Free Confessions of a Vampire's Girlfriend by Katie Maxwell Page B

and all. . . .”
    â€œI didn’t answer you?”
    â€œYeah, after I left Absinthe, I did the weirdo psychic mind-meld thingy with you to thank you, but you didn’t answer. I figured you were PO’d at me.”
    He yawned into his hand. “Do it now.”
    â€œHuh?”
    â€œTry the weirdo psychic mind-meld thingy now.”
    â€œAh.” Like this?
    He just looked at me.
    Helloooooooo? Ben? Anyone in there?
    â€œWell?”
    â€œYou’re not answering. If you’re not going to answer you could at least have voice mail or something.”
    One corner of his mouth quirked up. “Fran, what was the last thing you did before you left Absinthe?”
    I gave him moue lips. “You know, you told me to do it! I imagined I was in a sealed room where nothing could get into my mind.”
    â€œAnd nothing could get out?”
    I blinked at him for a second, then grinned. “Oh. I didn’t think of that. How do I unseal my mind?”
    â€œYou imagined yourself protected in the room; just visualize that protection gone.”
    I chewed on my lip. “Will I be able to get it back again? I don’t think Absinthe is one to give up too easily. In fact, I don’t know what’s stopping her from reading everyone’s mind who works here.” And incidentally figuring out for herself who stole the money.
    He yawned again. “You can protect yourself whenever you need to. Everyone can; Absinthe can’t read anyone’s mind who has protected it. The first thing someone with a psychic ability learns is how to protect their mind from invasion. Didn’t your mother teach you that?”
    â€œUm . . . no.” I pictured myself opening a door to the stainless-steel room and stepping outside it. Thanks, Ben.
    â€œYou’re welcome. Is there anything else?”
    â€œNo. I’m sorry I woke you, twice. And sorry about the arm. And the whole Beloved thing. I don’t imagine you’re terribly happy about it, either.”
    His eyes glittered blackly at me as he pulled the blanket up to his neck.
    â€œWill you take me for a ride tonight? Mom says I can as long as I’m back by ten. I know that doesn’t give you a lot of time after the sun goes down, but—”
    â€œI’ll see you at nine.”
    I nodded and waited until he pulled the blanket over his head before opening the door. I left a note for Imogen on her table, then hurried out, feeling pretty good about things. Ben wasn’t mad at me, and had shown me how to beat Absinthe at her own game. Mom was in a relatively happy mood with me after I agreed to do what she wanted. Tesla looked happier at his new life—the vet had given him a clean bill of health—and he even did his funny little dance-in-place step when Soren and I led him and Bruno out and put chain hobbles around their front feet so they could graze loose in the meadow without running off.
    Sure, I still had all that Nancy Drewing to do, but all in all, life was starting to look up.

CHAPTER SIX

    M y life sucks bullfrogs. No, seriously, I mean it.
    Oh, okay, maybe it’s not that bad. But if you found yourself having to talk to a guy who not only looked like Elvis Presley, and sounded like Elvis Presley, but who actually thought he was Elvis Presley, wouldn’t your day be a bit on the bullfrog-sucking side? Yeah. I thought so.
    â€œHey, there, little lady. What can the big man do for you, uh-huh?”
    See? Sucky.
    â€œHi, Elvis. I wondered if I could talk to you for a couple of minutes.”
    He did a little hip shake as he combed his big black do in front of the floor mirror he always set up outside of his trailer. Elvis was thin, a little shorter than me, and had lots and lots of thick black hair that he greased back into a puffy-fronted fifties hairdo. I can’t believe guys actually wore their hair like that, but Mom says her dad used to, which is going to make me a little weird about