“What have you been up to the last few months? Besides the whole running from psychotic vampires thing.”
He thinks about it. “I went to an art show a month or so ago. That was fun.”
“Yeah? In Prodigy?”
He nods. “It was mostly submissions from humans, but the attendant gave me some info about a supe show coming up.”
My eyes widen. “Are you going to enter?”
He shrugs. “I don’t think I can. Not without giving away where I am. But maybe after all this is over, I can find something similar.”
I bump his shoulder. “Definitely. I’m going to hold you to that.”
“Oh! Do you remember Anita Holding?”
“The TA from our biology class?”
“Yeah. She’s living in Prodigy now with her partner. They own a smoothie shop and music cafe.”
“No way.”
“Yeah. Her partner is trying to broaden their menu to include blood in some of the smoothies for vamps who can process both blood and human food. It’s kinda cool, actually. She had me try one, but I couldn’t stomach it yet.”
I want to ask how long it’ll be before hecanprocess human food again, but I don’t. Then it registers. “Wait, her partner is a vampire?”
He grins. “Yup. What’s funny is she knew Anita’s grandma as a kid, and now they’re lovers. Two generations later.”
My jaw drops. “That’s… okay, that’s weird. I can’t wrap my head around the age thing. She’s got to be in her eighties then?”
“Something like that. But physically, she’s still in her prime.”
I frown. That’s a depressing thought. Jericho will remain ageless while my life continues on. I honestly thought we’d be friends our entire lives.
“What?”
I shake my head. “It’s nothing.”
He turns to see me better. “That made you think about us, didn’t it? How I’ll never change, and you will?”
At least Jericho still knows me well enough to know what I’m thinking. Sometimes it’s just easier not having to explain things.
“I get it,” he says. “It is weird to think about. Hell, it freaks me out sometimes. Like am I going to look like this until I die? Vamps live for hundreds of years.”
“Well, maybe not exactly the same. Your hair has definitely changed, and you’ve filled out.”
He smirks. “You checking me out, Evan? I thought you were straight.”
I belt out a laugh. “Shut up. I don’t mean it like that.”
“I know.” He hesitates. “I kind of envy Marybeth, to be honest.”
“Her partner?”
He nods and shifts uncomfortably, tugging at a hole in his jeans. “She doesn’t need to struggle to find blood anymore.”
Struggle? How is it a struggle to find blood when there’s dozens of restaurants offering it these days?
Unless he meansfreshblood. Marybeth must feed from Anita.
