Page 7 (1/2)

Chapter 4

There were a couple of people out walking dogs, but they were too far away to get a good look at us as we hurried down the sidewalk toward the White Whale When the van doors closed behind us, I slumped in my seat, nearly sick with relief Shadoas already at ave her a distracted pat, then leaned forward to start the van, holding my breath until we had made it down the street and around the corner Any second sooing to buy your story," Molly said froer seat She’d been so quiet since irls pass out at the same time and nobody wakes up when the fire starts?"

"No, they’re definitely not going to buy it," I agreed "Especially if the bodies don’t burn all the way and the coroner doesn’t find any ss But my job isn’t to conceal crimes, necessarily; it’s to conceal any Old World connections to cris, slon the police"

She nodded, hugging the save her a quick sniff The bargest had only met Molly once or twice, but it seemed like she instinctively understood that Molly was a friend When it was clear no one was going to pet her or ask her to kill so bed

I wasn’t sure where ere going, so I cruised ai my speed Adams forms one of the borders of campus, and will take you halfway to the ocean if you let it I drove west for a few miles, past all the campus activity, until I was sure ere too far to be spotted by the fire depart lot of a twenty-four-hour 7-Eleven I looked at Molly, not sure what to say

I had so many questions--about the one froe student I searched for a place to start, and when nothing elegant came to mind, I blurted, "Did you sell the house?"

"Rented it out I had been there too long," she reported, looking a little sad I understood Vampires can only stay in one place for a decade or so before soe But Molly had loved her Hollywood bungalow If she’d rented instead of selling, she probably intended to go back in twenty years or so and pose as her own daughter It was a pretty co on to property I felt oddly relieved--I kind of loved that house

"And USC?" I asked

She shrugged "I’ve alanted to try college I was taking fil as I’d known her "Why didn’t you get your own place?"

"I had my own place," she insisted, a little defensive "There’s a little one-bedrooirls I had EPP Most college students are half-nocturnal anyway"

Erythropoietic protoporphyria is a very rare iic to sunlight The few vamps who still tried to pass in huest tiht the whole disorder was invented by vampires, but one day I saw a photo in the newspaper of a little girl with EPP sht about all the fra"Dashiell knew about this plan?"

A pause "Dashiell knew ht classes"

"But not how close you were to those girls, I’"

Molly’s shoulders hunched "No"

I winced Mass otten so involved in leading a huet in too deep As o, this was not small, especially for a fairly seasoned vampire like Molly Once you hit a hundred years or so, you’re expected to follow the rules And as long as I’d known her, Molly had kept her head down and followed the rules

I wanted to ask her why she’d suddenly let herself fall down the rabbit hole, but it seehtup? It wasn’t like I’d neverelse to say, and the van filled with pregnant silence Fidgeting, I tossed the baseball cap into the back and pulled my hair back into a loose bun with the hair tie on my wrist "I didn’tShe was talking about the lued to the dashboard in front of her "It’s likeit wasn’tit, but I didn’twant to I didn’t have control"