You Can't Go Home Again (Liars and Vampires Book 3) by Robert J. Crane & Lauren Harper

Author:Robert J. Crane & Lauren Harper [Crane, Robert J.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ostiagard Press
Published: 2018-06-18T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 23

“Look … I was reluctant to believe that vampires were a real thing for a long time,” I said, patiently to lay out the explanation for Genesee. She was watching me, hands twitching now that they were free of the ropes, like she didn’t know what to do with them. “The only reason I finally came around to the idea was because one of them was chasing me, and I met Mill and Iona here,” I said, gesturing to Iona’s sprawled form on the couch.

She wiggled her fingers at us, still sucking away at the blood bag. My stomach twisted at that, and I did everything I could to pretend like it was one of those organic fruit squeeze things for kids.

“Think of all the stories about vampires you’ve heard,” I said to Gen. “Most of them are true—super fast, super strong. Die with a stake through the heart. Need to be invited inside before they enter a home.”

Gen’s eyes narrowed as she stared at a place on the carpet. Then an eyebrow twitched, and her eyes grew wide. “Oh … Oh!” she said.

She looked back up at me. “Ohhhh!”

“Oh, look, you’ve blown her tiny mind,” Iona said.

I glared at her over my shoulder. “Not. Helping.”

“But …” Gen said, scratching her chin, staring at the floor again. “How? How can vampires be a real thing?”

“How are dogs a real thing?” Mill asked, leaning against the wall, arms folded. Iona shot him a fearsome scowl.

“Bad example,” Mill said with a shrug.

“That is a fair question,” I said, ignoring the other two. “One I still struggle with. They do a great job at hiding in plain sight. I mean, look at those two. If you didn’t know they were vampires, you wouldn’t think twice, would you?”

Gen looked skeptically at them.

“Ignoring the … bag of blood in her hands,” I said.

“I don’t know …” Gen said.

“Vampires are a real thing,” I said. “They just are, and they have their own whole underground world. I’ve been there. I’ve seen it.”

Gen stared at me, wide-eyed. “Like, in tunnels beneath our feet?”

“Not literally underground,” I said. “I meant secret. Hidden from plain view.”

“Tunnels are for filthy creatures,” Iona said, irony-free, sucking on a bag of blood. “Like moles. And dwarves.”

“Dwarves … are real?” Gen asked.

I shot Iona a look. “When do you become helpful again?”

“I took a knife for you,” she said, waving me off. “If that’s not useful to you and your tender, non-regenerating organs, I don’t know what is.”

The gears were still grinding behind Gen’s eyes. “So … are they like Dracula or something?”

“Kinda-ish,” I said. “But more like MTV Cribz with blood.”

“Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous,” Lockwood said, whatever that meant. “But paler.”

Gen’s skepticism didn’t soften. She frowned at me, then lowered her head into her hands. “What am I doing here?”

I realized, again, that with my track record I wasn’t exactly the best person to be delivering this news to her.

“Fine,” I said. “I get it. I could sit here and tell you every last thing about what has happened to me over the last four or five months.

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