Blood and Beasts by L.M. Miller Page A

that nice wall of
yours back up,” Linda said smartly, and instantly, Seph ’ s walls snapped back into place.
    “My name ’ s Persephone Black. Seph,” she said finally just as
they stopped in front of a relatively tall guy.
    “Hey, baby,” Linda moved forward
and planted a big kiss on the guy.
    Seph just watched a little
awkwardly. The guy was cute enough. He was about six feet even with frizzy,
black hair slicked back into a ponytail. If it was down, it would be about
shoulder-length, she guessed. His thick brows overhung small, slanted eyes. He
finally broke away and caught Seph ’ s eyes. His eyes were grey! They
were a stormy grey, darkening by the second as his short girlfriend stood
beside him. Another vampire!
    “Seph, this is my boyfriend,
Stefan. He ’ s in his third year, meaning he ’ s eighteen. And he ’ s a vampire, just like you,” she
said with a little smirk, giving him a little kiss on the cheek as they
interlocked fingers.
    “Hi, I ’ m Persephone. Seph, ” she amended, and they shook hands
a little awkwardly.
    “Anyway, I was just pullin ’ you over here to meet Stefan because
he ’ s another vampire, and also, I had a
question about you for him,” she turned to look up at her boyfriend firmly. “Is
it normal for vampires to have advanced telepathic skills? I mean, do you guys
excel in some things and not in others? I thought that telepathy was kind of a
more wizard… witch thing to do?” She asked, and he raised a brow to her before
looking back over at Seph with a peculiar expression in his eyes.
    “You got advanced telepathic
skills?” He asked, and she nodded a little dazedly. “Really? That is
interesting…” He seemed to be deep in thought before Linda cleared her throat
impatiently. “Oh yea, sorry, babe. Um, we vamps got some telepathic skills, but
what we excel in changes for each of us. Phin is real good with the telepathic
stuff. Sarabi can fly real well while the rest of us mainly hover. Kenji can
turn into mist in a second, and he ’ s only in his second year. I ’ m really good at hypnosis,” he
stared into his girlfriend ’ s eyes for a moment before she
playfully smacked him.
    “You stop that, Stefan. I wanna
think of you on my own. I don ’ t need you hypnotizing me,” she said
and then glanced sharply up at one of the many regal-looking clocks adorning
the halls. “We only have a minute,” she stated just as the warning bell rang.
“Sorry for botherin ’ you, babe,” she kissed
him again, and as they took their sweet time, Seph studied her schedule, trying
not to stare at them.
    She had Basic Incantations next
with a Madam Rosamund Winslow. It was in the Green Hall, room 007. That wasn ’ t too far. Maybe she could slip away
without the couple noticing… She really did not want to be late to a class her
first day. She edged a little away, and Stefan instantly noticed, breaking
apart from Linda. He glanced at the clock.
    “You two need to get. I got HU
Three right here, but Linda, you ’ re gonna have to run to get to
Basics in time,” he said, gesturing to their left.
    “I have Basics too,” Seph said
happily, and Linda grabbed her schedule excitedly.
    “Sweet! We got two classes in a row
together! Alright, babe, see ya later!” She grabbed Seph ’ s hand before dashing off, towing the girl along all
over again.

CHAPTER
SEVEN
     
    They made it to class just in time,
but still managed to nab two seats in the back row. Linda, apparently, had a
friend in the class and had sent a telepathic message to her werewolf buddy who
was now sitting in the back with them. He glanced over at Seph, and she
appreciated his lack of fear, fear that was rift across all the other students ’ faces.
    “I ’ m Rodney Steele, ” he said, introducing himself.
    She couldn ’ t help but feel attracted to him. He had smooth,
light-brown skin that accented his wiry, dark-brown hair, cut short. He had
thick brows above hooded, molten gold eyes. His face was