Bad Vampire by Lauren Dawes (read aloud books txt) 📕

I snorted. “I think you’re reaching a little there. I would’ve been fine. I take kickboxing classes.”

“I know. I’ve seen you there, and I’ve got to say, not that impressive.” He stalked back into the office, dropping Reaver onto my desk. I wasn’t going to say I was sullen, but I was definitely not happy with it. Fine, he didn’t want the sword back? I wasn’t going to pick it up again either.

Using the end of a pencil, I nudged Reaver off my keyboard and sat down. “What are we doing now?”

Sawyer was furiously tapping away at his own keyboard, a sneer twisting his mouth. Wow. How was that even sexy?

“I’m writing a report to my boss about what happened.”

I craned my neck. “Are you including how I picked the receptionist was wearing a matching skirt?” He turned to glare at me. “Hey, don’t be mad you didn’t call it first.” I made my hand into a gun and blew at the imaginary smoke. “You have to be quick with me.”

He returned to his work, and I got busy staring at the sword again. Leaning in, I brushed my finger over the glyph, trying to see if I was seeing this right. It had changed into what looked like an etching of my face, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end.

“What is it?” Sawyer asked, suddenly there.

“The glyph.” My hand shook as I pointed at it. “It’s changed.”

He pursed his lips, but other than that, he didn’t actually look that bothered. Me? I was having a stage two freak out. He shrugged. “Magic.”

Like that was a viable explanation for everything? Seriously!

“When can we put it back?”

“Why would you want to? It likes you. It protected you.”

“It made me invisible.”

“For a reason,” he countered. “It was meant to be yours.”

“And if I put it back?”

Again, that infuriating shrug that could’ve meant you’re fucked or let’s see what happens and pray it’s not bad. “I suspect it will come back again.”

I stared at Reaver forlornly. “Why couldn’t I have picked a puppy instead?”

Sawyer rolled back over to his desk and began punching out the email. “Because puppies piss and shit everywhere. Swords don’t.”

“Yeah, they just make me invisible.”

I didn’t appreciate the smirk on his face.

With nothing left to do, I began turning around in my office chair, watching the world go by. With every revolution, I saw the faces of my new colleagues begin to blur and bleed into one another. I didn’t even know what kind of supes I was working with. I slowed to a stop, then stood up.

“Where are you going?” my partner asked.

“I’m going to chat with my co-workers.”

“Are you sure that’s such a good idea?”

“Are you saying I’m not charming?”

After a second, he waved his hands in their direction. “By all means then, go and mingle,” he said dryly.

With a nod, I walked over to the only other female in the office who wasn’t BDSM lady and plonked myself on the edge of her desk. She looked up from what she was doing and smiled.

Fangs.

She had fangs!

“Sorry,” she said, dimming her smile so that the delicate points disappeared. “I forget to act human when I’m in this office.”

“Don’t worry about it. I do that all the time.” I cleared my throat. “I just thought I’d introduce myself since Sawyer whisked me out of here so quickly this morning.”

“I know who you are,” she replied in a smooth, sultry voice. Man, that was sexy, and I wasn’t even into women. “Officer Cat McKenzie. Rookie. Watched your partner die on your first day on the job. The demon who took him is still at large. You’ve been off for a week, stewing I suppose. Now you’re here with us as punishment. Whether that punishment is for us or you, I don’t know.”

“That about sums it up.”

“And you’re short.”

“Ouch. Hit me where it hurts why don’t you?”

She gave me her fangy smile again.

“What are you?”

She frowned. “A Gemini?”

“No, I mean, what kind of supe?”

“Oh! Have a guess.”

I took her all in, from her lustrous black hair, to her naturally ruby red lips and green eyes. She was stunning, plus she had a banging body. What? I could check out and appreciate other women. “Not a vampire, because it’s light out.”

“One point to the human,” she murmured, amused.

“You’re gorgeous…”

“I appreciate that, but not interested.”

I waved my hand though the air, batting the idea away. “Yeah, me either, but I can tell another woman she’s hot and not get weird about it.”

She smiled and nodded for me to continue.

“Not a shifter.”

“What makes you say that?”

I jerked my head in the direction of the guy who had growled at me before. “Not growly,” I said with a shrug.

She threw her head back and laughed. “I’m not possessive of office furniture. Nor do I growl unnecessarily. Do you give up?”

“Sure.”

“My name is Faline, and I’m a succubus.”

I practically leaped off the desk. “A succubus? Like you eat men?”

She snorted delicately. “I don’t eat men. I drink from them.”

“Ohhhh.” I gestured to her mouth. “That’s why you have fangs.”

In a feat of creepiness, she stuck out her tongue—her nearly triple the length of a human tongue—and touch the narrowed tip to one of her fangs.

“They’re just for fun,” she replied, then cupped her hand up like she was telling me a secret. “They’re like a tuning fork for orgasms.”

“Wow. Overshare much?” I shot back, softening my snark with a smile. “Seriously, I want some. I’m all about the O.”

“Are you now?” Leaning back in her chair, she smiled.

“So what is it that succubus do?”

“I feed on sexual energy. Male sexual energy, although in a pinch, a female’s will do the trick too.”

“Not as tasty?”

She snorted. “Not as potent. I get an almost euphoric high from male energy. I still get a hit from females, but it’s about a tenth of that of men.”

I glanced around her desk, looking for my next topic of conversation. “So, what is it you