Blood of Gold by Duncan McGeary Page A

of Crescent City, he’d seen a Wildering target her, as if knowing how important and how defenseless she was. He hadn’t told her how many times she had almost been killed.
    It worried him. She was a human, frail and weak, and she was the lover of the vampire who was perhaps the most hunted of all vampires. And who now, apparently, had founded a new type of vampire and maybe a new religion.
    She’d be safer if she was Turned. Terrill had no doubt that Sylvie was ready for the golden blood, but he also sensed that she would reject the offer. She was too alive as a human, and it was by observing her grace and beauty that he continued to appreciate the differences between humans and vampires.
    Jamie and Robert had rented the house next door, and Clarkson had found an apartment down the street. They were lying low. So far, the only people who knew who they were and where they were hiding were managing to keep their mouths shut.
    Terrill wasn’t worried about Father Harry or his good friends Grime, Perry and Billy, but the word was out in the homeless community they were part of, and it was only a matter of time before someone decided there might be money in the story. Terrill wasn’t even sure he would blame whoever sold them out.
    “We have to go into hiding,” he said.
    “I thought that’s what we were doing,” Sylvie said.
    “We’re hiding in plain sight. That won’t be adequate for much longer. We have to go somewhere no one knows us.”
    “Jamie and I have some land,” Sylvie ventured. “Up in the Strawberry Mountains, near John Day. Dad used to go hunting up there. I think I can find the keys to the trailer, but I don’t know if I can remember how to get there. Jamie?”
    Jamie had come over for breakfast: a side of raw bacon. Robert was sleeping in, still recovering from his ordeal. She nodded at her sister. “I think I can find my way there. If not, I know the people who live at the base of the mountain. I’m sure they’ll give us directions.”
    “Then let’s pack up and go,” Terrill said, standing up as if ready to leave that minute.
    “Do you think it’s a good idea to be out of communication range?” Sylvie said, not stirring from the table. “If anyplace is outside a coverage area these days, it’s the Strawberry Mountains.”
    Terrill sat down again. He hadn’t thought of that.
    Sylvie was already getting busy on her laptop. “Apparently, there’s a Wi-Fi network covering Eastern Oregon that’s owned by some millionaire,” she said after a few minutes of searching. “There wasn’t enough money for the big companies to invest in it, so he put his own five million dollars into the project and… get this… he offers it free to anyone in the area. I think we’ll be all right.”
    “Jamie? Get Robert ready,” Terrill said. “I’ll go track down Clarkson. I think until all this blows over, we’d best stay out of sight. With any luck, this Testament of Michael will fade away and everyone will forget all about vampires.”
    Jamie nodded, but Terrill could see she didn’t believe that would happen. To be honest, neither did he. The Testament of Michael had a strange pull on him, as if it was being directed at him, as if it was trying to tell him what to do.
    As if Michael was speaking to him personally from beyond the grave.
    Sylvie had woken up that morning with a fever. She was hacking and coughing and blowing her nose every few minutes. Terrill realized that he hadn’t been around anyone with one of humanity’s little diseases for a very long time. It was annoying.
    “You know, if I Turned you, you’d never get sick again,” he told her. “Then I wouldn’t have to follow you around throwing away used Kleenexes.”
    She looked at him with a frown, then saw that he was teasing. “So all I have to do to avoid a cold is become undead? Pretty high price to pay, wouldn’t you say? Thanks, but no thanks.”
    Terrill laughed. He watched her walk over to him, her body so fluid,