Immortal Moon Read Online Free Page A

for a short time.”
    He dropped my hand, the air shimmered around
him, and he faded from sight.
    “Wow, that’s a pretty cool power to have,” I
said, rubbing my hand that now felt cold without his touch.
    He faded back into view. “Yeah, it can come
in handy.”
    A thought popped into my head as we started
walking again. “That’s why you aren’t rushing to get out of the
sun. I wondered why you never seemed very concerned about the
sunlight. I thought maybe you just didn’t have the same allergy as
other vampires.”
    “No, I have the allergy, or at least I think
I do. It took me a while to realize it, but along with the light
bending, I have this natural energy force field around me. I don’t
have to consciously think about it like I do for invisibility, it’s
just there.”
    “Were you a mage before you were changed?” I
was genuinely curious about Jarrett and hoped he wouldn’t think I
was being rude.
    “Nope. Not even a little. I had no idea
magic, vampires, or any of that existed. I spent my life in the
sun, though, and I think that is part of why my powers manifested
the way they did.”
    I nodded. I knew that even norms usually
developed some sort of magical abilities when they became vampires.
The ability to manipulate energy came from brain’s activity level.
Norms used around 10-15% usually. Level one mages registered at
least 25% brain activity. The N-V virus that caused vampirism often
activated more areas in the victim’s brain, giving norms some
magical abilities and increasing those of a mage. Though there
wasn’t any real proof of why different abilities manifested in
different people, it was speculated that it had to do with the
brain areas that were active. In a class at the Academy, I remember
reading that some mage scientist put forth that the powers a person
would have after being infected with N-V virus could be loosely
predicted by their personality and natural abilities.
    That made me curious about why Jarrett had
spent so much time in the sun before he was made, but before I
could ask, he stopped walking. I realized we were standing in the
alley behind the pub, right in front of the back door.
    “Here you are, home. Safe and sound.”
    “So I am,” I said, trying not to show my
disappointment at not getting to ask the questions bustling around
in my brain. “I’d offer you a drink as payment for helping me
escape those thugs, but it’s already after noon and I need to get
some sleep if I’m going to be worth anything at work tonight. Rain
check?”
    “I’m not sure how long I’ll be in the city.
I probably won’t be able to cash in a rain check.”
    “Oh,” I said, trying harder this time not to
show my disappointment that I wouldn’t get to see him again any
time soon.
    I reached for the door handle, determined to
make a graceful exit, when he took a step closer to me. Before I
could process what was happening, he had one hand wrapped in my
hair, gently pulling my head back, and the other around my waist,
pulling me tight against him.
    “I’ll take my reward now,” he said, a
fraction of a second before his mouth came down on mine. The kiss
started hot and quickly proceeded to scorching as I automatically
opened to him and kissed him back with a hunger I hadn’t known
existed. He tasted so exotic, yet achingly familiar. The alley
melted away as hot tremors slid through me. There was something
about this man that decimated my brain and made me abandon what
little sense of propriety I had to start with. Just as I was
sinking into the kiss, my hands grasping at his shoulders like a
life raft, he pulled away from me.
    When I looked up at him, I could see the
fire in his eyes. He was as turned on as I was, I knew it. But then
he popped out his cocky, boyish grin and said, “Sweet dreams,
Ginger. Later.”
    Before I could speak or throw a rock at him,
he was at the end of the block and disappeared around a corner. I
leaned against the door, silently cursing Jarrett,