Read Broken Heart 05 Over My Dead Body for Free Online Page B

med school, and was so matter-of-fact about the process, I didn’t feel so . . . icky about the whole thing. I don’t care how sexy the movies make it. Sinking my canines into the neck of some willing victim gave me the heebie-jeebies. But that’s what vampires had to do to survive—and to tell you the truth, I’d done worse to ensure I’d live another day.
    Darlene ran her tongue over her teeth. Her gaze fastened on my neck, and I flinched. Unease jack-rabbited right into freaky-deaky. I grabbed a wrench off the table, and her gaze lit up.
    “Oh, good! You’ve decided to come with me.”
    No, I’ve decided to bash your skull in if you point those fangs in my direction. Darlene always was one brick short of a full load. Becoming a vampire hadn’t given her any extra IQ points.
    Darlene wandered toward my worktable. I scooted away, but kept the wrench in my hand. I was really popular today. I glanced at Darlene, who was studying the scattered tools with a disturbing intensity. Despite having daughters only a year apart, we lived now the way we had as humans—saying hi now and then, unless something needed fixing. Neither one of us had ever tried to arrange a play date. Most folks knew Glory didn’t talk, and she didn’t really like socializing with anyone.
    Come to think of it, neither did I.
    Okay. All right. Maybe I was overreacting to the tension. Or maybe there was no tension. And yet, my inner alarm was clanging. I’d learned to listen to my instincts—and damn it, they were screeching like a cat in the grip of an affectionate toddler.
    “Darlene?”
    Her vacuous blue gaze met mine. She was pushing on one of her fangs and staring at me.
    “Maybe you should go eat,” I suggested again. “And I’ll be at your house in, say, twenty minutes?”
    “But the water . . .” She drifted off midsentence, her gaze meandering. As the seconds passed, she seemed to drown in her own thoughts. Then she finally said, “I suppose if you can’t get there any faster, it’ll do. I mean, I may need a whole new kitchen in twenty minutes.”
    I couldn’t believe my ears. I swallowed the thorny knot of anger climbing up my throat. “On second thought, I suggest you call a plumber,” I said sweetly. “I think the Consortium has one or two on staff.”
    She blinked. “What?”
    “Call. A. Plumber.”
    Her mouth dropped open and her eyes lost their vacant look. “My goodness, Simone! There’s no need to snap at me. Just call me when you’re ready to pop by, okay?”
    She spun around and left the garage, her high heels clicking disdain across the concrete floor. I had worked really hard not to lose my temper around folks. But I was beginning to wonder why I should be peaches and cream all the time, especially to people like Darlene, who didn’t seem to know I existed unless she needed my skills.
    I faced my worktable and tossed the wrench onto it. Anger beat a tempo at the base of my skull. I don’t know why I felt mad. No reason to be, not really. Darlene’s visit and dealing with the so-called sabotaged pole had just put me off-kilter. And . . . well, maybe my growing feelings for Brady figured somewhere into the mix, too.
    My cell phone rang. I plucked it from the holster and flipped it open. “Hello?”
    “Simone, it’s Reiner. I’m bringing the damaged post to you. I thought I might throw a stone at two pigeons while I was there.”
    I puzzled over the odd sentence. Oh. I couldn’t stop the chuckle. “You mean kill two birds with one stone?”
    “Ah. Yes.” He paused. “I have the design for the queen’s gift, the one I hope you can help me complete.”
    Even though seeing Reiner again ranked between stepping on a rusty nail and licking an electric fence, I had to admit that I was curious about this project. I don’t know why he thought I could help. Guess I was gonna find out.
    “What do you think?” asked Reiner.
    We’d been studying his carefully sketched plans for the last ten minutes. The