Love Me Forever. Rosemary Laurey

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СКАЧАТЬ middle of trouble as always, insisted a winged devil had attacked the lookouts. The entire neighborhood—including strict fundamentalist Mrs. Briggs—now held a passing admiration for winged devils.

      Stella took Sam up both sides of the block and no farther; then she bundled him in the back of the car and insisted he wear his seat belt, as all good vampires did.

      She parked in the Giant Eagle car park—they could hardly begrudge her the space given how much she spent on groceries—and she and Sam walked back and forth from Jaeger to Fifth, all the while making their way northward to the little shop on the corner of Jackson. By the time they were in sighting distance, Sam had a pillowcase of loot and Stella half-wondered if it was time to go home. No, she’d promised to stop by. It was just that…

      She knew precisely what caused her to drag her feet. Justin! Not that it was his fault. It was all hers. A couple of nights back, Justin had starred in an incredibly vivid and downright erotic dream. She’d woken up panting and wet. Her wild imagination had rounded off the night with a most spectacular daydream, and now she was scared she’d blush when she met Justin face-to-face.

      And so she should. The man had been a perfect gentleman and she’d turned him into a sex object! She’d just have to bite the bullet and get a hold of herself. She only hoped she could look him in the eye without imagining how his lips tasted, or how his cool fingertips felt on her…

      “Come on, Mom!” Sam ran back to grab her hand. Stella pushed her inappropriate fantasies to the very basement of her mind and let Sam tug her the rest of the way.

      Light spilled over the street from the open door. Kit sat by the steps, wearing knee boots and full-sleeved pirate shirt and looking as if his eye patch was part of the outfit. He dared passersby to come in—if they weren’t scared of vampires.

      “I’m not scared,” Sam announced.

      “Of course not,” Kit agreed. “You’re one yourself. Whoever heard of someone being scared of themselves?” Sam giggled.

      “On the other hand,” Kit went on, “what if you scare away all our customers?”

      Sam shook his head. “No one’s scared of kids!”

      Kit bent close. “Why don’t you go in and find out?”

      Sam needed no second invitation. He skipped up the steps into the packed shop. Given the size of the shop, ten was a crowd and Stella figured there were twice that many: kids with parents, a cluster of goth-clad twenty-somethings and a bunch of teenagers, a bit too old for trick-or-treating, but lapping up the atmosphere. And it was some atmosphere. A wispy cobweblike curtain cut off the back of the shop. One by one the teenagers took turns venturing beyond it while the others waited and listened to shrieks and yells. For the less brave, rows of bright, red apples hung from a ceiling beam. As Sam watched, mesmerized, a young woman tried to bite an apple as it swung and dangled just beyond reach.

      “Thanks for coming.”

      Stella turned to Dixie who was wearing a grown-up version of Sam’s cape. “Thanks for asking us and thanks a million for the costume. I still feel I owe you.”

      She shook her head. “Let Sam hang around a while and advertise for us and we’re quits.”

      “I think my trouble will be getting him to leave.” Sam was already edging his way over to the cobwebby curtain, scared but fascinated by the shrieks from behind.

      Just then two wide-eyed teenage girls came out. “That’s scary!” one of them said just as Justin appeared on their heels.

      He, like Dixie, wore a long black cape. It accentuated his height and dark looks. He gazed around the shop, his eyes seeming to search her out of the crowd, and smiled. Stella smiled back. She hadn’t meant to do so quite that eagerly, but the sight of him brought back her erotic dream and she half-suspected she was grinning.

      “Anyone else dare to venture into the vampire’s realm?” Justin asked. A couple of the boys nudged each other but no one volunteered.

      “I do!” Sam piped up.

      “You don’t want to,” one of the girls said. “It’s too scary for a little kid like you.”

      Sam gave her a look that showed how he felt about being dubbed a little kid. “I’m not a little kid,” he said. “I’m a vampire kid!”

      Justin’s mouth twitched. He gave Stella a fast glance that seemed to ask, “Okay with you?”

      “Fine,” she replied and realized he hadn’t spoken but she’d understood.

      Justin smiled down at Sam’s upturned face and bright eyes. “Sure about this?”

      Sam nodded. “Sure. Us vampires stick together.”

      Justin glanced across to where Stella stood beside Dixie. Any signal from her and he’d have refused, but he sensed her agreement. Now that was scary! “That’s right. Vampires unite!”

      Sam giggled and took Justin’s offered hand. It was Sam’s utter trust that humbled Justin. That and the swift young heartbeat that walked beside him as he parted the dark curtains and led Sam between the stacks of books and into the storeroom beyond. “Can you keep a secret?” he whispered as he opened the door.

      “You bet!” Sam raised two fingers and drew them across his chest. “Cross my heart, hope to die.”

      How lightly the young speak of dying! Come to that, how lightly mortals speak of vampires. But Dixie had been right, vampires brought in the crowds. “Can we go?” Sam tugged at his hand.

      Justin opened the door to the darkened room. Keeping hold of Sam’s hand, he pulled the door closed and flicked on the light. Sam blinked in the sudden brightness. “Here’s where I share my secrets,” Justin said and took Sam over to the bowl of cooked spaghetti. “Monster guts.” Sam ran his hands through them and poked the half grapefruit, or ogre’s eye. Justin lifted him up to touch the strands of wet string that hung from in the doorway. “They hit people in the face,” Justin explained, “and scare them.” Sam had been short enough to walk under them.

      Sam lapped it all up. Delighting in the frozen, water-filled, rubber glove hands of the corpse and the bowl of raw egg white dubbed “werewolf blood.” “Want to try them with the lights out?” Justin asked. Sam did, keeping tight hold of Justin with his free hand.

      “It’s not scary when you know what it is,” he confided.

      “But remember, it’s a secret.”

      Sam nodded. “That’s right! Vampires unite!”

      What had he started? Still, it was fun to see the amazement on the cocky teenagers’ faces when Sam strolled out smiling.

      “Hey! I bet he didn’t go through the whole thing,” one of the girls said.

      “I did!” Sam wasn’t letting that insinuation on his manhood pass. “I did it all: the ogre’s eye, the monster’s guts, the corpse. I wasn’t scared.”

      Maybe not, but Stella looked worried. Justin needed to talk to her. Kit had come in while he’d shared trade secrets with Sam. “I’ll take over a while,” Kit said. Justin didn’t wait for him to offer СКАЧАТЬ