wanted to leap away at any second. And I
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com ) could see why she smelled – her clothes were filthy, and the mingled odor of dirt, dog
poop, and blood came off her.
I wondered where they were sleeping during the day. They had no money or resources
unless they killed or robbed or both.
In the past, when a vampire came back to him- or herself, they could go to the library in
Minneapolis and find out who they were, if they owned property, if they still had a bank
account... like that. And Marjorie, the dead betrayer, would give them a hand. It occurred
to me that we needed a new system in place... like two months ago. Because right now, a
vampire who wasn't an out of control newborn had few options. Just feed and hide, feed
and hide.
While you live in luxury on Summit Avenue.
I shoved that thought away, hard.
"Now," Sinclair was saying, "what brings you to us, Ms. Connor?"
She picked at the knees of her torn, stained jeans. "I, uh, thought maybe we could talk."
She had a mild southern accent – Virginia, maybe? Missouri? Not a drawl, but almost. Of
course, anyone who sounded like they weren't from the set of Fargo or Drop Dead
Gorgeous sounded southern or eastern to me. "About our, um, problem."
"Do you represent the interest of your companions, or only your own?"
She blinked at that one, then seemed to decode it in her mind. "Oh. Um, I'm here by
myself. I mean, the others don't know I've come."
I listened hard for the sounds of ambush, but could only hear the usual household noise.
Then I yowled as the furnace kicked on, which sounded at the moment like a jet plane
taking off from inside my skull.
Startled, everyone twitched or looked in my direction. "Sorry," I said. "I just remembered that 30 Rock is a rerun this week."
Stephanie looked more confused than before, but that was all right. I noticed neither
Sinclair nor Tina took a seat, so I did – straight across from our visitor. "You came by
yourself," I said, "that seems pretty obvious now. Sorry about Tina jumping on you like
that. She had a flashback to the Civil War." I ignored Sinclair's snort. "So what's on your mind?"
"And why should we think anything you say is the truth?"
I shot a look at Sinclair – that sounded a little too much like Nick to suit me.
"I don't – I can't prove I'm telling the truth," she said, a little desperately. "I guess the others could be parked a mile away, and this is step one in some elaborate, I dunno, plan?
But it's not. We're – we're not well organized."
"You looked pretty organized when you hurt our friends," I said mildly. "They had to go to the hospital." A minor exaggeration – once Nick's nosebleed had cleared up, he'd been
fine. It was a measure of his contempt for our lifestyle that he hadn't thought twice about
strange vampires punching him in the face and then attacking us. It was only when I'd
given him the gory Fiend details that he had realized exactly what had happened – and
what it meant for Jessica. "We were pretty bummed about that."
"Well. The others are – they're mad at you."
"But not you," Sinclair said, soooo silkily.
"I am. I mean, I was. How could you – I dunno." She had an interesting way of speaking...
not slowly, exactly, and maybe it was the accent. But it was almost like she was searching
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com ) for each word and found it almost every time, in the unused corners of her mind. I
reminded myself that last week she'd been batshit crazy. No idea who she was, where she
was, what she was.
"Did you guys sort of 'wake up' all at once, then?"
Stephanie looked, if possible, even more uncomfortable. Clearly not a subject she wanted
to discuss. Too bad.
"Well, each time Garrett came we felt – I dunno, better? We felt more. And then, a few days ago, it was like – like I'd been asleep
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com ) could see why she smelled – her clothes were filthy, and the mingled odor of dirt, dog
poop, and blood came off her.
I wondered where they were sleeping during the day. They had no money or resources
unless they killed or robbed or both.
In the past, when a vampire came back to him- or herself, they could go to the library in
Minneapolis and find out who they were, if they owned property, if they still had a bank
account... like that. And Marjorie, the dead betrayer, would give them a hand. It occurred
to me that we needed a new system in place... like two months ago. Because right now, a
vampire who wasn't an out of control newborn had few options. Just feed and hide, feed
and hide.
While you live in luxury on Summit Avenue.
I shoved that thought away, hard.
"Now," Sinclair was saying, "what brings you to us, Ms. Connor?"
She picked at the knees of her torn, stained jeans. "I, uh, thought maybe we could talk."
She had a mild southern accent – Virginia, maybe? Missouri? Not a drawl, but almost. Of
course, anyone who sounded like they weren't from the set of Fargo or Drop Dead
Gorgeous sounded southern or eastern to me. "About our, um, problem."
"Do you represent the interest of your companions, or only your own?"
She blinked at that one, then seemed to decode it in her mind. "Oh. Um, I'm here by
myself. I mean, the others don't know I've come."
I listened hard for the sounds of ambush, but could only hear the usual household noise.
Then I yowled as the furnace kicked on, which sounded at the moment like a jet plane
taking off from inside my skull.
Startled, everyone twitched or looked in my direction. "Sorry," I said. "I just remembered that 30 Rock is a rerun this week."
Stephanie looked more confused than before, but that was all right. I noticed neither
Sinclair nor Tina took a seat, so I did – straight across from our visitor. "You came by
yourself," I said, "that seems pretty obvious now. Sorry about Tina jumping on you like
that. She had a flashback to the Civil War." I ignored Sinclair's snort. "So what's on your mind?"
"And why should we think anything you say is the truth?"
I shot a look at Sinclair – that sounded a little too much like Nick to suit me.
"I don't – I can't prove I'm telling the truth," she said, a little desperately. "I guess the others could be parked a mile away, and this is step one in some elaborate, I dunno, plan?
But it's not. We're – we're not well organized."
"You looked pretty organized when you hurt our friends," I said mildly. "They had to go to the hospital." A minor exaggeration – once Nick's nosebleed had cleared up, he'd been
fine. It was a measure of his contempt for our lifestyle that he hadn't thought twice about
strange vampires punching him in the face and then attacking us. It was only when I'd
given him the gory Fiend details that he had realized exactly what had happened – and
what it meant for Jessica. "We were pretty bummed about that."
"Well. The others are – they're mad at you."
"But not you," Sinclair said, soooo silkily.
"I am. I mean, I was. How could you – I dunno." She had an interesting way of speaking...
not slowly, exactly, and maybe it was the accent. But it was almost like she was searching
Create PDF files without this message by purchasing novaPDF printer ( http://www.novapdf.com ) for each word and found it almost every time, in the unused corners of her mind. I
reminded myself that last week she'd been batshit crazy. No idea who she was, where she
was, what she was.
"Did you guys sort of 'wake up' all at once, then?"
Stephanie looked, if possible, even more uncomfortable. Clearly not a subject she wanted
to discuss. Too bad.
"Well, each time Garrett came we felt – I dunno, better? We felt more. And then, a few days ago, it was like – like I'd been asleep
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