“You should really eat lunch.”
“Oh my God, you’re driving me crazy.”
“That’s what sisters do.”
“No, they don’t. And they especially don’t keep secrets from each other.”
“Can you trust me when I say that there are some secrets you might want me to keep from you?”
She looked at me, that jawline of her still rippling. If she wasn’t careful, she might crack a molar. That she didn’t catch that thought was, of course, the source of her irritation. Mary Lou and I had always been close. Best friends throughout our lives. Sometimes, we were closer than other times. But always, always, she was there for me.
Now, of course, she felt left out, and I didn’t blame her.
“We weren’t keeping secrets from you, Mary Lou.”
“Then you were making fun of me, laughing at me behind my back, or inside your heads or whatever.”
“We weren’t laughing at you, either,” I said. At least, I didn’t think we were. Truth was, how the heck was I supposed to remember an off-the-cuff telepathic conversation I’d had with Allison?
“Then why do you do it?”
“I guess we did it because we can. It’s easy and fast—”
“And rude.”
“And rude, yes.”
“But you do it anyway, even when it makes other people feel uncomfortable.”
“What can I say, Mary Lou? I’m sorry. I’m learning how to be a better freak.”
She looked at me, and finally unhinged her jaw, to the great relief of her molars. She instantly looked prettier, and more relaxed. Too bad she couldn’t read that thought.
“You’re not a freak, Sam. Maybe a little inconsiderate, but not a freak.”
“Remember, this is still all new to me. I hadn’t known there was a telepathic etiquette.”
“Well, there is. At least around me.”
“Just know that I will always try to include you in the conversation, but there are going to be times when thoughts slip through, thoughts that don’t always need to be vocalized.”
She set her jaw, looked away. “I’m not sure how I feel about that.”
“It’s the best I can offer.”
She didn’t like it; mostly, she didn’t like being left out. I scooted my stool closer to hers, and put my arm around her shoulders, similar to what Kingsley had done with me not too long ago.
I said, “I don’t know why I am the way I am, or do the things I do. I don’t know who makes the rules or why there are, in fact, any rules. But one such rule is that I can’t communicate with family members telepathically. You’re as family as it gets. It still doesn’t mean I don’t love you, and it doesn’t mean I’m closer with Allison than I am with you. If anything, Allison annoys me to no end.”
“She is kind of annoying.”
“But she has a big heart,” I said. “And, well, there’s something special going on with her.”
“Dare I ask?”
“Maybe you shouldn’t.”
“Okay, fine. But I still don’t have to like any of this.”
“Trust me, I don’t like any of it either. For instance, right now I smell chicken wings and fries and beer, and they’re driving me crazy.”
She looked at me, and then gave me a half smile. “You’re still pretending to be a vampire, huh?”
“I make a good vampire,” I said.
She studied me for a moment, and then leaned her head toward mine. I did the same, and we touched heads and held hands.
“Yes, you do,” she said. “Lord help me, you do.”
Chapter Twenty-three
I was flying.
That was something else that I did well. Of course, I had some help in the flying department. I’d recently gone for quite an excursion. In fact, it was a trip that I would never forget, ever. And forever is a very long time for a vampire.
As I flew now, I looked up into the sky, to the crescent moon high above...and smiled. Yes, it had been quite a journey, and I had seen sights that few people would ever see.
Speaking of which, I was eager to try my newfound talent again...a talent that enabled me to go just about anywhere I wanted, at any time.
Boy, did it.
A few minutes prior to my takeoff, as I sat in my minivan overlooking the Pacific Ocean near the Ritz Carlton in Laguna—my favorite launching point, if you will—I had studied pictures of a particular spot on earth, a spot I was certain would be cloaked in the darkness of night...but still accessible to me and only me.
I had never been to this place. In fact, I had never even been to the state.
Then again, I hadn’t been to the moon either, and look at how that had turned out.
Pretty damn well, I thought. Thank you again Talos.
You’re welcome, Sam, came a reply deep within me.
Yet another voice inside my head, I thought. Maybe all the voices were just further proof that I was crazier than a shoeshine in a shitstorm, as my grandpa used to say.
I continued flapping my wings. That such a giant, winged creature had human parents was almost laughable. But I wasn’t, of course, the giant winged creature, was I?
Not quite. The creature was, in fact, a real creature who lived in a parallel universe, who used this chance to come to me, to help me, to instruct me.
To fly with me.
Are you ready, Talos, I thought.
For you, Samantha, always.
Now that just might be the sweetest thing a giant, flying bat has ever said to me.
He chuckled lightly.
I grinned inwardly, and brought up the image of the single flame, which I saw clearly in my mind’s eye. The flame, which usually held either the image of Talos or me, was presently empty. Now, I summoned the image of a snowy peak located in the far, far north. Alaska to be exact. Mount McKinley, to be even more exact.
As I flew now, as the wind swept over me and I beat my great wings, I focused on the image in the flame, the snow-swept mountain peak...
And felt myself rushing toward it.
Faster and faster...
Chapter Twenty-four
I gasped and opened my eyes.
Wind buffeted me. Cold, powerful wind. So cold that even I felt its chill, although it didn’t bother me much. Or, rather, it didn’t bother the beast I had become. Its hide was thick and impenetrable.
Not quite, Samantha Moon. I can still be hurt, said the voice deep within me. You would do well to remember that.
Point taken, I thought. Now, can I enjoy my vacation?
As you wish.
I surveyed the landscape before me. It was a helluva landscape—and, if the creature could smile, it would be doing so now; it couldn’t, so I settled for an inward smile instead.