Neck Deep In Vampires (A BBW Urban Fantasy) Read Online Free PDF Page B

“Yes. Completely sure.”  She didn’t look thrilled, but she managed a smile.
                  “All right,” I sighed. “But I better not hear about you swatting at him again. That’s animal abuse.”
                  “Fine.” She spoke through gritted teeth.
    I’m an animal person. If she felt that way about Barney, I honestly would rather have let her go, but I didn’t want to make her face an angry and disappointed Simon. I’d seen Simon really angry once – and he was very, very scary when he was mad.
                  We went back out into the living room. “I am going to take a quick shower, and then I’m going out for a walk,” I said. “And I expect everyone to behave themselves while I’m out.”
                  I went to the cupboard and found a can of tuna. It was our last can. “Camille, can you go to the store tomorrow and get a bunch of cans of tuna for our new friend, here?” I asked her. She was squatting down next to Barney, petting him.  “Of course!” she said.  He rubbed up against her, purring enthusiastically.
                  When I came out, wearing a light sun dress and flip flops, Barney leaped off the counter where he’d been curled up. Peyton had retreated to her bedroom.
                  “I’ll go with you,” he said. “You can tell me how things went with the witches.”
                  “Badly,” I said.
                  “I figured.”
                  He leaped up on to my purse, climbed in, and stuck his head out, making himself at home.
                  It was a beautiful night for a walk.  The air was warm, the breeze was a gentle caress. Nicholas. I wanted Nicholas to be there with me, so much I had to stand still and blink back tears for a minute.  I wanted his strong arm around my shoulders, his hand wrapped around mine. When he was with me, I felt strong, and safe, and loved in a way I’d never felt before. Would he have liked it here?
                  No regrets, I told myself firmly. I did the right thing.  I was protecting him, and all the vampires in his coven. There were so many things that could, and probably would, go wrong when I went up against Andreas.  I loved Nicholas too much to drag him into this horrible mess with me.
                  If I survived the assassination attempt, I could try to make things right – although, since I had compelled Nicholas to believe he no longer loved me, he might already have moved on. He might be with a new woman.  Maybe he’d decide someone else was his Eternal Consort.
                  That thought made tears spill onto my cheeks, and I walked fast, wiping my eyes with the back of my hand.
                  “You got allergies?” Barney asked. “You could wipe your face on my fur if you want.”
                  “Allergies. Yeah. Must be all that pollen,” I said, sniffing hard. “I’m fine, thanks.”
                  “So what happened when you went to Bay Breeze?”
                  “I went to the country club.  Mirabelle was there with her family. Her sister Narcissa and her niece really didn’t like me, and they were angry when I mentioned the familiars were missing, because it’s supposed to be some big secret,” I said.
                  “You should have done like I said. Just gone in and read some minds. You’d have solved it in five minutes.”
                  “I told you, I can’t do that. Why is there so much family tension there, anyway?” I asked.
                  “Mirabelle’s new to the job, and there’s all kinds of fighting about whether she should have been picked. Leona was the oldest, and her magic is strong, but she doesn’t have any leadership skills. That bitch Narcissa wanted her daughter to get the job, but nobody likes her. Her