Bled & Breakfast Read Online Free Page B

powerful witch, but since it was a matter of the heart, she couldn’t bring herself to kill him. Still, she wanted him to suffer. She cast a spell on him so powerful that it, in turn, cursed all vampires from that day forward to never again see themselves in a mirror, a spell that survived even after the witch’s death.”
    I stared at my rare reflection, at my shoulder-length brown hair and my hazel eyes with hastily applied mascara. “Witches,” I said under my breath. “Total troublemakers.” Then I sent a glance at Heather. “Present company excepted, of course.”
    “Heather,” Thierry said, “do you know anything about the vampires who’ve gone missing in town lately?”
    “Only what Owen’s told me about it.”
    “Any idea what might be behind their disappearances?”
    “None. Sorry.”
    Thierry frowned. “Owen, you said that Monique was over three hundred. How about the other two?”
    “I think they were up there as well.” Owen nodded.
    “Hmm. All master vampires.”
    A little Vampire 101: vampires were considered fledglings for their first fifty years, regular vampires till they were three hundred. After that, they’d earned the title of “master.”
    “If these vampires didn’t just go missing, but were murdered, none of them would have left any body behind,” I said. Only vampires less than a century in age left a body when they were killed. Older ones disintegrated into a gooey mess. Trust me—it wasn’t pretty. “Therefore, there’d be no clues to find out who did it.”
    “Correct,” Thierry replied.
    “So basically, the Ring’s handed you a case that’s pretty much impossible to figure out.”
    He held my gaze. “Essentially.”
    “A test,” Owen said after a moment. “The Ring loves handing out tests to determine a consultant’s worth in his first few assignments.”
    “I don’t like the sound of that,” I said. “What if we fail?”
    Thierry’s lips thinned. “Let me worry about that, Sarah.”
    “Just your saying ‘Let me worry about that’ makes me worry. About that.”
    “Don’t. It’ll be fine. I know how to handle them.”
    “Yeah,” Owen breathed. “Good luck with that. Sarah, have you ever met any of the current Ring elders?”
    I grimaced. “Haven’t had the pleasure.”
    “Keep it that way.”
    Yeah. That was really comforting.
    We unloaded our small amount of luggage in the room, then went back downstairs with Heather and Owen. It was well after eight o’clock by now, and the sun was starting to set. Rose had come back inside and was dusting the table near the front door.
    “Where are you off to now?” she asked Owen as he made for the door.
    He gave her a wink. “Places to go, Rose, my love. People to see. Life is good.”
    Heather picked up Hoppy from the desktop and cradled the toad in her arms like a tiny dog. Hoppy seemed perfectly content there.
    “Anyway, Thierry, if you need any help”—Owen raked his hand through his blond hair—“you have my number.”
    Thierry nodded. “We’ll take a look around town tomorrow when everything’s open.”
    Owen paused at the doorway. He pressed his hand against his forehead, his brows drawing together.
    “Something wrong?” Heather asked with concern.
    “No, it’s just . . . a headache. I’m sure it’ll pass.”
    “Maybe Miranda got one of those voodoo dolls after all,” I said. “And she’s stabbing its forehead with an ice pick as we speak.”
    He laughed. “Yeah, maybe. Anyway, it’s nothing. Talk to you later.”
    He pushed open the front door and took two steps onto the porch.
    A weird chill shivered down my arms, which was odd since it wasn’t the least bit cold outside.
    “Owen,” Thierry began, “what’s wrong?”
    Owen pressed his hands to either side of his head.
    “It’s weird. I just get the strange feeling that—” He gasped. “What’s happening to me?”
    Without another word, he stopped talking, turned away, and started to run. He got halfway down