Blood Kindness: The Hybrid Festival, #2

By Arizona Tape

Desperately thirsty and with her shop on the verge of ruin, the last thing Logan expects is to find help in the form of a human escaping from the rain.

Ana knows to be wary of vampires, especially those who haven't had enough to drink. But when the rain forces her to take shelter, she has to trust in the kindness of a stranger, even if they're a vampire.

A simple exchange of favours leads to an unlikely friendship and the potential for more. Is Logan brave enough to take a chance on the human she's just met?

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Blood Kindness is a paranormal vampire romance featuring an f/f couple and a futuristic setting. It is set in the Hybrid Festival World.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Vampari Press
• Release date: Jul 10, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201584801

Arizona Tape

Arizona Tape lives her dream life hanging out with her dog and writing stories all day.Her favourite books to write are urban fantasy and paranormal romances with queer leads, stories that she wished were around when she was younger.When she’s not writing, she can be found cooking up a storm in the kitchen, watching shows that make her cry, or trying her hand at her new hobby of the week.She currently lives in the United Kingdom with her girlfriend and her adorable dog who is the star of her newsletter. Sign up here for adorable pictures, free books, and news about her books: www.arizonatape.com/subscribeFollow The AuthorFacebook Page: http://facebook.com/arizonatapeauthorReader Group: http://facebook.com/groups/arizonatapeBookbub: http://www.bookbub.com/authors/arizona-tapeTwitter: http://twitter.com/arizonatapeInstagram: http://instagram.com/arizonatapeTikTok: http://tiktok.com/@arizonatapeHer books are available on all retailers and can be requested from most public libraries.

Book preview

1

The red pouches taunted me through the armoured glass of the lonely vending machine, their price ridiculously high. Who could’ve ever predicted blood would get this costly? Instead of being able to afford the medium size that I usually needed, I got the smallest can available. It would be enough to see me through a couple more days but it wouldn’t be comfortable.

I hovered my hand over the scanner to make the purchase, spending my hard-earned points for my daily drink. With a dull thunk, the can fell in the bottom tray and I pulled it out, not wasting a second to break into it. I snapped the lid open and brought the drink to my mouth. The translucent liquid had a faint metallic smell that revealed it wasn’t the cleanest plasma on the market but I didn’t care.

I greedily drank the entire can till the last drop, the instant relief bringing a high I desperately missed. My belly felt full now but I knew it wouldn’t be long until I craved more. I always craved more.

I made sure my can was entirely empty before I fed it to the recycle press and returned to the meeting point where my friend was waiting for me. She stood in the light of the lamppost, enduring the faint drizzle like it wasn’t there. Her purple eyes lit up when she saw me return and she set in motion so we didn’t have to linger at the blood spot any longer than necessary.

Thank you for coming with me, I said as we moved through the narrow streets of the Old City.

Samira smiled. Of course, it’s not safe going on your own.

I knew my neighbour was right, but I wanted her to know I appreciated her company. Especially when she hadn’t purchased anything. Under different circumstances, I’d have offered to buy something for her but that wasn’t how we did things. We looked out for each other in as many ways as possible, but we never shared drinks. It was just easier not to be responsible for someone else and not add that burden to her either. We made do and that was good enough.

We arrived at our street and paused in front of our empty stores, the depressing sight never getting easier. Ever since the Golden City opened their own shopping centre, shops like ours had become obsolete.

Samira managed somewhat of a smile as she shook the water off her coat before she entered her shop. I’ll bring you some more nutriblocks tomorrow. We have more vitamins that are expiring.

Thanks, I appreciate it. If you or your husband need any clothes mended, bring them. I don’t have anything else to do anyway, I said, waving my hand over the sensor to unlock my door. With a chime, the system opened the door and a twinge of relief passed through me that I still had access to my shop. I didn’t think they’d repurpose it without warning but I wouldn’t put it past the government. I’d heard the horror stories. In this climate, anything was possible.

I didn’t bother turning the lights on so I wouldn’t have to see the sad state of my shop. The empty clothing racks and hangers were gathering dust and the few shirts and jackets still out were terribly out of fashion. It seemed incredibly unlikely I’d ever sell another piece again so what was the point of keeping them out?

My stomach gurgled and I tried my best to ignore it. I couldn’t possibly be hungry again, I just drank. If I was craving more already, then the blood percentage in the drinks had to be incredibly low. Surely, that wasn’t legal? Not at these exorbitant prices. Then again, there wasn’t much we could do about it. The choice was between a little or nothing and I definitely couldn’t survive on nothing.

To distract myself from the oncoming thirst, I grabbed the last shirts and coats from the racks to put them away in boxes. It was time to stop kidding myself, commerce in the Old City was dead. The elite weren’t shopping down here anymore and the inhabitants didn’t have the points to shop. It was over.

I almost finished packing up everything when a chime from the entrance and a woman with dark hair almost fell through the door. I’m sorry, I didn’t realise this store was open. I was just trying to get out of the rain. My coat isn’t exactly waterproof anymore.

Come in, I encouraged, flicking my wrist to turn the lights on.

Are you sure? the woman asked, hesitantly following me in. She took in the store’s state and hummed. Oh. You sell clothes?

I used to, I answered, the empty racks a stinging reminder. I looked at my guest, as always paying extra attention to what someone was wearing. Her coat looked like it had seen better days and didn’t fit her very well. It was highly likely that it was secondhand and no surprise that it didn’t protect her from the rain