Free Roaring Dawn: Macey Book 3 (The Gardella Vampire Hunters 10) by Colleen Gleason Page A

realizing the huge flaw in her decision to have herself removed from his memory.
    The gold disk Wayren used might have erased Macey from Grady’s mind, but it couldn’t remove him from the vampires’ memory. And she wasn’t even certain to what extent the disk worked—did it erase everything about her and their memories together, and leave everything else? Did Grady still believe the undead existed, just as he had done before they’d met?
    And as long as the vampires knew—or even suspected—Macey cared about Grady, there was nothing to keep the vampires from using him as they saw fit.
    “I can give him something that will help keep him safe.”
    Wayren’s words, the single thread of hope Macey clung to, came to mind. She clenched her fingers tightly into her palms, hoping the woman had done what she promised. Hoping whatever it was whatever she’d given Grady, it was enough.
    Macey continued to move closer, feeling for the stake anchored to her thigh beneath the heavy, silky shift. If it came down to staking Flora here, in front of everyone, she’d do it. Let the chips fall where they might.
    Grady was still moving purposefully toward the mayor—it made sense for the ace reporter to want a statement from the man—and Macey lingered nearby, watching from the corner of her eye while pretending to admire a photograph of the Parisian catacombs. Gruesome things they were—walls studded with skulls arranged like bricks, and skeletons everywhere.
    Just as Grady came within view of the group of men and Flora and hailed them, a waiter passed in front of Macey and paused to offer the items on his tray to a couple strolling by. They all clustered in front of her, effectively blocking her view, and there was little she could do other than push them away to see what was happening as Grady shook hands with the mayor.
    “No thank you,” Macey snapped when the waiter turned to offer her the tray after the indecisive couple had finally made their choices and strolled on. She dodged around the waiter and nearly knocked over an easel as she began to rush toward her quarry. Then she came to such an abrupt halt that her shoe made a sharp smack on the marble floor.
    Flora was gone.
    Grady was there, conversing jovially with Mayor Dever, but the tall, slender redhead had disappeared.
    Macey paused to send up a prayer of heartfelt thanksgiving, then started off quickly in the direction she knew Flora must have gone. Gauging the sensation at the back of her neck, she determined there was still an ugly, lingering chill. And it was getting stronger, and—
    “Looking for someone?”
    Macey spun neatly and yanked the stake from beneath her shift as she lunged into the quiet alcove at her elbow. She had her stake raised before she actually saw Flora, and the momentum of her movement had her slamming the taller woman back against the wall.
    “I found her.” Macey had one hand on her old friend’s shoulder, pinning her in place. The other held the stake poised over her heart.
    Flora bared her fangs, her eyes burning red. “Really? And now what are you going to do?” Instantly, she faded from feral undead back into the familiar, cheery face of Macey’s old friend.
    “I’m going to put you out of your misery,” Macey told her. Then she lowered the stake slightly. “But first I need some information.”
    Flora laughed, low and guttural, and her fangs peeked from beneath her upper lip once more. “That’s a convenient excuse. You need information, so once again you’re going to neglect to ‘put me out of my misery,’ as you said. There’s no reason for you to keep spouting the fairy tale that you’re going to stake me, Macey, because we both know you can’t do it.”
    “I’ve already done it,” Macey retorted.
    “Oh, yes. Right. But you missed the target, didn’t you?” Flora thumped herself in the center of her breastbone, right where her heart was. “So I don’t believe that actually counts as staking me. How many