A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

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"I'm fine. Are you?"

"I don't know." He was silent for a long moment. "I feel sort of… strange." "What do you mean?"

"I don't know how to explain it. I don't have any appetite, and the sun hurts my eyes."

Tracyfelt suddenly sick to her stomach. Was he turning? She refused to consider such a thing. Dominic had saidBryan would be all right. Had he only said that to calm her the night before?

"Trace?"

"I'm here."

"He's one of them,"Bryan said."A vampire." "Who?"

"Dominic."

"Oh. Yes, I know."

"You know? You know, and you went out with him? Are you crazy?" "Bryan…"

"Vampires in Sea Cliff."He laughed, though there was no humor in it. "Who would believe it?" "What did Dominic tell you?"

"He told me he was going to try and destroy that creature and that I shouldn't go out after dark until she was dead.Dead. Hah. She's already dead."

Tracy's fingers tightened on the telephone. Dominic was going to destroy Petrina . Could he? He was older and stronger. Surely it would be easy for him to destroy a younger vampire. But what if the impossible happened? What if she destroyed him instead? Feeling suddenly restless, she toldBryan goodbye and hung up the phone.

Rising, she showered and dressed and then went downstairs. She put on a fresh pot of coffee and then, feeling suddenly famished, she fixed breakfast.Bacon and scrambled eggs and fried potatoes, orange juice and coffee and toast, and a slice of melon.

Sitting at the table, she stared at the food on her plate. She never ate this much. What on earth had possessed her to prepare such an enormous meal? Even as she asked the question, she knew the answer. She was eating it because she could and, as foolish as it sounded, she was eating it for Dominic because he couldn't.

She savored every bite as if it were the last morsel she would ever consume.

After clearing the table, she washed and dried the dishes and then went outside. She'd forgotten how big