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Donja shook her head in disbelief. “Well I’m mentally damaged, you too, that’s a given, but I don’t know that I’m so far gone that I want someone to bite me, I mean come on. It’s sexy in the movies and all, but in real life…I mean, biting? It must hurt like hell!”
“You know, I felt the same, at first, but you might find that you change your mind after spending time with Torin. Don’t you feel different when you gaze into his eyes? They have powers.”
“Maybe, I don’t know, he is incredibly handsome, and I won’t lie, part of me is attracted to him, yet another part is terrified. Vampires,” she rolled her eyes. “Unbelievable.”
“Not vampires, Iridescents. This is real, Donja, and they’re alive, as much as you and me.”
“Well, call it what you want, but you’re right about one thing, I did see his fangs. No more denial. Looks like a vampire to me.”
“Okay I can agree with the fang part, but they don’t fry in the sun or sleep during daylight. They don’t fly like bats or flee from crosses and for the record, Gage loves eating garlic, so forget all that made up garbage.”
“And what about his eyes?”
Makayla’s demeanor softened. “They’re beautiful, aren’t they? I think their eyes are why they are called Iridescents, green when they are angry, gold when they are in need.”
“In need of?” Donja spiked a brow.
“Your body…your blood.”
“And they can control the changes?”
“No, they don’t turn it off and on, it’s natural, just like we cry when we’re sad, or laugh, or frown. It’s primal.”
“And this Council,” Donja asked as she tucked her hair behind her ears and folded her legs underneath her. “What’s that all about?”
“They are the ruling party. The elites. They’re powerful, rich and they don’t allow anyone to get in their way. I have no idea how many of them there are, I’ve seen hundreds of different ones in the V.I.P. at the club but to be honest, I don’t know that they are all Siruns. They don’t mingle with the crowd, they are just observers.”
Donja rolled her eyes. “Just as the name of the club implies. I get it now, all the female eyes, the stamp, red eye or blue. We’re just eye candy for a group of elites.”
“You got it, a red stamp indicates your blood type is rare and blue, the universal, O positive.”
“So, you lied to me when I asked about your blue stamp.”
“Sorry, I didn’t want to involve you and I certainly never expected this to happen. Heather’s been going with me forever and we never had a problem. Lots of people go there, they just have no idea who’s watching them.”
Donja heard her phone ding. She got up and got it out of her purse, her fingers flying over the screen. “It’s our website and you won’t believe it, but we have six new responses to the pictures.”
“No way.”
“What the hell?” Donja smirked. “One guy says it’s his wife and she is away at Disneyland with their kids. He wants us to meet him at midnight for a party.”
“Phft! That’s just some dirty old man looking for action.”
“Here’s another that says the Indian pics are evil. He warns us to go see a Midewiwin.”
“A what?” Makayla asked.
“That’s a medicine man. I heard my Grandma talking about it once.” She turned back to the phone. “This guy goes on to tell us that the spirits are angry because we have violated the sacred Anishinaabe,” she stumbled over the word.
“What’s that?”
“I have no idea, but I am intrigued. Grandma was talking to my grandpa once and I overheard the conversation. She said that the medicine men were capable of casting spells to ward off evil. I didn’t believe it at the time, but then, I didn’t believe in glowing vampires either.”
“Not vampires, Iridescents.” Makayla corrected her.
“Whatever, but I want to check into this medicine man thing, I mean let’s face it. I must protect you all in any way possible. The only problem is, I have no idea where to start.”
“We could go to the library,” Makayla suggested. “There’s a Chippewa author who does book signings once a month. He also teaches classes on Native American history at the university.”