Blood Song

some

funky dream, then he was a daywalker. He might not be able to endure sunlight, but he wasn’t dead for

the day, either. Even most master vamps can’t manage that. Which meant that while he might look like

a teenager and dress like a teenager, he’d been around long enough to get very, very good.

Of course, it could be a dream.

The frown deepened. He turned his head so that I was seeing him ful -on. His expression changed,

and while his body was stil young, the look on his face was old, old and corrupt with power. His pupils

expanded until his eyes were almost total y black. I could feel the power of them sucking at me as he

wil ed me to meet his gaze. It was like fighting an undertow in the ocean, a pul that was irresistible,

relentless.

As if in response to that thought I began to smel the tang of salt water and fish, hear the familiar

sounds of the beach, the crash of waves, the cal of gul s.

What the hell?

I woke with a start to the sound of a light tap on the door. “Celia?” The room was dark except for the

flickering lights of electronic equipment. Apparently I’d dozed off. When I hadn’t moved for more than

ten minutes, the lights had shut off automatical y, al owing me to sleep … like a dead thing. When I sat

up they came back on. I blinked, trying to adjust to the glare and gather my muddled thoughts.

I wiped a bit of drool from the corner of my mouth and nicked the back of my knuckle on a fang. It

stung for a second, then went numb. But the blood flowed freely—more freely than it should’ve.

Swearing under my breath, I used the hem of my shirt to apply pressure on it, and cal ed out, “Come in.

”

Dawna didn’t come in, but she did crack open the door. Al I could see through the opening was the tip

of her golden brown nose and the reflection from her reading glasses.

“Celia, what are you doing in there?”

“Nothing. Printing, reading stuff the library sent me. Why?”

“Because about two minutes ago every speaker on every computer, cel phone, Bubba’s TV

—everything—began playing ocean sounds. Crashing surf, whales, and seagul s. It stopped when I

knocked on the door. But the source was this room. So I’m asking again. What are you doing in there?

”

“Is that even possible?”

She gave the door a gentle shove, so that it swung ful y open, al owing her to give me a look , but she

stayed outside. She’d closed in on herself, hugging her arms to her body as though she were cold. But

she wasn’t cold. Her body radiated heat … life that nearly vibrated around her. I felt drawn to that

warmth, wanted to wrap it around me and ease the cold that was seeping into my fingers.

I watched her, standing in the doorway, her posture guarded as she took in every detail of the room

… and me. I suppose she was looking for evidence of something weird or worrying. The only thing to

find was the wet spot on the page where I’d drooled as I slept. Embarrassing, but hardly earthshattering.

Of course she noticed. And for just a second her wary expression softened slightly. I almost believed

I saw a flicker of amusement pass through her eyes. But if I did, it was gone in an instant, to be

replaced by another worried look.

“Dawna, what’s wrong?”

“We need to talk. I read those notes from Dr. Reynolds, and El Jefe faxed a bunch of research to

you on the downstairs machine. This thing that’s happened to you—it’s real y serious shit.” Her voice

sounded shaky, and I could see the pulse jumping at the base of her throat. I wasn’t hungry, in fact I felt

a little nauseous, but I couldn’t not notice. I swal owed hard, dragging my eyes upward, making myself

meet her worried almond-shaped eyes.

“Yeah. It is.”

“What’re you going to do?”

A part of me wanted to lie, wanted to give her the reassurance she so obviously needed. But

Dawna’s my friend, one of my best friends. You don’t lie to friends. You just don’t. “Longterm—I don’t

know. But if I want there to be a long term, I have to find the vamp that tried to bring me over and take

him down. Preferably before dark.” I looked around, trying to find a clock. There wasn’t one. No

windows, either. “What time is it, anyway?”

“It’s almost four thirty. Did you find anything useful in what the library sent?”

“Not yet.” Which was true as far as it went. “Lots of interesting stuff, but no answers.”

“Maybe there isn’t one.”

I puffed up my chest and imitated El Jefe at his most pompous. “In magic, as in nature, there is

balance. Where there is a spel , there is a counter.”

She smiled, but not like she meant it. “Pretty to think so.”

“Dr. Landingham knows his stuff.”

“Absolutely. But this isn’t just magic. It’s anatomy. And that is a whole lot less … flexible.”

Just like the pul of my sire’s eyes was inflexible. He was stil out there, stil cal ing me. I just couldn’t

hear it over the sound of the ocean. My muscles started to flex, to pul me to my feet. I wanted to

leave, even though I didn’t know where I wanted to go. I could feel my wil lessening with each moment,

until— “Are you sure the ocean sounds originated from this room?”

“Like there was a boom box on ful crank.”

I shook my head. “That is so weird. I wasn’t making any noise, but I could hear it in my dream.”

Her careful y plucked brows lowered even as she reared back a little and looked around the room.

“Weird. Very weird.”

She was so right. Sadly, however, this was the least of my worries. I’d lost a lot of time snoozing. If I

wanted to find and kil my sire I needed to find out where and how now.

It was time to visit Vicki.

9

One good thing about my nap—it had given my new phone time to charge. It didn’t take long at al to

load the minutes on it. I gave Dawna the new number so that she could contact me if there were any

new emergencies and dashed out the door. I dialed Kevin. Again it went straight to voice mail. “Hi, Kev.

It’s me. I’m on the way to Birchwoods to see Vicki, to see if she can give me a lead on my sire’s lair.

Look, I know you’ve got to go out to the desert tonight, so I’l cal you in the morning. Try not to worry.”

Useless request. He was already worrying. But hey, it was the best I could do. And at least he wouldn’t

be able to bitch at me about not returning his cal s.

I also considered phoning ahead to Birchwoods to let Vicki know I was coming, but she has group

from 3:00 to 5:00. By the time she got the message I’d be there. Besides, I was stil a little shaken by