Eternal Shadows by Kate Martin Read Free Book Online Page B

all humans smell like that?”
    “Yes, and no. They all smell a bit differently, so do we, but most humans will smell rather appetizing to you.”
    “Great.”
    “Like all things, it gets easier with time.”
    “You love him.” The words slipped out as I thought them. I glanced over at her, trying to gauge whether or not I had said the wrong thing. I had all sorts of new skills now, but I was sure she knew how to use them far better than I did.
    But she didn’t attack. Her eyes took on that same bright look they had had when she looked at Brody. “I suppose I do,” she said.
    “Will you turn him?”
    “It’s been discussed.”
    Anything more didn’t feel like my business, so I let it go.
    “Your pictures ,” I said, changing the subject. “Was that New York?”
    “Mm hmmm. I was born in eighteen ninety-eight. And it was nineteen twenty-two when I was turned.”
    So many things made sense now. “You were a flapper.”
    She shook her head, making her hair swing from side to side. “My hair didn’t give me away?”
    “I hadn’t really thought about it until now.” I reached up and began fingering my own brown hair, hanging just past my shoulders and lingering near the bright-side of being manageably wavy. “Does that mean my hair is stuck like this?”
    “Goodness, no. Madge and I simply prefer having our hair this way. Though I will warn you, cutting and growing your hair is a bigger challenge as a vampire.”
    “Why is that?”
    “Well, strictly speaking we aren’t alive. The more full we are with human blood the easier it is to accomplish human things like growing our hair, but even then it takes much longer.”
    Good thing I didn’t have any real plans to cut my hair anytime soon. “So, it’s kind of like the whole body temperature thing? The more blood we drink, the warmer we are?”
    “Yes. I’m glad to know Rhys explained at least one thing to you.”
    “It was kind of the first thing I noticed,” I admitted, remembering how cold I had been. That memory alone might have proven enough to keep me drinking a steady diet of blood. And then I got curious about something else. “Is Rhys really close to five hundred years old?”
    “Yes,” she said, her voice sparkling with amusement. “Do you not believe him?”
    “Not exactly, it’s just Madge called him ‘brother’. I was wondering what she meant by that.”
    “He’s only our brother in this life. Clearly, we were never human together, but ever since we were turned we’ve been a part of his family.”
    “What family?”
    “I’ll let Rhys explain that to you.”
    I snorted.
    “Is something funny?”
    “Just the idea that Rhys could explain anything to me.” I spun on my heel and propelled myself down the stairs to the first floor. I had done this very same thing a thousand times—teenage temper and all that—but this time I moved faster than expected. My feet missed the last half-dozen steps and I landed on my butt, knocking my way down to the finely polished wood floor of the front hall.
    Millie glided down the steps I had stumbled over and knelt at my side. “Are you all right?”
    I was embarrassed as hell. Nothing was worse than falling down the stairs. “Isn’t that a stupid question to ask an immortal?”
    She just smiled kindly. “I didn’t mean physically. You’re faster now than you were before.”
    “Whatever.” I peeled myself off the floor, surprised at the lack of pain running through my backside. The only thing bruised was my pride. I headed for the kitchen.
    We had state-of-the-art everything—a gas stove, flat-top stove, three ovens, one with a rotisserie, and the biggest refrigerator I had ever seen. I loved coming down here in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. I’d spent countless nights on the black and white tiled floor eating chocolate cake, mint ice cream, or anything else I could get my hands on.
    I wanted some of that now. Chocolate fixed everything.
    Millie’s white flats