Fading Darkness (Bloodmarked #1) Read Online Free PDF Page B

accept bribes from
disgusting undead monsters, but he gave me what I wanted- information. He told
me if I spared him he would give me the location of a very large vampire den.
After leading me to it, he even helped me kill them, but then I realized he
really just wanted the building they were hiding out in. I kept my end of the
bargain, and he moved in. He always traveled around a lot so I guessed he
wanted a safe haven of his own for when he came back in town. We have kept up
the same relationship over the years. We stayed out of each other’s way and
exchanged information. Basically, we used each other. But I warned him the
second I caught him killing someone I’d end our business partnership and his
life. He swore to only live off of blood bags and take what he needed. Yeah, I
definitely wasn’t buying that.
    “Okay, you know me too well. Just wanted to
let you know the new issue of Vampire Nightly had a front page article
about someone who has been killing our kind. You made the headlines baby, and
there is word around town that some vampires are forming hunting parties. As a
common courtesy, I thought I should tell you,” he said all-to-sweetly.
    “Well, thanks, but I kind of guessed that
already when a bunch of them came down on me hard last night. So, like I said
before, what’s in it for you?” I asked. I finally turned and took in his milky-smooth
dark complexion and cat-like hazel eyes.
    “Well, I was hoping maybe you would finally
let me get in those tight black pants,” he said with a sly crooked grin.
    I returned it with an equally sugary smile,
“Thanks for the offer, but I don’t screw the undead.”
    “Come on, with all that inhuman strength you
have locked up in that toned body, you don’t think you would want a little more
power between your legs than a fragile human boy who you could break in half,”
he said in a normal conversational voice that didn’t match the crudeness of his
words.
    Guess I should have expected a response like
that from him. I never found his sweet lines of shit the least bit flattering
like most girls he charmed the pants off of. He was disgusting, and there was
no way I would ever go for some bloodsucking, wannabe Casanova. Those kinds of
perverted comments just made my skin crawl. They never held an ounce of weight
or sincerity. It was degrading, and it was just his way of dealing with people,
women in particular.
    He saw the look on my face and carefully
backpedaled, “I was just messing with you. I just thought I’d be nice and tell
you what was going on so that someday in the future you might consider
returning the favor. That’s all. I mean, come on, you know how it is.”
    This sounded a little more sincere, as
sincere as an evil, self-serving vampire could be. There was no chance in hell
I would ever trust him to do anything for me without it benefiting him in some
way, so now I not only had to watch out for mystery man, and a city full of
vamps who were pissed at me, I had to worry about what Shane was up to.
    “Okay, so I’ll take your silence as a mutual
understanding,” he continued. “So how many of them came after you last night?”
    “About ten of them, and there was this one
who was crazy strong. I feel like I imagined it because he seemed so unreal,” I
answered.
    He snorted in response, to the last comment,
I assumed, “Maybe you’re just exaggerating because there is a vampire out there
who got the better of you and you’re not taking it very well.”
    I almost laughed at the absurdity,
“Smartass. Hardly. I could care less about superior fighting skills or
strength. As long as I’ve got the better survival skill, that’s all that
matters. But this guy was different. I have never seen any vampire move as fast
as him, or take out that many vampires with such ease.”
    He raised an eyebrow, “You mean he was
helping you and not fighting with them?”
    “Yes,” I sighed in frustration at the
question. It was the same one I had, but