Dying Bites: The Bloodhound Files-1 Read Online Free PDF

bad.

    “Nothing. Just getting used to the medication, that’s all.”

    He swallows before speaking. “It may be intense at first. Just try to stay conscious of where the emotions are coming from; after a while, you should be able to separate your feelings from those around you.”

    Sure, I’ve got plenty of experience doing that. But even though I try to keep a layer of Kevlar between my heart and the rest of the world, the damn thing keeps breaking anyway. . . .

    I finish my food and push the plate away. “So what can you tell me about the case?”

    “Nothing, I’m afraid. The NSA doesn’t give high-level briefings to lowly MDs.”
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    About what I’d expected, but I had to try. “How about Cassius, then? What’s my new boss like?”

    “Remember what I said about vampires getting craftier as they get older? Well, Cassius is old—real old. No one knows how old for sure, but he plays up the Roman angle a lot. There are all kinds of rumors about him, but I think he starts half of those himself.”

    “For instance?”

    “That he’s the original model for Michelangelo’s statue, for one.”

    I think about it. “I can see a certain resemblance. How about something a little less like high school gossip?”

    “He’s also supposed to be the one that personally cut off Stalin’s head.”

    “Stalin was a vampire?”

    “Lycanthrope. Silver-edged sword.”

    “Right. How long’s Cassius been Director?”

    “Since 1935.”

    “Guess there’s not a lot of room for advancement when everybody’s immortal.”

    “Not everyone is.” He took a long sip of his coffee. “Lycanthropes live around three hundred years. We’re immune to most diseases, but not all; we don’t have the virtual invulnerability that hemovores possess, but we do heal very quickly. We can recover from any wound short of decapitation, except those caused by silver.”

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    “Okay. Are there any weird discrepancies I should be aware of?”

    “Like what?”

    “Differences between my world’s mythology and your world’s facts. Like, does garlic still repel vampires, or do I have to stock up on paprika? Is a wooden stake through the heart still effective, or do I have to aim for the spleen?”

    “Wood of any kind will penetrate hemovore flesh, and wood through the heart or the brain will usually prove fatal. They find garlic intensely repulsive, so much so that possession of undiluted garlic by anyone other than a police officer is a misdemeanor. The major area of vulnerability for a vampire, ironically enough, is his neck; it doesn’t have the same kind of resistance to damage that the rest of his body does. The leading cause of hemovore death is accidental decapitation, usually due to a car wreck.”

    “How about silver and vampires?”

    “A silver blade will cut vampire flesh, but it will heal. Sunlight’s a bigger problem, but it’s not immediately fatal—it takes direct exposure of a minute or longer to cause critical body-wide collapse and burnout. Emergency rooms deal with minor burns on a daily basis—bad ones can scar, but most fade away within a few weeks.”

    “Why do you switch back and forth between ‘vampire’ and ‘hemovore’ but always stick to ‘lycanthrope’ instead of ‘werewolf’?”

    He blushes. “That’s, uh, my mistake. ‘Vampire’ and ‘werewolf’ are both considered impolite—I guess I was using them because I was trying to make you feel comfortable.”

    “The V word, huh? But ‘were’ is okay?”

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    “ ‘Were’ is, ‘werewolf’ isn’t. Lycanthropes are descended from more than just wolves—
    canids from all over the world can manifest the energy that triggers transformation. Jackals, coyotes, dingoes—even dogs.”

    “Hang on. There are were-dogs?”

    “Dogs are just domesticated offshoots of wolves.