1 Dicey Grenor (18 page)

I needed guidance.
Max had said stay away from the human.
Saybree
had
said to bond with the human. I was confused as hell.

At least he hadn’t
regained his memories. That would buy me a little time to figure things out. I’d
half expected that would have happened by now and fully expected his senses
would be enhanced after having my blood. For how long was the real question.

“Would you believe
me if I said I didn’t know what was happening to you?” I said.

“No. You know
something. I can almost hear you thinking.”

Uh
oh.
“What do you mean?”

“I can’t make
everything out. It’s like I need to tune in to the frequency or something. But
I know you know something.”

I sighed. “You’re
right, Aaron. I do. But I need you to trust me. I can’t tell you everything I
know.”

“I thought we were
friends.”

There was that
word again. Ouch. “We are…and that’s why I have to keep some things from you.”

“To
protect you or me?”

“Both.”

“Fine.
Don’t tell me…but Willow, if you know how to stop what’s happening to me you
gotta
do it. If this continues, I’ll have to get back on
medication. I
hate
medicine.
Such terrible side
effects.”

“I’m sorry. I don’t
know how to stop it.”

He sat for a
minute.
Then another and another.
Finally, I gathered
my duffle bag to go. I could see he didn’t want to let it go and he certainly
didn’t want to have a romantic evening with me.

“Wait,” he said as
I opened the car door. “Am I still human?”

“Yes.”

“Are you?”

I closed the door
and sank back in the seat. How to answer this…

He surprised me by
answering first. “Okay. I get it. You can’t tell me that.” I remained silent. “Well,
tell me this—did we kill anyone last night?”

I shook my head.

He relaxed. “Good.
’Cause I can’t go through that again.”

Any other time I
would have opened dialogue with him about that, but I was thankful he was
accepting my half-ass answers. I didn’t want more questions. “We didn’t. I
promise.”

Without another
word, he started the car and drove so we could hang out and have a real date.

At least it was a
date to me.

Chapter 21

I’d fallen asleep
twice while we were at the
SkyBar
lounge.
Once at the table, once on the dance floor.
Aaron was there
to catch me each time. Other than that, it had been a wonderful night. Most
importantly, nothing bad happened that needed erasing from his mind. We’d
officially shared pleasant times that could evolve into pleasant memories.

Rolling over, I
snuggled closer to him and buried my head in the crook of his arm. Ah…nice. He
smelled good, felt warm,
didn’t
snore. Too bad he’d
fallen asleep before I had the chance to seduce him. I didn’t want to wake him
since, due to his
insomnia,
he said he’d been up for
days.

We were both fully
clothed, resting atop the covers. I
sooo
wanted to be
naked with him, bumping and grinding, but this was what humans did—they took it
slow. I could do that, right?

No way.

Running my hand
lightly along his arm, I kept going until I got to the top button of his shirt
and began undoing them.
Enough with the waiting.
Soon
sex between us would be illegal. Soon Max would be on my ass. Aaron was already
in bed with me. No time like the present.

Suddenly, he
grabbed my wrist and stared in my face.
“W-W-W-Willow?”

I jerked upright.
The voice was all wrong, his eyes too fearful, too crazed.

“W-w-w-where
am
I?” he said.

“
Shhh
.
It’s okay. You’re here with me. No one’s going
to hurt you.” I leaned over and slowly began to button his shirt. His eyes were
wide, but they weren’t on me. They were on the ceiling, the door,
the
walls, everywhere at once like someone scared to death.
“
Shhh
.
It’s okay. I rubbed his
head urging him to calm down. “You’ve read about me right?”

He finally focused
on me and sat up. “Yes.
I
kn
-
kn
-
kn
-know who you are.”
He rested his head on my shoulder. “Why am I awake?”

“Aaron’s been
under a lot of stress lately. I think his brain is scrambled.” I hugged him
tightly. “I’ll help you.”

I was so glad our
clothes were still on. It would have been all kinds of wrong for
lil
’ Aaron to wake up to me fondling the body in his
six-year-old mind.

“I’m M-M-Mason, by
the way.”

What? “Mason? I
thought you were
lil
’ Aaron.”

“No.
I’m the only one who
st
-stutters.”
Well, I’ll be damned.
“I woke up yesterday out-of-the-blue.
First time in months,
jjjjudging
by the
dates in the journal.
Your name was everywhere.
Aaaaaron
wrote that we should introduce ourselves
iiiif
we
shifted. He said you’d know what to do.”

Aaron had more
faith in me than I did. I was no psychologist.

I got up from the
bed and paced. This was my fault so it was my responsibility. But if memory
served correctly, Mason was the one with the eating disorder, as in gluttony.
Which meant I couldn’t just cut the
tv
on and have him entertain himself. Aaron had said Mason ate
waaay
too much so he only got one day every six months. I had a feeling this wasn’t
supposed to be the day.

I looked at my
watch. Fuck. I didn’t have any food for him to eat and since it was broad
daylight I wasn’t going anywhere for a while.

“I’m
ssso
hungry. Got anything
tttto
eat?”

“No. I’m sorry.”

We sat leering at
each other for a long while. I suspected he thought I should be a good host and
fetch him something, but I was more concerned about getting him back in
Never-Never Land. Fast.

“I know y-you don’t
w-w-want to be stuck here with me. Go. I’ll try to g-go back to
sssleep
. Maybe Aaron
will
c-come
back.”

I wondered if he
could hear my thoughts. My blood was probably still running strong through
Aaron’s body.

“No. I won’t leave
you.” Resolved, I climbed back on the bed and urged him down next to me so I
could rub his head. “I’ll hold you ’til you get to sleep.”

We stayed that way
at least an hour but sleep eluded him.
Made me wonder if he
had insomnia like Aaron.

Bet he’d fall
asleep if I fed him a cheeseburger.
And if I stayed in a
hotel with room service that wouldn’t be an issue.
Hadn’t
thought of it until now since I hadn’t made a habit of receiving guests.
Maybe I should look in to that.

Finally, I decided
to try something risky since the damage had already been done. I captivated
Mason’s eyes and forced Aaron out by calling his name. Just like that.
Took all of ten seconds.
Funny, he had no clue as to what I’d
done.
Acted like he had just woken up.
I thought it
better to leave things that way. What he didn’t know wouldn’t hurt him…no more
than it already had.

He showered and
put his clothes back on in a hurry saying something about being late for a
meeting. Without any prompting from me, he said he’d pick me up from work
tonight and we’d hang out again. I was all smiles.

Perfect.

When nightfall
came I was whistling a tune. Maybe it was because in spite of everything, Aaron
and I were getting closer than ever. And I was planning to get a piece of that.
Tonight.

I refused to think
of the ramifications.

Just in case, I
tried reaching Max metaphysically to mend things. I needed to reason with him,
remind him that even though I had feelings for someone else, he would always be
my
maistre
. Besides, he had many brides. He could
grant me one extra-relational affair.

He refused to
answer. Just turned his back to me and shut down his brain wave. I couldn’t see
where he was or what he was doing.
Which was scarier than his
anger.

It sealed the deal
on my plans for the night, however. I was going to fuck Aaron
good
. No sense in holding out considering Max was already
pissed. I’d pray to God for forgiveness afterward and hope he’d make an
allowance this once since he knew how much it meant to me.

After donning a
sweat suit and changing motel rooms, I skipped on over to Dr. Floyd’s lab. He
had to run some new tests on my blood for compatibility with the new drug. It
was a requirement for each new clinical trials group.

Seemed
like I had to go through this once a week.
Hoped that
meant new developments and advancements were being made.

Though
nothing had worked for me yet.

 
He usually had to send the samples to another
lab for testing, but now that his new lab was up and running
,
everything could be completed there. And I didn’t have to wait forever for
results.

When Dr. Floyd
pricked my arm and took ten vials of blood I burst with laughter at the irony.
Then I read through a stack of literature detailing new narcolepsy research
studies while he put my blood through various lab procedures.

Sometime later he
told me he was calling in several colleagues who were expert hematologists and
that he’d have to run the tests again. Time was getting by so I used a courtesy
phone and called Franco to let him know I’d be about an hour late.

Their expert
analyses did not take long. Each left the lab shaking his head.

When Dr. Floyd
asked me into the private confines of his office, I knew things were about to
get interesting.

He explained a
bunch of medical mumbo jumbo like how the whole composition of my blood had
changed.
And something about it being predatory.
It
couldn’t metabolize the drug because it attacked and destroyed the properties
intended to help me. It wouldn’t work on my blood and therefore, its healing
agent wouldn’t work on my body. Bottom line: I wasn’t eligible for the study.

Leaning back on
his desk, he folded his arms over his white lab coat and looked over the brim
of his glasses. In his smart British accent he said, “I had to have a fresh
sample of your blood for this new drug, but I wasn’t expecting the make-up of
it to be completely different.” He took off the glasses. “And you don’t look
surprised at my findings.” I sat in the chair and rested my face in my hands.
My existence was getting out of fucking control.
“
Sooo
.
Is there anything I need to know about your
blood, Willow?
Anything at all?”

There was that
patient/physician confidentiality, right? Since he wasn’t supposed to tell
anyone, not even VET whatever I told him, I may as well give him full
disclosure. “Yes. There is something
confidential
you need to know.”
When I opened my mouth again to confide in him he waved his hand, cutting me
off.

“Willow, you have
been my patient and friend for years. In fact, you are like the daughter I
never had. I want to help you. You know that.”

“But?”

“But if you tell
me something that violates the law, I am required to give that information to
the authorities. That is an exception to the confidentiality rule.”

Oh. Well, damn.

Chapter 22

“Maybe you can
keep looking. There’s bound to be another drug that will work for me. I’m
willing to pay for the research. Say…ten thousand dollars?”

I had nothing but
motel rooms and clothes to spend on which meant I had accumulated quite the
savings. Giving towards his silence—I meant,
research
on narcolepsy—was
just as good a cause as any.

He put his glasses
back on, moving to sit behind his desk and cross his legs. “Don’t say another
word. I told you you’re like a daughter, Willow. I don’t need to be bribed. I’ll
search for a cure for you no matter how long or what it takes.”

When I had first
read Dr. Floyd’s email about him opening a sleep disorder treatment facility in
the Medical Center, I had been hesitant about leaving Max and coming back to
Houston. I had not wanted to get my hopes up because after years of human
treatments and medicines and therapy, nothing had cured me. So why would I
believe his studies and clinical trials would cure me as a vampire? At least I
had special gifts that could make my existence more bearable. And if I stayed
with my clan, I stood a good chance of surviving as a narcoleptic vamp.

Yet Dr. Floyd had
been so positive, so persuasive. Had even promised free services in exchange
for my participation due to a federal grant he had received. I had felt it was
worth a shot. Now, I could fully appreciate that decision. Fully appreciate
him. I still had narcolepsy, but if anyone could find a cure, it would be him.
And if anyone would help me without reporting questionable findings, it would
be him as well.

He went a step
further and said he’d explain my blood sample was contaminated if any of his
colleagues inquired about what they had seen. I nodded and left his office with
a smile. I’d still give him the money. It would be the best tithe I’d ever
spent.