Page 39 of Vampire so Virtuous
“No, I’m not pregnant,” she said flatly.
“Right. Good. Scratch that one off, then.”
His tangible relief was almost funny. It was easy to forget Joon was a dozen years older than her—and her mentor, too. He was great to talk to about most things. Not her sex life, apparently, but that was okay because she didn’t have one.
“Anything else you remember?” he asked, his brow furrowing.
Cally frowned, reaching back through the fog of memory. “Not really. Maybe a sense of losing time? Like I couldn’t remember somethingimportant. I assumed it was because I felt dizzy.” She hesitated. “Oh, and there was this weird mark on my neck. Did I have a cut on my neck when we trained? Do you remember?”
Joon shook his head. “Can’t say I do. What kind of cut? I’d have noticed if it was anything obvious.”
“It was, like, two little holes.” Cally touched her neck with two fingertips, slightly spaced apart. “About here.” She frowned. “Joon? You okay?”
He had frozen, his face slack with shock. When he finally spoke, it was barely a whisper. “Describe it.”
Her hand dropped to the table, but his eyes remained locked on her neck. “What? What is it?”
“Describe it.” His tone sharpened, startling her. He’d never snapped at her before.
“Uh, like I said. Two small marks.”
“You said ‘holes.’”
“Well, yes, but they weren’t. They were healed—fresh skin, you know? Little pink circles. They’d faded in—”
“No.” He shook his head, leaning back in his chair, his face pale as ash. “No.”
Cally stared at him, her anxiety rising. Joon was always calm, always in control. Unflappable. “Joon, you’re scaring me. What is it?”
He drew in a deep, shuddering breath, his hands gripping the edge of the table. “Did I ever mention my sister?”
She blinked, thrown by the abrupt shift. “No, I don’t think so.”
“I had a little sister. She was… killed. Murdered. About fifteen years ago.”
“Oh my God, Joon.” Cally’s words were soft, her hand instinctively reaching across the table. “I’m so sorry.”
He shook his head, brushing off her sympathy. “It’s something I came to terms with a long time ago. As much as anyone can. But Cally… what you said brought it all back.”
She blinked hard, as if that would make sense of what she’d just heard. “What? How?”
“So, what I’m about to say is gonna sound, well, insane.” Joon stared down at the table, his fingers drumming a slow, uneven rhythm. “Hana went missing. They found her body a day later.” He paused, as if collecting himself. “I had to go and identify her. She was lying there in one of those body bags. The coroner unzipped it, and—” He exhaled sharply. “I’ll neverforget how she looked. Two holes in her neck.” He gestured toward her, and then touched the side of his. “Here.”
Cally froze, her hand drifting to her neck. “That’s… that’s terrible. What did the coroner say?”
“Said she died from massive blood loss,” he replied bitterly. “But when the report came out, it listed cause of death as unknown. The coroner refused to take my calls. They wouldn’t put me through to him. Always ‘out’ when I swung by, until they told me to stop coming. They covered it up, Cally. My family fought for years, but in the end? We moved away. We had to.” He stared down at the table, lost in his memories.
“Which area? Boston?”
“No, Baltimore.”
“So, you think…” Her brow furrowed, his story casting a darker light on her own situation. A chill crept over her despite the warmth of the room. “Whatdoyou think, Joon?”
“I don’t know,” he admitted, shaking his head. “A coincidence? Some serial killer pretending to be a goddamn vampire? No connection at all?” He shrugged. “I have no clue.”
“I’m not dead, though.”
“No, you’re not. Thank God.” His eyes narrowed. “But dizziness? Nausea? Blood loss? Holes in your neck? Nightmares? What doyouthink, Cally?”
