Free Because the Night (The Night Songs Collection) by Kristen Strassel

I came on vacation, and well, I decided to stay. As crazy as it sounds.”
    “You know, I get it. Sometimes you just know where you need to be.”
    My eyes widened to hear someone say that. Finally, someone understood. “Well, I’m afraid you’ve got your work cut out for you, since I hear you’re training me.”
    “Nonsense. Anyone can do this job. There’s a training manual I can give you. Everyone likes getting a drink from a pretty girl. They’ll forgive a lot. Are you a morph? The vamps will respect you more if you are.” She pulled into the parking lot of Embrace without hitting the brakes.
    I threw open the door and jumped out of the car, grabbing the hood as my knees trembled. Maybe I’d find another way to get to work after this. On the plus side, after driving with Lennon, vampires hardly seemed like a threat.
    “What is a morph?” It sounded like something out of science fiction.
    “Oh, right. Jack said you might be a little green. A morph is a human that drinks vampire blood.” She said it matter-of-factly. Like it was normal.
    I fought back a shiver. “I met my first vampire a couple of days ago and I definitely didn’t drink any blood. What makes a morph different?”
    “The more you do it, the more powers you gain. Well, some of it stays. You build up a tolerance, I guess. It’s a little different for everyone. And if you keep doing it, the Bloodlust doesn’t wear off. You’ll always be sensitive to things. I saw this one guy at a party who could climb walls. Me, I have trouble with daylight and I can move really fast.” All the sudden she was in my face. “See?”
    “Wow. Okay.” I felt a bit more comfortable as she backed away from me, laughing. I just met this girl fifteen minutes ago. I wasn’t ready for parlor tricks yet.
    “So who’s this vampire you met?” she asked as we let ourselves into the building.
    “Tristan Trevosier.”
    Lennon let out a low whistle. “I have to hand it to you. I mean, Tristan. Like, that’s no small feat.”
    “We’ve known each other a long time. I just didn’t know he was a vampire.” I said as I hoisted myself up on a barstool. “Nothing else is going on. I really like Blade.”
    “I know.” Lennon sympathized. “But still, it’s major. He’s, like, unreachable.”
    I didn’t feel totally uncomfortable talking about Tristan with this girl. But I couldn’t help but feel a little guarded about it. “Can we just start training? And talk about this later?”
    “Of course. Sure.” Lennon looked around under the bar like something was missing. “You look like a size small, am I right?”
    I nodded.
    “I’ll go grab your uniform. Did Jack tell you about it?”
    “No.”
    “Ha. Well, he doesn’t hire ugly girls, I’ll tell you that. I need to find the training book. Have you bartended before?”
    I shook my head.
    “Shit, then you need it. I’ll be right back.”
    She disappeared for a few minutes then came back with a small baggie of clothes and a thick binder. “You can wear whatever shoes you want. I usually wear boots.”
    I pulled the contents of the baggie out, and found myself searching in the empty bag for more. “This is it?” All I pulled out was a black studded bra top and a pair of matching lycra booty shorts.
    “Yeah. That’s cool, right? You’ll look great in it, I’m sure.”
    It was so out of my comfort zone it wasn’t even funny. This get up would make me look like Robo-Slut. But I really needed this job so I forced a smile to my face. “I guess I’ll get used to it.”
    Lennon giggled. “Okay, here’s the book. Honestly, our clients pretty much order Venom or wine. Whatever you do, don’t drink the venom. It’s too strong for humans. If they order something you don’t know, they’d rather you ask what’s in it than fuck it up. Some of them are a bit, shall we say, eccentric. But all the recipes are in here, along with some other rules and regulations. It’s basic restaurant stuff, except for