“Oh dear, you shouldn’t have said that.” Lizzy chuckled. “Now I feel it’s my job to prove you wrong. They have given me a virus that might or might not kill me. You think I’m still worried about some silly poisoned food? Now shh, let me focus on the gypsy-healer lady. Maybe I can get some information about you.”
She turned her attention fully on Alice. “Do I have to invite you in?” Lizzy frowned. “Is that a thing now that I’m a vampire? I always thought it was the other way around. Too bad I wasn’t able to keep Cain out by simply not inviting him in.”
Alice stepped into the room and let out a sigh. “Yes, too bad.” She walked over and placed the tray down on the bed next to Lizzy. Then she pointed at the chair sitting in the corner of the room. “Can we talk?”
Lizzy made a motion with her hand. “Sure.” But her attention was on the food. The burger sat in the center of a plate, packed full of condiments. There was even stuff she hadn’t anticipated, like grilled onions and mushrooms that she was sure would taste delicious. She picked up the burger and took as big a bite as her mouth would allow. “Hmm, mm, gosh.” She moaned, and her eyes rolled back in her head as the flavors hit her tastebuds.
“Again, quit with those noises.” Finn’s voice came to her mind.
“Shhh.” She mentally barked. “You’re totally interfering with my foodgasm.”
She felt Finn’s shock at her words through the bond, and it nearly made her laugh. But if she laughed, she might send food flying out of her mouth, and she wasn’t about to waste any of the greasy goodness.
Lizzy quickly washed the bite down with a gulp from her milkshake and then smacked her forehead. “Brain freeze, gah!” She yelped. “Write that in your notes, Alice.” Lizzy pressed the heel of her hand hard against her head. “Being a hybrid doesn’t make you immune to brain freeze.”
“Consider it noted. I’m sure that will be a vital piece of information for the future hybrids.”
Lizzy snorted. “If you weren’t working with Cain, I might like you.” Alice didn’t respond. Lizzy glanced over and noticed the scientist seemed to be studying her. She continued eating until there wasn’t so much as a crumb left. “Would it be weird if I licked the plate?”
“Can you not talk about licking things,” he responded in a tight voice.
She mentally shrugged and took a long sip of her milkshake, slurping it loudly when she reached the bottom. With a satisfied groan, she pushed away her tray and leaned back, her stomach full. "Now, what did you want to talk about?"
Chapter
Nine
“Science is full of uncertainty and doubt. Even after a hypothesis has been tested and proven, even after something has become so fundamentally assumed that its truth becomes an accepted fact, unexpected deviations can arise, causing us to question everything we thought we knew. Take one of my own assumptions: vampires and werewolves don’t exist. I thought that one was pretty safe. Guess what? Unexpected deviation. Vampires and werewolves do exist, along with something else–gypsy healers–and I’m supposed to be one. Oh, joy. Now I get to relearn everything I thought I knew about… well, everything. Forgive me if I don’t jump for gypsy joy.” ~Alice
“How old are you, Lizzy?” Alice watched the girl as she was sitting on the bed. Lizzy looked as if today was simply an ordinary day for her, and she wasn’t a new supernatural creature who had just been re-imprisoned by a vampire king.
“I’m pretty sure I’m nineteen.”
Alice continued to stare at the girl, taking in her waist-length blond hair and pale green eyes. She swallowed, and a pit formed in her stomach. “What do you mean, pretty sure?”
“Well, I can’t be exactly sure. The date of my birth wasn’t strictly celebrated each year.” Lizzy picked at the comforter. “I didn’t have the greatest foster-home experience. Then, when I was on the streets, the only thing I thought about was surviving. Days became weeks, and weeks became months. At some point, dates become irrelevant.”
Alice’s brow rose. “You’ve forgotten your birthday?”
“Not exactly. I can’t be entirely sure I ever knew it, to be honest. I know it’s in the spring, maybe April or May. Oh, and it’s on a day that ends in ‘y.’”
“Funny.” Alice huffed, leaned forward, and rested her elbows on her knees. “You’re deflecting. It’s obviously something you don’t want to talk about. Fair enough.” She held up her hands, palms up. “But I’m hoping there’s something you are willing to talk about. Before you say no”—Alice hurried on when Lizzy opened her mouth to speak—“know that I’m not seeking information for Cain. He doesn’t even know I brought you the food. I’m here for myself. I just… I have questions I don’t want to ask the vampire king.”
Lizzy stared straight at her, holding Alice’s eyes. Alice hoped the woman could see her sincerity. Finally, Lizzy spoke, “What do you want to know?”
“True mates. I’ve been reading an ancient text that tells of the supernaturals and their history. I’ve gotten to the part about my kind—gypsy healers.” She paused, remembering the words she’d read. She’d had to read them a second and third time before it finally sunk in that the words she was reading were about her. Not her, specifically, but gypsy healers in general, and, apparently, she was one.
“I don’t know anything about your kind. I don’t even know about my kind.” Lizzy pointed to herself. “And I’m talking about the pre-virus-injected Lizzy. A dormant werewolf. I didn’t have a clue that’s what I was, and I still don’t really understand what it means.”
“But you have a true mate,” Alice countered. “And the book explains that true mates share a bond—a bond that allows them to speak into one another’s minds, to feel one another’s emotions. And I believe that is something you’re experiencing right now. Am I correct?”
Lizzy held up a hand. “One second. I need to phone a friend. Or true mate, if you will.”
Alice was enthralled when she noticed Lizzy's eyes gazing off into the distance, as if her mind had slipped away and left her body behind. Alice could only assume that Lizzy and her mate must be speaking telepathically–an experience Alice had read about but couldn't quite believe was taking place in front of her. Even so, if Lizzy's words were to be trusted, Alice now knew the impossible was possible.
The woman’s eyes regained focus and landed back on Alice. “Finn wants to know your motive. He has trust issues.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Being held captive by a vampire will do that to a person, believe it or not.”
“You just talked to him.” She didn’t voice it as a question. There was no need to. Of course, Lizzy had just talked to her mate, or at least that was what she was claiming, and Alice had witnessed it.
