Laws of the Blood 1: The Hunt Read Online Free Page B

living in this town. “I’ll have a talk with him.”
    He could tell that there was more she wanted to discuss, but a patrol car slowed and turned into the parking area before they could continue. He waved as the beam from the headlights swept over them. They stood and headed for the car before they could be told to leave. Selim opened the driver’s side door for Siri. “See you later.” He kissed her cheek. The gesture left her stiff with disapproval.
    He ignored it, closed the car door for her, took a deep breath, and began to run. As he picked up speed, what she’d told him about this Geoff Sterling got him to thinking about how they’d met.
Murad fingers the gold coins. One slips from his fingers and falls to the floor. A woman seated at the next table picks it up.
    SARA
    (Looks at coin):
    An owl.
     
    MURAD
    (Holds out his hand):
    Yes.
     
    SARA:
    Night hunter. Silent. Deadly. Beautiful.
    (Their gazes meet. Lock.)
     
    MURAD:
    Thank you.
     
    SARA
    (Tosses coin; catches it):
    Dumb as posts, though.
     
    MURAD:
    What?
     
    SARA:
    Owls. Gorgeous creatures. Efficient. But nothing like their PR reps. Of course, how much brains do you need to catch mice?
     
    MURAD:
    I don’t know. Why don’t you tell me, owl bait?
    Valentine finished rereading the pages she’d faxed to her agent. She was almost pleased with them. She wasn’t pleased by the tone that had been in her agent’s voice when she picked up the phone and heard, “We have to talk about this latest draft.”
    When she was done reading, she spoke into the phone. “Just what is it you don’t like about this?”
    “I like the woman,” her agent told her. “Adding the romantic element is nice. I’m not sure about the direction you’re taking the romantic element, though.”
    “Sex sells.”
    “Yeah, but a romance with the vampire? Shouldn’t the hero be the romantic interest for Sara?”
    “The vampire is the hero.”
    “That’s right, you got rid of Davy in the last draft. I don’t know, Val, a vampire as a love interest is kind of sick.”
    “Depends on the vampire. Murad’s a nice boy.”
    “Vampires aren’t nice. And what’s with the name change?”
    “You didn’t like Suleiman.”
    “But why Murad? Who’s going to see a movie about an Arab vampire who’s not only the hero but the love interest?”
    Valentine began to experience outrage for the first time in years. She gripped the cordless phone so tightly that the black plastic began to crack. The only light in her apartment came from the glow of the computer screen on her desk and the blinking answering machine she hadn’t checked in days. She scrolled through a few pages of the script file, reading as she answered, “I don’t see anything wrong with that.”
    The voice on the other end of the phone was reasonable, coaxing. “We both know there’s no money in that, Val.”
    Valentine’s attention was only half on the conversation as she reread the words she’d written the night before. The woman’s character needed more fleshing out. She wanted to know more about the girl. That would be tricky, but she thought she had a way. She answered her concerned agent. “Don’t call me Val. What about truth? What about originality? What about my production deal? This is the movie I want to make.”
    “What about a reality check, Valentine?” There was a pause, then her agent went on. “Assuming you can get the movie you want made, nobody will come to see it. Not with the story as it currently stands. What you’re writing isn’t what I asked for, what I promised you’d deliver.”
    “I haven’t finished the rewrites.”
    “That’s good. Because I think you need to trash what you’ve got and go back to the original premise. Monster movie, remember? Lots of blood, smart-ass dialogue, screaming teenage girls.”
    “There’s nothing real in that idea.”
    “There’s nothing real about vampires, Val.”
    “But there could be. What’s wrong with a story about how vampires