A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

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goat's milk as being so cold, but of course there had been no refrigeration when he was a young man. He took another sip, then set the glass aside and stared at the silverware. He had never used a fork, only a knife and a spoon. But he had watched countless people eat, had pretended to do so on occasion.

Taking a resolute breath, he cut a piece of chicken, speared it with the fork, and put it in his mouth. He chewed carefully, his mouth filling with myriad tastes—the juice of the chicken, the meat and skin, the herbs she had cooked it with. He tasted the potato and the asparagus, conscious ofTracy 's curious gaze watching his every move. He had almost forgotten how to chew food, so accustomed was he to a liquid diet.

"How is it?" she asked.

He swallowed the last bite of chicken, felt his insides begin to burn. And churn. "Very good," he said, and bolted from the table.

Outside, in the cover of darkness, he fell to his knees and retched until he was hollow inside. And then he went hunting a meal fit for a vampire.

Tracylet out a sigh as she rose and began clearing the table. It didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened. His stomach had rebelled against ingesting solid food. Even if he hadn't been a vampire, his body probably couldn't have adjusted from a liquid diet to a solid one so quickly.

Poor Dominic.Again, she wondered what it would be like to be a vampire.

And then, while standing at the sink rinsing the dishes, she was smitten with an idea.A strange idea, to be sure. What if she pretended to be a vampire for a week or two? She wouldn't drink blood, of course. Instead, she would drink some kind of liquid protein and pretend it was blood. She wouldn't eat or drink anything else. She grinned. She would wear nothing but black. She would sleep days—in a bed, not a coffin, thank you. She would paint, shop, and clean house at night.

She frowned. How did vampires go to the post office? She could buy stamps at the market, but what about mailing packages? If she were truly a vampire, how would she mail her paintings to Mr. Petersen? How had Dominic managed it?

She wouldn't worry about that now. She could get by for one week. It was only pretend, after all. As she put the dishes in the cupboard, she wondered what Dominic would think when she told him.
Chapter 19

"You are going to do what?" Dominic stared at her as if she had lost her mind. "I'm going to live as a vampire for one week,"Tracy replied."Starting tonight."
He grunted softly. "Shall I find you a coffin?"