Page 52 of Aberrant Monsters
“I’ll be fine. I have Telarion, remember?”
No need to tell her my monster parasite was being particularly silent today, although he had saved my life a little while ago. If he hadn’t screamedstop, I’d be a pancake on the road.
“You sure?” she asked.
“Positive.”
She looked up at the clinic, then at me, and I could sense the questions on her lips. But she held off on asking them; instead, she fixed her dark eyes on me. “You’re okay. You’re not sick, are you?”
“I’m fine, aside from being host to an aberrant.” I smiled. “There’s just something I want to check out.”
“Okay.” She adjusted her grip on Dot. “I need to get Dot back anyway and see if I can find a way to free her.” She looked down at Dot. “Yes, of course I will. You should have told me sooner.” She shook her head slightly. “Poor thing’s overwhelmed now.”
I waited until they were halfway up the street before ducking into the building. The brightly lit foyer lined with plastic chairs was empty. A woman sitting behind the reception desk filing her nails looked up at me with a bright smile as I entered.
“Oh, hello there, how can I help you?” She raked me over, probably looking for injuries.
I smiled and approached the desk. “Is it always this quiet?”
“New Bloods seem to be notoriously healthy.”
She said it in a way that suggested she wasn’t one of them.
“You’re not a New Blood?”
She let out a tinkling laugh. “Oh no, dear. I’m just here to help.” She set her nail file down. “So howcanI help?”
I had a pretty good sense of the mundane, and she didn’t feel like a norm, but asking her what kind of supe she was would be rude, and she was looking at me with polite inquiry.
How to word this? “I need some blood drawn….to take away.”
Her brows flicked up slightly. “Okay, can I take a name?”
“August Vera.”
She tapped some stuff into her screen and then picked up the phone. “Hello, Dr. Roman, I have a patient for you. Yes. Uh-huh. A real one.” She gave me another bright smile. “Thank you,” she trilled before putting the phone down. “He’ll be with you in a moment.”
I backed away from the counter, my gaze going to the windows and the world outside, which was getting darker by the second.
Sunset was at 6:09, so I had less than an hour left. It would be happening much earlier next month. November was a time of long nights. More time with Telarion, whoop.
My stomach fluttered.
“Miss Vera?”
I turned at the sound of the male voice, eyes coming level with a barrel chest encased in a white lab coat that seemed a size too small, then I dragged my gaze up to a wide face with flat, high cheekbones and warm hazel eyes. There was a red tinge to his skin that nudged something at the back of my brain.
“You wanted blood drawn?” he asked.
“Yes. I need it bagged so I can take it away.”
He frowned slightly. “Selling blood on the black market is a dangerous affair, Miss Vera. The vampire covens that buy it tend to get possessive of the donors. I’ve heard some horror stories. The fact that you came here rather than try and do it yourself shows me that you’re a responsible person. I’d like to help you, if you’d let me.”
There was something warm and soothing about his voice. His presence had a calming effect, and for a moment I forgot the real reason I needed my blood bagged and almost believed I was planning to sell it on the black market. For a moment I was ready to confess and beg him to help me.
“Damn, you’re good.”
His frown deepened. “Excuse me?”
