Free H.U.M.A.N.S (The Veiled World Book 1) by Susan Reid Page A

about?”
    “Can I expect you tomorrow evening?” He awaited my answer.
    How could I say no? He was either baiting me for something else by leaving me with these unanswered questions and playing on my emotions and curiosities, or he really was being truthful.
    I was annoyed. I bit my lip as my eyes flicked down to glance at the neat handwriting inquisitively but I didn’t pick it up.
    It wasn’t an address. It simply read: ‘North Majahuitas shore’ and next to that he had written down ‘7 p.m.’
    “Another one for the road?” The ice cubes clinked as he raised his empty glass.
    I sighed, confused.
    “You said just one drink.”
    “For two hundred dollars, I would expect that I’d be able to keep my options open. Consider it a compliment. It’s very good brandy.”
    I pursed my lips and refilled his glass promptly, sliding it back over to him.
    The melody of my ringtone broke the momentary silence. My cell phone was still sitting on the edge of the counter next to the walkie-talkie.
    I didn’t want to take my attention away from him.
    He glanced over at it with no particular interest.
    “Are you going to answer it?” He asked before taking a long sip.
    I sighed softly, backing up and continuing to watch him while reaching for it.
    The display revealed Isis’ name.
    I pressed the phone icon.
    “Oh good, you’re still up. Pierce said your end of the walkie- talkie went silent and he figured you went to sleep but I wanted to make sure you were alright.”
    “Yeah, batteries died.” I lied.
    “Ah. Good news. We finally located the gateway on the island. It’s kind of small and it looks as if it was accidentally put there. Clee got it sealed. Now as for the one on the mainland, that sucker is huge and it’s very busy with tourists and locals. It’s gonna be very tricky.”
    “That’s great. Yeah, we’ll have to figure something out then and fast.” I was truly relieved.
    I had turned around with my back to Gage without even thinking about it for a split second once Isis began to talk. Quickly realizing my distraction, I whirled around to face him but he was already gone…and so was the entire 300 dollar bottle of aged house Brandy.

 
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter 10
     
                 
    Th e slight stinging sensation along my bottom lip is what roused me out of my deep sleep.
    It was still early and Twinkie was crouched in the armchair across the room, staring at me with round, fully dilated eyes. He was probably waiting to be fed and at any moment he was going to start meowing obnoxiously if I didn’t hurry.
    I brought my hand up to my lips and ran a finger along the tender skin. It felt swollen and my gums and jaw were sore as if I’d been punched in the mouth.
    What the hell?
    I immediately leapt out of bed, surprised when Twinkie hissed and tried to take a swipe at me on my way to the bathroom.
    I shot him a warning look that any parent would give to a bratty, temper-tantrum throwing child.
    “You must not want to eat!” I hissed back at him.
    He scrunched up his neck and flattened his ears but remained silent and watching me closely, taking my threat seriously.
    Flipping on the light to examine my lip, I was confounded.
    There were two small punctures on the inner part of my bottom lip. Very odd.
    They still appeared red and fresh. I inspected my lip, trying to come up with some sort of a reason or explanation while rubbing both sides of my jaw in circular motions to relieve the dull ache. That was when I felt four sharp points graze the tip of my tongue.
    Alarmed, I forced a smile…only to shriek in horror.
    The punctures on my bottom lip aligned perfectly with my canine s —canines that were no longer normal.
    They were about an inch and a half long with razor-sharp, tapered points that nearly matched the bottom set, which weren’t as long as the top row.
    No wonder my jaw was hurting. It had to shift to accommodate my new fangs.
    I felt jittery, pulse and heartbeat racing