Adventures of a Vegan Vamp: A Paranormal Cozy Mystery Read Online Free PDF Page B

that’s a good place to start. And I guess experiment with what you can tolerate.” She rolled her chair away and stood up. “And call the number. I truly hope they can help you.”
    As we walked down the hall together, she stopped suddenly. “I can’t believe that I almost forgot. Your condition has to be kept secret. There are consequences for sharing the information broadly. Or with your family. Or your friends. It’s best to just keep it to yourself.”
    “Yep—I figured that.”
    Dr. Dobrescu was about to walk me out the door of her clinic without taking any payment—or answering the tens of questions I suddenly realized I hadn’t asked. The most pressing one popped out as we approached the exit. “How did I catch this virus?”
    She raised her eyebrows, surprised by the question. “You were bitten.”
    Dr. Dobrescu pushed me out the door then shut it firmly, me on one side and her on the other.

5
    Mother Knows (Me) Best
    T he clouds gathered and the sky darkened. Like my mood. As I reached my car, the first fat drops were falling. The droplets beaded up nicely on my freshly waxed car.
    I really didn’t like that car.
    The low-slung seat had always been difficult to get into, and, if anything, I was more agile now, but it annoyed me. Might be time to get a different car.
    I drove home thinking about the doctor’s visit. Why hadn’t Anton given me the news if he was a part of the Society and the expert about vampires? Was he a vampire? Was the Society going to be the new “in” crowd? Another place I’d never fit in? And did I really care if I was just going to keel over in a matter of days?
    “Nuts.” I smacked my hand against the steering wheel. That was why Anton hadn’t gone to any trouble with me. Because my sad, little broken self wasn’t worth the effort to save. “Why not let the little weirdo who can’t drink blood croak? If she happens to survive on her own, we’ll have a chat with her. The nasty, slimy little toad.”
    A chill creeped across my skin. What if I told someone? What if I leaked the big secret and someone actually believed me? I’d bet dollars to dimes Anton would show up and do something then.
    If my alternating peevishness and terror were any indication, I’d fully embraced this alternate reality—this really crummy alternate reality in which it was very possible that I didn’t live much longer.
    I really didn’t get how I was supposed to be so horribly ill. I felt fine. Thirsty—but otherwise great. I glanced around the car—but I’d wiped out my bottled water stash already.
    I was pretty wrapped up in my personal drama—dying was not an everyday occurrence for me—and I was really thirsty, so it was no shock that I missed a turn on my way home. The clinic was in south Austin, and I was a downtown girl. I didn’t know the area at all, and my GPS had decided it needed to fritz as I was cruising through the unexplored wilds of south Austin.
    I ended up meandering through a small neighborhood as my GPS flashed “rerouted” and provided no alternate route.
    “Well look at you, you little darling.” I pulled my snazzy red sports car to the curb and pulled out my phone. In the drive was some kind of Jeep—rugged and fun—with a for sale sign in the window. I dialed the number.
    And twenty minutes later, I was the new owner of a Jeep Grand Cherokee. I hadn’t known what a Cherokee was until today, but heck—if I only had a few days to live, I might as well drive a car I liked. I called the Audi dealer and made arrangements to have my other car picked up at the house of Mr. Saldana, the nice gentleman who sold me the car. An exceptionally nice man—and trusting; he took a personal check.
    Mr. Saldana, or Michael, as he insisted I call him, spent a few minutes reviewing the basic features of the car and I was off in my nifty little boxy almost-truck. It was perfect.
    My GPS finally cooperated, and I resumed the trek home. Not five minutes into the drive, my