Taste of Grief (Just One Bite #3) by Kay Glass Page B

but at the moment she
couldn't bring herself to give a flying fuck. "You will die, you bastard,
and it will be at my hands. I'll make sure of it." Her breath came in hard
pants, as though anger was truly a form of exercise.
    There was silence on the other end of the line- apparently
she wasn't so funny anymore. Good, she thought, at least now he understands how
serious I am. "You don't want to test me, little girl. I've dealt with lowly
little beings like you more times than I can count, and I crushed them all. I
look forward to tasting you- I always like to drink to my victory. More bodies
are coming - and you will be my greatest." With that, Giles Carson hung
up, leaving Lizbeth cold and shaking.
    She dressed in a simple cotton robe that covered her from
neck to ankle- it was a bright blue shade, and Diandra had bought it for her,
saying how it matched her eye color. She smiled a little as she shuffled
barefoot down the stairs and straight to the kitchen. Foregoing her usual
one-cup coffee maker, she put on a full pot. It was only 2:30 now, and she'd
had a mere three hours sleep, but she was awake for the night.
*****
    When Diandra got up later that morning she scooped RaeLynn
up and carried her downstairs for her breakfast. Adrian had taken to preparing
waffles for the baby, cutting them into miniature pieces so there was no
choking risk. Setting the baby in her high chair, Dia was surprised to see
Lizbeth sitting out on the rear deck. "Adrian, Rae's in her high
chair," she called. Without waiting for a response she headed out to her
lover's side. She could hear Adrian talking with the baby as though she were
standing right next to him- her preternatural hearing sure came in handy, she
thought absently.
    "Hey, baby," she said brightly as she sat in the
lounge chair next to Lizbeth. "What are you doing home?"
    Lizbeth tilted her head towards Dia but didn't make eye
contact. "I called out of work today. I need to clear my head before I go
back there."
    Diandra nodded to show she understood. "I imagine it
would be very difficult to go in, knowing Alexar won't be waiting for you.
Hopefully his murderer will be brought to justice." The words were empty-
she knew it wouldn't happen, but there was a part of her that prayed it was
possible.
    "No, not gonna happen," Lizbeth snarled. "I
should know- I got the fucking phone call." She jumped up and started
pacing the deck.
    The sounds of Adrian's conversation with RaeLynn came
through the glass- "Good girl, RaeRae. What a big girl, eating all of your
waffle. Let's go get you cleaned up." The sound of footsteps retreating
came through clearly to Diandra, although she doubted Lizbeth could hear them.
She returned her thoughts to the conversation at hand, the words just now
sinking in. "What phone call are you talking about?" she asked
quietly, trying to keep herself under control.
    "Giles Carson called me. He wanted to brag, asking what
I thought of the package he left for me, calling him a useless bag of
nothingness." Lizbeth slumped back into the lounge chair, her sorrow once
more weighing her down. It was more than the loss of her friend and partner- it
was the knowledge that she'd not get justice for him that hurt the most. She
repeated the conversation to Diandra nearly word for word.
    "You said what?" Diandra yelled, anger turning her
face red. "Let me get this straight- you threatened a vampire, knowing
what's he's capable of, and knowing he's killed more than once. At exactly what
point in time did you decide it was a good idea to tell him you'd kill
him?" Now Diandra was the one pacing, doing her best to settle down. She
felt her fangs protrude and cursed herself. She needed better control than
this- she couldn't keep letting her true nature show just because her temper
flared. Secrecy was important- she couldn't risk it getting out because she was
acting like a newly changed vamp. It didn’t matter that she happened to be a
recently changed vamp- she was superior to most of