scandalous hue. Could humans and vamps really fall for each other? Is that what happened with his parents?
“How did your parents come together?” I feigned interest in his tomato plant so I wouldn’t have to meet his eyes. I didn’t know how personal that question was. Were they married? Did his father seduce her into carrying his children?
“He fell in love with her,” Alex said wistfully. “He was working at the medical center on a vaccination project and she was a nurse there. They fell in love but couldn’t get married because he never registered under a human name. He was from Sweden. In the part of the country that already knew about vampires and tolerated their existence.”
“Why didn’t he register?”
I turned when Alex didn’t answer and seeing my face, he shrugged. “He lived in Sweden because he wanted to be who he was without having to conform to human ways.”
“Did your mom know he was a vampire?”
“Yeah. She did. She pursued him and when she did, he told her the truth. What he was. Which was taking a big risk. But she loved him anyway. He had a mate in Sweden but he left her and moved to Texas to be with my mom. He stayed with us until I was about eight. Then news about vampires broke and he had to leave back to Sweden. The United States was the hardest on hunting them down and he didn’t want to put us at risk. My mom wouldn’t let him take me, though he tried. It was hard on her when he left.”
“Why didn’t all of you go to Sweden?”
Alex’s eyes were unreadable. “He wouldn’t let us live in a den of vampires.”
“Oh,” I said, but in my head I thought, Duh! Idiot.
“Are you going to eat that tomato, or just keep killing it?” Alex asked, pointing to the tomato in my hand which had become a pulpy mass in my grip. I looked down at it. I hadn’t realized I’d been squeezing as he talked. I dropped it and shook off the juices.
“Want to go back inside?” I asked, standing.
“Yeah, let’s do that before we have anymore garden casualties.”
“Shut it,” I quipped, following him to the staircase.
Chapter 25
Her
“Edward, this is base, come over.”
I gripped the walkie talkie in my hand and brought it to my ear, biting my lower lip to keep my smile in submission. I tried again. “Edward, do you read? Come in.”
His voice crackled over the line. “Copy. Sooner or later, you will run out of stupid vampire aliases.”
I laughed and pressed the button. “You’re needed at base. We have a situation.”
“Understood,” his canned voice replied. “Over and out.”
The situation was that we needed to get out of this hospital. Now that we were two invalids on the mend, we spent all our time limping down the hallways, coming up with ways to entertain ourselves, and flipping back and forth between bickering and laughing.
This afternoon was a bickering one. After Alex came up from his lab, we dug through a closet he’d forgotten about where he stored stuff he found to use another day.
“Tequila?” I asked, pulling out a half empty bottle.
“I didn’t make it half empty,” he replied. “Found it that way. I don’t drink alone.”
“Then why take it?”
“It’s a really good bottle. Couldn’t leave it.”
I studied it thoughtfully. “Does it do anything to you?”
“I’d get drunk just like you. I just sober up twice as fast.”
We also found Scrabble in the same closet.
“Scrabble?” I asked in confusion.
He shrugged. “My sister and I loved to play this game.”
“So did my father and I.” I ran a hand over the box. “I could take you.”
Of course Alex couldn’t leave a comment like that hanging. So we were halfway in and having all out wars over word choices. Unfortunately, Alex’s escapades didn’t include a dictionary and neither of us felt like going to the other side of the hospital on the sixth floor to M.D. Anderson’s medical library to rustle up one.
“Juvenate is not a word,”
“How did your parents come together?” I feigned interest in his tomato plant so I wouldn’t have to meet his eyes. I didn’t know how personal that question was. Were they married? Did his father seduce her into carrying his children?
“He fell in love with her,” Alex said wistfully. “He was working at the medical center on a vaccination project and she was a nurse there. They fell in love but couldn’t get married because he never registered under a human name. He was from Sweden. In the part of the country that already knew about vampires and tolerated their existence.”
“Why didn’t he register?”
I turned when Alex didn’t answer and seeing my face, he shrugged. “He lived in Sweden because he wanted to be who he was without having to conform to human ways.”
“Did your mom know he was a vampire?”
“Yeah. She did. She pursued him and when she did, he told her the truth. What he was. Which was taking a big risk. But she loved him anyway. He had a mate in Sweden but he left her and moved to Texas to be with my mom. He stayed with us until I was about eight. Then news about vampires broke and he had to leave back to Sweden. The United States was the hardest on hunting them down and he didn’t want to put us at risk. My mom wouldn’t let him take me, though he tried. It was hard on her when he left.”
“Why didn’t all of you go to Sweden?”
Alex’s eyes were unreadable. “He wouldn’t let us live in a den of vampires.”
“Oh,” I said, but in my head I thought, Duh! Idiot.
“Are you going to eat that tomato, or just keep killing it?” Alex asked, pointing to the tomato in my hand which had become a pulpy mass in my grip. I looked down at it. I hadn’t realized I’d been squeezing as he talked. I dropped it and shook off the juices.
“Want to go back inside?” I asked, standing.
“Yeah, let’s do that before we have anymore garden casualties.”
“Shut it,” I quipped, following him to the staircase.
Chapter 25
Her
“Edward, this is base, come over.”
I gripped the walkie talkie in my hand and brought it to my ear, biting my lower lip to keep my smile in submission. I tried again. “Edward, do you read? Come in.”
His voice crackled over the line. “Copy. Sooner or later, you will run out of stupid vampire aliases.”
I laughed and pressed the button. “You’re needed at base. We have a situation.”
“Understood,” his canned voice replied. “Over and out.”
The situation was that we needed to get out of this hospital. Now that we were two invalids on the mend, we spent all our time limping down the hallways, coming up with ways to entertain ourselves, and flipping back and forth between bickering and laughing.
This afternoon was a bickering one. After Alex came up from his lab, we dug through a closet he’d forgotten about where he stored stuff he found to use another day.
“Tequila?” I asked, pulling out a half empty bottle.
“I didn’t make it half empty,” he replied. “Found it that way. I don’t drink alone.”
“Then why take it?”
“It’s a really good bottle. Couldn’t leave it.”
I studied it thoughtfully. “Does it do anything to you?”
“I’d get drunk just like you. I just sober up twice as fast.”
We also found Scrabble in the same closet.
“Scrabble?” I asked in confusion.
He shrugged. “My sister and I loved to play this game.”
“So did my father and I.” I ran a hand over the box. “I could take you.”
Of course Alex couldn’t leave a comment like that hanging. So we were halfway in and having all out wars over word choices. Unfortunately, Alex’s escapades didn’t include a dictionary and neither of us felt like going to the other side of the hospital on the sixth floor to M.D. Anderson’s medical library to rustle up one.
“Juvenate is not a word,”
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