Page 59 of Obsessed in Blood
“It’s complicated.”
I snorted. “You can do better than that.”
She stared at the ceiling and sighed as if she’d shared the answer dozens of times. “It’s not the same for us as with vampires. Unless they get their head chopped off or burn in a fire, there isn’t much that can kill them. As long as they don’t get any one of the rare diseases that occasionally kills one, receives enough blood when needed, and don’t take their own life out of boredom, they can live for centuries.
“Dreamwalkers have more weaknesses when it comes to killing us. That’s why it was so easy to decimate millions of us over the centuries, even after the initial purge. A well-placed bullet, several types of diseases, severe blood loss, or our head conveniently removed from our bodies—any of those will shorten our life span. But it’s more than that. Genetics plays a role, as does whether a person is a full dreamwalker or half. From a social perspective, we don’t care whether they’re full-blood or part. There’s no shame in only having a small percentage of dreamwalker blood, but it does play a part in longevity. Then add in a dreamwalker’s individual power as well as their ancestors’—” She shrugged. “Some of us have strong connections to vampires, even after the purge, and if there’s blood sharing, that will play a role.”
“Is there, like, an average life span you could share?” I was used to Colantha’s attempts to divert from answering questions, but I believed her when she said it was complicated. It might sound like subterfuge on her part, but I didn’t think she did it on purpose. At least not for this specific question.
She sipped her coffee as she considered the question. “Some have lived for centuries, and for others, they live what would be considered an extremely long human lifespan. But I would say most live a couple of centuries. I don’t know Hamilton or who his family was. But I can sense his power. Even locked away for a hundred years in stressful, torturous conditions, he continues to call to others.”
“Being locked away doesn’t necessarily weaken a person.”
We all turned toward the door where Simone had quietly entered. I was still wrapping my head around the average dreamwalker living for two centuries, but it faded to the background as she strode toward the group, nodding at Colantha’s vamps before dragging over a chair. “Except physically, of course, depending on the conditions they’re kept. But if one has a strong enough mind, the physical doesn’t become as important. That’s not right.” She shook her head. A rare moment indeed for her to backtrack a statement. “The physical is important, but a strong mind can keep the body conditioned, which in turn helps to maintain their mental faculties. The important thing is to eat what is given to you and perform a daily exercise ritual to stay limber.”
She poured coffee into a clean mug then sat back, apparently done with her sharing time. I didn’t know anything about Simone’s past, but she obviously had one. But I didn’t think her story was something she shared with just anyone. She seemed to have first-hand knowledge of the topic of confinement, and anything more would be too personal to share in mixed company.
“Is Devon finished with the cadre?” I asked.
“For the most part. You didn’t miss anything. He’s not planning on storming the island.” Her gaze shifted to Lyra, whose lips pressed into a thin line.
I nodded, expecting nothing less.
“Cressa provided more details about her stay on the island.” Colantha watched Simone, who ignored the dreamwalker. Simone was uncomfortable around the woman, and I understood. She was a control freak.
“Anything of interest?” Simone kept her gaze on me, and like the others, gave me a once-over to evaluate my condition.
“No. It was more about Lorenzo’s mesmerizing routine and when his hold began to weaken.”
“Probably small moments from the beginning, but most certainly whenever you dreamwalked.”
My gaze widened, then narrowed when Simone sniffed at my response. I’d never considered she might have insights on this.
“Mesmerizing is a mental skill. So is dreamwalking. It’s not surprising one would weaken the other.”
Colantha nodded. “That’s correct.”
The two women stared at each other, then Simone nodded at her, accepting Colantha’s agreement. Simone must be dying to know if Colantha ever sparred with her bodyguards. It would be interesting which of the two would come out on top without using dreamwalking skills.
“So, what are Devon’s plans?” Ginger had been quiet for most of the discussion but had apparently been soaking everything in. “I would think he’d need to know more about the island and this building where Hamilton is being held.”
“That’s part of it,” Simone agreed. “Sergi can get satellite images, but they don’t provide the best resolution. And we need details.”
“We’ll need the best pictures we can get for the building and the surrounding landscape,” I said. “It looks like it’s one story, but there might be a basement.”
“Can we get one of those flying things?” Ginger asked. When everyone stared at her with quizzical expressions, she sighed. “You know. Those drone things.”
“I’m not sure how close it could get.” It was an interesting suggestion. “They can be noisy.”
“If the surf is up, the breakers on the island will distort the sound,” Simone said. “But they would see them.”
“Not until they got up close.” Ginger perched on the edge of her seat. “One time, someone flew one where our old apartment was. We could hear it, but we had a devil of a time finding it. It was gray or silver and blended into the sky. Greco was pissed from what Bulldog said. He thought it was one of the other drug lords trying to get into his territory, and he had it shot down. Turns out it belonged to some geek who was into remote-control stuff a couple of blocks over. He actually had the nerve to find out who destroyed his drone and got right in Bulldog’s face.”
“When was this?” I asked.
“Oh, a few months ago. We were still living in the neighborhood, but I think you were out of town on a job.”
“I can ask if Sergi knows someone,” Simone offered.
