B008DSVE7O EBOK Page 11

  I looked at them for only a second, and returned my attention to the demon. I wrapped my arms around his throat and snapped his neck. He disintegrated instantly.

  “Hi, guys,” I said, a little frantically. Vampire or not, combat with demons was not easy.

  “We heard a demon call and we had to kill the few demons that actually heard it,” Thomas said, pushing against the door that led back into the lounge. “They’re trying to get in. We’d better go. There are too many of them. We’re at risk of one of us being captured.”

  Natasha, of course, just stood there, offering no help at all.

  “Can you hold them off for just another minute?” I asked, bending down to attend to the human woman.

  “Not really,” Thomas said, pushing back against the door. “Natasha, a little help?”

  Reluctantly, Natasha used her back to push against the door as well. I returned my attention to the woman and cupped my hands around the soul. I closed my eyes and cleared my mind. When I opened my eyes again, the mist had retreated back into the woman’s body. I felt her breath growing stronger and her heartbeat became regular. She still hadn’t regained consciousness, but it was good enough for me.

  “Okay, I have to get her out of here,” I said, realizing there would be many more lives here tonight in danger. And I would only be able to save one soul. It’s better than nothing, I thought to myself.

  Thomas and Natasha, still struggling to hold the door, were staring at me with wide eyes. Oops. Didn’t Benjamin warn me not to tell anyone about my anomalies? Or show them, for that matter.

  I ripped half the door off one of the bathroom stalls and broke through the glass of the bathroom window. I cleared all the glass out and carried the human woman’s body in my arms. At the count of three, Natasha and Thomas let go of the door and followed me out the broken window. There was one fairly large advantage we vampires had on the demons, and that was speed. Not that much faster, but enough. I followed Thomas through the alleys of Miami Beach until we reached his car, parked at another of the beach hotels. I left the woman in the valet area, knowing they’d find her right away.

  We sped away in Thomas’ car with Natasha at the wheel. I felt a rush through my veins. Did I even produce adrenaline anymore? Whatever it was, I felt amazing and powerful. I had saved another life and taken another demon off the streets.

  “I’m calling Benjamin.”

  “What? Thomas, no,” I said, feeling my incredible high drifting away.

  But I couldn’t stop him. I could hear Benjamin through the telephone, saying just a few words. “Take her to my house.”

  There he went again. Ordering me around. Nothing was going to tarnish my proud feeling of accomplishment. Not even that smug smirk on Natasha’s face in the rearview mirror.

  Happily, we dropped Natasha off at her hotel on the way to Coral Gables. It was out of the way, but the longer we spent away from Benjamin’s home, the better. It wasn’t until we were close to the house that Thomas finally spoke to me about what he’d seen.

  “How did you do that with the woman’s soul?”

  “I’m not supposed to talk about it,” I said.

  Thomas laughed. “Then you probably shouldn’t have reattached a human’s soul in front of me.”

  “Don’t start with me, Thomas. I don’t need you riding my ass too! Ugh, I didn’t mean for it to come out like that. I get enough grief from Benjamin. I’m a grown woman.”

  “I know you are. And whatever you did tonight. It was pretty amazing, Olivia. I just don’t understand exactly how you did it.”

  I smiled at him. Thomas could be so kind. “I don’t know either.”

  We pulled up to the house and Benjamin’s car was already in the driveway.

  “I think it’s better if you don’t come in,” I said to Thomas.

  “Are you sure? I could run interference for you.”

  “That’s sweet of you to offer. But, I’m not worried about him. As I said, I made my own decision. Benjamin has trained me for this. I’m not doing anything that any of you don’t do almost every night.”

  “Well, I’ve never seen anyone do what you did.”

  “Right,” I conceded. “Except for that. But, it’s not like I’m doing anything bad.”

  “No, you’re not. I’d like to talk to you more about it. Can I take you out tomorrow night? Let’s just take the night off and have a good time.”

  “Okay,” I said. “Pick me up at ten.”

  “Ten it is,” Thomas said.

  I exited the car and watched Thomas drive away. He was a nice guy and I could use a night out without worrying about the fate of humanity.

  Benjamin was waiting for me in the living room. I was expecting him to start in on me right away, but he was surprising calm.

  “Well,” he said, “what’s the damage?”

  I kicked my sneakers off, leaving them by the front door. “One demon dead and one soul re-attached.”

  “And you’re all right.”

  “Yes.”

  “Good. I’m glad Thomas was there to bail you out and keep you from getting yourself drained.”

  “You mean again? Like when you drained me?”

  “Stop that.”

  “What?”

  Benjamin walked over to me, angry all of a sudden. “You can’t keep throwing that in my face. Either we’re okay or we’re not.”

  I was joking, but he brought up a good point. Where did Benjamin lie on my forgiveness meter?

  “You know, I wouldn’t have needed someone to bail me out if you’d let me go with you tonight.”

  Benjamin thought about that for a moment. I could see him weighing out the options in his head. “You’re right. It won’t happen again. We work as a team from now on.”

  I smiled. “I kicked ass tonight.”

  I walked to my room, fully intending to take a shower to remove the demon “ick” from my body. I curled up into bed with Meowser and read for hours—getting lost in a good mystery. A little bit before dawn, Benjamin came into my room to tell me about the latest demon patterns. For once, he highlighted the human attacks, and of course, Meowser curled up on Benjamin’s chest the moment he lay down on the bed. I fell asleep listening to his latest ideas on how to solve the growing demon problem. I was happy to hear, however, that his plans now included me.

  Nine

  I wondered what vampires did on dates. We couldn’t go out and eat. Well, I guess we could go out and feed on humans together, but that would be gross. Vampires don’t drink alcohol, so that was off the list too. When Thomas picked me up from the house and told me we’d be going to an art show, I was surprised. Of course, there are plenty of things to do that don’t involve eating or drinking. How silly of me.

  Tired of everyone barging into the house, I made a point to lock the front door before taking a shower. I dried my hair and let it hang long and straight. I went through a lot of trouble to get my dark locks as smooth and straight as possible. I was getting used to my fairer skin, but I was forced to buy new makeup. I applied light, peach blush and used a charcoal eye pencil, creating that sexy, smoky eye look. It took me close to a year to master the technique. At first, I always ended up looking like a raccoon. Not this night, however; this night I looked pretty good in a pearl, sleeveless blouse and skinny jeans.

  But not too good.

  I didn’t want to look over the top, as my big plan was to downplay this whole date thing. For some inexplicable reason, I felt like I was sneaking behind Benjamin’s back.

  Not that I had any reason to feel that way. He and I were not involved in any romantic entanglement of any kind. What happened the other night was a natural reaction between two vampires taking blood from each other, right? I could have been anyone and the same thing would have happened. Except that I’m the only person in the history of time that Benjamin has ever shared his blood with.

  The bottom line was that Benjamin felt responsible for me and was helping me out with the blood lust and my ave
rsion to taking human blood. That’s all it was and nothing more. I shouldn’t feel bad at all about going out on a date with Thomas.

  When I was just about ready, I heard a knock on the door. I rushed to the living room, hoping to beat Benjamin there, but no such luck. Benjamin met me in the hallway, and looked me up and down before stopping in front of the door.

  “Going out? Am I finally to meet the famous Laura?”

  “Not tonight, I’m afraid. I have a date,” I said, reaching around his body to open the front door.

  For the first time, I saw Benjamin look surprised. I honestly didn’t think that anything could jar him. His body went still, his eyebrows arched, and I saw some emotion in his glacial eyes. If Thomas hadn’t been at the door, I’d have demanded an explanation for Benjamin’s reaction.

  I opened the door and Thomas stepped into the house. I’m sure he’d barged into the house a million times before, but this time everything felt awkward. There was a strange vibe in the air. These were the embarrassing moments I hated watching in the movies. I just felt so bad for all those involved. So why was it happening now?

  “Thomas,” Benjamin said.

  “Benjamin,” Thomas returned.

  “Hi Thomas. I’m just about ready to leave, but I can’t find my watch. I guess I can go out without it. I have my phone, so I don’t really need it.” I tucked my hair behind my right ear, fidgeting under the vampires’ stares.

  “It was on your nightstand. It probably fell under the bed.” Benjamin said.

  For some reason, Benjamin’s helpful observation seemed painfully intimate.

  “Huh,” I said. “I’ll go check,” and I left to check my room one more time for the watch. I should have said it wasn’t a big deal and left with Thomas, but at that moment, I needed an extra thirty seconds to myself.

  Sure enough, the watch was under the bed, but for the sake of appearances, I left it there for later retrieval.

  “Nope, wasn’t there,” I lied. “Shall we?”

  Thomas and I left on what was probably my sixth “first date” of the year, and it was only June. I already knew this one wasn’t going to go over well so I did my best to make it into a friend-date. I didn’t have many friends, and I had even fewer vampire friends. I didn’t want to lose any relationship with Thomas all because of a failed first date.

  The Wynnwood art gallery was pleasant and we were lucky it didn’t rain because one of the large exhibits consisted of tall murals painted on the side of huge, cement walls. Thomas said he’d chosen the spot because there weren’t many demon attacks in the area. Towards the end of the evening, we sat inside the gallery, admiring some of the paintings.

  One painting, in particular, was of a larger woman eating a sandwich. “See, I just don’t get these kinds of paintings,” I commented.

  Thomas didn’t speak right away. I was hoping that with his extra years of experience, he’d be able to explain art to me in some deeply meaningful way that I’d never been able to grasp before.

  “Are you and Benjamin sleeping with each other?” Thomas asked.

  The question caught me totally off guard. Unfortunately, I didn’t respond well. “What do you mean by sleeping with each other?” I asked.

  Thomas’ lips curled up into the most curious smile.

  “No, what I mean to say is that he literally, tends to sleep in my room every night. I didn’t mean to imply that we were having sex with each other.”

  Because we’re not.

  “At first,” I continued, “it was because I was terrified. I’d just been turned and also witnessed a demon attack. Now, he usually just talks my ear off about strategy or something until dawn comes and I pass out.”

  This was pretty much the truth. I nodded, mostly to reassure myself. No one was supposed to know about my drinking Benjamin’s blood, and I intended to keep that information confidential. Thomas nodded once, obviously digesting the information. Really, I thought, he was reading too much into the whole thing.

  “And you know, the whole blood connection thing. I must admit I feel closer to him since he turned me.”

  Thomas’ face went blank for moment, and then he looked as though he pitied me. “There is no special blood bond, Olivia. That’s not something that happens when a vampire converts a human.”

  “Oh.”

  After the uncomfortable conversation, the rest of the date fell flat, just as I predicted. Thomas took me home, and as he drove away, I couldn’t help thinking, “What an attractive, intelligent, nice man. Of course, I found a way to make it not work.”

  Inside, I found a note from Benjamin on the dining room table. My watch, of course, was on top of the note. “Your watch was under the bed. Out of town for a few days.” It was merely signed, “Ben.”

  Ten

  I walked into the living room to check myself in the full-length mirror. After getting a look at myself in the dress, I had to mentally thank my old college roommate, Catherine, for not choosing hideous bridesmaids’ dresses. The dress was strapless, short, champagne color, made out of chiffon, and gave off just the slightest shimmer. My hair was parted to the side and swept up into a low, loose bun.

  Meowser curled around my legs and I hurried into the kitchen to refill his dish. I wondered when the cat would get used to my new schedule. Though, what did he care? He slept eighteen hours a day regardless.

  “Where are you going?” Benjamin asked.

  I turned around, surprised to see Benjamin sitting on the loveseat. As usual, he was wearing a dark gray three-piece suit. His eyes swept over my body, from my face, all the way down to my peach high-heels. The look of lust and appreciation on his face made me look away in embarrassment.

  “I thought you were gone until tomorrow,” I said, wrapping a shawl around my shoulders.

  “Plans changed. Where are you going?”

  “To a wedding. My friend, Catherine, is getting married at the Biltmore. You remember the place, right? It’s where you killed me.”

  Benjamin leaned forward, resting his forearms on his legs. He looked up at me with those crystal eyes. “Olivia,” he began.

  “Don’t start with me, Ben.”

  “You’re not going to a wedding, Olivia. You could hurt someone.”

  “Not going to happen. I’m a bridesmaid and I have to attend. I’m going. You can just save your speech about how I’m going to drain someone’s blood. Because I’m not. I just had your blood the other day. Remember?”

  Benjamin’s lips curled into the sexiest smile. “Oh yes,” he said. “I remember.”

  I held my hand up as if to stop his next sentence from exiting his mouth. “Please, not another word,” I said, still embarrassed about the night when we’d drunk each other’s blood.

  “Then, I’m going with you.” Benjamin stood up, folding the magazine that he was reading in half, and tossing it onto the sofa.

  “How do you know I don’t already have a date for the wedding?”

  “Do you?” he asked, calling my bluff.

  “No.”

  “So, it’s a date then?”

  “You’re impossible,” I said, groaning. “Well, at least you’re already dressed,” I added, gesturing to his exquisite suit. “Here, I couldn’t get the last bit of my dress zipped up.”

  “Allow me,” he said, moving to stand behind me in the mirror. He zipped my dress, letting his fingers linger on my bare shoulders. Never taking his eyes off me, he ran his strong hands along my collarbone, sending shivers down my spine.

  “Don’t be an ass tonight. I went to college with some of these people and they can be ruthless. They are going to have me under a microscope and I don’t even have a fancy job to brag about anymore.”

  “They’re going to hate you no matter what.”

  “Why is that?” I asked, frowning.

  “Because you look incredible.”

  “Oh,” I said. But instead of saying “thank you,” or anything normal, I stormed toward the front door with my head down and waited o
utside for him to lock up.

  The wedding was incredibly boring, but pretty. Anything looked nice at the Biltmore. Just as I predicted, every woman in attendance was drooling over Benjamin. I wondered if he’d ever crashed a wedding before and seduced a lady before drinking her blood.

  The ceremony was short and sweet. Towards the end of it, however, the number of humans around me really started to rankle me. It was just too tempting, all the fresh blood pumping around me, just ripe for the picking. Exposed necks just waiting to be bitten. As much as I would have liked to stay and enjoy the reception, I asked Benjamin to have the car pulled around. I wanted to hightail it out of there before I did something I’d later regret.

  I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t sweet to see my ex-boyfriend, Ian. He was an attractive man, a real catch in most women’s eyes; but he paled in comparison to Benjamin.

  I sat at my table, remembering what it felt like to have a few too many drinks at a wedding. I’d never be able to get tipsy again. Honestly, I thought, it’s probably for the best. No more drunken electric slide for me! I could hear a low buzz in the air, the collective sound of the wedding guests’ heartbeats drumming in my ears.

  My chest constricted. Closing my eyes, I gripped the tablecloth, turning and twisting the fabric between my fingers.

  “Liv,” Ian said, approaching the table from my left.

  “Enjoying the party?” I asked, staring at his neck.

  I wondered what it would taste like. Ian’s blood would probably be sweet, I mused. His chestnut, mid-length hair was combed and tucked neatly behind his ears, except for one small hank. I reached over and brushed it out of his face. My fingertips grazed the back of his neck and I felt his skin heat up under my touch.

  “You look amazing tonight,” Ian said.

  “I do? Thank you. You’re so sweet.” But would your blood be as sweet?

  That was it; I couldn’t handle the cravings anymore. It had been too many days since I’d drunk Benjamin’s blood, and I was going to have to drink human blood eventually. It felt so natural now. I wanted Ian’s blood so badly that my throat started to ache. How does this work? I wondered. I had to get him into a secluded location. We were in a hotel after all. It should be easy to corner him in the dark, somewhere I could sink my teeth into his yummy veins.