Dark Blood Awakens by Michelle Corbier

Author:Michelle Corbier
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Michelle Corbier
Published: 2023-01-31T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 35

Once Michael hung up, Makeda finished braiding her hair. In the hallway of the rental home, she smelled breakfast. Bacon sizzled and popped, filling the air with enticing aromas. In the tiny kitchen, she snatched a piece of bacon from the tray before her brother could.

Peter smacked the back of her hand. “That was mine.”

“It was.” She smiled and ate the bacon.

He lurched at her, as if about to give chase.

Dad placed a plate of pancakes and more bacon on the table. “Sit down, Peter. If we’re going hiking, we need to leave early.”

Thomas stumbled into the combination living room—kitchen as he finished dressing. He collapsed onto a chair at the table and started piling food on his plate.

“Morning.” He started eating.

At the stove, Makeda waited for water to boil. “What are we doing about the hospital?”

“Nothing, baby girl,” Dad said.

She grimaced. “Nothing? They’re attacking the patients.”

“We don’t know that. Peter couldn’t get onto the surgical floor.”

“But I identified vampire marks on her neck.”

“Makeda—”

“What do you want us to do,” Peter interrupted Dad, “go and shoot up the surgical floor?”

“We can’t let them feed on patients.”

“There’s no proof. The one piece of evidence we have is from a patient, who won’t answer our calls,” Dad said.

Water boiled and the kettle hissed. Makeda prepared tea and considered what Michael had said last night about the car accident. She had tried calling Susan. After over a dozen calls and texts, Susan’s husband answered and told her not to call them again—ever.

Nauseated, she regretted eating the piece of bacon. After dumping her tea in the sink, she went to the refrigerator for water. “But we have to do something.”

“We will.” Dad rose from the table and kissed her temple on his way to the sink. “First, we figure out what we’re up against before calling the rest of the team. We don’t know what to tell them yet.”

Her brothers set their plates in the sink too.

Thomas asked, “Sure you don’t want to come with us?”

“No. I already exercised this morning.” She nibbled on the edge of a piece of toast.

“Later,” Peter said before closing the door.

***

Makeda glanced at her watch, calculating how long ago she spoke with Michael. Five minutes had become twenty. Her intention had been to spend Sunday morning alone practicing sorcery.

Instead, she ran into the bedroom and dressed. After slipping into a down jacket, she waited outside the rental home.

From around the street corner, Michael’s smile shone like a beacon. Her pulse quickened as his F-150 double-cab truck pulled into the driveway. She was becoming quite attached to that smile.

As she climbed inside the truck, she detected a heaviness in his stiff manner. Despite his smile, Michael acted preoccupied.

“You’re up early. Work again?”

“Yeah, some hunters discovered a body this morning. I’ve been up for a few hours.” The smile disappeared. He reversed down the driveway and onto the main road.

She had hoped this would be a pleasurable visit. But if another body had surfaced, she wanted details. The adage about mixing business and pleasure occurred to her, but she didn’t have much choice.

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