What Kills Me by Wynne Channing

Author:Wynne Channing
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Tags: vampire, adventure, paranormal
Publisher: Wynne Channing

Chapter 21

Samira lit a few candles in her bedroom and everything in it shimmered. The hundreds of necklaces, rings, and bracelets on her shelves. The rhinestone-studded lamps on her vanity table. The beaded, colorful scarves that hung on a ladder propped against the wall. The gold and silver threads in her bedspread.

She opened a chest at the foot of her bed and took out some clothing. Turning to me she smiled.

“Here,” she said. “These should fit you better than Jerome’s clothing.”

“Thanks.”

She stood staring at me.

“Uh, Samira. I don’t mean to be rude but is there somewhere I can change?”

“Why? You don’t have anything I haven’t seen,” she said. “Or do you?”

“No, I don’t have a tail or anything like that.”

“I’ve seen that.”

“Really?”

She sighed. “How about I just turn around?”

I laid the clothing on her bed and turned my back to her to remove Jerome’s T-shirt. I wriggled into her fitted, V-neck black shirt and tugged at the hem to straighten it over my chest. It smelled like flowers. I glanced over my shoulder—she was gone—and stripped off my shorts. I jumped into the dark denim, stretchy jeans. They hung over my heels so I bent down to roll the cuffs into capris.

“What size shoe are you?” she said from out of the room.

“Six.”

Samira returned with her hands behind her back.

“My clothing looks good on you,” she said.

“Thanks.”

“Et voilà, la pièce de résistance,” she intoned. She revealed two low-top sneakers in black-and-white floral damask.

I clasped my hands and grinned. “Wow! These are great!”

“I hope they fit.”

“I’ll make them fit.”

I hesitated before removing Jerome’s runners.

“Sit,” she said. I sat on her bed and Samira knelt to untie my shoelaces.

“So how are the two of you getting along?” she asked, slipping my feet out.

“We’re not.”

She smiled. “Actually, you are.”

“How so?”

“If Lucas is speaking to you, then you’re getting along.”

“He only speaks to me to scold me.”

“That sounds about right. He can be a little harsh with his friends.”

“Well, in that case, we’re best friends.”

“He is a good friend to have. He is fiercely loyal.”

“I am grateful to him.”

“I can see why he likes you,” she said, leaning in close. “You’re young, you’re vibrant. You’re not…tainted. World-weary and jaded like the rest of us.”

“You don’t look weary.”

“Oh, I do. We all do. We look tired. Or bored. But not you. You have that freshness that I always see in humans. How I envy that. How I envy that starry-eyed look of wonderment on your face.”

“That look on my face is actually vomit-inducing terror.”

She smiled. “You should be scared. Fear is the human instinct to survive. You need it.”

“Well, I have no shortage of it.”

She double-knotted my sneakers. My toes had ample wiggle room, but otherwise the shoes fit. I stood and knocked my heels together. “There’s no place like home,” I said. “There’s no place like home.”

Samira shook her head. “Sorry, dear. This isn’t a fairy tale. There’s no happily ever after. Just…ever after.”

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