Aurora Sky Vampire Hunter - By Nikki Jefford Page 0,13

safely inject these organisms into hosts, such as yourself. When your blood cells are transferred from you to the infected, it sends them into a state of temporary paralysis."

Crist looked me in the eyes. "By transferred, he means when one of them bites you."

Right, 'cause that's what vampires were all about. Biting people. It definitely concerned me that people like Melcher and Crist had access to automatic weapons.

No wonder Melcher was always smiling. He had a lot of funny ideas in his head. It made me smile, too.

"So are we talking storybook vampires with fangs and claws, only come out in the night, hold the garlic, please?" I asked with a smirk.

"Not exactly," Melcher answered, missing my sarcasm. "They have every appearance of being human, but they're not. They're infected by disease and they feed on healthy humans."

"Ohhhh," I said, thinking I finally got it. "You mean sick people who have escaped quarantine. You've made me immune so I can hunt them down and bring them back in?"

Crist huffed. "No, he means vampires!"

Melcher continued speaking as though there'd been no interruption. "What you need to understand about the undead is that their disease is what keeps them in their reanimated state. Disease is the trigger. Rabies, plague, porphyria - we can trace plague vampires all the way back to outbreaks in sixteenth century Italy."

"Are you saying that people who caught the plague never died?"

Sounded more like zombies than vampires to me.

Melcher sucked in a breath and released it quickly. "No, thank goodness. Only individuals with type AB negative blood are at risk."

I shot up in my chair. "I'm type AB negative! And you injected me with a virus."

Shit, oh shit, oh shit, oh shit. Why hadn't I been able to see myself clearly in the mirror since the accident? And why was everything so loud? I swear I'd developed a heightened sense of hearing. But I felt cold, chilled. Vampires loved the cold. I hated the cold. I was panicking. That's all. This was all just a hazing.

I took a calming breath, determined to play along and not get laughed at when Melcher admitted it was all a ruse and they'd been observing my reactions from the very start.

"So now I'm a vampire?"

I should have earned points for asking with a straight face.

"We have an antidote to prevent that from happening," Melcher said. "That's what your monthly injection is for."

A smile tugged at my lips. "And you're saying that if I don't take the antidote every month I'll turn into a vampire?"

Melcher frowned for the first time. "If you stop taking the antidote, you'll die and there will be no heaven to welcome you on the other side."

I matched his frown. Maybe it was just me, but I didn't like people telling me I was going to hell.

"Are there any side effects to having 'vampire blood'?" I asked, thinking about the distortion in the mirror. At least I had a reflection, even if it wasn't clear. That was a good sign, right?

Melcher looked me up and down. "You might notice some sensitivity at first, but your injections will eventually take care of any...discomforts you may experience. Do you have any specific concerns?"

I pressed my lips together, not in the mood to share with Mr. Self-Righteous.

Instead I asked, "Do you really expect me to believe this?"

Melcher looked at Crist. She nodded, and they stood in unison. I turned my head to follow their movements to the door.

"We understand your denial," Melcher said. "In fact, every new operative goes through it. That's why we've found it best to follow up this introduction with a live demonstration. Follow me."

Right then, getting out of that room sounded good.

I followed the agents out the double doors and back down the way we'd come.

We entered the lobby and turned down another hall leading to the back of the complex, away from freedom. I wondered if the woman at the front desk would come to my aid if I called out for help.

Melcher placed a hand on my back as though sensing my hesitation and pushed me gently forward. I walked faster just to get his hand off me.

When we reached the end of the hall, Crist led us through a set of swinging double doors into a second, shorter hallway. Midway down the hall, she used her key card to unlock a metal door. She held it open, and I followed Melcher into a small, stark room. A long metal table faced a two-way mirror overlooking