“It might just work,” Frankie said, his eyes bright and eager behind his glasses, slapping Lorenzo’s
arm excitedly. “How soon can you have a prototype ready?”
“Give me like two days,” Lorenzo replied, finishing off the plate and licking it clean. “Holy crap, like
seriously, Snod. This was amazing.”
“In two days, you might be able to cure yourself?” Snod pushed, ignoring the compliment about his
cooking.
“We’d have to run tests,” Frankie said. “It’s not easy to experiment with my blood because of the
machines we have to use... I don’t know. It may take a few weeks, but this is a great start!”
“When do you work again?” Snod asked, finally eating his food and enjoying Frankie’s happiness
bubbling through the bond.
“Tomorrow,” Frankie replied. “It’s my turn to drive, so I gotta pick up Lorenzo and Amy, and, I just...
Wow.” He actually took off his glasses, beaming more brightly than Snod had ever seen him. “This
really might be possible.”
Lorenzo hugged his friend tightly, grunting, “We’re gonna do it! We’re gonna freakin’ unvampify you!
No more funky blood drinks, no more worrying about weirdo nut-jobs hunting you! It’s gonna be
great!”
“Weirdo what now?” Snod snapped, his fingers clenching tightly around his fork.
“These freaks that hunt vampires,” Lorenzo replied, not realizing the danger he was walking right
into. “Frankie told me about them.”
“Lorenzo,” Frankie warned kindly, glancing nervously at Snod.
“What? It’s only what you told me!” Lorenzo protested. “There are these super religious nut-bags that
are like all inbred—”
“Inbred?” Snod growled furiously, slamming his fork down.
“Uh, yeah?” Lorenzo said, blinking, still not understanding why Snod was getting so angry. “Like
super inbred freaks that think God wants them to kill vampires or something.”
There was a loud knock at the door.
“You told him about the Order!” Snod accused, glaring at Frankie.
“Yes, but—!” Frankie protested, groaning as the knocking continued. “Hold on!”
“Definitely gotta kill him now,” Snod sighed.
“Wait, kill me?” Lorenzo squeaked, a mental lightbulb coming on and staring Snod down with a
