The Maestro's Apprentice Read Online Free Page A

the middle of the room as Tina dismounted him awkwardly and stood holding her arms away from her body, also poised, looking at him. She bent forward slightly. Then she took a step toward him and said something no one in the room expected.
    “Can I see?”
    Adam moved his head back, as though he’d just discovered she had something contagious. “What?” he asked.
    “Can I see? Your fangs. I want to see them.”
    “There ain’t no fangs,” he said, and got up, scowling and adjusting his cock inside his pants.

    22
    “I saw them,” she insisted. “Look, I’m from here, okay? I’ve seen some pretty weird things and I know what I saw. You had fangs two minutes ago that you didn’t have when you came in here. Are you a vampire?”
    “Come on,” Adam said to the girls. “Let’s go.”
    They crowded with him at the door.
    “I want you to bite me,” Tina said.
    He stopped with his hand on the doorknob. “I ain’t no vampire,” he said unconvincingly.
    “But only if you can do it without killing me,” Tina added. “I’m not suicidal.”
    He turned around. Tina looked at the girls with an expression of open urgency. “Are you vampires too?”
    They shook their heads, too stunned to speak.
    Tina looked at Adam. “Please? Life here is so shallow. It’s stimulating and…thrilling, in its own way, but you build up a tolerance. I just want to feel something.” She stepped forward and put her hand over his heart, then looked at him as if surprised. “I want to give you what you need. Just for a little while. If it’s okay.”
    “It’s okay with us,” Maria said, assuming Autumn’s agreement, as usual. This time, she was right.
    Adam flashed a look at them, then nodded and shifted on his feet. “All right,” he said.
    “But we leave right now. And you don’t tell anybody.”
    She nodded, and began a hasty re-dress. “A couple of the girls here tonight owe me. I can get them to cover.”

    23
    She took them to the bar, told the bartender to give them three drinks on her ticket.
    “Wait for me,” she said emphatically and headed across the room.
    “What do you want?” the bartender asked.
    Adam shook his head and leaned on the bar, dropping down hard between his shoulders. “Jack and Coke,” he said.
    “I’ll have a Corona,” Maria said. “She doesn’t drink.”
    “I’ll have a Cosmopolitan,” Autumn chimed in.
    Maria widened her eyes at her. “You don’t drink,” she insisted.
    “Well, tonight I do,” Autumn said.
    In spite of telling Adam they were leaving, and in spite of the breakup with Maria that was to come soon, Autumn felt deliciously wicked – in New Orleans, picking up a stripper and drinking a Cosmopolitan. She would liked to have stayed out a while longer, but wanted to see what happened with Adam and Tina. Not to mention she was glad he had found a meal.
    He was right, though. She did feel guilty. But there was something more, too.
    Something about it just felt wrong.
    It wasn’t long before Tina had made arrangements to have the rest of her shift covered and had changed into street clothes. She was a tiny, waifish thing in tiny, waifish jeans, a metal-studded belt and tight, neon-pink-on-white T-shirt. “Ready?” she asked.
    Adam had finished his drink almost as soon as it had been served. Maria wasn’t really interested in her beer, and Autumn was only about halfway through with hers. She didn’t want to let it go, so she downed the rest quickly. “Oooh,” she said, when she climbed off the barstool. The floor felt a little unsteady.

    24
    “Careful,” Tina said, and put her hand on Autumn’s arm.
    Maria watched the exchange closely.
    “Thanks,” Autumn said.
    Their hotel was only a few minutes’ walk away. Tina chattered about different bars and told them where the nearest Internet café was, while Autumn pointed out things she thought were pretty, like the guy with closely cropped hair and tight jeans who had just crossed their path. Tina giggled. Maria