Read Online My Love Lies Bleeding by Alyxandra Harvey - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Alyxandra Harvey
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bear.”
“Oh. And her special pheromone thing is a survival mechanism too, right? How everyone’s all obsessed with her?”
“Yes. It’s a mating thing. Everyone is wondering if she’ll be able to carry a vampire child to term.”
“Gross.”
“Study your Darwin, my girl.”
As if. “One more thing, why are the Hel-Blar blue?”
“It’s a side effect, like their fangs. Their extra fangs enable them to take their first . . . meals . . . with such violence
and greed, it leaves them, in effect, engorged and bruised.”
“Oh.” I had to learn to stop asking these questions. I never liked the answer. I swallowed. “Thanks. I guess I should let
you get back to work.”
“Yes, Darwin’s going to get a little help when I’m through.” He turned back to his microscope and I knew he’d pretty much
forgotten I was there by the time I reached the door. I didn’t feel better exactly, but at least I didn’t feel like I was
the only one in the dark anymore.
I drove home, mind racing. My house seemed too quiet somehow, too empty. Mom’s Kali statue watched as I put out several bowls
of water. It had to last until my parents came back—just in case. It felt melodramatic to think like that, but I needed to
be prepared. Solange would have been happy hiding out in some deserted cabin until this was all over, but I wanted to fight.
My parents still didn’t understand my violent tendencies considering the way I was raised: meditating, eating tofu, and taking
long road trips in the middle of the school year to see petroglyphs or observe moose. My mom’s rabid tolerance extends not
just to people but all species—vampires included. Helena and my mom were best friends in high school but drifted apart when
Mom went to college and then traveled around the world to find herself. It was ten years before Mom came back to her hometown.
One night she went on one of her full- moon hikes and ran into Helena, who was pregnant with Solange and drinking the blood
of a deer Liam had killed to help sate her cravings. Apparently, that kind of thing had only happened when Helena was pregnant
with Solange and not any of her seven brothers.
Anyway, no amount of vampire mind control was going to make my vegetarian mom forget that particular sight. Helena couldn’t
hide from my mom, and their friendship was rekindled, which was how we came to be so close and comfortable with the Drakes.
More comfortable than they were with us sometimes— case in point: Nicholas.
Nicholas.
I really wished he’d been a bad kisser. It would have been much easier to forget it ever happened, to not wonder if it might
happen again.
“Focus,” I told myself sternly, locking our front door, double-checking it. I watched every bush and tree suspiciously on
my way back to the safety of my car. The tires squealed, sending up clouds of dust as I sped out of there. The back of my
neck didn’t relax completely until I’d reached the outskirts of town, with its candy-colored galleries and ice-cream parlors.
The area was popular with artists, environmentalists, and homesteaders like my folks. There were few places with so much wilderness
all around—dense forests and hidden waterfalls and even wolves, sometimes, singing on cold winter nights. The combination
of the untamed countryside and the fact that everyone here was pretty private and accepting of alternative lifestyles made
it a perfect place for vampires to live in undiscovered. At least I thought they were undiscovered. If not, no one talked
about it. Folks here were far more likely to get heated over conspiracy theories and nuclear waste sites.
First, I stopped by the drugstore for nose plugs and I cleared them out entirely. The cashier didn’t even blink. Then I went
to the hardware store for hunting and camping supplies, which were big business in town. I felt a little silly, I admit, kind
of like the comic book character I’d accused Kieran of
“Oh. And her special pheromone thing is a survival mechanism too, right? How everyone’s all obsessed with her?”
“Yes. It’s a mating thing. Everyone is wondering if she’ll be able to carry a vampire child to term.”
“Gross.”
“Study your Darwin, my girl.”
As if. “One more thing, why are the Hel-Blar blue?”
“It’s a side effect, like their fangs. Their extra fangs enable them to take their first . . . meals . . . with such violence
and greed, it leaves them, in effect, engorged and bruised.”
“Oh.” I had to learn to stop asking these questions. I never liked the answer. I swallowed. “Thanks. I guess I should let
you get back to work.”
“Yes, Darwin’s going to get a little help when I’m through.” He turned back to his microscope and I knew he’d pretty much
forgotten I was there by the time I reached the door. I didn’t feel better exactly, but at least I didn’t feel like I was
the only one in the dark anymore.
I drove home, mind racing. My house seemed too quiet somehow, too empty. Mom’s Kali statue watched as I put out several bowls
of water. It had to last until my parents came back—just in case. It felt melodramatic to think like that, but I needed to
be prepared. Solange would have been happy hiding out in some deserted cabin until this was all over, but I wanted to fight.
My parents still didn’t understand my violent tendencies considering the way I was raised: meditating, eating tofu, and taking
long road trips in the middle of the school year to see petroglyphs or observe moose. My mom’s rabid tolerance extends not
just to people but all species—vampires included. Helena and my mom were best friends in high school but drifted apart when
Mom went to college and then traveled around the world to find herself. It was ten years before Mom came back to her hometown.
One night she went on one of her full- moon hikes and ran into Helena, who was pregnant with Solange and drinking the blood
of a deer Liam had killed to help sate her cravings. Apparently, that kind of thing had only happened when Helena was pregnant
with Solange and not any of her seven brothers.
Anyway, no amount of vampire mind control was going to make my vegetarian mom forget that particular sight. Helena couldn’t
hide from my mom, and their friendship was rekindled, which was how we came to be so close and comfortable with the Drakes.
More comfortable than they were with us sometimes— case in point: Nicholas.
Nicholas.
I really wished he’d been a bad kisser. It would have been much easier to forget it ever happened, to not wonder if it might
happen again.
“Focus,” I told myself sternly, locking our front door, double-checking it. I watched every bush and tree suspiciously on
my way back to the safety of my car. The tires squealed, sending up clouds of dust as I sped out of there. The back of my
neck didn’t relax completely until I’d reached the outskirts of town, with its candy-colored galleries and ice-cream parlors.
The area was popular with artists, environmentalists, and homesteaders like my folks. There were few places with so much wilderness
all around—dense forests and hidden waterfalls and even wolves, sometimes, singing on cold winter nights. The combination
of the untamed countryside and the fact that everyone here was pretty private and accepting of alternative lifestyles made
it a perfect place for vampires to live in undiscovered. At least I thought they were undiscovered. If not, no one talked
about it. Folks here were far more likely to get heated over conspiracy theories and nuclear waste sites.
First, I stopped by the drugstore for nose plugs and I cleared them out entirely. The cashier didn’t even blink. Then I went
to the hardware store for hunting and camping supplies, which were big business in town. I felt a little silly, I admit, kind
of like the comic book character I’d accused Kieran of
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