The Last of the Red-Hot Vampires Read Online Free Page B

that’s going to anger the faeries.”
    I rolled my eyes, chewing on the blade of grass. “I’ll take my chances against the fungus. Remember to stay on the left.”
    She hurried off after delivering herself of a few more dire warnings as to my fate if I continued. I sat enjoying the sun for a few minutes, but that quickly lost its charms. I made a search of the area surrounding the ring, but there was nothing there but trees, grass, daisies and buttercups, and the wind whispering through the leaves.
    â€œRight. A little scientific investigation is in order,” I said aloud to break the silence. I seated myself again in the faery ring, plucking another blade of grass to chew while I consulted the photocopies Sarah had thrust upon me. The text explaining the purpose of the spells was couched in dramatically obscure language, no doubt fooling the more gullible reader into believing its authenticity. “It’s going to take a lot more than some lame attempts at mysticism to fool me,” I muttered as I ran my finger down the spells. “ Magicus circulus contra malus, evoco aureolus pulvis, commutatus idem dominatio aqua …oh, for heaven’s sake, how hokey can you get? I bet this isn’t even real Latin—”
    A glimmer of something caught the corner of my eye. I turned my head to look at it, thinking someone had dropped a penny or bit of glass on the ground that had caught the sunlight, but there was nothing.
    The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end, as if something that posed a threat was approaching.
    â€œHonestly, Portia, how pathetic is it that you’re letting Sarah’s chat about magic get to you?” I rubbed my arms against a sudden prickling of goose bumps, and gave myself a mental lecture about allowing someone’s enthusiasm to sway my common sense.
    A little flash of light in midair had me whipping around to look at it.
    There was nothing.
    â€œOh, this is ridiculous. I’m spooking myself, and over what? Figments of an overactive imagination…”
    Directly in front of me, something twinkled in the air again, just as if tiny motes of metal had reflected the sunlight.
    To my astonishment, the twinkling continued, growing thicker until the air around me seemed to collect, flashing like a thousand tiny, nearly imperceptible, lights.
    â€œI’m hallucinating,” I said, closing my eyes. “It’s the sun. I’m sun blind, or having heatstroke, or the fungus in the faery ring is a hallucinogenic.”
    I opened my eyes, sure I would see only the top of a sunny hill, but instead gawked as the twinkling lights gathered themselves into an opaque form.
    â€œIt’s got to be the fungus,” I said quickly, getting to my feet and backing up out of the ring. “It’s from the peyote family or something—”
    As I backed away, I stumbled over a lump in the grass, falling onto my butt. My mind came to an abrupt stop as the form turned into a person. I shook my head, blinking rapidly to clear my vision. “All right. Time to get some medical aid. This silliness has gone on long enough.”
    â€œOh, there you are!” the hallucination said as it turned to me. “Thank heaven you called me. Quickly, we don’t have much time. I must pass on the Gift and be on my way before they find me.”
    The hallucination—in the form of a woman, slightly shorter than me, with long black hair and brilliant blue eyes—stood over me with her hands on her hips, an exasperated look on her attractive face. “Merciful sovereign, are you faery struck?”
    â€œDon’t be ridiculous,” I answered, my voice coming out as a croak. I cleared my throat. “There are no such things as faeries. Oh, man, what am I doing? I’m talking to a hallucination?”
    The woman—I couldn’t help but think of her as such when she looked so real—rolled her eyes for a moment, then startled me