A Shade of Vampire 28: A Touch of Truth Read Online Free Page A

affected by Bloodless like normal people!” I struggled to believe my own words even as I spoke them. But they had to believe me. They had to, or they would just leave me here to rot.
    They stopped in their tracks and stared at me. Then they exchanged glances.
    “Please, help me!” I urged. “I’ll do you any favor in return!”
    “It’s too risky,” the girl muttered to the boy after a pause.
    The boy’s eyes raked me. “But she’s not a human,” he replied in a low voice. His accent was the same as hers. I also realized in that moment that he was holding something in his right hand—it looked like some kind of remote control… for the spinning wheel? It had to be.
    “Half fae,” the girl addressed me, narrowing her eyes. “That means you are also half human, right?”
    “Yes,” I wheezed, unsure of how much longer I could stay conscious in this agony. “But please, help me.”
    “She’s not showing signs of turning yet,” the boy said, doubtfully.
    “It could just be slower,” the girl shot back. She shifted on her feet impatiently, and then to my horror, stepped back. “Orlando, let’s just go.”
    But the boy— Orlando —stayed where he was.
    “If she has powers, she could be useful,” he replied.
    “Useful for what?” the girl responded. “We don’t need anyone.”
    Still, the boy stayed where he was. “Fire is always useful,” he replied, even as his eyes settled on me again.
    The girl breathed out in frustration. “I don’t like this. I really don’t like this.”
    “If she starts turning, we can always leave her behind,” he replied. “What’s the harm?”
    The girl continued to glare at him.
    But the boy already seemed to have made up his mind. “Come on, Maura,” he pressed. “I said we can dump her if we have to.”
    Dump me. Like a pile of trash. Not that I could blame them.
    My heart soared with relief as Orlando moved toward me. He wrinkled his nose as he eyed my wounds. Then he said, “Keep your head down.”
    I wasn’t sure why he would ask me to do this, but I wasn’t about to argue. I leaned my head closer to the metal ruts of the ladder.
    He shifted a dial on his remote and the rotor blades sped up, sending the substance spraying in all directions—including all three of our faces. Only mine wasn’t covered by a mask.
    The wheel moved past me and tilted sideways before heading up the tunnel above me, through the round sewer hole, and up into the street where it continued to hum.
    “All right, it’s safe to climb out now,” he said.
    He gripped the first rung and nudged me in the back to start moving up. Something I didn’t exactly appreciate considering how much pain I was in.
    Gritting my teeth, I forced myself to climb. As I moved higher, rain began to splatter heavily on my head—rain that was previously a nightmare was now a relief. It helped to wash off the grime I was coated with.
    The rotor blades whirred above my head as I pulled myself out of the drain and rolled out onto the street. I glanced around fearfully for more Bloodless. But this drain was situated in between a large vehicle and a wall, so I could not see if any were approaching yet.
    The girl and the boy climbed up next to me. I struggled to rip my bloody lower pants to free the skin on my leg. Orlando assisted me, withdrawing a Swiss Army knife from his pocket. He cut through the fabric, and I had full view of the damage inflicted by the Bloodless. I felt queasy as I stared down at four deep puncture marks that had ripped wider left and right in my flesh—due to my attempts to pull away from the monsters while still in their grasp.
    At least I could be grateful for one thing. It seemed that Orlando was correct—I wasn’t showing signs of turning… yet. I felt dizzy and nauseous from the pain, and it felt like all I wanted to do was throw up. But I hadn’t started shaking yet, and there was no burning sensation running across my skin…
    “Well, what now, Captain Genius?” the