A WHISPER OF ETERNIT

Page 77



She shivered. She had seen that firsthand.

Around noon, she went into the kitchen and made herself a sandwich. She chewed thoughtfully, enjoying the taste of mayonnaise, tuna, tomato, and whole wheat bread. Did Dominic ever miss chewing? Did he miss the taste of solid food? Did he even remember what it had been like to sit at a table and eat a meal? Did he ever get tired of a warm liquid diet?

The thought soured her appetite and she threw the remaining few bites of her sandwich in the trash. After tidying up the kitchen, she went back to the library.

She supposed it was to be expected that the authors couldn't agree on vampire characteristics. Some books said that vampires had no reflection. Some said they did.

She tried to remember if she had ever seen Dominic's reflection in a mirror or window.

One book said vampires could not be active during the day. Another book said they could move about during the day or the night. The books also mentioned contemporary men and women who took on vampire characteristics—sleeping during the day, always wearing black, claiming to drink blood, and, in some cases, actually doing so.

She knew the books she was reading were based on conjecture and old myths and ancient tales; still, the more she read, the more fascinated she became. One book said that inEastern Europe it was believed that vampires had two hearts or two souls and since one heart or one soul never died, the vampire was immortal. Other beliefs were that if a vampire wasn't found and killed immediately, it would first kill the members of its family,then kill the people in the town or village where he lived, and finally kill the animals. Another belief was that if a vampire could go undetected for seven years, it could travel to another country and become human again. It could marry and even have children, though the children were all doomed to become vampires when they died.

Closing the last book, she put it on the table, then leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes and tried to remember what she knew to be true about her own personal vampire. She never saw him during the day. He could dissolve into mist. He had transported her across country without her being aware of it. He seemed able to appear and disappear at will. He had put some sort of spell on the doors and windows. He cast no shadow. For some reason, that was the most disturbing thing of all.

It was a small house set deep in a dark wood. She lived there alone save for a gray cat and a one-legged crow. The townspeople were afraid of her, yet they came to her when they needed help, for her power to heal was known throughout the countryside. Some called her a healer. Some called her a witch. And a witch she was. It was a craft she had learned at her mother's knee. Some came to her seeking power or vengeance or riches, but those she turned away. Her magic was only for good, for finding that which was lost, for healing, for hope.

She had been alone the night he came to her, a tall, dark man with piercing gray eyes.A man who was not a man at all. She had known that the moment her eyes met his, known that, whoever he was, he possessed an otherworldly power far beyond her own.

Frightened of that which she did not understand, she had sent him away, and he had left without protest, only to return again the next night, and the next. Each night he brought her a gift: a bouquet of wildflowers, a cat carved of jade, a ruby necklace,a seashell.