Sunset Rising (Sunset Vampire Series, Book 5) by Jaz Primo Page A

forefinger in
my face. “I’m gonna beat your ass.”
    “ Yeah, I’m sorry I can’t
stay longer,” Ethan said with a rueful look. “I’ll try to make it
back up here again soon…before any battery shortages.”
    I actually think that Paige was
blushing.
    It was easy to see how great a couple the
two of them had become, and I felt very happy for them.
    But I still felt guilty about my presence in
New Haven causing Paige to be separated from him.
    “ When’s your flight?” I
asked.
    “ I’ve got a red-eye at
one-thirty in the morning,” he said. “I figured since it’s only a
short nighttime hop to Atlanta, I’d fly ordinary
commercial.”
    That made sense. Sunset Air had excellent
vampire-friendly service, but their prices were definitely the top
end of premium, based upon the invoices I’d seen.
    “ How’s your research
coming?” he asked.
    Paige groaned. “Oh, no. Snore-time. You had
to ask, didn’t you?”
    Ethan chuckled. “Sorry about that.”
    She stood up. “No, no, you history buffs
have your little nerd chat. I’m going to find something
chocolaty.”
    He handed her some cash and she gave him a
quick kiss on the cheek before heading toward the bakery
counter.
    I told Ethan about the book I had checked
out, as well as some other information I had learned. He even asked
to look at the book in question.
    After a few minutes of rapid leafing and
scanning, he laid the tome down before him.
    “ Interesting. It’s an odd
specialty for that time period,” he said. “You’ll want to
investigate any of his European connections. That’s where all the
cutting-edge studies were taking place, anyway.”
    His insights were definitely helpful.
    “ Thanks. I will,” I said.
“Was that a former interest of yours, too?”
    He smiled. “Me? No. I was too preoccupied
with myself at the time. But I remember having occasional
discussions with colleagues.”
    It occurred to me that I knew very little
about Ethan’s past.
    “ Where you human or
vampire then?”
    “ Vampire,” he said,
lowering his voice. “Though only recently turned.”
    Wow, cool.
    “ Do tell,” I
said.
    “ You’re really
interested?” he asked.
    “ Oh, very,” I said. “I’m a
history sponge, remember?”
    He leaned across the table toward me, so I
met him halfway.
    “ Stop me if this gets
boring.”
    I shook my head. “Yeah, right. Not
likely.”
    “ So, I was turned in—” he
said.
    I held up my hand. “Hey, no human
backstory?”
    “ Even less noteworthy for
that period, I’m afraid,” he said.
    “ Try me,” I
said.
    He paused for a moment, as if in silent
reflection.
    "I was born and raised in central
Connecticut, just outside of Middleton. My father was a member of
the Middleton council and my mother a midwife,” he said. “Oh, how I
loved it there. I knew from the time I was a boy that’s where I
wanted to live out the rest of my life. Of course, life had other
plans.”
    “ Siblings?” I
asked.
    “ Two younger brothers,” he
said. “They took after my father, each becoming farmers in their
own right when they were grown.”
    “ But not you?” I
asked.
    He shook his head. “Me? Nope. I was
fascinated by my mother’s midwifery skills. I even helped with
deliveries by the time I had turned eight, though social modesty
precluded more active participation in the advanced activities.
    “ As such, I spent far more
time helping my father and brothers in the fields than that,” he
said. “Still, I never developed an appreciation for
farming.”
    “ Was your father
disappointed?”
    “ Maybe at first,” he said.
“But even back then physicians were highly regarded, and they
earned a great deal of respect in their communities. When I
expressed an interest in pursuing medicine, such as it was, my
father encouraged me.
    “ My father used his
contacts with regional clergy and managed to collect the attention
of a competent physician in a neighboring county who was willing to
take on an assistant,”