Read Online Life's Blood (The Cordelia Chronicles) by Heather C. Hudak - Free Book Online

extending her hand.
    “Lia,” I replied, giving her hand a firm shake.
    “Do you know anyone else here?” she asked.
    “My boyfr--fiance--is taking Econ, but he’s in a different building,” I replied. It felt strange, but good, to call Chaseyn my fiance. The word “boyfriend” had never completely conveyed our level of commitment to each other, so it was nice to put a more defined label on our relationship.
    “Lucky you,” she pouted. “I moved into res on Saturday, and you’re the first person I’ve talked to since I arrived--no wait! There was the guy at McDonald‘s, but I don’t think that counts. I’m not sure how he’d have known my order if he didn’t ask.”
    “Do you have a roommate?”
    “Yeah, but she was too busy sucking face with some guy she met in the hallway in the first five minutes she was here to acknowledge my existence,” Mandi explained. “It’s okay, though. I used the quiet time to read the first few chapters of the assigned textbooks for each of my classes.”
    I liked Mandi instantly. She was utterly unassuming and exactly what I was looking for in a friend--witty, polite, astute. I felt like I’d hit a home run my first time at bat.
    “Mandi, I have Philosophy now, but what do you say we meet for lunch?”
    “Love to,” she said.
     
    ***
     
    “How was your day, love?” Chaseyn asked as I slid into the passenger seat.
    “It was fantastic,” I said and started rambling about everything that had happened since we’d parted ways that morning.
    I told him all about my classes and what I would be studying for the next few months. But I spent most of the ride telling him about Mandi, my new best friend--not that I had forgotten about Addie already, but Mandi and I had chemistry. I never dreamed I would find that sort of connection with someone so quickly.
    “I’m so happy for you,” Chaseyn said. “It sounds like college is everything you hoped it would be so far.”
    We were nearly home, but before we turned onto the rural route leading to our house, I remembered my manners and asked Chaseyn how he’d spent his day.
    “Did you make any friends?” I asked.
    “I met a few new people,” he said.
    I should have known better than to ask. Chaseyn made every effort to avoid personal connections. Given his condition , it was difficult for him to make lasting relationships. Sooner or later, people would begin to notice his inability to age at a normal rate, and he would have to move on. It was too hard to keep saying goodbye, so he avoided letting people get too close to him on an emotional level. I was a rare exception. And hopefully, in the near future, my research would pay off, Chaseyn would become human, and we would be able to stay put in our new home.
    “I talked to the instructor about being a teacher’s aid,” he said happily. “I told him about my previous Economics degree, and he agreed to let me help grade assignments.”
    “That’s great news,” I said, squeezing his thigh.
    I wanted Chaseyn to feel like he belonged someplace, and I wanted that place to be here, with me. The more roots he put down, the more accustom he would become to the idea of becoming human, and it made me so happy to think he was making such a concerted effort.
    Everything was going to work out for us. I could feel it.

Chapter 9 - Research
     
    Over the next few weeks, Chaseyn and I fell into a rhythm. He would wake me at six each morning--no need for an alarm clock when your half-human fiance never slept past four, if he slept at all. While I showered and dressed in one of the eclectic outfits Chaseyn had chosen with me the night before, Chaseyn would pour us each a travel mug filled with coffee--and in my case whole lot of sweetener and creamer. For the first few days of school, he had made us each a paper-bag lunch, as well, but by the second week, he had bought us each a prepaid food card for the campus cafeteria.
    Once at school, Chaseyn would walk me to my first class, and