Survivor - By Kaye Draper Page 0,63

his square fingers on the desk for a moment before closing the folder in front of him.

I slipped into his office behind Peter and quietly pulled the door closed, blocking the old man’s escape. Dr. Walton looked up at the soft click of the latch, and then went still in surprise. I gave him a cheery wave and took a slow step forward.

“Hey doc,” I said softly.

He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. Slipping them back on, he blinked at me like an owl. “Melody?” He shook his head. “Your mother said you were out of the country.”

I nodded. “I’m sorry to startle you,” I held up my hands in a gesture of peace. “I needed to talk to you, and I thought it would be best if no one else was around.

His perceptive blue eyes darted to Peter waiting patiently in the corner of the room, then back to me. The lines around the corners of his mouth deepened. “What is this?”

I paced across the room and pulled up a chair on the other side of the desk. Smiling, I gestured toward Peter. “This is my boyfriend…” The psychologist cut me off.

“Peter.” He took a deep breath and eyed Peter wearily. It wasn’t every day your patient just showed up after dark in the company of a strange man, and walking on legs that shouldn’t work.

Peter stepped forward and offered his hand amiably. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Walton,” he said sincerely. “Melody speaks highly of you.”

The doctor took the proffered hand and gave it a cursory shake before settling back in his chair. “What do you want from me?” he asked, direct as always. I think that’s why I had always liked him so much. He never beat around the bush.

I took a deep breath. “Well,” I began hesitantly. “As you can see, I’ve gotten better.”

He snorted in disbelief. “Gotten better? Brain injuries don’t just get better.” Judging from his expression, he didn’t know what to think. He tried to frown, but the corners of his mouth kept turning up as he stared at me, his logic and caution struggling against joy at my appearance.

I nodded. “You’re right. But mine did.”

Peter put a hand on my shoulder. “Melody is a special case,” he said softly.

Dr. Walton shook his head. “And this is why you are here after hours?”

Peter plopped a folder of doctored records on the desk in front of Dr. Walton. The man arched an eyebrow at him suspiciously, but opened the file. He paged through the records, his brows drawn together and lips pursed. The ticking of his desk clock was loud in the silent office. Finally, he leaned back, lacing his fingers over his middle and regarding us both as if we were errant children. “This isn’t real,” he said with surety. Then, when neither of us replied, “but it might fool some people.”

I leaned forward and braced my forearms on the desk. “We need your help,” I said earnestly.

Peter spoke from beside me. His voice was even and compelling, but he wasn’t using his powers to persuade the man. We had agreed not to force him. “Melody needs some help adjusting,” he said frankly. “If you agree to help her, you would be in on our…secret.”

Dr. Walton glanced at me in sudden understanding. “Which would put me in some kind of danger. If you tell me, you have to kill me- something like that?”

I laughed, startling him, and he twitched in his seat. “We aren’t threatening you,” I said honestly. “You just need to know that what we are about to tell you is extremely confidential.”

Peter cleared his throat. “If you agree to help us, you would be signing a contract. You would be involved in a very secretive branch of the government. You would have the opportunity to help with their research, but only under strict terms of confidentiality.” Secretive though they were, vampires did interact with some humans out of necessity. Most important fields- namely medical, scientific, and military- had a vampire branch, whether the humans knew it or not. When I was a human, I hadn’t given any weight to conspiracy theorists. Maybe I should have paid more attention.

The doctor puffed out his cheeks and drummed his blunt fingers on the desk. I tried to keep from fidgeting while he considered the undercurrents running around him. Finally, he let his breath puff out. “Okay,” he said suddenly. “What the hell. Let’s have it.”

Peter chuckled, and I