Page 22 (1/2)

Chapter One

“You’re wrong He’s totally looking at you”

Ivie pushed her Grey Goose and tonic away “Can we focus? For just a minute here”

The huar bar she and her cousin were in was packed with non-vampires, and not for the first tireed to meet here For one, she hated smoke, especially the kind that sies Two, it wasn’t that she didn’t like humans…she just didn’t care for them veryfor air space, their voices loud and grating

Like they were at a ballgame Except, noooo, she wanted to point out, we’re all indoors here, and unless she was seriouslyto referee—

“I’ht now”

Ivie let her head fall to the side so that her eyes ran into her cousin’s hopeful face Rubia, aka Rubes, was a red-haired ro that was bright and happy, a hopping, skipping ball of opti the color

Which was rare

Why were the pair of theover of two relations who had lived next door and had played together because there had been a dearth of other distractions Now, as fully transitioned adults, they had shared too o their separate ways

And, Ivie guessed, Rubes didn’t ever let anybody go There were bits and pieces of the female’s heart everywhere in the world, and how she could stand that was a mystery

“I think he’s one of us,” Rubes whispered, her stare locked firmly on the other end of the bar

“As I was saying”—Ivie took back her V&T and grabbed a sip off the sharp, cold ri rooh the four Town & Country’s that were on the coffee table through twice, s andsuicide by hangingthat saved efee to remove the body”

“He’s definitely one of us He just s his front teeth”

“So after I created a butt-divot-and-a half in the silk sofa, that female comes back in I swear to you, she looked like a cross between a librarian and a fascist She earing this gray suit that quite possibly could have been made out of a base ht enough to be considered a solid She says to me—”

“Holy crap, did he just pay the bartender with a hundred-dollar bill?”

“—‘Thewell’ ” Ivie stirred the lime slice and her ice cubes with the red swizzle stick “And I’ood for you’—”

“He’s not accepting the change He’s tipping the bartender all that uy”

“I mean, listen, I can understand that it’s hard if you’re old and you’re sliding downhill—it’s horrible to have to interview the nurse who’s coe It’s like your disease is screaet all that, and I honestly would have gone back there at a later tiet this The fe people do I knehat she was going to say before she opened her mouth—”

“Oh, see Another smile with no front teeth Yup One of us”

“She says, ‘Aren’t you a little young for this’ ” Ivie put her pal? Look, I know I’m not as old as you are, Ms Punic Wars, but I a under Havers for a decade—and I’ve even done a huful experience with end-of-life patients, and Havers himself sent me over here You think just because of this face”—shehair means I can’t do my job? Give me a break—”

“Ivie?”

“—and no, I’ to call into question ed “So I said I was probably not a good fit and that she ht want to find someone else She seemed very relieved—”

“Ivie”

“—which tells me that she had already decided she didn’t want me the second I walked into that mansion—”

“Ivie”

Ivie wheeled around toward her cousin “What, Rubes What Do you want to tell ain? Have you considered that he ht be a huood for hiive hioing to tell me you’ve psychically deduced his name—”

“It’s Silas”

Ivie froze at the sound of the deep, low voice Later, much later, she would remember most clearly not the moment she looked into his eyes, but rather the split second before she did And that was because, when you were falling fro in , the thing that was even more vivid than when you hit was the last moment before consequence owned you

His eyes were so pale a green that they were al but a black border to prove he wasn’t some kind of deity fallen to earth And he was a vampire just like her, his scent heady and full of spice, not anything that ca side, pushed back fro Clothes were expensive, but not showy

Those lips were…

“Her name is Ivie,” Rubes spoke up “And she doesn’t have a boyfriend!”

Ivie felt her eyes bulge even before the euy fully in the face “Just so you know, I pay my cousin to make me feel like a two-day-old truck-stop sandwich It’s a bizarre relationship, but it keeps her off the streets and o in check”

There was a heartbeat of pause, as if that were the last thing in the world he expected her to say No doubt he was used to beauty queens who blinked their fake eyelashes and fluffed their hair at every word he spoke, and assu to find her—

The hed

The rolling sound was so attractive, all kinds of people looked over, the human men and women captivated by him

Just as she was

When his eyes cas that were probably only noticeable to ot the idea he didn’t care one way or the other

“Fair enough,” he murmured “May I buy you a drink?”

“I have one—”

“Absolutely!” Rubes got off her stool and pulled her wool coat on “And she lives alone, so you should ets home safe”

Ivie rubbed her forehead and wondered if you could disown a relative you weren’t financially responsible for “Since when did you become a Tinder app?”

“Bye!”

Looking over her shoulder, Ivie watched Rubes bounce out the door, all that red hairher think of Merida from that Disney movie

So here’s a question, she thought If you put her on Valium, would those follicles relax?

“How about I just take her seat while you finish what you’ve got?”

Ivie shook herself “Ah…yeah, sure But I’ood at this”

“You haven’t spilled on yourself yet”

“What?”

He nodded at her vodka tonic “If the ‘this’ you’re talking about is drinking, in the short time I’ve known you, I’ve found you quite competent”

“How is it you’re still tall even though you’re sitting down?”

There was another pause And then he laughed again “Do you always say anything that’s on your mind” er One