One Immortal - Tia Louise Page 0,27

if he ever found out what I did…

A quick glance at the clock tells me it’s two-thirty. “We’ve got to get moving or we’re going to be late to meet Mariska.”

“Oh!” She jumps away. “I showered already with Patrick. I’ll head on down. Meet us there, okay?”

Shaking my head, I pick up a towel. “I’m right behind you.”

7

Special Forces

Melissa

Mariska studies my palm, examining the lines, extreme concentration creasing her pretty brow. Finally, she releases a deep exhale. “I’m sorry. I can’t read your future. It’s a swirl of indecision. One option appears then another contradicts it.”

“Fuck,” Elaine snaps.

“Lainey.” I glance around the crowded restaurant. “Families come here. Anyway, she tried.” I give Mariska a genuine smile. “Thank you.”

“I’m sorry,” my best friend says. “The uncertainty of all of this is making me crazy.”

I squeeze her hand and turn back to the young woman in front of us. “Did you find anything?”

Mariska pushes a lock of wavy chestnut hair behind her ear. “I don’t want to give you false hope, but…” Her golden eyes are so earnest, I can’t help liking her. “The problem with vampire cures is no one’s ever survived long enough to confirm if any of them actually work.”

“Oh.” I pull back. “What does that mean?”

“I spent all day yesterday pouring through Yaya’s journals and the journals of Philome. In most cases, the alpha vampire either kills the hybrid, or the hybrid kills the human trying to save him or her.” She gives me a cautious look. “From what I understand, the drive to feed is overwhelming. Most hybrids aren’t strong enough to stop before it’s too late.”

The memory of Derek’s blood floods me with heat. “It’s very hard,” I whisper.

“Well, that’s not very encouraging,” Elaine retorts.

Just then our oysters arrive. We lean back as the server puts a bowl of Oysters Rockefeller soup in front of Mariska, an ACME Special po-boy in front of Elaine, and a Peace-maker in front of me.

Mariska takes a spoonful of the dark brown soup and makes a happy sound before she continues. “Either way, I found two distinct possibilities!”

“What are they?” Elaine’s tone is sharp before she takes a bite of her debris-style roast beef sandwich.

I place a hand calmly on her forearm. “Tell us what you found.”

“Okay,” Mariska nods taking another bite of soup. “The first is pretty quick and easy. Kill the head vampire.”

“Seriously?” Elaine flops back against the booth, throwing up her hands. “Fucking Lost Boys?”

“I’m not sure Patrick is such a good influence on you,” I mutter, looking over my shoulder in her direction.

“I know!” Mariska nods unfazed. “They used it in that movie, but it actually has a basis in fact. Many devices novelists and screenwriters use have a basis in fact. It’s really cool.”

“I’m sure.” Elaine’s tone is the exact opposite.

“So our first option is to kill the one who made me straight out,” I say, trying to get us back on track. “I don’t think I’m strong enough for that.”

“Oh, you’re not,” our gypsy friend says with certainty. “Only specially trained vampire hunters should even attempt something like that. And they usually fail.”

I do my best to steady my breathing, and I realize I’m not going to eat any of my fried oyster and shrimp sandwich. All I can think about is Derek being specially trained. Derek failing.

“So assuming that’s not an option,” I say. “What’s our number two?”

“Okay,” she says again, wiggling a bit in her seat. “This one has real potential. It’s an old cure for chupacabra. It involves mingling lycan blood with verbena root—”

“Lycan?” I interrupt. “As in werewolf?”

“Or shifter. They’re also immune to vampire bites, so their blood would work.” Elaine and I exchange a look as Mariska continues. “I don’t know where we’d find a lycan or a shifter, but supposedly, if you mix their blood with the verbena root into a draught, it will burn the vampire taint out of you.”

“Burn?” My voice is quiet.

We’re all quiet, and Mariska looks straight at me. “Yes. That’s the downside of this cure. The lycan blood and the vampire blood oppose each other in your veins until one wins. It’s incredibly painful, and I’m not even sure how much shifter blood we’d need. If we even knew a shifter.”

Ice fills my stomach. “Oh, god. I was born under a curse.”

My hand is suddenly clasped in an iron grip. “Stop it!” Elaine’s green eyes bore into mine. “Whatever you’re facing, whatever sign you’re born under, I’m with you in it. We’re going