Read Online Blood Harvest: Two Vampire Novels by D.J. Goodman - Free Book Online Page B

another way of living and that,
against everything she had ever believed up to that point, she
could actually be a part of that life. But not unless she fixed
things. V had still been at the meetings at that point, and slowly
their friendship had grown out of Peg’s admiration for the
woman.
    She’d been the maid of honor at Peg’s
wedding, the only woman who had stood up with her even though Tony
had had both a best man and an additional groomsman. The empty
bridesmaid spot, it was agreed on, belonged to Zoey. Peg only
remembered that just now. She would have to make sure Zoey knew
that when she woke up.
    Peg plopped down on the couch next to V. “I
don’t even know where to begin.”
    “Begin wherever you need to.”
    “It’s… look, you’ve got to remember your
promise. You can’t tell anyone. I’m trusting you here.”
    V took Peg’s hand. “Hey, when was the last
time I let you down?”
    Peg gave a half-hearted smile. “Never.”
    “Okay then. Whatever you’ve got, the secret
doesn’t go past me.”
    “Alright.” Peg paused, trying to find the
right words. “It’s Zoey.”
    “Shit,” V said. “Did the police finally find
something out?”
    “No, it’s… dear God, I’m still not even
feeling like any of this could possibly be real. V, she’s in my
basement.”
    V nodded. It took her a few seconds before
her eyebrows furrowed and she turned to look Peg in the eye.
    “Wait, what?”
    “Zoey is down in my basement right now. I
swear to God this isn’t a joke. I’d introduce you, but she’s
sleeping and I get the impression that she really needs the
rest.”
    “Zoey as in your sister Zoey? The one who’s
supposed to be dead?”
    Peg tried not to visibly wince at that. She’d
never had reason before to wonder at the many different levels of
“dead.” Dead was just supposed to be dead. Zoey, on the other hand,
didn’t seem to fit into a classic category. Peg hadn’t bothered to
check if she had a heartbeat, although at least she seemed to
breathe. Beyond that, Peg really wasn’t sure, but she didn’t think
she wanted to lay that particular bomb down yet for V. This would
all be hard enough to believe as it was.
    “She’s not dead. But she’s…” She’s got a
bellyful of blood she sucked out of raw meat . “…she’s
different. Like, damaged.”
    Peg gave her a very carefully edited version
of the day’s events. She neglected to mention the lock, Zoey’s
request for the windows, and the meat. She left in the detail about
the teeth, if only because that was something she wouldn’t be able
to hide if or when she finally saw Zoey, although she implied that
she thought it was tooth damage from various abuses rather than
intentionally sharp fangs, and she was very selective about which
of Zoey’s ramblings she shared. Having thought about it while she’d
waited for V, she’d realized that most of the incoherent babble
probably actually meant something, and if she finally got Zoey to
translate any of it she was certain it would point to some other
supernatural forces involved. After all, Zoey hadn’t just become
this way by force of bad luck. Someone or something had changed
her, and it was a good bet that this something was the person she
was so afraid of.
    V listened to the whole story, only talking
once or twice to clarify various points. When Peg was done V stared
down at her hands for many seconds before looking Peg in the eye
again.
    “Holy shit,” V said.
    “Actually, I think what you mean is holy
fucking shit.”
    “That too. Jesus Christ.” She picked up the
pot pipe again, giving it a new look that implied she was seriously
thinking about using it. “And you’re going to do what she asks? No
cops?”
    “For now. I don’t know. If I start to think
that somehow Brendan or Tony might be in danger because of this
I’ll be on that phone faster than a fly on shit, but if Zoey has a
reason to think it’s a bad idea to call them I’ll just have to
trust her