This Time Next Year by Catherine Peace

 
     
     

Chapter One
     
     
    Moira tried not to scream.
    Her voice cut through the otherwise silent house. Embarrassed and fighting tears, she leaned back into the comfort of her pillows. She hated waking Tandy, but as usual, the dream seemed so…real. Shivering, she jerked her favorite blanket up to her neck—the one she’d kept since that horrible night, as though the thin, tattered fabric would shield her from the fangs that attacked her every time she closed her eyes—and waited for her best friend to knock on the door. Three, two ….
    Two quick raps on the door signaled her arrival. The woman had reliable timing.
    “Get in here.” In the time it took her to blink, Tandy joined her on the side of the bed, wrapped her arms around her and drawn her close. “Are you okay, sugarplum?”
    She chuckled at the nickname. Tee knew how to calm her, even when they were children, knowing what to say, what to do, to keep her mind out of the darkness. When she was in the room, the fangs seemed duller, the flashing red eyes less terrifying.
    With a grateful smile, Moira lowered the blanket from her neck. “Yeah.” She sagged into the pillow. “I’m so sorry. Again.”
    “You know I don’t sleep anyway.” Moira relaxed further as her friend stroked her wild curls. “Same dream, huh?”
    It was, except it wasn’t. She’d memorized the dream, like a movie one had seen way too many times, but tonight something had changed. The paralyzing fear remained. The blood-colored eyes and cruel smile still appeared. Her younger self still cried and the wind still licked at her face. This time, though, a second set of eyes and another set of fangs joined the first; they didn’t evoke the same fear.
    “Sort of.” Twenty years, and I’m still dreaming about this .
    “What changed?”
    “I saw another vamp. He might have been protecting me.” The idea went against everything she believed, but at the same time, it rang true.
    “Sounds like progress, sugar.”
    Only Tandy knew about the vampire attack that had left her orphaned. They’d been in the same foster home…at least until Moira’s nightmares started scaring the other kids, and the adults. When the Dufresnes asked the agency to find the ‘troubled kid’ a new home, Tee refused to stay without her. And thank God for that.
    “How did I get so lucky to have you?”
    “Luck’s got nothing to do with it. Want some tea?”
    Moira nodded and followed her into the kitchen. “I can’t believe I’m still going through this. I mean, I’m a scientist. Logic. Order. Tests. Results. Concrete evidence. This whole dream thing…has none of that.”
    The same argument she’d used every morning when she woke the same way. Grabbing the tea kettle, Tee made the usual affirming, placating noises. “You know what’d really help you?”
    She took a seat at the bar and watched her bestie work, first filling the kettle and placing it on the stove. Slim and long-limbed, Albany’s favorite rising artist oozed grace and fluidity as she moved across the room. Meanwhile, Moira stood five-foot-three on a good day, had the grace of a drunk crocodile, and all the fluidity of a glacier, plus all the color of one, too.
    “A good fuck.”
    Those words snapped her back to reality. Blood shot to her cheeks. She stared at the words on her favorite mug: Fuck me, I’m Irish . How long had it been? “You know that’s not an option.”
    “Why the hell not? A one-night stand worked wonders for Alene. You’re getting laid, not married.”
    Wide-eyed, Moira didn’t bother to stifle a laugh. Alene Crawford, the uptight Georgia transplant they’d met through mutual friends, the one who’d often looked down on Tandy for her ‘extracurricular activities’ had had a one-night stand? “Alene? Our Alene? Why didn’t I know about this?”
    Shrugging, Tee plopped a teabag into each mug. Moira inhaled, catching the rich scent of lemon. Her favorite. “Probably because you’ve been in your own