The Vampires' Last Lover (Dying of the Dark Vampires Book 1) Read Online Free Page B

they catch this sicko, too,” Tyreen agreed, picking up her tray. “Yes, I’m coming along with you. But we ain’t staying there long. Our asses had best be back in the dorm before it gets dark.” She gave me a sly smile, though the look in her eyes said she was extremely worried.

    Tyreen got her wish, and we left the library by four o’clock. Two and a half hours can be plenty of time to get homework done. It used to be, back in high school. But that afternoon, I got very little accomplished—largely because Tyreen couldn’t stay focused on her own studies long enough to give me peace. Every time she wanted to talk about what happened and what it could mean to her, me, and the rest of the females on campus, I had to start over on whatever I was working on at the time. Of course, I wasn’t much help to my cause either, as every time this happened it got me thinking about the murder, Garvan’s warning, and everything else from last night.
    The temperature had dropped nearly twenty degrees by the time we walked back to Massey Hall, which often happens when the sun begins to set in eastern Tennessee in late fall. Every shadowed archway and stairwell—even the thick juniper bushes—looked suspicious to us. We practically ran home.
    Once safe and sound in our dorm room, Tyreen immediately turned on the TV to learn the latest news on the murder, while I turned up the heater in our room. We already planned to order take-out of one variety or another. The debate between Chinese and the local Steak-out hadn’t been decided yet, when my cell phone rang.
    It was my father, calling from Richmond.
    “Txema?”
    “Yes, Papa.”
    Tyreen motioned that she was going to order for us on her phone, telling me the decision on what it would be had already been made by her. I shot her a playful scowl.
    “So, you are all right!” He sounded relieved. His Brooklyn accent sounded almost mobster when he got upset. “We heard about the girl who was killed today.”
    “Yes, Papa, I’m fine,” I assured him while waving my money at Tyreen. “My roommate and I are staying in tonight, so don’t worry. Okay?”
    “Stefan Goizane is an old friend of mine in New York, and your Grandma tells me his daughter attends college down south. It’s got to be the same girl. How many Goizanes do you know, eh?”
    It pained me to hear my normally jovial father so worried. I was his only daughter and very much a daddy’s girl. I tried my best to assure him that I’d be careful.
    “None, Papa, she is Basque, too,” I said, not sure what I could say to make him feel better about my situation. My father is not one to be won over by a lot of ‘Don’t worry, I’ll be fine!’ statements. But, maybe a promise would help, although it would be difficult to keep.
    “I promise not to leave the dorm at all—not unless a fire threatens to burn the place down.” I chuckled, hoping to ease the seriousness.
    “You make sure you
don’t
leave,” he said, focused on getting me to commit to do what I promised. “They do have security guards watching your dormitory, right?”
    “Yes, Papa, they do.”
    It was sort of a lie, since the guards came and went at different times throughout each day. So it was possible to be vulnerable… if it was some crazed killer out there someplace.
    “The Goizane girl looks a lot like you, so what if her killer sees you? He might come after you then.”
    “And what if it’s
not
some guy doing this?” I replied, set on easing the deepening worry I heard in his voice. “It could be a crazy, jealous girl instead. What if this girl Irma messed around with some other girl’s man?”
    “It’s not the Basque way,” he said, his tone saddened, as if he seriously considered my point. “The old ways have changed for many of us. But, if I know Stefan as well as I used to, when we hung out together long ago, that’s not the way he would raise his daughter…”
    He grew silent, and I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t