"You don't believe in this stuff, do you?" I asked, surprised I could speak a full sentence to him. It was one thing speaking to Maggie, but actually addressing him and making eye contact was harder.

He chuckled. "I could show you now that it's real, but non-believers are so fun." He walked towards the glass-encased counter with an antique cash register on top. Next to the register, was a black-bound book with golden pages. Underneath the glass counter was a display of freakishly real-looking silver and hand-crafted wooden knives, along with other weapons I didn't recognize.

Sucking in my bottom lip, I rubbed the goose bumps on my forearms. Maggie bumped my shoulder, pushing me forward. I glanced at the worn keys on the register as the man reached into a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper.

"I won't make you fill out applications, mainly because I don't have them. I'll ask you a few questions and administer some tests if I find you both agreeable. I expect the usual. Push sales, be here on time for your shifts, and so on. First things first, my name is James." He gave me a seductive half-smile and licked his bottom lip. "You're Annabelle and your friend is Maggie."

We both nodded; no doubt she was swallowing the lump down in her throat too. I clutched my fluttering stomach. I'm not a shy person, it's not my nature, but around sexy men, particularly black-haired blue eyed sexy men, I get tongue-tied and agree to almost anything they want. It was a weakness I'd successfully avoided after a horrible incident at my junior homecoming when I ended up in the back of a rusty pick-up truck with Ryan Banger. I should've avoided him based on his last name alone. Shame on me! It had been a painful night of lost virginity and heartache. He hadn't even bothered to call.

"Do you have family?"

We nodded.

"Are you close to them?"

My eyes widened. What the hell kind of interview questions were these? Maggie didn't seem to care.

"Close to them how?" she asked.

James leaned forward and settled his elbows against the glass case. "Do they live nearby and are you friends with them?"

"No, they're in Iowa, but yes, we talk to them frequently."

James sighed, looking slightly disappointed. "What is your blood type?"

"Excuse me?" I asked, too surprised at the question to worry about how delicious he was.

He lifted an eyebrow. "Do you know your blood type?"

I scoffed and laughed at the same time. "What does that have to do with working here?"

"Macabre is a boutique that caters to vampires. You do the math."

"I don't know my blood type," Maggie mumbled, her eyebrows furrowed as she thought about it.

Biting my lip, I eyed James. "I'm O negative. Maggie is A positive."

Excitement gleamed in his eyes as he continued his questioning, "Are you both willing to donate your blood?"

"Bee donates all the time," Maggie said. "I'm a little iffy about needles, but I can get over it."

James smiled. "Good, but I meant donating to the customers, not a blood bank. Vampires come in and request fresh blood. We have a list of donors available, but I can offer a fairly large bonus to each of you if you're willing to do it when you work."

"Really?" I asked with disbelief.

"Food and drinks are provided afterward, so you can keep working right after," James assured us.

Maggie knocked my shoulder excitedly. "Oh, Bee, I've read about this. They're human, but they really do believe they're vampires and drink blood. I saw it on Tyra once, and they're very safe. Sure, I'll donate to customers!"

"Maggie—"

"Fabulous. You're both hired."

"Wait. What? That's it?" I shook my head, feeling strange and a little dizzy about the whole process. It felt like it was happening too fast.

Maggie gasped and then clapped her hands happily. "This is going to be the best job I've ever had!"

I rolled my eyes and shook my head. It was her first job, but I decided to let her sell it with her enthusiasm. Who was I to question a person's odd lifestyle? Besides, we both needed the money.

"As Macabre's first employees, you both get to choose two of our special Halloween events. At the moment, we only have two more available, a vampire and a werewolf experience."

"Jesus, people actually paid for it?" I asked, but my disbelief went unheard.

"Well, we live together, so I suppose it doesn't matter who hosts the vampire," Maggie said and pulled out the purple flyer. "We both got one, it's kind of why we're here too. I'm assuming 'host' means he or she will live with us?"

His smile was creepily slow as it spread across his face. "Yes, and you'll experience how a made vampire lives. Sadly, no born vampires were willing to participate."

This was happening way too fast and my creep-radar was exploding. "Okay, our apartment's pretty small. I don't know that we can host a 'vampire' and a 'werewolf'," I said and chuckled casually, hoping to change the subject. I had no desire to let some stranger into our apartment.

"Oh no, it's much too dangerous to host a werewolf so close to a full moon. You will, however, be immersed in the life of a werewolf. You'll visit and follow their pack, which is usually a mixture of wolf shifters. You'll be answering to the alpha wolf shifter of the pack and he will be there at all times when the werewolf changes. Solely for your protection."

I tilted my head, deciding to go with the flow. It was obvious he was pushing this for Halloween and by the sound of it, he'd almost sold out of events, so clearly it worked. If anything the pretending could put me in the spirit I seemed to have lost since coming to New Orleans. Plus, if he was offering it for free or rather a perk of being a Macabre employee, then why not?

Maggie suddenly leaned forward and reached for the black and gold book on the glass counter. "What language is this?" she asked with a puzzled expression as her fingers examined the cover.

"Sumerian," James answered, suddenly looking bored.

"Sumerian? Whoa, what's it about?"

"It's about the royal line of born vampires."

"That's the second time you've said born vampires," I interrupted. "How can someone be born dead?"

James offered a small smirk. "I assure you vampires are not dead. Not even the living dead. We are more alive than humans could ever wish to be."

"We, what do you mean we?" I asked.

He chuckled. "You do catch on quickly. I'm a made vampire." He paused long enough to let it sink in but started speaking soon after.

I just didn't know what to do anymore and stared at him, baffled.

"Now, there are three very important things that you need to know in order to work here." His finger tapped on the glass case above a jewel-crested sword. There was a glinting reflection of the black, green, and red jewels. "Number one: if anyone, ever, wants to buy this sword you just come get me, and I'll handle the sale. This is a very dangerous weapon and only the proper papers can get it removed from this case. You both are not to touch it."

James made a show of eyeing each of us with his soul-destroying eyes.

"Number two: Never walk out of this store with someone you don't know. If they're here to purchase your blood donation, we have a special room in the back where it takes place. Also, pricing differs if they prefer to take it from the neck or in a bag. Taking it from the neck is more dangerous for the donor, so it's pricier."

"Dangerous how?" I asked but was ignored.

James gestured towards a maroon-colored swinging door with gold Sumerian writing on it – at least that's what it looked like according to the book Maggie had asked about.

"The donations take place behind those swinging doors. Number Three: there's an alarm on the front door that will go off three days out of the month, the day before the full moon, the day of the full moon, and the day after the full moon." He paused and walked over to the front door, tapping on the security monitors that would detect a person stealing. "These lights will change when a customer comes in – red for werewolf, green for witches, black for vampires, blue for humans, and orange for others. During those three days, if a werewolf comes in, you must be extremely careful, especially around male werewolves. They're horny bastards and sometimes 'no' doesn't work. If at any time you feel uncomfortable you may come and get me. Now, do you have any questions?" He looked pointedly at me.

All I could do was blink at him. Was he for real?