B008DSVE7O EBOK Page 13

  “No, sir. Really, I’m okay!” I said, but he was already punching in the numbers.

  “How the fuck did you get out of the car?” Laura screamed.

  “Hold on,” I said, standing up and yanking the man’s collar so he’d look at me. “What’s your name?” I said, startling the poor man.

  “Harold.”

  “Harold, are you listening? You didn’t see me, Harold. You are done walking your dog for the night. You are going to walk home now. Okay, Harold? Tell me that you understand.”

  “I understand,” he said, turning around. “I’m going home.”

  I waited and watched him walk half a block in the opposite direction.

  “Okay, seriously, promise me you’ll never hypnotize me like that,” Laura said, rubbing her temples.

  “I’m not going to promise that. If I can ever save your life from immediate danger by hypnotizing you, I will.” I brushed myself off. I had tiny bits of gravel dust all over my light gray pants.

  Laura rolled her eyes. “Are you going to explain to me how one second you were in the car with me, and then all of a sudden, I hit you with my Jeep?”

  “We should get off the road,” I said, walking back to the car. “Oh, look at your car!”

  “Good thing you’re already dead,” Laura said, assessing the damage. “That’s what insurance is for, sweetie.”

  “I’m only half-dead.”

  “Tomato... tomahtoe.”

  Laura drove to the house and I was still trying to understand the whole point of that man talking to me. What was the purpose of the exchange? To introduce himself? To tell me that there are other things in the world besides humans, demons, and vampires? I guess I should have expected that. Before meeting Benjamin, I never even considered the possibility of vampires actually being real. When Benjamin and I were out of Laura’s earshot, I planned to tell him all about this. He had to be a demon, right? The eyes weren’t black, though. I felt like my world was spinning around.

  As we pulled up to the house, I looked at Laura. “I don’t know what happened before. I don’t know how to explain it. You have to understand that there are strange things going on in this city, and you have to be vigilant.”

  “I know,” Laura said. “You only told me about a million times.”

  “I’m serious, Laura. Have you considered moving out of town for a while? Go to D.C., near your parents. There are plenty of museums that would fall all over themselves to hire you.”

  “I’m not leaving, Liv. I like it here.”

  “You won’t like it much longer when the underworld takes over.”

  “But you’re going to stop it, right?”

  “I don’t know, Laura. Something crazy just happened and I have no idea how I could stop something like that,” I said, exiting the Jeep with my shopping bag in hand.

  “Alright, stop it! You’re giving me the heebie-jeebies.”

  “How do you think I feel?” I asked, unlocking the door to the house. “Benjamin? You’ll never believe what just happened!”

  Inside, we found Benjamin, Thomas, and a vampire I did not know in the living room. The unknown vampire was covered in blood, and judging by the cuts and slashes all over his bare chest; it appeared to be his own. His fangs descended the moment he saw Laura. Fortunately for her, he was too weak to go after her.

  “Benjamin,” I said, dropping my purse and shopping bag on the floor.

  “Laura, it’s nice to finally meet you,” he said, greeting us by the front door.

  Meanwhile, Thomas lifted the wounded vampire from the tiled floor and carried him to the spare bedroom.

  “Olivia,” he said, reproachfully, “you should have called first.”

  “I realize that now, Benjamin, however, it didn’t occur to me.”

  “I should go,” Laura said, visibly uncomfortable.

  There wasn’t any delicate way to save the situation, so I inhaled unnecessarily deep and gestured to the woman, who was like a sister to me, and the man, who was my… oh, I don’t know… My lover. “Benjamin, this is Laura. Laura this is Benjamin.”

  “It is nice to meet you, Laura. You’ve caught me at a bad time, I’m afraid. Can we try this again soon? Perhaps you could arrange for a night tour of the museum.”

  “Yes, of course,” Laura said, already headed for the front door. Her eyes were wide and I could tell she was nervous by the way she kept fidgeting with her chunky bracelet. “I feel terrible barging in on you.”

  “I am the one who should apologize,” Benjamin said.

  “I’ll walk you out,” I said, completely mortified.

  Outside, the air was still thick and hot, even though it was already eleven o’clock at night. “Sorry about that,” I told her.

  “No, don’t be. Are you going to be all right?” she asked with genuine concern on her face. Something inside the house had obviously shaken her.

  “Yes, I’ll be fine.”

  “That man is gorgeous, by the way! I thought my pants were going to fly off on their own.”

  I laughed and closed the door to the Jeep once she was strapped in. “I’ll call you tomorrow,” I said.

  “You better.”

  I watched Laura drive away, hoping that the mysterious people-freezing-man wouldn’t decide to pay her a visit on her way home. I convinced myself that she would be safe and walked back into the house. Benjamin was waiting for me, leaning against the back of the large sofa.

  “So.”

  “So.”

  “You go first,” we both said in unison.

  The vampire’s name was Sean, and Benjamin had just saved him from a demon-holding spot. Blood was caked in his short, blonde hair; and although he’d all but completely healed, he was still pretty weak.

  The demon cells were popping up all over the city. It only seemed fitting that the seedy demons were squatters too. I had never been to one of these spots, however, Benjamin and Thomas described them to me in depth. Abandoned warehouses and empty homes in foreclosure were converted into the ultimate human holding cells. They sucked out the human souls and then left their bodies to rot. They don’t find the smell offensive, and when the neighbors finally call the cops to complain, the demons either move on or kill the investigating officers.

  The demons, unfortunately, were able to commit their transgressions during the day, while vampires slept. They snatched humans off the street by day and hunted vampires by night. I couldn’t help wondering how humans didn’t realize or sense there was something wrong about the demons. They were able to blend in amongst society well enough. In my limited dealings with the monsters, I discovered they bore similar characteristics.

  While they looked like humans for the most part, their eyes were an unnatural flat shade of black. Their hair was the color of grease, and their bodies always slender. When they moved, they did so in quick, short bursts, so they looked twitchy. The demons were strong and a fair match for the vampires; but one-on-one, a vampire would win, hands down, every time. However, if a vampire were ambushed, by say, eight of them, he or she didn’t stand a chance.

  A vampire can’t die unless you decapitate or cremate him or her. So the demons tied them up and drank their blood incessantly, weakening the vampires and thereby disabling them. This fate, most felt, was worse than death.

  Once Sean was cleaned up, Thomas took the drained vampire to feed. This raised a flurry of red flags in my mind. The vampire had lost a lot of blood; and I didn’t know Sean well enough to know if he was careful during feedings.

  “Hold up, Thomas,” I said, blocking the front door. “This guy’s going to need a ton of blood, so you better work your charm and get more than one donor. Otherwise, he’s going to end up killing someone.”

  Thomas didn’t like being ordered around, but lucky for me, I didn’t care what Thomas liked or did not.

  “I think I can handle it, Olivia,” he said with an annoyed smirk on his face.

  “Feel better, Sean,” I said, as I closed the front door behi
nd them. I turned and ran smack into Benjamin’s hard chest.

  I wasn’t sure what to expect from Benjamin. How does an old vampire act toward the woman he’s sleeping with when they are not in bed? I wanted to jump into his arms and have him whisk me away to the bedroom, but I hesitated.

  He leaned down and drew his arms around my waist. His lips met mine as if he’d been waiting to kiss me all night. First, he kissed my upper lip, coaxing my lips apart slowly, then his tongue touched mine for a brief moment before he released me.

  “You must be upset,” he said, drawing me with him to the couch. He sat down and pulled me onto his lap so that we could see each other’s faces. He played with my fingers and circled my wrists with his thumb and forefinger. “I swear, you must have the smallest wrists. That first night that you punched me, I swore your wrist might break.”

  “Good thing I’m a vampire,” I said.

  “Good thing,” he agreed, smiling.

  I played with the fabric of his suit jacket and marveled that his hair and clothes always managed to look perfect. “Did you just save a man from a bunch of demons?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  “Oh, no reason. Why would I be upset?”

  “Because of the scene Laura walked in on.”

  “My fault,” I conceded. “I should have called first. There could have been a meeting going on or something like that.”

  “Or, I could have called you and warned you that there was a bloody vampire in the living room.”

  I rested my hand on his face, enjoying the feel of his smooth skin. “If you had to call me every time there was something weird going on in the house, I’d probably throw my phone in the ocean.”

  Benjamin’s chest shook lightly with laughter. “So, what is it that happened anyway? You said something when you first walked in the house.”

  “That can wait. First, I want to hear more about what happened to that man, Sean.”

  Benjamin brushed my long bangs away from my face. Jeremiah, he said, told them of a demon den and Benjamin, Thomas, and Anthony, the large vampire whom I’d met before, went to investigate. They killed about ten or twelve demons but several escaped. They found Sean chained to a wall.

  “So, that big, chubby vampire guy can fight and stuff?”

  “Just because he’s overweight, doesn’t mean he doesn’t have the strength of a vampire. If you had a couple hundred more pounds attached to your arms and legs, you’d be able to move around just as fast. Right?”

  “That’s true. I hadn’t thought about it that way.”

  “Are you going to tell me what happened?” he asked.

  “Oh, right!” I said, sitting up. “The craziest thing happened!”

  “So crazy that you haven’t told me yet?”

  “Geez! Cool it, okay? Laura and I were driving down the road a couple blocks from here when this gorgeous guy appeared in the middle of the road.”

  “Gorgeous, was he?” Benjamin asked, narrowing his eyes.

  “I’m not going to lie, Ben. He was good-looking. Anyway,” I continued, “I am not making this up, but he made everything stop. The car stopped in mid-drive, the man on the sidewalk froze in mid-step. The only things that could move were me and the guy in the street.”

  Benjamin’s eyebrows drew together as I spoke and his body tensed.

  “He had these ridiculous green eyes and, you’re never going to believe this, but he read my mind. He knew what I was thinking and he knew my name. How did he know all that? How could he read my mind?” I watched as Benjamin’s grip grew tighter around my wrist. I wiggled out of his grasp.

  “I’d like to maintain full use of the hand, thank you.”

  “Sorry,” he said. “What else did this man say?

  “He told me that he’s not a demon and I know he’s not a vampire. I don’t know of any humans that can freeze-frame motion like that; so I don’t know what he is.”

  Benjamin nodded and I sensed that he was withholding something.

  “Do you know this guy?”

  “I don’t know,” he said.

  I knew not to push Benjamin for the information. He’d tell me when he was ready, and if he didn’t, well, then I would have to dig for it. “Do you think he knows that your blood is making me more powerful? I don’t know how long he picked around in my brain.”

  “Were you thinking about it specifically?”

  After a moment of consideration, “No,” I finally answered.

  “Most likely not, then.”

  “But he could be outside, for all we know. Right? Listening now?”

  Benjamin patted my thigh playfully. “You’re paranoid.”

  “How can you not be paranoid about this?” I countered. “Unless you already know this man.” Did that count as digging for information? Sometimes I couldn’t even stick to my own rules.

  Benjamin drew my face up to his. He kissed me full on the lips. “Olivia, there is something I have not told you about me.”

  “Oh God,” I said, leaning away to get a full view of his face. “That is never a good way to start a new topic, Benjamin.”

  He tipped my chin up with his finger. “I am the oldest vampire in existence.”

  “Really?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “That’s impressive.”

  “Was I not already impressive?

  “Oh, of course, it naturally shines through. So are you like the king of the vampires or something?”

  “No. But, I’m definitely the strongest.”

  “I guessed as much,” I said.

  “I have existed for about a thousand years, and do not remember everything.”

  “So, you may have met this guy before, you’re just not sure,” I asked, seeking clarification.

  “I’m sure I’ve met him,” Benjamin concluded. “I just don’t remember the circumstances.”

  “Well, he freaked me out. That’s for sure!”

  Benjamin stared at me and I searched his eyes and face for a long time. What had this man seen over the course of a thousand years? I didn’t mean to be petty, but how many women had he made love to during all those years?

  “A millennium?” I asked, still unable to believe he was so old. “You’ve been with many women,” I said.

  “I don’t want to know how many men you’ve been with,” he said, his voice serious.

  “It’s not a lot. Believe me. I am hopelessly out of my league with you,” I said.

  The number was three. I’d slept with three men in my life and Benjamin was now one of them.

  “You have it wrong, Olivia,” he said, always pronouncing my name with the slightest accent on the “vi” part. He said it in a way that made me think I’d been pronouncing it wrong all along, and only he enunciated it properly.

  “What are you talking about? I’m just one of a million in your long list of conquests,” I said, burying my face in his chest. I was embarrassing myself.

  “Yes, I’ve had sex with many women.”

  “A million?” I asked, my voice muffled against the fabric of his jacket.

  “No,” Benjamin said.” Not a million.” He pulled me away from his body so I could look at him as he spoke. “It’s not just your divine body, Olivia, and I promise you, it is exquisite. But you had me captivated from the beginning. Do you think I spend hours having drinks with the people I feed from?”

  I shook my head.

  “No, I do not. I wanted to keep talking to you. I would have hidden my being a vampire from you for as long as I could manage, just to take you out each night and share some time with you.”

  I smiled, thinking about how that whole scenario would have played out.

  “Unfortunately, my attraction to you became too much. I am a vampire, after all.”

  “I know,” I said.

  “I’m not going to apologize anymore. That may upset you, but I’m glad you are a vampire now. You are an amazing, unique creature. You are a vampire that maintains her humanity, while growing so strong.”<
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  “And smart,” I added.

  “And smart.”

  I grabbed two fistfuls of his jacket and pulled him to me, kissing him hard. I brought my leg around, ready to forget about demons, as well as golden men.

  Benjamin chuckled and pushed me back ever so carefully.

  “As much as I’d love to continue this train of thought,” he said, rubbing my thighs with his hands, “Jeremiah will arrive any minute.”

  “Why does he help you anyway?” I asked, standing up to smooth the wrinkles in my black blouse.

  “I’ve never asked him,” Benjamin said. “For all I know, it’s an elaborate plan, spanning centuries, to eradicate the vampire race.”

  “But they need vampires.”

  “Yes, that’s true.”

  I bit my lower lip, debating whether or not to ask the next question. “Why do you go after the demons?”

  “Because I need to. Maybe because they are a good match.”

  “And because you can.”

  “Yes, perhaps it’s because I can, and that’s reason enough.”

  “I’m with you,” I said. Three words that meant a variety of things.

  He nodded. “I know you are.”

  Right on cue, there was a knock at the door.

  “Geez, this place is like Grand Central Station!” I moved with vampire quickness to the front door and let Jeremiah in.

  “Olivia,” he said, walking past me and settling in at the dining room table.

  “Hi,” I said, picking the cat up off the floor and bringing him to the table with me.

  “Benjamin,” Jeremiah called. “Would you mind bringing me a glass of water?”

  In the moment it took for Meowser to yawn, Benjamin returned with the water and sat down next to me. “You were right about the den,” he told Jeremiah.

  “Were any humans left alive?” he asked.

  “No,” Benjamin replied, shaking his head. “We did get a vampire out. Thank you for the information.”

  “I’ll try to get you more intelligence, but I’m somewhat rogue. They don’t trust me anymore. They remember that I served the old king.”

  This seemed like a fantastic segue into my burning questions. “Jeremiah, what’s in it for you? Why do you help the vampires?”

  He took a sip of his water and rubbed his face along the ridge of the scar that ran down the left side. “In my mind,” he said, “it is not I who help the vampires. It is the vampires who help me.”