Crimson Debt: Book 1 in the Born to Darkness series Read Online Free PDF Page B

were some very scary looking vamps, obviously just
looking for an excuse to do some serious damage.
    “I’m sorry, Addison,” my best friend said
softly as they took me by the arms and dragged me out. “So
sorry.”
    As it turned out, I was sorry too. But there
was nothing I could do about it—my best friend’s life was ruined
and it was all my fault. I should have stayed with her. Should
have listened to that man’s advice. He said watch her for at least
twenty-four hours, so what do I do? I leave her alone and go off to
my class. What the hell is wrong with me? Why didn’t I stay with
her? Why didn’t I listen to him?
    My thoughts were a vicious circle of guilt
and recrimination, and there was only one thing I could do. I found
the card Gerald Holms had given me and called him as soon as I got
back to the apartment. A week after that, I was headed for the
VAB’s version of basic training.
    So I guess you could say that Taylor and I
both got new professions as a result of our little girl’s night
out. Unfortunately, neither one of us was very happy with our new
jobs. And neither one of us could quit.
     

Chapter Three
     
    I pulled up to my condo in Hyde Park and
parked beside Taylor’s sleek little red sports car. She always
dressed in the latest fashions and drove the most expensive
vehicles—Celeste was big on outer appearances. Only I knew the
struggle my best friend had every night to survive. She was the
kindest, most straight-forward person I knew and she was living in
a nest of snakes, cursed with an affliction that had taken her
hopes and dreams from her and left her an empty existence as
Celeste’s flunky.
    To say I hated Celeste and what she’d done to
my best friend was an understatement. Vampires were considerably
more than tourist attractions to me now—they were the enemy and I
would have been perfectly happy to see them all fry. Except for
Taylor, of course.
    She had a key so she met me at the door
looking lovely in a deep blue designer gown that brought out her
eyes. She was decked in diamonds and her long nails were painted a
deep red color I was sure Celeste had picked out for her. In her
old life, Taylor had always kept her nails sensibly short and
mostly polish free—you can’t do serious medical work, even on
animals, with a three inch manicure. But that didn’t matter because
Celeste wouldn’t allow her to finish school. Taylor was never going
to get her degree in veterinary science. It left her free to keep
her nails as long as she wanted to—or rather, as long as Celeste
wanted her to.
    “Oh Addison, I’m so glad to see you.” She
enfolded me in a rib cracking embrace that left me gasping for
air.
    “Taylor …can’t…breathe,” I managed to get
out.
    “Sorry!” she released me abruptly. “I keep
forgetting I’m so damn strong.”
    It seemed to me she ought to be able to
remember that she could tear a bus in two by now—she’d been a vamp
for six years after all—but I didn’t say anything. I just motioned
her to the couch and sat down. Taylor sat beside me and I put a
hand on her knee.
    “What happened this time?” I asked, when I
could speak again.
    “I don’t…don’t know if I can say.” She
started to cry, tears of blood leaving two gruesome trails down her
lovely porcelain cheeks. “It’s bad. Really bad.”
    I wondered how much worse things could get
for her. She was already living with the mistress from
Hell—Celeste’s temper was legendary in vamp circles, not to mention
she was completely unpredictable. Taylor had often told me how her
maker loved to keep her flunkies on their toes. One minute she
would be lovingly stroking Taylor’s cheek and the next minute, with
no warning or provocation, she would slap her so hard Taylor would
be thrown against the wall. And that was just one example of her
savage behavior.
    Such treatment would have killed a human but
almost nothing but sunlight, silver, or staking can kill a vamp.
But though my best