looked like the sort of tangle a small rodent would like to vacation in.
Oh man, she was so weak, and yet, she had to ask, “Why didn’t he come himself?”
Rachel laughed— again. The sound so sincere and loud that a few birds dashed away from the palm tree next to her room. Isn’t she just the perkiest person.
“ Seriously? You’re on some faux-honeymoon after telling him to go fuck himself and you wanted him to come after you? You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
Val slumped down into a chair. “Am I a terrible person?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.
“ I’m a vampire. I kill people. In my book you’re fucking Mary Poppins with a slightly mischievous boy-craziness thing happening.”
Was that supposed to make her feel better? Well, it doesn’t make me feel any worse.
“ Where is my present?” Val asked, changing the subject.
“ Ta da!” Rachel picked up the folder and held it towards Valerie. Cautiously, Valerie reached forward and took it.
Rachel settled back in the chair, legs crossed demurely as she looked out at the ocean and waited for Valerie to do or say something. She seemed happy to be here, tilting her face up to the sky and closing her
She wore black linen pants and a pink, silk camisole-top that showed her pale arms. Incongruously, she wore flip-flops with a pretty gold bow on them. Her toes were painted the same color red as her lips and she looked like she'd just come from a pedicure.
She looks better dead than I do alive. Bummer.
“ Valerie, Lucas sent me to check on you. Don't run, it'll just make me hungry. And Lucas would kill me if something happened to you. Come have a chat. I brought you a present.” She gave Valerie a pretty smile.
Val went to the bed first, reaching under her pillow for her stake. Lifestyle hazard. They hadn’t brought guns to Hawaii, what with not wanting to be arrested and all. Plus they hadn’t thought they would need them. Hopefully, that was still true.
Val went outside, making sure the stake was in plain sight. Rachel was sitting in a chair, legs crossed. A manila folder rested on her lap. Rachel looked at her carefully. From head to toe, then back again. It wasn't sexual, or even predatory , but studious.
“ What, is he going to quiz you?” Val asked.
Val thought Rachel smiled for a moment, but it was fleeting. “He will want to know everything ,” she said dramatically. “Look at you, a simple human snaring the Big Bad. Well, almost human, hmm?”
“ He told you?” Val asked, shocked.
“ Oh, yes. Only me, though. It’s not something he wants to get out.”
“ You stabbed me and almost killed me. You almost killed him, too! Why would he tell you anything?” Val said, incredulous.
Rachel looked unimpressed, stuck her leg out and looked at her toes, no doubt examining her recent polish job. “I'm one of Lucas' favorites. Well, probably the only favorite. He's really gone off vampires, in the last, what, three, four hundred years? But that's just what I hear. I'm only around a hundred, so just about everything I know is history or rumor.”
“ Around a hundred?”
“ Yeah. I’m 106, but when vampires talk time they usually round to the nearest century.”
That was bizarre. “You cannot be his favorite,” she said indignantly.
Rachel actually laughed. “Oh ho! Look at you thinking you know so much about him.”
Valerie gave her an are-you-fucking-crazy-look. Although, she was Marion’s girlfriend , so maybe she was crazy. “He turned your girlfriend into a dried-out mummy and put her in a box before torturing you.”
“ Yes. And he also made me super-powerful and sent me to check up on his sweetie.”
Val ran her hands through her hair. It was brittle and knotted with salt from the ocean. And she suspected it looked like the sort of tangle a small rodent would like to vacation in.
Oh man, she was so weak, and yet, she had to ask, “Why didn’t he come himself?”
Rachel laughed— again. The sound so sincere and loud that a few birds dashed away from the palm tree next to her room. Isn’t she just the perkiest person.
“ Seriously? You’re on some faux-honeymoon after telling him to go fuck himself and you wanted him to come after you? You can’t have your cake and eat it too.”
Val slumped down into a chair. “Am I a terrible person?” she asked, not really expecting an answer.
“ I’m a vampire. I kill people. In my book you’re fucking Mary Poppins with a slightly mischievous boy-craziness thing happening.”
Was that supposed to make her feel better? Well, it doesn’t make me feel any worse.
“ Where is my present?” Val asked, changing the subject.
“ Ta da!” Rachel picked up the folder and held it towards Valerie. Cautiously, Valerie reached forward and took it.
Rachel settled back in the chair, legs crossed demurely as she looked out at the ocean and waited for Valerie to do or say something. She seemed happy to be here, tilting her face up to the sky and closing her
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