I couldn’t bring any of Olivia’s victims back to life, including the people Eli had killed. I couldn’t save him from that memory, either, or the knowledge that he had taken lives. But I could give him this gift instead: the promise that it could never, ever happen to him again.
Because he was human.
I checked my nose, but there was no blood this time. And I managed to curl up against Eli’s side before I blacked out, which was definitely progress. My last thought before sleep wasn’t of Jesse, or Eli, or the things that had happened between both of them and myself in the past week. No, even though I knew it was temporary, even though I knew there would be much to face the next day, my last thought was of peace.
Acknowledgments
During the writing and editing of this book I spent months in bed with hyperemesis gravidarum and other fun pregnancy ailments, and I’d like to take this opportunity to thank my friends and family who provided vital support, help, and love while I was sick. I especially want to extend my gratitude to my parents, my forgiving and often saintlike husband, and my elder daughter, who will hopefully not be scarred by the months of excessive television privileges. All my love to Molly, who was born perfect anyway, and who is definitely not named after the vampire in this book. I promise.
I don’t live in Los Angeles anymore, so I definitely owe a big thank you to Tracy Tong, who served as my LA advisor on this book especially. She’s the person I can count on to know what parts of the city wouldn’t have graffiti and what brands of dresses Olivia might have worn. Thank you to my old friend Brian Frederick, who probably didn’t attend medical school just to answer my bizarre questions, but who was always gracious enough to answer them anyway, and to author Lori Devoti, whose class at the UW-Madison School of Continuing Studies was a major contributor to the structure and first chapter of this book. I can’t tell you how much your support means to me.
Thank you to my sister Elizabeth, who was always around with compliments when I doubted myself most, and who was willing to contribute her marketing and graphic design expertise despite my inability to pay for it. Much appreciation to Kari Harms, who enlightened me on how Candy Land could be an excellent party theme, and Krista Ewbank, who suggested that an abandoned theater might be a good place to cast some dark magic. Thank you, also, to my followers and friends on Facebook and Twitter, who remind me every day of why it’s so much fun to write books.
Finally, I owe many thanks, once again, to my hardworking team: Alex Carr and Patrick McGee at 47North, my editor Jeff VanderMeer, my agent Jacquie Flynn, and my copy editor Deb for her outstanding attention to detail. Someday I will get a version of Microsoft Word that isn’t almost a decade old, and I’ll have fewer typos, I promise.
About the Author
Photograph © Tyler Lane, 2011
Melissa F. Olson was born and raised in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, and studied film and literature at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles. After graduation, and a brief stint bouncing around the Hollywood studio system, Melissa moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where she eventually acquired a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee, a husband, a mortgage, two kids, and two comically oversize dogs—not at all in that order. She is the author of Dead Spots.
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