Tainted Blood (Hell's Belle Book 2) Read Online Free
Author: Karen Greco
armchair while perfumed saleswomen cooed over him and his "impeccable" taste. I had to admit, the vamp had flare. But it was getting out of hand. He hit the mall almost daily, and now that I was apartment-sitting for my aunt, and Frankie and I were no longer living in the same building, I had no idea how much he was actually buying. Sure, he was a 700-year-old vampire and several life times of compound interest meant that he was pretty well off. But Frankie was no billionaire, and I worried he was blowing through his money like a drug fiend on a bender. An eternity was a hell of a long time to be broke.
"He wants you to run down to Nordstrom to look at the jeans," Darcy whispered and handed the phone back to me.
"Frankie...Frankie...Frankie... Frankie !" I yelled down the phone at him as he prattled on. "I am at the bar and can't leave."
"But Nina, I need you!" I could hear the pout.
"If you had a smart phone, you could take a picture and then send it to me. Did you know that with the phones that came out like five years ago, you can actually text pictures?" I said with a huff.
Frankie was an amazing tinkerer and could fix just about anything. He even customized my motorcycle into one badass vampire-evading vehicle. But for someone so mechanically inclined, he abhorred computers and the Internet. I recently bought him a flip phone so he could at least send text messages. The relic he had before didn't even have that feature.
"You know, you could go to the Apple store and get a phone." An opportunity presented itself, so I grabbed it. "Camera, Internet, email. You will love it. Promise."
"Come on, Nina, I'd do it for you," he begged. "Well, if you were more...feminine."
He was lucky that I was distracted just before that last crack. A ghost slipped into the bar, and it wasn't Casper, my very own, personal ghost.
Casper and I met in the emergency room of Rhode Island Hospital. He had just died — killed by a cursed knife that drew power out of the witches as their life force bled out of them. The power was channeled into Marcello, the psychotic vampire, who wielded the blade. Casper was my very first contact with the dead. Now that was a hell of a surprise. We've been together ever since.
Just like regular people have different strengths and weaknesses, so do witches. My aunt was a crack potion maker. Our friend Eva was an excellent diviner. Apparently, my witchy gift was whipping up bizarre weather patterns and communicating with the dead who remained here on earth. It was kind of creepy.
After we obliterated the vampire that murdered Casper, I thought my ghost friend would pass on to the other side, but he stuck with me. I was kind of happy about that. I was used to having him around.
But that didn't mean I wanted another Casper in my life. One haunting was quite enough.
"Frankie, I am hanging up now," I muttered, keeping my eyes on the wisp that was floating around the bar. I heard him protest as I pressed the end call button.
"What's back there?" Darcy whipped her head from me to the back tables.
"Not sure but I think another Casper." I vaulted over the bar and headed to the back room.
Darcy followed me. "While you check out the spooks, I am going to the basement to wire in the satellite radio. You good?"
"Yeah," I sighed. My life was complicated enough. I didn't need Babe's to be a new stop on the Providence Ghost Tour.
"Hey!" I barked at the ghost. I had to maintain complete control over the situation and the ghost, or we were screwed.
"Lovely establishment," he said with a note of sarcasm. As I got closer, I saw that he was dressed like an early 20 th -century undertaker. His face was long and his ears kind of stuck out. His mouth pulled down at the corners in a perpetual frown. “I suppose this will do."
"You can't stay here," I warned. "I will have you exorcised."
"Horse shit," he countered. "I suggest you add some bookshelves to the walls and make a small library back here. This place could use a
"He wants you to run down to Nordstrom to look at the jeans," Darcy whispered and handed the phone back to me.
"Frankie...Frankie...Frankie... Frankie !" I yelled down the phone at him as he prattled on. "I am at the bar and can't leave."
"But Nina, I need you!" I could hear the pout.
"If you had a smart phone, you could take a picture and then send it to me. Did you know that with the phones that came out like five years ago, you can actually text pictures?" I said with a huff.
Frankie was an amazing tinkerer and could fix just about anything. He even customized my motorcycle into one badass vampire-evading vehicle. But for someone so mechanically inclined, he abhorred computers and the Internet. I recently bought him a flip phone so he could at least send text messages. The relic he had before didn't even have that feature.
"You know, you could go to the Apple store and get a phone." An opportunity presented itself, so I grabbed it. "Camera, Internet, email. You will love it. Promise."
"Come on, Nina, I'd do it for you," he begged. "Well, if you were more...feminine."
He was lucky that I was distracted just before that last crack. A ghost slipped into the bar, and it wasn't Casper, my very own, personal ghost.
Casper and I met in the emergency room of Rhode Island Hospital. He had just died — killed by a cursed knife that drew power out of the witches as their life force bled out of them. The power was channeled into Marcello, the psychotic vampire, who wielded the blade. Casper was my very first contact with the dead. Now that was a hell of a surprise. We've been together ever since.
Just like regular people have different strengths and weaknesses, so do witches. My aunt was a crack potion maker. Our friend Eva was an excellent diviner. Apparently, my witchy gift was whipping up bizarre weather patterns and communicating with the dead who remained here on earth. It was kind of creepy.
After we obliterated the vampire that murdered Casper, I thought my ghost friend would pass on to the other side, but he stuck with me. I was kind of happy about that. I was used to having him around.
But that didn't mean I wanted another Casper in my life. One haunting was quite enough.
"Frankie, I am hanging up now," I muttered, keeping my eyes on the wisp that was floating around the bar. I heard him protest as I pressed the end call button.
"What's back there?" Darcy whipped her head from me to the back tables.
"Not sure but I think another Casper." I vaulted over the bar and headed to the back room.
Darcy followed me. "While you check out the spooks, I am going to the basement to wire in the satellite radio. You good?"
"Yeah," I sighed. My life was complicated enough. I didn't need Babe's to be a new stop on the Providence Ghost Tour.
"Hey!" I barked at the ghost. I had to maintain complete control over the situation and the ghost, or we were screwed.
"Lovely establishment," he said with a note of sarcasm. As I got closer, I saw that he was dressed like an early 20 th -century undertaker. His face was long and his ears kind of stuck out. His mouth pulled down at the corners in a perpetual frown. “I suppose this will do."
"You can't stay here," I warned. "I will have you exorcised."
"Horse shit," he countered. "I suggest you add some bookshelves to the walls and make a small library back here. This place could use a
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