Gem - No Conspiracy



  Gem – No Conspiracy

  By

  Craig Jones

  Copyright by Craig Jones 2011

  All rights reserved. No part of this story (eBook) may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or book reviews.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidences are either a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to any actual person, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Cover by Terry Wright

  10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

  By

  Craig Jones

  New York.

  “Ladies, we have a problem.” John Bradley barged past me and into our apartment. Usually such disrespect would have my gums throbbing, my teeth extending, and his blood all over the lips, but there was a look in his eyes I hadn’t seen before.

  He looks scared!

  He turned to face me, wringing his hands. His top shirt button was undone, and his tie, usually so perfectly positioned, hung askew. Black stubble covered his chiselled chin and defined cheeks, and dark stormy shadows languished just below his eyes.

  I closed the door, hoping my neighbours hadn’t seen him storm in. They might call the cops.

  Katrina is going to go ballistic that he’s turned up unannounced!

  “You’d better have a damn good reason for crashing my lair.”

  “Who knows about you?” he snapped, his lips twitchy and aggressive.

  My gums ached to be split by my ferocious fangs. “Just us.”

  “Except for us, who knows?”

  “Very few people,” I replied, trying to remain calm. “Maria and Angel.”

  What the hell is going on?

  “Who else?” He gasped and I thought he was actually going to fall to his knees on the floor and have a hissy fit right here.

  He better not vomit on my new carpet. At fifty bucks a yard...

  I heard footsteps above me and knew within seconds Katrina would be making her way down the stairs.

  This is going to get messy!

  There had to be something I could say to calm Bradley down. “Our secret is safe.”

  “You’re beautiful but so damned naïve, Gem,” he said, his voice cracking. “After what I’ve seen tonight—”

  “What the hell is he doing here?” Katrina shouted from the top of the stairs. Her hands were jammed on her hips, and her right knee bent slightly. Damn she looked good in those short blue jean shorts.

  Does she have any idea how hot she looks?

  I was suddenly aware of how much we’d begun to mimic each other.

  “You have a lot of nerve—”

  “Katrina!” Bradley shouted. “What have you told your friends about us?”

  She strutted down the stairs, blatantly ignoring him, and stood directly in front of me, a damnit-not-again look on her face. “We’ve got plans for tonight. You’re not going out to kill someone. You promised!”

  Bradley put his hand on her shoulder.

  My vampire rage flared up.

  No one touches my woman!

  But then I saw the look on his face, the complete and utter desperation in those piercing eyes, and for the first time since he arrived in our lives, Bradley looked more than scared. He looked terrified to death.

  I peeled his hand off Katrina’s shoulder and placed my own conciliatory hand in its place. Her bare skin felt smooth and smouldering under my palm.

  Nobody’s going to ruin our night, babe.

  Then I turned on Bradley. “I don’t know what has gotten into you, but you have five seconds to tell us what is going on.”

  “Let me use your computer. I’ll show you.”

  Moments later, Katrina and I flanked Bradley as he sat at my laptop, the one we almost died for, and he tapped a Web site into the browser.

  www.twbpress.com

  “What the hell is TWB Press?” Katrina asked. “Gem—”

  “Just watch,” Bradley implored.

  The Web site booted up. It was an e-publishing site: horror, thrillers, science fiction.

  “Look!” He scrolled down the page.