Free Scent of a Vampire by Jude Stephens Page B

the far wall. As my brain processed this fact, I turned to look at Roberto who was staring at me with dark passion filled eyes, and oh yeah, with his fangs protruding from his sexy mouth.

Chapter 10
    I was proud of the fact I was not panicking, though my heart was pounding a mile a minute.
    Roberto quickly averted his face away from me. "You don't have to be afraid. I'm not going to bite you or attack you. I didn't have time to feed tonight."
    "Do you have to feed every night?"
    "Not necessarily. I expended a lot of energy tonight and that's why I need to feed. I won't hurt you. The forest here is full of animals I can feed from."
    I was afraid to ask but I had to. "Do you kill the animals when you feed from them?"
    "No Olivia, I am not a killer. I take what I need. Sort of like humans taking milk from animals to drink, I take blood. That's all. It's like having a special diet. There are lots of humans that have modified diets. This is no different." I tried visualizing drinking blood. I guess I could understand the concept of special diet needs. Also, I had read medical articles where people were born with thalassemia, which when severe required a person to have to have transfusions on a regular basis. This was different of course, but I could see the similarities. Roberto was born this way; he needs to drink blood if he is to live. It was still a little nauseating to think about it, but I can handle it, I decided. I think I may have surprised him when I said, "Of course, I understand.
    And I'm glad to hear you don't hurt anything when you feed."
    "Well, I will confess to you I have made mistakes in the past. When we are young it is hard to Scent of a Vampire – Jude Stephens
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    control your hunger. And I'll be honest with you, not all of us are careful. Like humans, there are good and there are bad. We try and police our own; we have an enforcement agency of sorts that monitors the activities of vampires." I had to ask. "Why don't you let the world know of your existence?"
    "Can I ask you a question? Right now do wish that you were back to twenty-four hours ago? Do you wish you had no knowledge of vampires, Sensays and trolls?" I didn't hesitate to answer.
    "Yes. I wish I was back in my little apartment, getting ready for work with my biggest worry being how bad the rush hour traffic was going to be." Roberto walked over to me and placed his hands on my shoulders. "I wish I could give that back to you. But I can't. You were meant for bigger things Olivia. I hate to get metaphysical, but your destiny was never going to be your own. Your path from now on will not be easy." I really didn't want to hear this. All I ever wanted was normal. No drama, no excitement. A nice normal life with a job I liked, a decent husband, a couple of kids. No fame or fortune for me. I thrived on anonymous.
    I tried for a lighter tone. "Go ahead and feed. I'm going to look around here to see if I can freshen up a bit and maybe find something to eat. I could use a few minutes alone." He walked over to the door, "I will be back in half an hour. Dawn will be here in about an hour and I need to be ready."
    He turned and looked at me like he wanted to say something but instead he opened the door and walked out. I stood staring at the door for a minute and then with a sigh, turned to hunt for my food. The kitchen looked sparse. There was a refrigerator. But when I opened it I discovered it was empty. A small microwave, sink and stove. There were a few old wooden cabinets I started rummaging through. I found some cans of food, a box of crackers and some energy bars. I opened a can of beefaroni and heated it in the microwave and washed it down with some bottled water that I found. Not the gourmet meals I had thought I'd be having this weekend, but it tasted pretty good right about now. There was a door on the far left wall of the kitchen and I went over to see where it led. It was a bathroom. Thank you gods of cleanliness. It wasn't huge but