Free Stolen Sun (The Juliana Lucio Series) by L.C. DeCarlo

now so it’s dry.  Put them on.”
    “Have you ever heard the saying you catch more flies with honey . . .” I muttered under my breath as I walked off.  William chuckled, and Ana just called after me, “I heard that!”
    “Good! Maybe you’ll learn something!” I slammed the door to the bathroom.
    I wasn’t really pissed, just nervous as all hell that things were finally starting to happen and that we were really doing this. I hoped I could keep it together around that many humans; remember not to breathe, move, or react when my husband came around. That was going to be the hard part. I had been practicing ‘not breathing’ all night; I had been doing pretty well. William or Ana would holler at me when they caught me taking a breath.  The yelling was coming less and less often, and it had only been a few hours. I put the scrubs on and found myself shaking a little . I was more nervous than I realized. I heard a knocking on the door , and I nearly fell over when I jumped.
    “Just a minute, I’m still changing,” I called out, silently cursing myself for letting one of them sneak up on me, even if it was through a door.
    “Juliana, it’s me--Ana. Are you okay? I can sense you, even though your heart rate is steady you feel like you’re panicking. Can . . . can I come in?”
    She sounded unsure of herself, but I didn’t want to be alone at the moment so I opened the door.
    “I’m okay -- just a little nervous about tomorrow.” I told her quietly while playing with my nails.
    “We can figure out another way to do this.  We can still leave your car for the police to find tomorrow. We don’t have to give them your body for them to pronounce you dead.”
    I knew she preferred this way, it was the safer way. It was also less likely that Antonio would give up, that any of them would find true closure if they didn’t know where I was.
    “No, I think this is the best way. I’m fine, really. I’m just a little nervous that’s all. So, what do you need me in the scrubs for exactly?” I gave her a questioning look.
    Now she looked like the nervous one.
    “We need to put your blood on them . T he police will check it for a match, so it must be yours, and we can’t use one of our victims or even William or me. It must be all yours, and we need a lot of it ; e nough to justify what they found at the scene at least. The back of your car already has your blood in it from that night so we are fine there; it’s just your clothes now.”
    “How do you plan on getting my blood …you don’t want to bite me again do you?” This made her eyes instantly turn black.
    I guess she did want to bite me again.
    I fought hard not to step backward from her knowing that would instigate her further. William had sensed the change in her and instantly flashed to her side.  He put a hand firmly on her shoulder . H e didn’t say anything, but it was enough to remind her that we weren’t alone, and he would stop her if it came to that.
    “I’m not going to bite you . W e are going to slice your arm and hold i t above your head.  That should give us a good enough blood flow and a drop pattern to mimic one of a head wound bleeding. But Juliana , you will heal rather quickly, and we will have to do it several times to get enough blood on your scrubs to look believable.” I noticed she avoided answering the wanting to bite me comment.
    “Can you handle being around my blood? Will it affect you even though I’m not human anymore?” Her eyes were going back to her beautiful turquoise blue, but there was still enough black to make me leery.
    “I’ll be fine,” she said tersely. Again I noticed she avoided answering my question about whether it would affect her not. “Why don’t you stand in the shower so we don’t make as much of a mess.” 
    As I was climbing in she went to the kitchen to get a sharp fillet knife. God what was I doing?
    “It’ll be okay, I’ll be here the entire time making sure she doesn’t do