Blood and Wine - Margot Scott Page 0,48

my fingers pass through her.

“You’re corporeal,” she says. “We’ll have to save the hugs for when you’re projecting.”

I reach over to touch Will’s face, but he doesn’t stir. He must be in deep.

“Do I have to wait till I’m asleep, or do you think I can learn to project while awake?”

“I doubt becoming a vampire has made your gifts weaker,” she says. “You could test it out.”

Closing my eyes, I picture myself rising out of my body, light as air. I soar over trees and roads, until I find myself in front of the estate.

Suddenly, I’m there.

I take off into the field in search of Will. When I find him, it’s in the same spot where I first met him, standing among the vines, facing the horizon.

“Hello,” I say.

He turns around, the brightness of his smile dulled by sadness.

“Hello, there,” he says. He thinks I’m a ghost.

I run and jump, leaping over trellises. He grunts softly as I tackle him to the ground, shocked to find me solid.

“How’s this possible?” he asks.

I kiss him, moaning softly as he folds his arms around me.

“Anything is possible in a dream,” I tell him.

We return to the physical realm at the same time. As soon as he’s back in control of himself, he rises from the chair to embrace me.

“You made it,” he says, smoothing my hair back from my face. “I knew you’d make it. And holy hell, you are beautiful.”

I haven’t seen my reflection, so I have no idea if I look any different as a vampire. From the way he’s gazing at me, I don’t think my appearance suffered at all from the transition.

“I’m happy to see you, too.”

He kisses me like we’re the only two people left in the universe.

Somebody clears their throat.

“The police are really itching to get in here and talk to you,” my grandpa says.

“Police?” I ask Will.

“I brought you to the guesthouse because I knew the staff would show up in the morning and call the cops. I didn’t want them to disturb you during your transition. You’ll have to talk to them soon, but I’ll be there. They think I’m your fiancé.”

“Do they now?” I smile at him. “Whatever gave them that idea?”

Will grins. I allow myself a moment to imagine Will tearing off my wedding dress with his teeth, at least until a more pressing matter arises.

I’m not exactly sure how I killed Edward. An autopsy might raise questions we’d rather not answer. “Did they find Edward’s body?”

“Only his body.” My grandmother smirks. “His head has mysteriously gone missing.”

“What happened to it?” I ask.

Will shrugs. “Guess the bear ate it.”

“To put it plainly, sweetheart,” my mom says, “you turned his brain to scrambled eggs.”

“Oh,” I say, a little stunned, but also kind of impressed.

“You did good,” my grandpa says with a wink.

Will kisses my brow and then leaves the room. He returns a moment later holding a glass of what looks like blood, which he offers to me. “You need to drink this before we talk to anyone with a pulse.”

“What is it?”

“Bear blood. I siphoned some off while I was staging the crime scene.”

I take a sip and immediately gag. “That’s disgusting.”

“I know,” Will says. “But this and the bagged stuff in the fridge will tide us over till we can find a ring of child murderers to hunt.”

Steeling myself, I gulp down the remainder of the bear blood, preferring the awful taste to the alternative of massacring a bunch of cops and crime-scene investigators in broad daylight.

Speaking of daylight...

“How can we go outside during the day?”

Will chuckles. “Ah, yes, the old bursting into flames in the sun mythos. Thankfully, that’s one bit of lore Hollywood gets wrong. The sun burns us at a faster rate, and you'd be in very bad shape if you stood outside for an hour on a bright day, but it won’t kill you.”

“So, that means I can still catch the occasional sunset?”

Will kisses the back of my hand. “You have infinite sunrises and sunsets ahead of you, my love.”

A knock sounds on the front door. Will hands me a pair of jeans he must’ve grabbed from my room and goes to answer. I get dressed while he stalls the detectives who sound very eager to speak with me.

“Just get through the next few days and it’ll all work itself out,” my grandmother says. I nod, thanking her for the encouragement, and for all her help, before heading outside to meet the detectives.

The sun feels like bathwater