Free Eternity and a Year by Ranae Rose Page A

snarled. The vampiress was an undead beauty, a creature built of soft, ample curves yet somehow delicate in appearance at the same time. Carrie hated her even more for it. “You!” She dared to take a step towards the vampiress, seething with sudden rage. “You filthy bitch,” she said, Brendan’s description from the night before springing to her lips.
    The vampiress actually took a step backwards as Carrie advanced on her.
    Carrie clenched her fist tight around the handle of the stun gun she held in her pocket. Would it work on a vampire? If it did, the vampiress would fall and be exposed to the sun, weakened…would the effect be strong enough for Carrie to cut out her heart? She didn’t know how, exactly, she’d do that, but at the moment, she didn’t really care. She could see herself ripping it out with her bare hands. Her vision darkened, and her blood pounded in her ears as she stared at the creature who’d stolen Brendan’s humanity, who’d forced her to send out wedding cancellation notices as she’d grieved for her lost fiancé…
    “I think you’re mistaken,” the vampiress said in a surprisingly mild voice. “I can’t be anyone you know.”
    “Oh, I know who you are, and I know what you are,” Carrie said, taking another step forward, gripping the stun gun in her fist. “You’re a vampire.” She felt a faint sense of ridiculousness at making such a declaration out loud, but it was quickly overpowered by her anger and forgotten.
    The vampiress’s eyebrows climbed above the rims of her sunglasses. “How did you know? You’re human—I can smell your blood.”
    “You’re not the first vampire I’ve met,” Carrie said.
    “Then…” the vampiress eyed Carrie as if debating how much she should reveal to her. “My name is Sophia.” She extended a hand towards Carrie.
    Carrie glared down at it with disdain, keeping the stun gun levelled at her. A sharp pang of agony had pierced her heart when the vampiress had announced her name. Before, the vampiress in Carrie’s horrified imaginings had been a nameless, faceless she-devil. Now, she was real.
    Sophia eyed the stun gun with interest. “Those won’t work on us. I’ve no idea why, but they don’t. You wouldn’t be the first to try.”
    “And I should believe you?” Carrie demanded.
    “Go ahead and shoot me with it if you like. I’ve heard it doesn’t even hurt.” Sophia spread her arms in invitation.
    Carrie hesitated only a moment before firing.
    Sophia looked down at herself. “Actually, it tickles. And now that is settled”—she turned her gaze on Carrie again—“maybe you can help me. I’m looking for another vampire. I have reason to believe he might stay here at times. Do you know if that’s true?”
    Carrie’s rage burnt white hot as her suspicions were confirmed—Sophia was looking for Brendan. “Burn in hell,” she snarled. “I’m not going to help you.”
    Sophia regarded her calmly. “Who do you think I am?”
    Carrie’s face blazed with heat. Her blood pounded more loudly in her ears, and when she spoke, it was as if her voice were far away and not her own. “The monster that turned my fiancé into a vampire.”
    “I’m not,” Sophia said evenly. “You’re mistaken.”
    “Oh, well, that clears that up,” Carrie said sarcastically. “I guess I’ll lead you straight to him now, just like you asked.” Burning nausea boiled in the pit of her stomach, and she clenched her fists tight as she listened to Sophia lie, reminding her she still held her useless weapon. She thrust it into her pocket. Damn, why couldn’t that gun have worked on this monster?
    “I’m not her,” Sophia repeated. “But I do know who you’re talking about.”
    Carrie glared at her.
    “Your fiancé,” Sophia continued, “he was turned into a vampire by a ‘filthy bitch’ of a vampiress? Did it happen about a year ago?”
    Carrie nodded.
    “And does he have scars from his transformation”—she moved her