The Vampire's Cursed Kiss Read online

  Shadowvale isn’t your typical small town America. The sun never shines, the gates decide who enters, magic abounds, and every resident bears some kind of curse.

  Vampire Constantin Thibodeaux was cured of his sun “allergy” when he moved to Shadowvale. Now he runs the local bookstore, which is really just a sideline to filling his own library. Books, unlike people, are far more forgiving of his prickly nature. But he doesn’t care if people don’t like him. He is who he is. And he’s happy. Well, he’s content. Okay, he’s…fine.

  Sprite and all around party girl Andromeda Merriweather loves her carefree life—or at least she did until her sister cursed her into a magical time out. Thankfully, she’s just been set free by a totally hot, but kind of grumpy vampire. Too bad this handsome grouch now holds the key to her freedom, something she’ll only get if he agrees to abide by the rules of her curse.

  Constantin isn’t interested in the terms and conditions Andromeda gives him, until he needs her to be his temporary girlfriend to shut his brother up. Then Constantin agrees. But what happens after a surprisingly fun evening creates brand new problems for both of them. Sure, two opposites can attract, but will that attraction last? Or are they both too cursed to give love a chance?

  The Vampire’s Cursed Kiss:

  Shadowvale, Book Two

  Copyright © 2019 Kristen Painter

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews—without permission in writing from the author.

  This book is a work of fiction. The characters, events, and places portrayed in this book are products of the author’s imagination and are either fictitious or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real person, living or dead, is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.

  ISBN: 978-1-941695-44-9

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  Table of Contents

  THE VAMPIRE’S CURSED KISS

  About the Book

  Copyright

  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

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  About the Author

  Other Books by Kristen Painter

  Many thanks to…

  Chapter One

  The shop’s front door opened, and gentle chimes rang through the Gilded Page, alerting Constantin Thibodeaux that someone had entered his bookstore.

  He looked out from between the two rows where he was inspecting his inventory. And the shelving skills of his only employee, Fletcher. Whose skills were…fine. But there was always room for improvement.

  At least the young vampire was good at getting coffee, something he was doing at the moment. The Black Horse bakery had recently begun serving some of the best Constantin had tasted in a long while, and as a favor to him, they’d started stocking a blend with chicory. Nostalgia wasn’t always something he gave in to, but the coffee reminded him of his long-ago life in New Orleans, and he liked that.

  He didn’t even mind that, unlike everything else in the bakery, the coffee wasn’t free. Spending money on coffee wasn’t an extravagance. Especially when it was good coffee.

  But the chimes hadn’t sounded because a customer had come in. It was Arnie, the delivery man. Constantin didn’t need to see Arnie to know it was him. He recognized the young man by the particular scent of his blood. Humans were easy to single out that way. At least for most vampires. The Thibodeauxes were no exception.

  He came out from the rows to greet the man. “Hello, Arnie.”

  “Hello, Mr. Thibodeaux.” Arnie wheeled the stacked dolly into the shop. “Big shipment today.”

  “Yes, an estate sale I won in an auction.” Constantin had been looking forward to the arrival of this particular allotment since he’d found it for sale online. Winning the auction hadn’t taken much—there’d been only a few other bidders, from what he could gather. And none with pockets quite as deep as his. He did a quick count of the boxes. “Is that all of it?”

  “No, I’ve got three more in the truck.”

  “Excellent.” Constantin rubbed his hands together. Although he prided himself on a shop stocked with a good assortment of new books, his true love was the rare and unusual. He had quite a few customers who appreciated the same, but then, Shadowvale was home to a large populace of supernaturals, many with the funds that made such indulgences almost commonplace.

  Because of that, his shop did fairly well. Something that pleased him. He liked not relying on family money whenever possible, and he hadn’t for many years now.

  This lot had been purchased without the chance to inspect it personally, but he trusted the auction house’s pictures and descriptions. According to what he’d seen online, there were several books in the assortment that would make the price he’d paid well worth it.

  If he decided to sell them.

  He sighed. Keeping the best and most interesting for himself was indulgent. He tried to temper that instinct. To keep himself from going down the path that so many of his kind did. His brother was a prime example. Whatever Valentino wanted, he got.

  To Constantin, that seemed like a character flaw. His brother didn’t agree. But then, Constantin and Valentino hadn’t seen eye to eye in many years. They were cordial, but their relationship was a very shallow one, something Constantin was fine with.

  Unfortunately, keeping the best books for his personal library also didn’t exactly improve the store’s bottom line. Fortunately, turning a profit wasn’t completely necessary.

  Arnie carefully unloaded the boxes, then went out to the truck for the rest. Fletcher passed him as he was headed out. Fletcher had a large coffee in each hand, but he also held a small bag from the bakery.

  He set Constantin’s cup on the counter. “Here you go.”

  “Thank you. What else did you get?”

  Fletcher glanced at the bag. “Blueberry scone for my break. Fresh out of the oven.” He shrugged. “Hard to say no.”

  Constantin swallowed a comment about impulsive behavior. That would be calling the kettle black when he’d just decided some of the new books would be joining his own library.

  Fletcher looked at the boxes. “New shipment, I see. Do you need me to inventory them?”

  “No, I’ll handle these. The shelves still need to be dusted, and there’s a bulb out in the cookbook section.” Constantin sipped his coffee. The subtle bitterness of the chicory tasted like home.

  Fletcher nodded. “I’m on it.” He stuck the bakery bag under the counter, then took the feather duster out and went to work.