Free Broken Heart 01 I'm the Vampire, That's Why by Michele Bardsley Page A

us to accelerate the timetable for our Broken Heart venture."
    "Wow. You're just full of good news," I muttered.

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    "It doesn't seem real," said Linda. "None of this. It's like we're all dreaming or something. Or maybe we really are dead."
    "Nah," said Patsy, fluffing her bleach-blond curls. "If this was heaven there'd be more naked men."

    "Stop glaring at me," said Patrick.
    Since I had refused to hold his hand, to accept his kiss, and to take his suggestion that we fly to the gymnasium, he was in a snit. Maybe he didn't like walking. It's not like he needed the exercise.
    I, however, had gone way past "snit." I was monumentally pissed off.
    "You've been buying out the town for months. When you said you meant to come to Broken Heart, you failed to mention that you had your minions already here, buying up property."
    "I don't have minions." He looked at me. "How long are you going to stay angry?"
    "Years." I pursed my lips. "Maybe a century."
    His mouth twitched, but he apparently managed to quell the laugh that threatened. Instead he said,
    "Fine."
    And I said, "Fine."
    Then we both shut up and let our silence chill the auto below zero.
    After the meeting at my house had ended, I checked on my babies. Stan told me they weren't buying the flu story anymore. Three days was too long to go without seeing their mother, even with all the cool new distractions provided by Stan. If he kept up his gift giving, Santa Claus was gonna have a tough time coming up with appropriate gifts in December.
    "If you hadn't called that ridiculous meeting to plan a mutiny—"
    "It wasn't a mutiny," I interrupted. "I didn't get to plan anything with all those information bombs you dropped on us. Jerk."
    "This is a strange situation for everyone. Vampires cannot have children and it's been centuries since a parent has been Turned."
    "Let me guess. Part of the Consortium Code?"
    He nodded.
    "Lorcan totally blew that rule."
    "He's not in his right mind. When he's cured, I guarantee you he'll say penance for centuries. He abhors the idea of hurting innocents."

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    I stopped walking. "He's changed, Patrick. Maybe the werewolf blood cured the Taint, but he won't ever be the same."
    Patrick stopped, too. Then he turned around slowly to face me. We were standing on the soccer field on the left side of the high school. The rich scents of earth and fresh-cut grass weaved through night air.
    Summertime inOklahoma . I felt a pang of loss… of unbearable sadness. I was never going to see the sun again. Ever.
    "No one knows better than I what my brother has suffered," he said. "You're hungry and you need to feed."
    I was hungry. Since Patrick hadn't offered me a thigh, I was worried about where I was supposed to get my new icky sustenance. I didn't want to think about a "donor." I crossed my arms and gave Patrick the Look.
    "You're being stubborn, Jessica." He scooped me into his arms and rose into the air, the show-off, and we flew over the roof of the gymnasium. He set us down in the back parking lot. I glanced at the area where Emily had been found. Poor sweet thing. Linda was planning a special night memorial for her little sis.
    Patrick led me around the huge, white RV. We crossed the lot to a pink camper parked near a copse of pine trees.
    "It looks like a big pink Twinkie," I said as Patrick knocked on the metal door.
    The door opened and a brassy red head poked out. "It's a 1956 Safari Airstream, honey," said the woman in a sultry Southern twang. "It's been refurbished and customized to my specifications. Hello, Paddy. Here for a nibble?"
    Patrick drew me forward and ushered me up the two metal stairs. The lady moved back into the Airstream and sat on a long couch that was made out of pink fuzzy material. A flatscreen TV was suspended on the opposite side. It looked like it could be raised or lowered