A Midsummer Fang's Dream (Vampire Pet Boutique Mysteries, Book 3)(Paranormal Women's Midlife Fiction)

A Midsummer Fang's Dream Elle Wren Burke Copyright © 2023 by Elle Wren Burke All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without written permission from the publisher or author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Cover design by Mariah Sinclair Contents 1. Chapter One 2. Chapter Two 3. Chapter Three 4. Chapter Four 5. Chapter Five 6. Chapter Six 7. Chapter Seven 8. Chapter Eight 9. Chapter Nine 10. Chapter Ten 11. Chapter Eleven 12. Chapter Twelve 13. Chapter Thirteen 14. Chapter Fourteen 15. Chapter Fifteen 16. Chapter Sixteen 17. Chapter Seventeen 18. Chapter Eighteen 19. Chapter Nineteen 20. Chapter Twenty 21. Chapter Twenty-One 22. Chapter Twenty-Two 23. Chapter Twenty-Three 24. Chapter Twenty-Four 25. Chapter Twenty-Five 26. Chapter Twenty-Six 27. Chapter Twenty-Seven 28. Chapter Twenty-Eight 29. Chapter Twenty-Nine 30. Chapter Thirty 31. Chapter Thirty-One 32. Chapter Thirty-Two 33. Chapter Thirty-Three 34. Chapter Thirty-Four 35. Chapter Thirty-Five 36. Chapter Thirty-Six Thank you! About the Author Also By Elle Wren Burke Chapter One “She’s singing. Why is she singing?” “Because she’s glorious, and everything she does is magic.” “But…why?” I gave Elm’s shoulder a little push. “It’s a musical episode! I told you this would be the best Buffy episode ever. Turn it up. We need to really feel the vibrations.” They grabbed the remote but gave me a skeptical look. “I’m not convinced a musical episode of Buffy makes sense. She should be kicking butt! Slaying vampires!” I pointed to the TV. “She is! Just while singing a magnificent song about how she feels dead inside but wants to feel alive.” “Hmm.” I threw a piece of blood chocolate at them. “Eat your chocolate, and be quiet.” Elm and I had been working through the whole Buffy catalog each Monday. I brought wine, Elm provided chocolate and their cushy couch with fuzzy blankets. While our conversation died down, the show kicked it up a notch. Just as Buffy’s friends belted out their theories about why everyone in town couldn’t resist singing, a loud knock sounded on Elm’s door. “Weird. No one ever just shows up here.” They paused the show and rose from the couch, stretching their long limbs. We were both in comfy clothes—me in a holey T-shirt and old sweatpants, Elm in knit pants so soft that I wanted to climb inside them and make a nest, never to see daylight again. For some unknown reason, Elm rejected that idea. The door squeaked as Elm pulled it open. A velvety voice, confident and dignified, floated through the living room. “Hello there. I’m your new neighbor. Or rather, your temporary neighbor renting the Air Bed & Blood. My apologies, but I’m working on something challenging, and I’m finding your TV’s sound to be a bit distracting.” I leaned forward to put a face to the elegant voice. Elm owned a fangcy townhouse a few streets off Vein Street, our town’s main thoroughfare. The lower floor held a shiny white kitchen, a long glass table covered in nerdy Dungeons & Dragons bits and bobbles, and a sleek living room with a tiled fireplace, a huge TV, and the comfiest sectional I’d ever dropped my butt onto. From where my butt sat in heaven, I could just see out the door. A striking vampire with deep-red hair, shining green eyes, cheekbones sharper than my fangs, and full lips stood with her hands behind her back. Her legs taller than my whole body, she could have had a long-legged contest with Elm. My friend leaned on the door frame. “I’m so sorry! We’ll turn it down.” They reached a hand out. “I’m Elm.” She extended hers as well, bright-red nails catching my eye. “Calista.” “Are you staying for a while?” “Yes. We’ll be neighbors for quite some time.” Elm winked at her. “Well, let me know if you need to borrow some eggs.” She laughed. Vampires didn’t eat eggs, but maybe she’d borrow a cup of coconut sugar. “I sure will. Have a good rest of your night.” “She seems nice,” I told Elm as they sank into heaven beside me. “Yeah, much better than the last vamp who rented the Air Bed & Blood. He blasted intense death metal until 3:00 a.m. Unlike Calista, I’m not brave enough to knock on a stranger’s door.” I patted Elm’s arm. “Call me next time. I’ll tell them to shove it.” Laughing, they unpaused the episode and turned down the volume. A few minutes later, I leaned forward. “This is my favorite song of the episode! Spike sings about his love for Buffy, telling her she’s rejecting him because she’s scared. He does such a good job of—” BANG! BANG! BANG! The wall behind us vibrated. I grabbed the remote. “I guess it’s still too loud. We better turn it down before she tells us to shove it.” Elm snatched the remote from me. “Let’s just turn it off.” My eyes big, I pouted. “Josie, we already watched, like, four episodes. We can finish it later.” Their eyes slid to the wall. “Maybe at your house.” “Ugh. Fine. But you have to bring the wine.” “Deal. We can invite Calder,” they said with a little smile. “He can sing about his love for—” I smacked them with a fuzzy gray pillow. “Stooooop. You know I can’t go there with Calder.” For years, affection had grown between me and our friend Calder. We'd met when he’d moved to town to run a research lab at Arteria Falls College—the same lab where my roommate Lynnae worked. Sparks had flown immediately, but Calder had sensed my hesitation and had given me the space I needed. I’d known the moment our eyes met that he wasn’t just any other guy, not someone I could just casually date until it fizzled out. And I was terrified. Of what it would mean for me, of what it would mean for him to be attached to someone with a never-ending swirl of health problems.