Blood and Mint Chocolates by Adrianne Brennan (best books to read for young adults .TXT) 📕

The woman began to walk away as she protested, "I said no--" But he caught her wrist and halted her in mid-sentence.

Kalia and Merideth gave each other looks. They didn't know what transpired between these two individuals, but if they weren't stopped, a fight would break out.

WHAT KIND OF MAGICK IS HE USING? Merideth timidly asked.

COERCION. HE'S TRYING TO BEND HER WILL. AND IT'S CLEARLY NOT WORKING. THEY'RE BOTH MAGICIANS, OBVIOUSLY BOTH VERY STRONG-WILLED, AND NOT PLAYING NICELY TOGETHER.

SHOULD WE DO SOMETHING?

Kalia nodded. I have a bad feeling about this.

BUT SHOULDN'T WE STAY OUT OF THE WAY? WHAT IF THEY SEE US--

With a smooth abruptness, Kalia walked over to where the two people stood arguing. The magistra put on her brightest smile and spoke to them in a slow, Southern drawl. "Hey, y'all. How's it going?"

"We're busy," the man snarled, shaking his fist in front of her face. Standing in front of him, the woman's face appeared composed, but Merideth saw the sudden flash of fear in her eyes.

"You don't appear to be all that busy to me," replied Kalia, her voice light and cheerful.

Merideth cringed. What was Kalia doing? Her thoughts raced. Watch him whip out a gun and try to shoot Kalia in the middle of a crowd like this, the crowd panicking when they see the bullet hole close....

"I'm Erin," offered the female goth. "And you are?"

The magistra answered with great ease, "Kalia. Vacationing here from N'awlins. Where you from?"

DAMMIT, KALIA! WHAT THE HELL? Merideth shrieked. WHY THE HELL DID YOU JUST GAVE HER YOUR ORDER NAME!

SHH, PATIENCE, MERI. I HAVE THIS UNDER CONTROL.

Merideth groaned. No one within the Order of the Dragon and the Rose gave their Order name to outsiders, let alone to humans. It was not only frowned upon, but forbidden without question. Either the magistra must've been more intoxicated than she let on, or she had some sort of ingenious plan--with any luck one that involved wiping or altering their memories afterwards.

"We're from New York."

Oh, good. A chance to jump in and save Kalia's skin. "Oh, um, that's where I'm from," offered Merideth, who, with caution, walked over to where Kalia stood. She tried not to look right at the man, who stared at her hard. Something about him made her feel anxious despite his attractiveness, but she at least liked the woman.

Erin perked up. "Really? Whereabouts?"

"Um, West Village. Near Washington Square." Merideth felt Kalia's eyes on her and knew she had already said too much. Before she could stop herself, she began to ramble. "We, um, went to college together and that's how we, um, know each other. I work in the city. It's a really great place. And there's this lovely restaurant nearby, and--"

"Oh, I know who you are."

Startled, Merideth turned to look at him. "Um, you do?" she inquired, doing her level best to sound stupid.

He nodded, his eyes narrowing. "Yeah. You're from that other order, aren't ya? And you're here to give us shit."

Merideth's eyes widened. "Other ... order?" Oh shit. Could he possibly know...?

He spat on the ground. "You damned people. You hack our sites on the Internet, then you insult our lineage and spread lies about our order. And now you're stalking us?"

Kalia gave a loud belly laugh. "Oh, no. I don't belong to any orders or whatever. I don't even know what you're talking about, and neither does my friend here."

He snorted. "What, you think I'm dumb? I can smell magicians when I see them and I'm looking at two right in front of me."

Oh good, he still doesn't know we're vampires. "Doesn't mean we belong to any orders," piped in a relieved but puzzled Merideth. She had no idea what this guy was talking about, nor why he believed that just because she came from the same city as he and practiced magick that meant she was there to spy on him from a rival order. "And besides, I don't even know how to go on the Internet. I'm dumb as hell when it comes to computers."

The man looked at Merideth, his eyes not blinking once. "Oh, c'mon. Everyone goes online these days. Even my grandma uses AOL. And you even said--you're from New York. Just drop the act already. You're here to spy on us."

Kalia rolled her eyes. "Okay, fine, you caught us." With discretion, Merideth poked at her, but the magistra pretended not to notice. "We were sent here to spy. But really, after meeting you two, we realize that the whole thing was wrong and we just want peace between us, honest. How about I buy you a drink or somethin'?"

"So what, you can slip spells into the drink in order to psychically attack me? Just like you did two days ago?"

Kalia sputtered. "Say what?"

"Yes, I recognize you and your energy! You summoned images of Jason from those slasher flicks into my dream! I knew I recognized you the moment I saw you!"

Oh boy, he's a nutter. KALIA, WHAT DO WE DO NOW? HE'S ... NOT ALL THERE. I THINK WE SHOULD LEAVE, BUT I'M AFRAID HE'S GOING TO FOLLOW US AND START TROUBLE.

THEN WE NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT HE DOESN'T CAUSE TROUBLE, came back the calm reply.

Oh shit.

Kalia held her hands up in front of her. "Okay, you caught me yet again. Me and my bad sense of humor."

Merideth groaned, and her hands flew to her face. This situation was getting out of hand, and she hoped with feverish desperation that Kalia had a plan--a very good plan. One that wouldn't get them into trouble.

"Please," she continued, her voice dropping into a purr, "allow me to make it up to you."

To Merideth's astonishment, Kalia crossed the space between her and the guy with lightning speed. Definitely using her vampire abilities, she noted with a disapproving frown. But what shocked Merideth the most was the magistra grabbing the man by the front of his mesh shirt and yanking him towards her for a passionate, open-mouthed kiss. He