A Quick Bite by Lynsay Sands Page A

and two years. Birthdays could be such a bummer when you were older than the country you lived in. Canada became a country in 1867, by that time, Lissianna was already sixty-nine years old; old for a mortal, but not for a vampire as most mortals would call them. It wasn’t a term her kind cared for. Vampires were thought to be soulless creatures with an aversion to garlic, holy water, and sunlight. As far as she knew, her people were no more soulless than the average person. As for the three supposed weapons used to fight off vampires, neither garlic nor holy water would hurt them. Sunlight was another matter, they wouldn’t burst into flames if they stepped out into it, but it did make life easier to avoid it. Really, the only thing society had right about vampires was their longevity, strength, and the ability to read and control minds…oh, and they did need to feed off blood.
    “You guys may be old, but we aren’t,” Julianna piped up, and her twin sister Victoria nodded. “Yeah.”
    Lissianna forced a smile for the twins. They were only seventeen years old, making them the babies in the group,she thought, then realized that Elspeth was right. Everything was relative.
    “So,” she said, determined to stay cheerful. “You two are young enough to know. What happens at pajama parties?”
    “Fun stuff,” Victoria grinned widely. “You eat lots of good bad stuff like pizza and chocolate and chips.”
    Lissianna smiled indulgently. The twins were young enough that food still held more attraction for them than it did for her and the others.
    “And you tell scary stories and talk about boys,” Julianna informed them.
    “Hmmm,” Thomas sounded dubious. “You can skip the talking about boys stuff, unless it’s me you want to talk about. And I’m stuffed to the gills, no need for pizza.”
    Lissianna didn’t doubt him. Her mother had ordered in a ton of bagged blood, as well as normal food for the party, and she’d watched in amazement as the mountains of food and drink had been laid waste. From what she’d heard, the amount of bagged blood they’d gone through was just as staggering. Apparently the supply had nearly been wiped out. Lissianna had actually heard her mother ask Bastien to have more blood sent to the house for breakfast the next day.
    “So that leaves scary stories,” Mirabeau commented. She paused for a moment, during which no one offered to tell the first tale, then glanced at Lissianna, and asked curiously, “What was it your mother drove into Toronto to get you for your birthday? I missed seeing you open her gift.”
    “Yes, what was it?” Jeanne Louise asked curiously. “I didn’t see it either.”
    “Yes, you did see him, Jeanne Louise,” Thomas countered with amusement, bringing a confused frown to his sister’s face.
    “No, I didn’t,” she insisted. “I—” She paused as his words sank in. “Him? You mean she gave Lissi a person? A man?” Her eyes widened suddenly, and her mouth made an “O,” then she exclaimed, “That guy in her bedroom? He was her gift?”
    “What guy?” Mirabeau looked startled. “Marguerite gave you a guy? ”
    Lissianna gave Thomas a dirty look as the women began exclaiming in amazement. Their reaction was exactly what he’d hoped for, of course.
    “It isn’t how it sounds,” she said in calming tones. “He’s a doctor. She brought him to treat my hemaphobia.”
    “Yeah,” Thomas assured them. “And the fact that Lissianna was rolling all over him on the bed was just an accident. She didn’t know he was her therapist then.”
    “Thomas!” Lissianna shrieked, as the other women began exclaiming and shouting questions anew. Shaking her head with disgust, she turned to the women and quickly gave an edited version of her meeting with Greg Hewitt. Once finished, she sat back and waited for their reactions.
    Mirabeau was the first to speak, asking, “So, will he treat your phobia?”
    Lissianna hesitated, then admitted, “I don’t