Free Fanged Fury (The Adventures of Sydney Sedrick Book 3) by Mandi Casey

serious.
    Meredith set her bag on the counter. “I followed her to the hospital, Sydney. I didn’t go into the building for fear she would catch me. I don’t want her to know I invaded her privacy. I think something’s wrong with her health but she’s not saying what it is.”
    My heart sank. Normally I like to be right. This wasn’t one of those occasions. “I’ll ask her about it tonight, after work. I’ll just say I’m worried because she’s thinner than usual.” I wasn’t sure Aunt Judith would tell me, but now that her friend had confirmed my aunt had a health issue, I needed to find out what was going on.
    Relief washed over Meredith’s face as she said, “Thank you, Sydney. I don’t want to burden you with this, but I couldn’t keep this to myself for a second longer. You are so dear to Judith. I know you feel the same about her. If my best friend needs help, then that’s what we’ll give her, whether she likes it or not.”
    I was just thinking how Kasdeya and I were forced into things because of other people’s actions. Wasn’t I just about to do the same to Aunt Judith in demanding she tell me what was going on with her health? The difference was, my actions were motivated out of concern. Kasdeya’s situation was caused by power hungry, egocentric, maniacal demons.
    Meredith exited the store leaving me to finish dusting the top bookshelves I had been working on before Kasdeya showed up. The rest of the day was uneventful and I went home after closing time. Aunt Judith was already in bed, so I didn’t bother her. I checked the microwave and, sure enough, Aunt Judith had made me up a plate for dinner with a sticky note that read Heat for three minutes. Sweet dreams. Love, Aunt Judith.
    A tear escaped my eye. Traveling down my cheek, the droplet landed on the counter. Aunt Judith had always made it a point to stay up while I ate my dinner to hear about my day, but tonight she had already went to bed. How ill was she? The names of terminal illnesses flew through my head. She didn’t seem sick, though. Being tired wasn’t anything to worry about all by itself, but she was definitely a lot thinner these days.
    I’d have to check the medical websites tomorrow to plug in her symptoms to see what I could find before confronting her.
    After getting ready for bed, I stood in front of my bedroom window. The night was uncharacteristically dark. My cell phone rang as I climbed in under the covers of my bed. I expected to see Blake’s number blinking on the neon blue screen but it was a number I didn’t know. Only a few people had my number, so I figured I’d better answer.
    “Hello?”
    A female voice answered on the other end, “Hi, Sydney? This is Kat.”
    “The vampire princess?” I didn’t mean to sound so surprised, but I hadn’t expected a member of the vampire royalty to be calling me.
    She laughed over the phone. “Yes, but please don’t call me that.”
    “Okay, so how did you get my number?” I didn’t want to sound rude, but it was important. I wanted to know who all had access to my phone.
    “Oh, I had Kasdeya get it from your wolf boyfriend. I hope you don’t mind.” The vampire princess sounded sincere.
    “No, no. I don’t mind. I’m just a little surprised is all. So, what’s up?” Normally, Others didn’t call me unless they wanted me to do something for them, or when I was being summoned to one of their gatherings.
    “Well, I know when we met there wasn’t much time to get to know each other, so I figured I’d call to see if you wanted to hang out or something?” The hopeful tone in her voice sounded almost desperate.
    “Sure, I’d love to. What did you have in mind?” The only time I’d ever hung out with vampires was when Kieran threw his coven parties. I’d never spent time with a female vampire.
    “Unfortunately, my uncle won’t let me leave the palace, so you’d have to come here, if that’s okay?” Kat sounded hopeful but expecting to be