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disease to the unsuspecting.”
    “Disease.” It was the first I’d thought of myself as diseased, though he had referred to it as a virus. “But I was given a  choice.”

    19

    He shook his head. “Not without understanding the full implications. The need to hunt. The powerful urges to mate. The restlessness.” His voice broke.

    “The loneliness.” I had no  idea yet, having been infected
    such a short time and most  of that spent unconscious, but I did  know about being alone and the suddenly sad look in his eyes  clued me in to the rest. I thought of the Shelleys, of Mary’s  refusal to let Connor turn her. “You’re infected too. Aren’t
    you?”
    “I am.” His arm rested on the mantel and I could see his  hand curl into a fist. “But I would never be so callous as to bite  another human being. We’ve taken an oath here.”
    “We?”
    “Back to you.” He tipped his perfect, chiselled chin in my  direction. “For all intents and purposes, you’re dead. Your  family, your friends, your work, everyone believes you to be  gone.”
    “Without a body?”
    “All signs led to abduction and murder. It was a logical
    conclusion.”
    “All signs.   Planted   signs. Who are you people? How long  have I been here? Where are we, for that matter?” I stood and  walked to the curtains behind us, opened them and looked out. I  gasped. It wasn’t night, but midday. The most beautiful band of  coastline met my eyes, pristine sand, crystalline blue waters  lapping to the shore in waves.  “Palm trees. There are palm trees  for god’s sake. Where have you taken me?”
    “It’s an island. All ours. You’ve only been here for two days
    now.”

    20

    “Ours?” Two days. Two days of my life gone. But how
    many gained? Eternity?
    “SPAHC’s. ‘The Society for Prevention of Advanced
    Hypertelomeric Cruorsitis.’”
    “That’s what I have? The full name for it? Advanced
    Hypertelo-whatsis Cru-oh-who?”
    “Hypertelomeric Cruorsitis. Yes.”
    “And you want to make it go away? That’s why we’re
    isolated here? On an island?”
    “We have  a full research facility. State of the art. Complete
    with luxurious living quarters, private beach ”–

    I held my hand up, interrupting. “I’ll grab a brochure on the
    way out.”
    “You are free to leave. Please, don’t be frightened. We’re  all here by choice. It might be awkward for you to try and go  home again, but if you with it.”
    I didn’t wish it. He probably knew as well as I did that there
    was nothing left for me there. “I’ve always wanted to travel.”
    “We can arrange it. All I ask is that you stay here for a  period of time. We like to get a full study of all the infected, to  see if there’s a mutation or something we may have missed  along the way.”
    “Something you can use to find a cure?”
    “Exactly.”

    21

    I thought about it for a moment. “What if one doesn’t want
    to be cured?”

    “Everyone wants to be cured.” He looked at me, his eyes  wide with incredulity. “If not right away, they come to it  eventually.”
    “Eventually,” I echoed. I had no idea how I felt about who I  was, what I had become. Until I understood what  the disease  was all about, how would I know if I wanted to be cured.?
    “You’ll stay then? A month or two?”
    I had no idea where else I could go. No job, no money, no  identity.  “I’ll stay. For now. Until I can investigate some job  possibilities, see who’s hiring.”
    He reached for my hand, a tender look in his eyes. “I’m sorry Miranda. You can’t go back to teaching. You have no credentials.”
    My lungs constricted with sheer panic. “All my years in
    school? All that time?”
    “Gone.” His lips drew to a tight line.  “It’s like witness  protection. You have to leave everything you knew behind and  start fresh. Clean slate. In the process, you discover things about  yourself that you never even knew existed.” His