Blood Revealed by Tracy Cooper-Posey Read Free Book Online Page A

Blythe where she still sat with Jake, watching the TV from the table. “It’s still going?” she asked.
    Jake was still taking notes, typing furiously. It had only occurred to Blythe about an hour ago to wonder when he had learned how to type with ten fingers. It was an oblique reminder that her kids were growing up way too fast for her to keep up with. They were having experiences and learning life lessons that she could not be a part of. That would happen more and more often as they got older.
    “Only CNN are running it now,” Jake said. “And we have to keep jumping to affiliate stations to get the full coverage.”
    “How many questions can they have?” Simone asked, picking up the milk carton and shaking it, as if that would help her make up her mind.
    “They haven’t asked half the stuff I want to know,” Blythe said.
    “I don’t think military strategists are common among journalists, Mom,” Jake pointed out.
    “You’ll just have to ask them yourself,” Simone said and let the fridge door shut solidly, cutting off the light.
    Jake snorted.
    Blythe had to smile, too. “I’m just a hotel receptionist now,” she reminded them both. “The chances of me ever getting to ask a direct question or two are so remote, I would have more chance of dating Chris Hemsworth than sitting down with vampires and studying their military strengths and weaknesses.”
    “Then you believe this stuff?” Simone asked, surprised.
    “I’d rather have proof,” Blythe said honestly. “Although, if you listen to it long enough, it starts to make a strange sort of sense.”
    “Besides, isn’t Chris Hemsworth married?” Jake asked.
    “And younger than you,” Simone said pertly.
    Then Jake pointed at the TV. “Isn’t this conference happening in your hotel? That’s the logo, behind them on the wall, isn’t it?”
    Blythe had noticed the logo a long time ago and didn’t look. “It’s a huge hotel. There’s a whole office full of people who take care of the events in the convention wing. Garrett and the others don’t stay in the hotel. I’ve never met any of them. I’ve never even seen them except on TV.”
    Simone rubbed the apple she had selected against her pajama pants. “Maybe you’ll get lucky,” she said. “Just think, you could be one of the first people to meet a real, live vampire.”
    “They’re not alive,” Blythe pointed out.
    “Anyway,” Jake shot back, “who says we haven’t all met a vampire before now? They’ve been passing as human. We could have had neighbors and teachers who were vampires. The mailman could be one. There’s no way to tell if they don’t want you to know.”
    The silence in the room was broken only by the soft tones of Kate Lindenstream answering a question that Blythe had missed and none of the director’s words registered, because Blythe was too busy dealing with Jake’s startling observation. Her chest squeezed. Jake had put his finger on a complication she hadn’t considered until now. How did they tell vampires apart?
    “That’s…creepy,” Simone said.
    “It is,” Blythe agreed softly as Simone shuffled back toward her bedroom.
    Blythe got to her feet and picked up her coffee mug, intending to rinse it out. “We’ll just have to find out as much as we can about vampires and about the other races they were talking about.” She ran the faucet, holding her hand under the water stream to test the temperature.
    “Know thy enemy?” Jake asked.
    “I don’t think the vampires are an enemy,” Blythe replied, placing the mug upside down on the drainer.
    “Just because they say they’re not?” Jake asked. His tone was curious, rather than confrontational.
    Blythe frowned as she sat back down at the table, thinking it through. “No one does anything without a reason,” she said slowly. “If this isn’t some huge hoax, then because we have no corroboration or proof, for now we have to take everything the vampires have said at face value. With me, so