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Hugo grabbed her arm. “Are you okay?”

Threemore knocks.

“I’m fine.” Alice rubbed her forehead. She set the red knit hat on the console table. “I’m fine. The knocks startled me. I’m . . . I’m on edge. That should be Ez at the door.”

Hugo let go of Alice. He pulled back the curtain. “It’s her,” Hugo said as he turned the diamond shape ornate knob to let her in.

“You. Couch. Now,” Ez commanded as she entered. She pulled a wheeled cooler behind her.

“Nice to see you too,” Hugo said.

Ez snapped her fingers. “Couch. Now.”

Hugo shut the door and went into the living room.

Ez stopped the cooler in front of Alice. Her shoulders slumped, and her arms stretched out for a hug. “How are you, kiddo?”

Alice hugged Ez, giving her a tight squeeze. “I’m fine. I’m fine. We’re managing.”

“You’ll be okay, kiddo. You’ll be okay,” Ez reassured her.

Alice stopped hugging Ez, but kept both hands on her shoulders. Alice motioned with her head to the red knit hat on the console table. “They had Sam’s hat. They gave it to Hugo.”

“One issue at a time. One issue at a time,” Ez said as she searched the hallway. “Where’s my little buddy? I have a treat for her.”

“I dropped her off at the Raskin’s house. We didn’t want—” Alice paused. “I didn’t want Hugo to hurt her if he frenzied.”

“Good thinking. Give this to her the next time you see her,” Ez said as she removed a dog treat from her coat pocket. “Please be a dear, and put these into the fridge. Bring me one. I’ll go look over our patient.”

Ez removed her coat and placed it on the rack.

Alice didn’t need to look inside; she already knew what was in there. She took the cooler handle and went into the kitchen.

She opened the refrigerator door. It was packed with food and open wine bottles. She bent down and rearranged the contents. She opened the cooler and pulled out pint bags of blood—donations from a blood drive. Ez had used her connections to secure a month’s supply for Hugo. She stacked the blackish-red bags neatly on thebottom shelf. She shut the door and grabbed the last one in the cooler. She went to join the other two in the living room.

“Let me see,” Ez said.

Hugo pulled back on his lip to reveal the sharpened fangs protruding from his mouth.

“How do you feel?” Ez asked.

“Nauseous. Woozy. Like my body is on fire and a hand is grabbing and squeezing me,” he replied.

“Your body is getting used to the transformation. It’ll calm down. Eventually,” Ez said. “You’re now undead. Your body is at peak physical health. Heart rate low. Cholesterol low. Testosterone and pheromones . . . very high. All at optimal levels. Your body is a perfect specimen of health for someone considered undead. I take it you’ve had urges of all kinds.”

“That’s an understatement,” Hugo replied.

“It’ll calm down, and you’ll be fine. From now on, your body will heal fast,” Ez added.

“Any chance to fix this?” Hugo asked.

“You’ll be fine. Stay out of the sunlight and away from wooden stakes,” Ez said. “Now for the fun part . . . feeding.”

Alice handed her the pint of blood. A white sticker with an oversizeOcovered most of the blood bag. Ez removed the rubber band and unraveled the PVC tube. She pinched a bloodless portion, withdrew scissors from her pocket, and cut the tube.

“Pinch here,” she said as she handed the tube to Hugo. “Now drink.”

Hugo placed the tube in his mouth and sucked it like a straw as the blood flowed through the tube. “It’s sweet,” Hugo said in between drinks.