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Reality Bites

“Say what you have to say so I can get out of here.” She wouldn’t think about the possibility that Sparkle might not intend to release her. But just in case, she scanned the area for a weapon. Whips, chains, and a bunch of other torture implements. Hmm. She could do some damage with that small ax.

Sparkle laughed. “Give it up, Cinn. The only real things in here are the chains keeping Dacian from trying to suck us dry.”

Cinn slanted a quick glance at Dacian. Who knew that eyes so black could look like they were burning? She swore she could almost see the flames behind his enraged glare.

“So here’s the deal. Yes, vampires do exist, along with lots of other nonhumans. Edge and I are cosmic troublemakers. My specialty is creating sexual chaos throughout the universe. Edge is the cosmic troublemaker in charge of death. You can guess what he does. Bain is a demon, and yes, Holgarth is a real wizard.” She held up her hand to stop Cinn from interrupting. “Let me finish.”

Cinn had no intention of interrupting. No way could she talk with her jaw dragging on the floor.

“I sense a kindred spirit in you.”

Dedication

For Brenda and Billy Trapani, my awesome neighbors. No need for me to go to Vegas, because I won the neighbor jackpot when I moved in next to you. Thanks for being the best.

Prologue

“Freaking.”

“Pain in the ass.”

“Vampire.”

Ganymede punctuated each comment by heaving another shovelful of hard-as-concrete West Texas dirt over his shoulder. What the hell was he doing here when he should be home watching whatever crappy movie was on TV and finishing off that carton of Rocky Road ice cream?

“She couldn’t send me out to dig up his undead carcass on a warm sunny day. No, it had to be in January in the middle of a bitchin’ blizzard.” He hauled back his foot and kicked the empty coffin waiting by the open grave. It flew through the air and landed among a pile of boulders a hundred yards away. Snow immediately started to cover it. “The hell with a coffin. I should just drag him out of his Motel Dead and dump him into the light. Then I could warm my toes by the bonfire his burning butt made.”

A really entertaining thought, but not doable. Sparkle wouldn’t see the humor when he brought back a pile of ashes in her nice new coffin.

He went back to digging…until he broke his third shovel in the hard ground. He hurled the pieces after the coffin. He was the most powerful cosmic troublemaker in the universe, and damn it, cosmic troublemakers never did the grunt work. They had magic or minions for that. But here he was, in human form and digging this guy up.

“How’d you do it, Dacian?”