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The doorbell rang as I watched Jessica rant her way up the foyer stairs She had seemed especially prickly in the past feeeks Not that I wasn&039;t used to her speaking her mind; she was my best and oldest friend-we&039;d shared lipstick in junior high Which, given our skin hues, was a true testament to our friendship (and more importantly, our ability to find co I said and did was going beyond surface irritation, and digging deep inside her annoy-a-meter
"It&039;s Sophie and Liaood," I said, following everybody (except Garrett, as deep infirst"
"Nonsense," Eric said "AllTruth be told, I was too busy looking at his black-panted butt, which was very fine He earing a dark suit as usual, a perfect coh the shoulders I often wondered how he fit through doorways, and had long, strong legs I pondered the fact that I&039;d resisted his evil charh these days, it felt like he was resistingwe&039;d had At least we&039;d agreed on the date: July 31 Sometimes it seemed like forever, and so up onby myself (well, with Jessica&039;s occasional help) He had no opinion on flowers, food, drinks, tuxes, gowns, cere If I didn&039;t know for sure he loved me, I&039;d think he didn&039;t-
"Your Majesties," Sophie was saying, bowing to us both Tina had opened our enormous cherry front doors, and there were Sophie (Dr Trudeau-she was a vet) and Liam, uh, whatever his last name was
Sophie was dressed in a sharp navy suit with a cute short skirt,shoes I know it&039;s practical for career women, but sneakers with suits? Jesus couldn&039;t possibly weep harder than I did Like all vampires, Sophie was ridiculously beautiful, with black hair (done up in an unfashionable bun) and pale, velvety skin Her dark eyes didn&039;t ood
Liam was in jeans, leather jacket, and beat-up loafers Which re, and sandals It was always startling to see his youngish face (Late thirties? With the farainst his preray hair
Tina led us all into a parlor (there were at least four; don&039;t getSophie did ere all seated was hand me a copy of that day&039;s Star Tribune "Would you please sign your article?" she asked pleasantly in the char French accent she had never lost, not even after all these years here in Minnesota
Ericunder his breath that, luckily for him, I didn&039;t catch I had a weekly "Dear Betsy" column for vampires It was supposed to be published in an undead-only newsletter, but soht it was hilarious and published it Most people who read it thought it was a tongue-in-cheek thing This was the only thing that spared lad to," I said "Uh" Tina handed me a pen I never had a pen, a leash, or a stopwatch when I needed one "Thanks" I scribbled nature on the latest ("Dear Betsy,during daylight hours Should I tell them what my problem is, or lie?") and handed it back
"Heh," Liam said "Bet the librarian didn&039;t like thatabout Marjorie, who ran the vampire library down in the warehouse district, and the column, which was in a paper anybody could read, anytiht She had been furious She was still trying to track doho&039;d given my columns to the Trib editor I didn&039;t think it was a deep dark plot or anything; accidents happened I was alone in this theory Which hy I kept writing the coluot
"Never mind," Tina said hastily "How are you both?"
"We&039;re real good," Lia at him, you&039;d never knoas rich His dad had invented the first pocket calendars with three-hole punches, or soood The same, in fact"
"Oh, well" Ia va nuain "What can I say? How&039;re things up in Embarrass?" What a dorky nauy
"Majesties," Sophie offered "We have a reason for stopping by, if you don&039;tsmall talk?" Jessica muttered from the back of the room She had used her brief time upstairs to freshen her jack-o&039;-lantern lipstick
"Truth be told," Lia the snarky coe Sophie&039;s-well, you know-but I&039; about her turning ht about that"
At first I had no idea what he was talking about "Turning you into what? A Republican?"
"A vaue and let that one pass, but et her alone and find out just what had e intestine
My jaent slack with horror as I turned back to the happy couple "Why would you want to do that?"
They looked at each other, then at me "Not everyone has the same view of the undead as you do, my queen," Sophie said "And I have lost too many lovers to death"
"Oh," I said, because nobody else was saying anything "Well, that&039;s a shaood idea, do you? Because loving a vas One can be very nice The other can be pure hell" Eric moved perceptibly at this co
"I&039;s," Lia up Sophie The idea of eternal love-it&039;s well, it&039;s-"
"He&039;s dying," she explained
"What?" Jessica and I squawked in unison
"He&039;s only got thirty, forty years left-assu" Or have a heart attack fros For the first time, her smooth face was anxious "I don&039;t think we dare wait uy in his late thirties or early forties was on his deathbed "Uh Sophie"
Eric spoke up for the first tiht," I said "The risks The hed, stalling for time "Well, the risks are very risky"
Jessica rolled her eyes, but Tina kindly ju to explain, vampirism is a virus-and so vampires are feral-they don&039;t know themselves, or anyone Only the thirst The Queen here is the exception"
"Which is why she&039;s the boss lady around here," Liam said "But it&039;s a risk I wanna take I don&039;t much care for the other choice"
"Dr Trudeau, youto consult with me, as usual "It&039;s not for us to deny you a chance to be with your love"
"Good luck," Tina added
"Whoa, whoa!" I cried "That&039;s it? We&039;re not going to talk about it for, I dunno, more than twenty seconds? I mean, they did co dubious looks from my friends, I turned desperately to the new arrivals "Lia about your potential death by , here! Sophie, think about it-how you&039;ll feel if it doesn&039;t work out"
"Of course, if Her Majesty orders us not to do it, on&039;t do it," Sophie said stiffly