hands into the pockets of her jeans. She gave a bright, encouraging smile to the two, particularly Freddy, whose stricken expression tugged her heartstrings.
“Hi, I’m Jessica. That big pansy by the stairs is John.” The vampire made a faint choking sound, wondering if she had any clue what Analie was and what kind of image she was giving this young predator of him. “Sorry, but I’m a bit worried about Alec. He mentioned your name, but didn’t say what happened. Do you know why he’s in such a huff right now?”
Tall, slender, with thick auburn hair brushing her shoulders and wide hazel eyes, the donor waited patiently for Analie’s response. Jessica’s skin was lightly tanned, and showed only a couple very tiny, barely noticeable scars at her neck where she’d been bitten. One would have to look very closely to spot them; otherwise, her skin was flawless, and she did not seem to be particularly unhappy or unhealthy. Truthfully, she seemed downright cheerful, if concerned for her master’s wellbeing.
Analie couldn’t shake the feeling that she was looking at the equivalent of a snack bag of Cooler Ranch Doritos.
On the other hand, Jessica didn’t look crazy or like a lap-dog. She looked happy, nice. She was pretty, too. Someone Analie would have hung out with had she been Goliath.
Analie hunched down slightly. “I kind of pissed Royce off. I was sort of an idiot.” That sounded lame. “Okay, I was an idiot. And ungrateful. A combination of the two.”
“But vampires are essentially evil incarnate,” Freddy put in.
“That’s what I’ve been hearing since, like, forever,” Analie quickly clarified, elbowing Freddy. “And instead he’s... he’s...” God, this was hard to say. “He’s nice. And I keep waiting for him to be not nice, and so far he hasn’t been not nice, and now I’ve totally screwed up.”
Freddy rubbed his ribs, but nodded hesitantly along with Analie.
Jessica blinked those large eyes of hers at that. Particularly Freddy’s little crack.
“For God’s sake,” John snarled, clenching his fists at his sides as he glared at the girl. “He’s given you food, shelter, clothes, and arranged for your tutoring and acceptance by one of the most powerful Were packs on the continent. Don’t you know who Rohrik Donovan is? He’s the guy who made it so all of us—you, me, every Other in the U.S.—can walk freely down the street without hiding what we are. Why can’t you accept the fact that he felt sorry for you and was trying to do what he could to make up for the fact that one of your pack members was too cowardly to take the fall for his own actions?”
Jessica paled, whirling on the vampire. “John!”
He narrowed his eyes and shook his head, folding his arms. “It’s true. I’ve seen how she watches him. Like she thinks he’s going to go for her throat the minute she lets her guard down. It’s unaccountably rude, and I can’t believe it took him this long to finally snap.”
Jessica put her hands on her hips, shaking a finger at him. “That doesn’t mean you need to be cruel, either. She’s away from all her family and friends, and I’m sure it must be hard to adjust. Right?” She glanced at the two, but didn’t wait for an answer, rounding on John again. “Alec is one scary character when he wants to be, and I’m sure he hasn’t done anything to make himself approachable since she got here.” Frowning, she turned back to the teens, focusing on Freddy this time. “Not all vampires are like Vlad the Impaler, you know. Come on, Analie, you’ve been here for how long now? Three weeks? A month? Have any of them done anything to hurt you since you got here?”
Analie shook her head. “No one has done anything to hurt me.” She ran both hands through her hair, shivering. “It’s just—it’s kind of like being a fly in a web full of really nice spiders.” ‘Only vampires are creepier.’ “I want to apologize, but my pack’s method of apologizing doesn’t really work in this situation.”
Freddy nodded vigorously.
Analie stood up and looked at Jessica. “Can you help me with that?”
She pursed her lips, disliking the vampire/spider comparison. “You don’t have to do anything out of the ordinary. Just go to him and tell him you’re sorry. Maybe you should ask what he expects of you if you feel like you’re having trouble fitting in. He’s an easy guy to talk to, if you just talk to him