“I’m Jennifer.I’m here to take your blood for your labs.”
I hold out my arm.“You’re welcome to it.”
Jennifer smiles.“You have great veins.”
“That’s because I’m naturally pale.”
And half vampire.
Our blood—as well as wolf’s blood—tests the same as human blood, so no problem there.I don’t know about demon blood.Hell, do demons even have blood?
“We do, actually.”Jennifer meets my gaze, her brown eyes tinged with a ring of red.
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I say.
“I’m just here to do a job, Ms.Bates.”
“Then stop reading my thoughts.Demons aren’t supposed to be able to do that.Are they?”
“Most can’t.I left my peoplebecauseI could read their thoughts.”
“And you found out how evil they all are?”
She chuckles.“Good.Evil.You can’t have one without the other.”
“True enough,” I say.“So watch your back.Take my blood and run the tests the doctor ordered.And don’t give me any shit.”
“We’re everywhere, Ms.Bates,” she says.“We just want to coexist peacefully.”
“Peacefully?You’re not aware, then, that your people are fighting in the ether?”
Her eyes widen, and the red turns back to brown.“What?What the hell is the ether?”
“It’s some kind of parallel world that exists on the same plane as ours.”Then I let out a laugh.“Hell, that’s just my own take on it.I don’t know what the fuck it actually is.”
“I’ve never heard of it.And I left my people, so they can fight all they want.It’s not my problem.”She ties the rubber around my upper arm.“Make a fist, please.”
“So how many demons can read thoughts like you?”
“Very few, like I said.”
“So you got lucky.”
“If you want to call it that.It can be a pain in the ass.It’s hard to concentrate when I’m around others.”She pierces me with the needle.
I don’t feel it.
“Really good veins,” she says again.
She’s waiting for me to tell her who—or what—I am.I keep my thoughts blank.I’m not volunteering any information.Instead, I watch the dark red of my blood as it drains out of me and into the clear tube.
She removes the needle, glances at my chart, and then her jaw drops.
“Oh my God.You’re Hannah Bates.”
“Uh…yeah.You saw my chart.”
“You’re the—” She looks over her shoulder and then lowers her voice.“You’re the stepdaughter of the demon king.”