Secrets of the Jaguar (Crimson Romance) Read Free Page B

someone to cling to, but that person only would have felt a cold, pulse-less embrace.
    Not one grain of sand could be seen on Neptune Beach, for on a decent day all the folks would gather in their finest Victorian styles to picnic. Huge umbrellas striped in red and yellow dotted the landscape and for a moment, he could almost see his mom smiling from under a wide-brimmed beach hat, her dainty feet struggling to navigate the sand in her pointy-toed boots.
    Even after he was supposed to be dead to his family and friends, Duncan would often return to Alameda to take in the ambience of the booming little island town. He watched over the years as times changed. Horse-drawn carts making their way up Park Street turned to trains and trolleys, to automobiles. He watched with envy as the living enjoyed the excitement of life and all its fragility.
    For a while, he had wondered if he would meet another vampire who would be his companion. But the few vampires he met had been without compassion, without the same appreciation for life that he had. Perhaps because the vampires had been older, they had already come to face the truth that there is no life for vampires. Only time. His creator was the same, having a lust only for sex and violence. Once he was strong enough, he had been quick to leave her, tired and disgusted by her cruelty.
    Once turned into a vampire, he had been pleased to find out the whole creature of the darkness bit was an exaggeration. In fact, he could go outside into the sun if he pleased. People tended to look at him a bit suspiciously, but nowadays, many people sported the Goth look, and in fact, he didn’t stick out quite so much as he did in earlier years. Although Duncan was grateful to be in the sun, he preferred the comfort of the darkness.
    • • •
    Michelle clutched her sweater closely by plunging her fists deep in the warm pockets. Fall wasn’t so bad in the Bay Area, but it was definitely a bit on the chilly side in the mornings. The scent of eucalyptus swept through the air as she walked through the San Francisco State University campus. Students bustled between classes, and some lazed against trees or slept on the vast lawn of the quad. In a few hours, the sun would penetrate through the low-hanging clouds, and the grass would be decorated with girls hoping to get in the last of their summer tanning.
    Michelle speed-walked across campus and tried not to appear as if she was huffing and puffing as she swerved around the lollygaggers. Her first class was her favorite one and she didn’t want to be late. Professor Tecuhtli’s Maya Civilization lecture was one of many fascinating anthropology courses of her major. Finally, she reached the room on the second floor of the science building and grabbed a seat near the front.
    Save for the large chalk board, all sides of the room had built-in cupboards. The glass display cases boasted humanoid and animal skulls, plaster molds of artifacts, and a variety of gigantic, ancient-looking bones that she couldn’t identify. Pleistocene California was definitely not her specialty.
    “Okay class, today we are going to discuss some of the important iconography that dates back to the Olmecs over three thousand years ago in the south of Mexico. Most of you have probably seen what are called the giant colossal heads with big, flared lips and brows with short, fat noses. These are characteristics of Olmec art and some of these giant heads were six-feet high.” The professor switched on the slide machine and a large stone monument popped onto the screen. “Also with Olmec iconography, we see a prevalence of baby were-jaguars — that is to say, half-human, half-jaguar.”
    The next slide clicked and the image of a small jade figurine lit up the room. The figure of a chubby infant on all fours was snarling, with fangs and a tail like that of a jaguar, a helmet strapped on its snarling head. “Check out this ugly little baby.” The professor laughed. “The jaguar,