A Curse of Darkness

A CURSE OF DARKNESS MIDNIGHT VAMPIRES BOOK TWO VIVIAN CASEY A CURSE OF DARKNESS by Vivian Casey This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. A CURSE OF DARKNESS Midnight Vampires Book Two Copyright ©2023 by Vivian Casey All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any electronic or written form without permission. DEDICATION For Jeralyn, Who didn’t have to, but did anyway. CONTENTS WHERE TO FIND ME OTHER WORKS Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Epilogue AUTHOR’S NOTE ABOUT THE AUTHOR WHERE TO FIND ME —VIVIAN CASEY— Website: www.viviancasey.com TikTok: @viviancasey Amazon: @viviancasey Goodreads: @viviancasey Instagram: @viviancaseyauthor Facebook: @viviancasey OTHER WORKS AS VIVIAN CASEY MIDNIGHT VAMPIRES SERIES A Thirst for Darkness A Curse of Darkness A Stranger to Darkness (June 2023) * * * AS VIVIAN BARZ DEAD REMAINING SERIES Forgotten Bones Hidden Bones Campus Bones BOBBI MCCOY PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR SERIES Her Last Eclipse (Late 2023) 1 Not so long ago, a vampire I trusted tried to kill me. It wasn’t the only time. I’ve survived two murder attempts by immortals, surprise attacks that happened a couple weeks apart. Though the would-be killers were different on both occasions, it was the same vampire who’d wanted me dead. That vampire was Michael Graves, my former employer. He was a real psychopath. I like to think Michael was a psychopath, anyway. He claimed he could see the future, a gift he’d acquired a couple centuries ago along with his immortality. His predictions told of a lone human responsible for the downfall of the entire vampire race. While he hadn’t been able to pinpoint the exact date of the supposed apocalypse, he’d said the human in question was yours truly. Why me? According to Michael, I come from an altered—mutant, as he put it—bloodline fated to destroy every last immortal on the planet. Unless he killed me first, that was. At the time of my attempted assassination, he’d hastened to add that it was nothing personal, as if that was supposed to make me feel better about his betrayal. It didn’t. Not being a psychopath myself, I’ve tried to remind myself to consider the source. Crazy vamps like Michael were prone to say crazy things, right? Problem is that other, non-crazy vampires believe in, and have even verified, Michael’s psychic capabilities. For obvious reasons, I’ve chosen to stay quiet about being supposedly cursed. There’s just no casual way to state to your nearest and dearest, Oops, I almost forgot to tell you! I may or may not be responsible for the eradication of an entire race of supernatural beings. Talk about dropping a bombshell. Despite having friendly relations with vampires, I’m not naive enough to believe they wouldn’t still kill me if they suspected I posed a threat. Friendly or not, they’re a dog-eat-dog kind of race. Although, to be fair, humans are hardly any better. Lucky girl that I am, Michael told nobody but me about his doomsday visions. He hadn’t done this out of kindness, or because we’d shared some sacred bond. He’d only feared that he’d be connected to a string of employee disappearances that had surrounded his business, Dignitary, for the better part of a hundred years. Seemed he’d suspected other humans of also being cursed before he’d found me, the “true” culprit. Michael Graves is no more, thanks to a vampire named Marlena, who was Michael’s former business partner. I used to think she was a real bitch, but that was before she saved my life by driving a stake into Michael’s heart. Not without provocation, either. At the time, he was trying to tear open my throat. How’s that for one woman doing another a solid? Since the incident, Marlena and I have become friends. Not best friends, but we do occasionally meet for a drink at Crimson, a clandestine vampire bar known for innovative blood cocktails—though they do also serve a few human booze staples. Usually, it’s gin and tonic for me and chilled blood over frozen plasma cubes with a sprinkling of ancient bone marrow dust for her. Yes, it looks as disgusting as it sounds. I’ve almost gotten to the point where I don’t feel so nervous around Marlena. She can be rather . . . prickly. It’s also difficult for me not to see her as my boss, since that’s what she’d been back when I worked at Dignitary. I use the term “back when,” but it wasn’t that long ago that I’d quit my job. With all that’s happened since, it feels like a decade has passed. You’d think the business would have shut down because of Michael’s murderous endeavors, but Marlena, obstinate as ever, has kept things going with hardly a hitch. Dignitary, as very few humans could tell you, is an exclusive underground organization that caters to immortal clientele. Their main objective is to help vampires blend in with the living through their use of human decoys—which used to be my job—who they take to events like galas, dinners, and various business transactions. The hope is that they’ll seem less vampy to mortals if they’ve got a living, breathing human at their side. Though immortals have roamed the earth for centuries and have learned to fit in quite well with humans (more vampires are out there than most people could comprehend), there are always those who could use a little extra support. Decoys also provide vampires with cover stories to help explain away the