Playing With Vampires - An Izzy Cooper Novel Read Online Free Page B

girl can only be expected to make so many cakes for the church bake sale. It’s not like I’m not doing my job and hunting bad guys.”
    Julius lifted his shoulders. “You’re talking to the wrong person. Doesn’t have anything to do with me.”
    “Why do you even care? I’d think it would be better for you in hell anyway. There you’d be surrounded with those as depraved as yourself.”
    I knew I was taking my frustrations out on Julius, but I couldn’t help it. He was the one who just happened to be there at the time. I supposed that was further evidence of my unsalvageable soul.
    “There’s a lot you don’t know about me,” he said, before downing the last of the whiskey in his glass.
    “I’m sorry,” I apologized, and it was even sincere. “I don’t know that much about you … I just assumed that all demons were pretty much alike.”
    “Then I guess you have a lot to learn about your new family … unless you change your ways somehow.” He chuckled, as if the mere thought was amusing.
    There was a darkness to him that hadn’t been there an instant before. After dealing with Julius for as long as I had, I was accustomed to that darkness, but for some reason it really bothered me tonight.
    Maybe I was still holding out the ridiculous hope that there was a side to him that wasn’t demonic.
    Always, just as I would begin to think there was something more to Julius, the darkness would return and shatter the illusion.
     

Chapter Three
     
    Mornings don’t come natural to me. I was of the opinion that getting out of bed before nine was uncivilized, and any boss that required you to do so, was just plain sadistic. Of course I couldn’t tell Ayden this or he’d just give me my walking papers, so I compromised by forcing myself out of bed and pulling on my most rebellious T-shirt.
    My bitch switch shirt had a big picture of a light switch in the on position, with the words, Bitch Switch scrawled above it.
    I figured that should rankle Ayden’s nerves enough to get even for the early mornings.
    Once I was dressed, it was time for the rest of my morning routine, which I could have done with my eyes closed. It was a good thing too, since I usually did.
    Brushing my teeth and hair was the next step. Of course I couldn’t forget my jeans and shoes.
    Other than that, all I needed was an extra large coffee from the Quick Stop and I would be good to go. As soon as I thought about the Quick Stop, the vision of Polly’s pale and mangled corpse reared its ugly head.
    My usual reaction to something so gruesome was to push it out of my thoughts, but it wasn’t working this time.
    Polly had been so young and beautiful, with her whole life ahead of her. No doubt she’d had dreams of a future, but it was a future she’d never have the opportunity to see.
    Even more disturbing than how Polly’s life ended, was the fact that there had been so many murders on Mystique Island in such a short period of time.
    Although there was probably no connection to the homicides that had occurred earlier in the summer, I couldn’t help but wonder.
    For a community that had gone the last hundred years with only a few murders, to have as many in less than six months wasn’t normal.
    Maybe there really was something to the curse, but I didn’t think it had much to do with the old Indian legends. I was sure it had more to do with the island being a power spot. I didn’t believe it was mere coincidence that two hundred years ago, the ship carrying most of the island’s settlers was blown off course and ended up sinking close to the island. It was almost as if the island itself had orchestrated it.
    Shaking off the thought, I pulled my Mustang, which I liked to refer to as Lady Luck, into the parking stall closest to the Quick Stop’s entrance.
    I figured since I needed a caffeine fix anyway, I might as well question whoever was working. Maybe one of Polly’s fellow employees would have some idea of what she’d been doing on