Love Bites Read Online Free PDF

herself at his chest. Catching him in a hug, she squeezed as tight as she could and laughed happily. “I got the job! Thank you, thank you, for telling me. Man! This is great news. No more nights. No more trying to sleep through buddy next door mowing his lawn. No more not being able to go out with friends ’cause I have to work. This is brilliant!”
    â€œI take it you’re happy, then?” Fred laughed as she released Dale and turned to hug him.
    â€œOh, you’ll never know,” Rachel said blissfully. “I absolutely, positively hate the night shift.”
    â€œWell, we’ll miss your smiling face,” Dale said. “But we’re glad you’re happy.”
    â€œYup. Just remember to act surprised when Bob tells you,” Fred said, patting her shoulder. He glanced at Dale. “We should get back to work.”
    Rachel stood, smiling as they left, then turned to the gurney and surveyed her guest. She would have to remove his belongings if there was anything left intact, then strip him, tag him, and move him to one of the freezer drawers. She couldn’t do it by herself; she’d need help moving the body.
    A glance at her watch showed it was nearly midnight. Beth should be arriving soon, a part-timer who filled in when someone was ill. The woman was really getting the hours lately. Normally Beth was the most dependable of workers too, arriving early and willingto work late, but today she’d had car trouble and called in to warn Rachel she’d be late. The woman was waiting for a friend to pick her up and drive her.
    She’d be in within the half hour. Once here, Beth could help strip the body, but in the meantime, Rachel herself could remove his possessions and tag him. She glanced down at the unfortunate fellow, then stilled. He didn’t seem to be in quite as bad a shape as he had first appeared. In fact, he seemed a lot better. When she had first glanced at him, he had seemed almost completely charred, with very little flesh. Now, a lot of the charred color seemed gone. In fact, Rachel realized, it was flaking off, and a lot of it now lay on the metal tabletop. Reaching out, she brushed at the skin on his face, fascinated to see the blackened flesh crumble, revealing healthier skin beneath. She’d never seen anything like it. He was shedding dead flesh like a snake.
    Rachel straightened and stared, her heartbeat accelerating. How was this happening? Or was what she thought happening at all? Perhaps that wasn’t charred flesh brushing away; perhaps something had been blown onto him by the blast. Perhaps he hadn’t been badly burned at all, he just looked as if he had. Rachel knew it was silly; Dale and Fred were excellent EMTs. Still, she found herself looking for a pulse in his wrist. When more of the charring crumbled beneath her fingers, she feared it might interfere with getting a pulse, and she bent to press her ear to his chest instead. Atfirst she felt foolish looking for life in a dead man, but then a thump sounded. Rachel straightened with amazement, then lowered her ear again. Silence followed for an extremely long time, then another thump.
    The door banged behind her. “Get away from him! He’s a vampire!”
    Rachel straightened and whirled gaping in surprise at the man standing in the open doorway. He looked quite mad. It wasn’t just the army fatigues he wore under the huge trench coat he opened, or the fact that he had a rifle swinging from a strap over his shoulder and dangling under one arm, or the ax that hung from the other. All of it, plus his wild eyes and his very expression, screamed escapee from the booby hatch.
    Rachel eyed him warily and raised one hand. “Now, look, friend,” she began in reasonable tones. It was as far as she got. The man charged forward and shoved her aside.
    â€œDidn’t you hear me? Get away, lady, get away! He’s a vampire. A monster. A beast of the night. Demon spawn.