Scent of a White Rose by Tish Thawer Page B

was not the
case."
    I could tell this was upsetting for her. She
sounded guilty and almost apologetic, even though she had nothing
to be sorry for. Terrance had brought this on himself as far as I
was concerned.
    "The moment I penetrated his mind, I caught the
image of him feeding off a woman in the dark. She was tall, thin,
and had long, blonde hair from what I could tell. The moment that I
locked on and tried to expand the image, Terrance's shield snapped
into place, causing me a lot of pain, and then our connection was
severed."
    We all sat there in silence, none of us really
knowing what to say. I had never heard of anything like this and
from the quiver in Evie's voice, neither had she.
    Bobby broke the silence by asking, "Did you
recognize the woman?"
    "No. I didn't. I was hoping that I could have
picked up on a name or something more specific, but as soon as the
image started to sharpen, it was over and I was being knocked
out."
    "Terrance says that whenever he thinks of that
woman his thoughts go all fuzzy. Do you think that's the reason you
were unable to wake up? Because of whatever weird effect this woman
has on Terrance?" I asked.
    "I've been thinking a lot about that, and it
definitely seems like the most logical answer. But I just can't
figure out how the woman could be affecting Terrance or me." Evie
looked up at Dax and smiled sweetly. "I thought that Terrance had
started reveling in the kill and had figured out a way to hide
things from us, but now I'm not so sure. I almost think that he may
be just as much a victim in this situation as the girl in the
woods. I hope everyone can understand that I feel we need to keep
Terrance around until we can figure all of this out."
    Whether I was as convinced of Terrance's
innocence or not, I knew it would make Dax feel better if Terrance
ended up not being the bad guy we all thought he had become, and
that made me happy. "Is there anyone that you can contact to see if
something like this has ever happened before?" I asked.
    "Dax and I have discussed it, and we've decided
that I should contact my Sire to see if he has ever heard of
anything like this before. If something like this has ever been
recorded, then I'm sure Balam will have heard about it. Now, let's
go feed and get this club open. I know that this situation has
everyone on edge, but I'm fine now, so there's no need to
worry."
    I wasn't as convinced by Evie's pep talk as
everyone else was, but that was because of what I had accidentally
heard her and Dax discussing. I was going to approach her about it,
but then she and Dax started heading towards her office. I could
only assume she was going to make the call to her Sire now and I
certainly didn't want to delay that. We needed to get some answers
as soon as possible. So instead, I headed out to feed along with
Bobby, Dom and Tori.
    We usually were able to charm a few people in
the park nearby, taking only our fill and then making them forget.
No harm, no foul. I, for one, couldn't stand the idea of hurting
anyone, and it wasn't my fault that I required blood to survive. So
like most vampires, we fed only out of necessity and didn't hurt
anyone in the process. We were almost complete opposites to the
vampires of legend, but I wouldn't change a single thing. I was
happy in this life, and I knew everyone else in our clan, Terrance
notwithstanding, felt the same way.
    If Rose was eventually changed, I would be the
happiest vampire alive...what a contradiction.
     
    * * * * *
    (Evie)
     
    "Dammit, Dax! I know Christian heard us talking
from inside the office. I'm telling you, he is displaying signs
that he's the one being triggered. I need to talk to him about
it."
    "Evie, please. Let's get to the bottom of this
thing with Terrance first. I will be just as happy as you if it is
Christian that's being triggered, but right now you have to
understand that I am a nervous wreck because of what happened to
you. You have no idea what it was like sitting there next to