Twice Bitten (Love, Lust & Magic #1)

Ada

“, you’ve been so weird lately. Is something the matter? Are you sure you want to go out there? I mean, don’t take this the wrong way, but I would be absolutely honored to fill your shoes.”

A distant sat all alone at the farthest bench in the cheerleading team’s locker room. The rest of her squad laughed, socialized, and discussed their plans for the night. Her only company was another teammate who waved her hands in front of ’s frozen gaze.

“?” she asked. “Hello, it’s me, Diana. You know, your co-captain. Do you want me to call Pruitt?”

broke her gaze to shoot her co-captain a dirty look.

“Listen, lovey,” came a voice from behind the two. “Everything’s just fine with .”

The cheerleaders turned to see Regina standing before them in her own for Homecoming Queen t-shirt. “I’m the therapist personally assigned to Ms. Ambrose’s case by the president of the university to help her with the stress of, um, you know—her popularity.”

“Really?” asked Diana. “They actually have that?”

Regina stepped forward and leaned in close. As soon as Diana looked into her eyes, Regina knew her story had been sold.

“That is so cool,” the compelled co-captain gushed. “Wait, I think I need help for my popularity, too. Do you have a card?”

“No. Why don’t you go back and tell the other girls that will be ready in just a few minutes?” coaxed Regina.

“Sure thing,” Diana said as she turned and walked away.

Taking a seat next to , the vampire chuckled to herself. “You humans make it too easy.”

turned her head and continued to stare intently at the wall.

“Think of all of this as a gift—one from me to you. Between girlfriends, right?” Regina squealed as she playfully grabbed ’s hand. At the same time, she gently cuffed the entranced cheerleader’s chin with her free fingers and brought their faces close together. “I already wiped your memory of vampires, witches, and other things that go bump in the night, so I suppose we’ve taken care of that. Return to your same mortal self, , and remain that way until—well, you’ll see what happens.”

“Who are you?” pulled back as Regina dropped her hands to her side. “And ow! What the hell?”

In a flash, pulled out a compact mirror and angled it to examine her neck. Tucked behind her flowing hair were two fresh puncture marks.

“S-sorry,” Regina said as she jumped into character. “I asked your co-captain if there was a chance that I could get in to see if the homecoming queen herself could sign my shirt.”

It took a moment for ’s annoyed look to disappear, almost like she had to force herself to be nice. Pressing her hand against the marks and tucking away her mirror, a small smile quickly grew to stars in her eyes. “A fan, huh ?”

“I got everyone on my floor to vote for you. Don’t tell anyone this, but I actually voted for you twice.” Regina smiled as she handed over a marker.

“Well, I suppose,” replied , feigning a humble look as she flipped her hair back. She obliged and signed the shoulder of Regina’s shirt.

“Any advice to underclassmen looking to someday hold even a flicker of light to your legacy?” Regina asked as she pocketed the marker and stood up.

was examining her neck in the mirror again. At first, she looked like she wasn’t going to even respond. Finally, she pursed her lips and spoke. “Always travel with a make-up bag.”

Even Regina was floored at ’s response. “Th-that’s it?”

“I mean, you never know when something— like, ugh, two disgusting little bite marks —is going to pop up, right?” faked a laugh as Regina kept her face straight. “Or, you know, a pimple. Not that I get those, of course.”

“Of course. Well, thanks, !” Regina replied with a wave. “Break a leg tonight!”

Already back in her own world, fumbled through her bag looking for concealer. “Thanks. I just can’t figure out what the hell this is,” she grumbled.

“Just an insurance policy,” Regina quipped as she disappeared into the next row of lockers.

“A what?” asked as she turned to see that Regina was nowhere in sight. “ Whatever. Siri, set a reminder to call my plastic surgeon.”