Blood Song

have their money and no further obligation to them. I’m not most people. Considering how hard it is for

a woman with my job description to get health insurance, the deal seemed like a steal at twice the

price. I jumped at the chance, and have been working my way through every elective in the schedule.

Hel , at some point I might even get serious about it and get my master’s.

“What courses are you taking this semester?” I could hear the resignation in Lackley’s voice.

“Music Appreciation and Ornamental Gardening.”

Kevin snorted and I glared at him. “Don’t laugh. David’s been talking about making changes to the

grounds and Vicki thought that at least one of us should know what he was talking about.” David and

Inez lived at the estate and ran the place for Vicki. I rented the guesthouse. It was an arrangement

we’d worked out shortly before graduation and one that had worked wel for us for several years.

“The ghoul-proof table means they took precautions not to endanger the campus.” Rocky’s voice was

a low, soothing rumble.

Lackley’s eyes narrowed, but he gave Rocky a curt nod. It was obvious Lackley was very unhappy

about the situation, but even he would hesitate to go up against El Jefe. The nickname might have

started out as a joke, but it stuck because Warren is “the Chief” when it comes to the paranormal. He’s

international y renowned and brings a lot of prestige and money to the university. Lackley might win this

particular battle, but pissing off Warren would cost him dearly long term, and he was too astute a

politician not to know it.

“Dr. Reynolds—since Ms. Graves appears to be alive and in ful possession of her faculties and

memory, is there any reason why she should remain here instead of recovering in the comfort of her

own residence?”

“Wel , sir …,” Reynolds stammered a little. I knew he was going to argue. As a doctor, he’d feel

compel ed to take a conservative course with regard to little things like, oh, sunlight, holy water… . But I

knew it would go badly for him if he did. He didn’t have the clout Warren did, so he’d be practical y

defenseless, and Lackley was in the mood to rip someone a new orifice.

I didn’t want Dr. Reynolds to be punished for saving me, so I spoke up before he could argue. “It’s al

right, Doc. I was planning on leaving anyway.”

“I hate this.” Kevin glared at me when he said it, and I could feel the heat of his anger. “You shouldn’t

risk going out into the sunlight.” I knew his beast was close. I could feel it. He usual y has better control

than that, and it made me nervous. I wasn’t afraid of him. I was afraid for him. Because most people

see werewolves as monsters and think they al should be either kil ed or locked up, which was why

nobody at the university knew about his condition. If Kevin gave them an excuse, we’d have more and

worse problems than we already did.

I tried to show him al that in a look, and he subsided a little.

“I need to know how bad this is going to be, Kev. If I have to stay in, I wil . But if I can handle the

sunlight, I’m going.” I took a deep breath, gathering my nerve. If I was going to do this, I needed to get it

over with.

President Lackley and the others stepped out of the way, Rocky even went so far as to open the door

for me.

The hal way had an entire wal made of windows overlooking the campus quadrangle. Bright sunlight

was streaming through the east-facing glass.

Everyone stared in hushed silence as I paused at the very last edge of shadows.

Taking a deep breath, I stepped into the light.

I didn’t incinerate. Yay!

“I’m fine.” Al right, “fine” was an exaggeration. I could actual y feel my skin heating: like a sunburn on

fast forward.

I stepped back into the shadows wondering if my trusty SPF 30 would be helpful, and for how long.

I’ve always had natural y pale skin, so I kept bottles of it pretty much everywhere. Of course I could go

up to SPF 45, or even (ugh) sunblock. But if that didn’t work, life was going to be damned inconvenient.

We were, after al , living in sunny Southern California, next to the Pacific. It’s my home and damn it, I

like it here.

Kevin was at my elbow. His words were a bare breath of air meant only for my ears. “I can smel your

skin burning, Celia.”

He took a step back, but his eyes were glowing. I felt his power rol across my skin, raising the hairs

on my body. No surprise there. What was … disturbing … was that my power rose in response,

making my skin glow white enough to banish the shadows from the hal way. My eyes felt … odd, my

vision shifting into a kind of hyperfocus that showed me every nick in the painted wal , every flaw in the

glass. I could see the pulse beating in the throat of a student hurrying down the sidewalk outside a

hundred yards away, and it made my stomach growl.

Oh, shit.

“Should she be able to do that?” Emma was obviously fascinated. I’d heard her use the same tone of

voice when discussing research results with her father.

Kevin gave me a long, assessing look. “That, and more. She’s not human anymore.”

There was both fear and … excitement in his voice when he said it. If I’d been able to get my throat

to respond enough to speak, mine would only have held fear.

5

Vampires look quite a lot like humans … wel , except for the teeth, and the unnatural pal or. And of

course there’s that whole red/gold-eye thing. But vampires are purely nocturnal. They’re dead when the

sun is up. It was ful daylight. So even though my reflection in the windows showed someone unnatural y

pale, with a real y impressive set of canines, I was pretty sure I wouldn’t get mistaken for a vampire.

Maybe. I hoped.

My “sunburn” subsided in a minute or two. I could actual y see my skin heal. Tres creepy. Useful,

though. I wondered how it would work. What was the healing rate compared to that of a normal human?

Were there any references I could use to find out? From what they were tel ing me, it didn’t sound as if

this was exactly a common problem. Which was probably why they hadn’t covered it in any of my

courses.

As we walked down the hal way, him being the gentleman and carrying my duffel and the umbrel a I’d

borrowed from Emma, Kevin lowered his voice until it was the barest whisper. Yet I could hear him as

clearly as though he were screaming the words. “We’re letting