Sam jammed her thumb into the hollow of her eye, rubbing her brow bone. "Um, the aging process is halted for a month," she said. "Then when it wears off, it zooms back on track." For ghouls who'd been drinking vampire blood for years and years and years, this was a serious problem. But she figured a month wasn't so bad. Not for a normal human, anyway.

"There's also a slight risk of dependency, but if you don't tell them what you used, it's not like they're going to be able to track me down for more."

She hoped. They might still come. And not know why.

"Back home, it would come with the possibility of developing a minor case of mind control." She winced apologetically. "But I don't think that's likely here." Unless the Overlords thought it was funny.

...they could?