Read Midnight Craving: Midnight Vice, Book 1 for Free Online Page B

Isla murmured, recognizing the early signs of transformation.
    “Look, man,” the scared guy said, “we don’t know anything about the drugs or any woman named
    Renata, okay? Your buddies already beat the shit out of us. We don’t know anything. We can’t even
    remember how we got here.”
    Jace lowered his weapon. “What can you remember?”
    “I don’t know. It’s all a blur. Some party in Clear Lake, a really hot girl, and then nothing.”
    Isla rolled her eyes. “The guys who beat you up—what did they look like? Did you notice anything
    strange about them?”
    “Yeah,” one of the others piped up. “They smelled real bad. Like rotten eggs.”
    “Want to give them the CliffsNotes version while I check the house?” Jace asked, his annoyance with
    the baby vamps obvious. She nodded and Jace left.
    Isla motioned for the three young guys to get up and take seats. “Look, there’s no easy way to say this.
    You’ve been fanged. You’re vampires now. When the sun sets in about an hour, you’re going to get hungry
    —ravenous actually. You’ll have the urge to kill. If you do, someone like me is going to hunt you down
    and wipe you out. If you’d like to avoid that sticky end, you’ve got one choice. You head to Sister
    Marcie’s. She’ll hook you up with some donor blood, walk you through the first few weeks of your
    transition, and get you processed and licensed.”
    Isla paused to let the information sink into their foggy minds. To their credit, they didn’t freak out like
    most newbies usually did. They seemed almost relieved to know what the hell was going on with them.
    “So, should I call Sister Marcie or—?” She pointed to the wooden spike at her left hip.
    The response was unanimous. “Sister Marcie!”
    “Good choice.” She pulled her phone from pocket. Sister Marcie happily agreed to send over a van
    ASAP to pick up the newly turned vampires. Isla had just hung up when Jace came back into the living
    room. “Well?”
    “I found a room full of empty bottles of drain cleaner and acetone cans and God knows what else.”
    “So this was a meth lab too.”
    “Probably.” Jace gestured to the fidgeting couch-load of vampires. “And them?”
    “Sister Marcie’s sending some of her people over right now. They’ll be fine so long as they follow her
    —”
    An explosion interrupted Isla, throwing her across the room and into Jace. His arms instinctively curled
    around her body as he twisted to accept the full brunt of their fall. They bounced on the dingy carpet. After
    the initial chaos, Isla and Jace clambered to their feet. She shoved the baby vamps out of the way and
    rushed after Jace. “Stay here!”
    “They blew up my fucking Tahoe!” Anger roiled beneath Jace’s features. He pulsed with angelic energy,
    the waves of fury burning her skin. “Demonic bastards!”
    There was no missing the heavy stench of demon. Squealing tires caught her attention. A silver Porsche
    disappeared around the corner. Real subtle.
    As the demonic henchmen fled the scene, Isla pried her phone free and called Sister Marcie. There was
    no time to lose. “Don’t bother sending the van. You won’t be able to get through. I’m bringing them to you
    right now.”
    Jace looked at her with surprise. “You’re what?”
    “Hold tight. I’ll be right back.” Isla marched into the house, grabbed two of the vamps’ shirts in one
    hand and the third in the other and skipped them from the house to the entryway of Sister Marcie’s
    downtown vampire shelter. It took a whole hell of a lot of energy to move four bodies all the way across
    Houston. Sister Marcie waited in the entryway of her shelter and smiled welcomingly to the newest
    members of her support family. As the guys collapsed and dry heaved, Isla shot an apologetic frown Sister
    Marcie’s way. “Sorry I can’t stay.”
    “I know. I heard it over the scanner.” Sister Marcie monitored police scanners to anticipate need of her
    unique