Free Vampire Dating Agency: The Finale by Rosette Bolter Page B

answer.
    “Haley, you
get to ask me your questions after this. So just –”
    “If I had no
doubts in their being alive, then of course. I would surrender.”
    “See? That
wasn’t hard, was it?”
    “Do you have
the power to resurrect them?”
    “I don’t
know,” the caller replied. “Shall we count that as your first question?”
    “You bastard.
You want me to waste one then?”
    “What
questions you ask me are entirely up to you. Although, I must now add on
another condition.”
    “What’s
that?”
    “Of the three
questions you ask me, I shall answer two of them truthfully, and one of them
false.”
    “What? That’s
not fair!”
    “Well, I
think you owe me for lying on the masturbating question. Anyway, that’s the
deal. Take it or leave it.”
    Haley
hesitated. “Five.”
    “Five what?”
    “If you’re
going to mix in the truth with the lies, then I want five questions. And three
correct answers.”
    “Very well.
When you’re ready.”
    Haley removed
the phone from her ear a moment.
    She looked
out from the window into the dark ocean waters below. Lights from a distant
city sparkled across the surface.
    He has a
name.
    He has a
face.
    He is out
there somewhere, speaking to you now.
    You must know
it already, Haley.
    You must know
who he is.
    She put the
phone back to her ear. “First question: Have you and I ever had sex?”

 
    CHAPTER
FOUR
     
     
    He said she couldn’t guess who he
was, but perhaps she could figure it out by process of elimination. Of her two
main suspects, she’d only slept with one of them. Haley was also aware that it
may not have been either Brock or Julian she was speaking with now, and if the
line of questioning didn’t size up with either of them she would have no
trouble veering off into unknown territory.
    “No,” the
caller said. “We’ve never had sex.”
    Haley was
immediately suspicious. It sounded like a lie.
    “If I heard
your voice, in it’s true form, would I recognize it?”
    The caller
hesitated. “No.”
    “No, I
wouldn’t?” Haley said almost disbelieving. “Remember you can only lie twice.”
    “I know the
rules.”
    “Okay…” Haley
thought for a moment. She didn’t want to waste the next one. “Have you ever run
or worked for the Vampire Dating Agency?”
    No
hesitation. “Yes.”
    “Would I be
accurate to describe you as a tall, white, male vampire with short hair?”
    “No.”
    Now Haley was
confused. If the answers to the first two questions had been lies, then the
next true would have to be true. Which meant Brock could be eliminated.
    “You have one
more question,” the caller said. “Use it wisely.”
    Truth or
lies, perhaps it was enough.
    Enough for
her to guess anyway.
    So she could
spend her question on something else…
    “Do you
really have the power to bring my mother and brother back to life?” Haley
asked.
    Silence.
    Her ears
strained.
    “Hello?”
    “No,” the
caller said softly.
    “Oh,” Haley
said, disappointed as if it was a straight answer. Could No really mean Yes? “Alright
then. Will you let me guess who you are?”
    “Please do.”
    “And if I’m
right, you promise to tell me.”
    “I promise.”
    “Because if
you lie to me, I’m not going to be very happy with you.”
    “Well, I know
you hate my guts anyway,” the caller said. “But in respect for our exchange
here, there is no way I will lie to you if you can correctly guess my
identity.”
    “Alright,”
Haley said. “Are you Julian?”
    Silence.
    “Are you The
Count, Julian Echo?”
    More silence.
Haley waited.
    “No,” the
caller said. “Talk to you soon, Haley.”

 
    CHAPTER
FIVE
     
     
    He could smell her perfume on the
pillow beside him. It was faint, but it was still there. She herself wasn’t
there. He knew that much. Even with his eyes closed and under the blankets just
as though it was any other night, he still knew he was alone in the bed. Until
of course he realized, he was alone forever and always.
    Tears