1 Dicey Grenor Read Online Free Page B

evil. In fact, I’d grown up
hearing and believing vampires were hell-bound satanic spawns. But when I got
old enough to reason for myself, I’d decided that God had to have created all
beings, humans and supernaturals . And if so, that
meant forgiveness was available for the transgressions of each repentant, even
vampires.
    My mother had
slapped my chap-stick off when I’d suggested that God was actually a vampire
himself due to his emphasis on blood sacrifice. My dad had said I was
sacrilegious and would die a horrible death and burn in hell for my heresy.
Told him I’d see his hypocritical ass there.
    Maybe I’d gone too
far, but who were humans to judge whether another species was damned? No one
could be certain about anything when it came to spirituality. We believed what
we believed and prayed we were right. At least my theory gave me hope for when
I met my final death. Which meant that even as a naturally vicious bloodsucker,
I still followed the Ten Commandments. Meant I had to creatively come up with
alternatives for getting what I wanted that absolutely did not involve killing
humans.
    I’d admit some
days it was harder to do.
    Like
right now while Cindy was standing here smelling sweet with her hands on her
hips making demands.
    “What if he just
wishes he was dead?” I said, looking at her this time.
    I was going
through a lot of trouble to appease her when I should have just captivated her
memories of tonight’s events, erased them and gambled on how long that would
last.
    She quickly looked
at the floor.
    Ah. She’d thought
about it too, that I’d use my powers of hypnosis over her brain.
    Funny, she’d said
she didn’t know me, but she knew me well enough to know I wouldn’t take the easiest
option. The option most certain to guarantee her silence: killing her. That
wouldn’t require me to trust her to uphold her end of a bargain. Didn’t require me to make a bargain at all.
    But we both knew I
wasn’t capable of that.
    Captivation—that,
I could do, except it lasted temporarily and worked differently for different
people. Sure, she’d forget for a while, but I couldn’t be sure how long
it would last and which memories would come back.
    Making a deal for
her silence was our best bet.
    “I can live with
that,” she said finally.
    So could I. The
alternative would be bad for both of us.

 
 
 
 
    Chapter 4

 
    Once Cindy left, I
was on the couch alone awhile, looking around, familiarizing myself with the
bedroom. Noise from the club above told me I was in the basement for the first
time.
    My eyesight had
come back faster than my strength. Made me wonder what the hell he’d sprayed me
with again. I wasn’t used to healing slowly since I’d been undead. Somehow, I
didn’t think mace or pepper spray would have had this result.
    I really just
wanted to leave, but Franco had told me to wait for Punch. I also had
unfinished business with Franco. Needed to make a deal with
him for his silence as well. Probably had to beg for
my job.
    The room was done
in all black. A king-sized bed with black sheets, no pillows centered the wall
opposite me. Only other piece of furniture was the black couch I lay on and the
tall halogen lamp illuminating it all. There were mirrors along the ceiling and
all four walls. No windows. No pictures. No decorations. I assumed some of the
mirrors opened to a closet and bathroom just as the one that opened to the
entrance/exit.
    The black
monochrome furnishings were boring and uninspiring to the human I used to be,
and just right for the side of me that was an undead nocturnal supernatural.
Since I’d heard Franco had moved his residence to the basement, I figured it
was his bedroom even if it was a tad impersonal.
    When my strength
returned, I started pacing. Not long thereafter, Punch walked in with my duffle
bag as if he’d been watching on a monitor and knew I was up and about. He was
so massive the bedroom immediately felt smaller.
    “I’ll take you