Free Vampire Dating Agency by Rosette Bolter

table looking
for you.”
    “Wait – it
isn’t that –”
    Haley stopped
herself short, not being able to find an adequate description. At this point
they’d reached a set of steps leading down to the back of the house. Once there
Haley’s gaze drifted out as far as the light of the house would let her…
    “Come on,”
Melanie said.
    They walked
together across the lawn.
    “How far away
are they?” Haley asked. “Is this safe?”
    “Why?”
Melanie countered. “Are you afraid something’s going to happen to you?”
    Haley inhaled
the darkness.
    “I’m asking…”
Haley murmured to herself. “Are you sure this is safe?”
    Maurice? Riley?
Jason?
    Anyone?
    “Don’t
worry,” Melanie said. “I have your back.”
    Even if no
one else did…

 
    CHAPTER
TWENTY-SEVEN
     
     
    Maurice had his feet up at the back
of the van. His laptop rested on a small table to the side of him, displaying
the live feed from Haley’s camera. He wasn’t looking at it. Somehow a Movie and
TV magazine had found its way into his lap, which now accounted for the bulk of
his attention.
    Riley wasn’t
much better. She was sitting against the side of the van with her iPad mucking
about with her colorful apps. Tension ran through Jason’s body as he looked
from one to the other, each passing second more excruciating than the last.
    “Are we even
paying attention to what’s going on anymore?” he blurted out.
    Maurice
glanced at his computer then went back to his magazine.
    Riley didn’t
move at all.
    “Hey!” Jason
shouted slamming his palm on the floor.
    They both
looked up.
    “What?” Riley
snapped.
    “She’s asking
us a question – is it safe – is it safe – does anyone want to discuss how we
should answer that?”
    “At some
point she has to take responsibility for herself,” Maurice said. “We can’t hold
her hand the whole way.”
    Riley tilted
her head. “What he said.”
    “What if
they’re onto her?” Jason asked. “You ever think of that? What if she’s being
lured away so they can ambush her?”
    “The mission
is not without its dangers,” Maurice said. “Haley knew that going in.”
    “We’re
supposed to call Dino if we think she’s in danger.”
    “Is that what
you think?”
    Jason
shrugged. “I have no idea. But … I don’t like this. I don’t like it one bit.”
    “Any time you
want, you can take it up with Kendra,” Maurice said. “But honestly I don’t know
why she thinks you need to be here. What you’re contributing isn’t helping the
work atmosphere.”
    “So you want
to drive the van now?”
    Maurice
rolled his eyes. He turned back to the computer.
    “Don’t worry,
we’re still with you Haley,” he said into the mike. “If things get too much for
you, just let us know and we’ll send in support. For the time being, hang in
there.”
    Maurice
looked back to Jason with his eyebrows raised. “Well?”
    “You’re an
asshole,” Jason muttered.

 
    CHAPTER
TWENTY-EIGHT
     
     
    Cyrus Rance saw her, felt her, heard
her, sensed her presence before she was within reach of any of these things. He
steadied the rod his hand and faced his opponent, his mind never of course
leaving her.
     “You seem
distracted,” his cousin Edmond goaded. “Are you sure you’re ready?”
    An aura of
green light flashed from Cyrus’s eyes and he leapt up into the air, swinging
his rod to make contact. Edmond blocked him with his weapon once, twice, three
times – and then rolled across the ground.
    Cyrus stopped
short, his attention distracted as Haley and her companion entered the frame,
walking up the hill towards them.
    Edmond’s rod
then slammed into the back of his knees, causing them to buckle and fall over.
    “Ready
indeed,” Edmond laughed triumphantly.
    “You really
are hopeless, Cyrus,” his sister Avril said helping him up.
    Cyrus didn’t
respond. He watched as Haley’s companion unlocked the gate out the front of the
cottage, both of them stepping into the