Bit of a Bite

Miss Popular

Allison spent the remainder of the night before scrubbing away blood from her kitchen tiles and cursing every vampire she ever met. Not actual cursing, she didn’t have the energy to pull out the book of rituals hiding in her closet. Instead she used human words and rolled her sleeves up past her elbows in order to get her creativity flowing while the bleach set in for a soak.

In the morning, she was damn proud of herself. Hell, she was practically skipping towards Belated Gifts on an early day. Practically, not actually. More than one person would roll over in their graves if she went around skipping. Though her good mood wasn’t quite great enough to last the whole trip, reality always has to sink in eventually.

The early morning sun bleached the New Orleans sidewalk. It was rare that Allison ever found herself up to see the spectacle. Even stranger was the fact that she’d seen it twice over the last two days.

Cute... not.

The dentist’s office was still closed, so she didn’t have to worry about watching anyone get their teeth pulled by a veterinarian’s assistant, yet. Another upside was the smell of fresh bread baking in the pizza shop next door.

The first few years she’d spent at Belated Gifts were marked by the smell of fresh bread. It seemed to be one of the few constants she could still cling to. As the door gave way to her push, it was like the Fates were just rubbing that in her face.

Beth Ann greeted her with an angry scowl from behind the counter. That wasn’t the abnormal part; she always greeted Allison in some rude way or another. No. The bouquet of whites and pale purples definitely held the deviation title for the day. Her eyes glued to the large display of lilies, lavenders, and belladonnas that must have cost a small fortune.

She never thought she’d say it, or think it for that matter, but she actually wished someone was hiding behind it waiting to kill her. It might be the missing puzzle piece that made this all made sense. Me? Nostalgic? Nah.

“I see you and Lucien really hit it off last night.”

Well, that explained today’s death glare she was getting from Beth Ann. Allison sighed and dropped her purse on top of the counter before snatching the small pale purple envelope tucked in the blossoms. She couldn’t exactly tell Beth Ann the night had ended with Lucien being crucified by silver to her kitchen wall.

That would just end with her in a jail cell, or a padded room.

Besides that, Beth Ann angry wasn’t anything new. She decided to cling to that little piece of normality, too.

The envelope was still sealed, so at least Beth Ann hadn’t turned into a snoopy P.I. in her short absence. Allison ripped the letter open unceremoniously and dropped the envelope to the floor in favor of the laminated card with aluminum etchings.

A thousand apologies would never be enough to warrant your forgiveness, but I am begging for it anyway. My request last night was over the line, I am sorry. –D

The entire note was written in a very light-handed scrawling calligraphy that seemed too formal for a simple greeting card. Then again, the only ‘D’ she could think of was a vampire—there was no telling where he fell in the age bracket and formalities without directly asking.

And it was considered rude to ask an immortal their age.

“Well? Are you not going to tell me what you did to earn those or are you just going to leave me hanging?” Beth Ann’s nasally voice penetrated her thoughts. Sort of like the proverbial a bullet to the head.

“Nothing,” she shrugged and tucked the card in the pocket of her pants. For once she’d gone with something more modern—a low cut pair of jeans that she thought looked absolutely too tight. “They’re not even from Lucien and I doubt he’ll ever be calling on me again. If he does though, you’re free to persuade him in your direction.”