Page 96 of Bitten Vampire

“Hello, Winifred,” Dayna says, stepping forward, her handshake firm. “I’m here to perform the Council-ordered tests. We will need some privacy.”

“I’ve got security matters,” Harrison mutters, slipping out. One by one, the others scatter. Ralph takes an unhappy Baylor.

James remains, tablet on his knee.

“James,” Valdarr warns.

“What? Do I have to leave?”

“I’d prefer it if everyone but Winifred left,” Dayna says, giving him a teacherly stare.

James huffs but skulks into the hallway.

“You will need to lie down on the floor,” Dayna tells me. “A bed won’t do, it is not stable enough, and we will need to use a circle. All right?”

Valdarr nods. “You could use the embedded circle in the living room.”

“You have a circle? Perfect.”

We roll back the heavy rug, revealing an eight-foot circle etched into the floorboards. Dayna kneels and spends forty-five minutes chalking runes, while Lander, wielding a council-sanctioned camera, records every step.

Finished, she sits back, sighing, “Hell on the knees.”

“Would you like a drink?” I offer.

“Oh, I’d love a cup of tea with just a splash of milk.”

“Would you like one as well, Lander?” I grit out.

“No, thank you; I prefer my tea without spit.”

I scowl and head to the kitchen. “Spit? More like poison,” I mutter. Lander puts the camera down and follows. My spine stiffens as I switch on the kettle—I don’t like him at my back. Valdarr is only a whisper away, across the room, and I know I’m perfectly safe.

“How are things? Any contact with the house?” he asks.

“No. I don’t know where she is.” I turn, lean against the worktop and fold my arms.

“Look, Winifred, we got off on the wrong foot. It was never my intentionto upset you.”

“No, you just wanted to hurt my friend.”

“I don’t want to harm the house, but you must understand how dangerous she is.”

“So you keep saying.”

“That house killed people.”

Yes, to protect me.“You have no evidence of that.” He needs to understand, he thinks the house is merely magic, but she is so much more. “Look, Lander, after I turned into a vampire, something in my magic let House and me communicate; I could speak to her.”

“What?” His macho mage mask slips, and he looks dumbfounded.

“I can talk to her, proper conversations. She’s a person, even if she is trapped in bricks and mortar. She has thoughts and feelings—she isn’t just a thing.”

He rubs his forehead. “She shouldn’thavea personality. You shouldn’t be able to speak with her. And when you say ‘talk’—do you mean aloud?”

“Exactly like I’m talking to you, but she answers in my mind.”

“That’s not possible.” He turns away, shaking his head, and begins pacing the kitchen. “You talk to her and she responds? I thought you were personifying the magic, giving it human traits. People do that all the time.”