Fangs
’n’ Foxes -
a novella by Mardi Ballou
in the Ellora’s Cave anthology Nibble ’n’ Bits
Now available as ebook and print!
Here’s the
prologue and a second excerpt. Enjoy!
Prologue
From time immemorial, vampires and garlic didn’t mix. So, of course,
there could be no vampires in Trenton, New Jersey, where the scent of
garlic is second only to oxygen in the air. But then there arose a newer,
tougher breed of vampire—a vampire who not only could tolerate garlic
but learned to love the fragrant, multi-layered bulb. As fate and Darwin
might have it, not one but two distinct subspecies of vampire evolved.
Alas, their tolerance to garlic did not extend to each other . . .
"Wanda, get your friggin’ ass on down here now," a harsh voice bellowed,
interrupting Wanda "The Wise" Muller’s careful writing. She bit her lip.
Determined as she was to write the full chronicles of the Trenton vampires,
working for a demanding boss made it difficult to snatch the time she needed.
But the tone in Darnell DeLouis’s voice alerted her that he meant business.
With a sigh she saved her file, put the computer to sleep, and hurried off
to see what he wanted.
Despite all her efforts, she had a long way to go to get him trained
right. She’d probably have given up on him already if she didn’t know,
sure as she knew her own name, that Darnell cloaked his finer self under
the thick armor required of vampire leaders. Not to mention, Darnell was
hot—movie star tall, dark and gorgeous. No surprise that the ladies lined
up at his door. Lucky Wanda was immune to his charms.
Lucky also, she had good friends in high places. Soon, it would be
time to join forces with them and get Darnell to evolve and commit his considerable
powers to their mission.
But first things first. Assuming her haughtiest don’t-mess-with-me
look, she made her way to Darnell’s office.
And here’s a second excerpt:
Darnell had experienced many strange things, but none stranger than
being treated by this dentist, LaLilia. If he didn’t know better, he’d
suspect someone’d slipped some crazy weed or drug in his last feed. Or maybe
he was on one of them TV reality shows.
Wanda the Wise was always straight with him. She’d set him up with
this LaLilia Guitry chick, said she was a for real dentist. But here Darnell
had been bracing himself for one of them nasty shots and the drilling and
the squirting and all that other shit dentists did.
Not only did LaLilia outfox every fox in town, but this chick bent
over him and kissed him. Closest he’d ever been to coming from just a kiss
since he became a man. And damn all if his tooth didn’t stop hurting! How’d
she do that?
Then she began to pull away from him like what she did was nothing,
the way she stuck her tongue in his mouth and got up close and intimate
with all his teeth, ’specially the bugger that was killing him all night.
And now here he was with a hard-on that could shatter concrete. Shoot, she
wasn’t going nowhere... Not and leave him like this. You’d think a chick
who could fix teeth like that would have the friggin’ sensitivity or whatever
to know what she started.
Hell, the pain of the damn cavity was nothing compared to the blue
balls he’d have if she didn’t bring herself right on over to where she
would do him the most good.
"Hey, baby," he said, clutching on to her like a life preserver. "I
like your bedside manner. Let’s see some more of it." He shifted uncomfortably.
"This ain’t a bed, but, hell, we’re talkin’ emergency here."
©
2004 Mardi Ballou
