B008DSVE7O EBOK Read online

  “You came here to ask me questions, so let’s get through this quickly. Then I can go on counting my lucky stars that I’ve completely lost my life as I know it, all because one of you bastards couldn’t control his bloodlust.”

  Victoria cleared her throat. “What do you plan to do with your time? Now that you’ve had to make… some adjustments.”

  “Honestly, I’d like to be a contributing part of your society. I’d like to help track these demons. Especially for the safety of humans.”

  “You understand the need for discretion?” Charles added.

  “Yes,” I said, nodding once. “Benjamin, I believe, agreed to train me. I’d like to help in any way that I can.”

  “This is true,” Benjamin said. “Olivia, will stay with me until I feel she has made the full transition into society as a vampire.”

  “Well,” Anthony said, standing up from the sofa. “I believe we’ve taken enough of your time, Ms. Dahl.”

  The trio of vampires that arrived together, walked to the front door. Everything was going fine until that Natasha arrived. And what was with that Duncan guy? I wondered. He didn’t say a word the entire time. He just stared at everyone with a look of pure disdain. And not just at me, either. It looked like he hated everyone in the room, with equal abhorrence.

  Before following Anthony and Victoria out the door, Charles turned to me. “We’ll be watching,” he said. “You’ll be good. Won’t you dear?”

  “Cross my heart and hope to die!” I said.

  Not even a smile. Geez, these guys were stiffs. I was glad when they left, but not completely, because Natasha and the silent Duncan were still standing at the entryway.

  “Benjamin,” Natasha said, sidling up close to Benjamin. She lay her palm flat against his chest. “We’ll be in town for another month or so. If you want to have some fun, call the Seasons.”

  “Natasha,” Benjamin said, opening the front door wider. “Always a pleasure.”

  Natasha eventually left.

  “Bye! It was so nice meeting you,” I said, laying on the sarcasm.

  Duncan nodded to Benjamin before leaving, and Benjamin simply closed the door behind the creepy man.

  I threw myself onto the couch and kicked my heels off. “That guy can talk, right? He’s not incapable?”

  “Yes, he just doesn’t talk very often.”

  “You don’t like him,” I said, un-tucking my blouse from my skirt. So much for making a good impression.

  “I don’t like him,” Benjamin said, sitting on the chair opposite me.

  “Because?” I prompted.

  “Because he’s revered as a leader of the vampires, yet he doesn’t care that the vampires are being attacked by demons. He does nothing to stop or try to prevent it.”

  “Just like you don’t care that the humans are being attacked,” I countered.

  “I am not human, Olivia. I have no obligation to protect them.”

  “But, you were human,” I said, sadness creeping into my voice.

  “Yes,” he said. “But, that was a long time ago.”

  Would I also lose my connection to humanity over the years?

  “And Natasha? What crawled up her ass and died? If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that she was in love with you.”

  “Not in love. She just wants what she can’t have.”

  Thomas walked into the house.

  “You’re late,” I said from the couch. “I could have used your vote of confidence.”

  “That bad, huh?” Thomas said.

  “They hated me!”

  “They didn’t hate you. They don’t care enough to hate you,” Benjamin clarified.

  “Thomas,” Benjamin said, standing. “I need to feed. Join me?”

  “I was just out, Benjamin.” Thomas said, eyeing me from behind the couch. I think I’ll stay here and talk more with Olivia. Didn’t you say you fed earlier?”

  “Did I?” Benjamin asked. “I meant to say that Olivia fed. I was too busy moving boxes. Olivia needs time to put her things away.”

  Thomas rolled his eyes and reluctantly followed Benjamin to the door.

  “Thanks again for your help tonight, gentlemen,” I said, standing up from the couch.

  “I’ll see you soon, Olivia,” Thomas said.

  Benjamin ushered him out the front door and it was easy to see who the alpha male was between the two. It wasn’t surprising, considering how young Thomas was, relative to Benjamin. I wondered who changed Thomas and under what circumstances.

  “Meowser,” I called, crouching down on the floor. “Here, kitty, kitty.” I snapped my fingers and made kissing noises until my furry cat sauntered out from under the couch.

  “Those mean old people are gone,” I said, picking him up with one arm. This used to be a great feat, considering that Meowser was on the chubby side. I picked my heels up from the floor with my other hand and headed for my room. I set the cat down on my crisp bedspread and eyed the boxes waiting for me in the hallway.

  Hmmm, I thought. Let’s see how fast this vampire can go.

  I had everything unpacked and put away in twenty minutes flat. Not bad. Not bad at all.

  Five

  Three nights later, I got the hang of the demon-fighting thing. As a human, I was athletic. I ran track all through high school and frequented the gym several times a week during my adult years. My favorite class was always kickboxing, however those experiences paled in comparison to sparring as a vampire, with a vampire.

  It seemed that my only physical limitation was my brain. While my mind told me that I couldn’t do certain things, in reality, I could. I now possessed super-human strength; and I felt ready to unleash that power on the unsuspecting demons infiltrating my world.

  Benjamin, on the other hand, insisted that I still had much to learn.

  “I have a question regarding everyday life,” I said, interrupting Benjamin from reading his papers. Benjamin set the portfolio down on the coffee table, granting me his full attention. Tonight, as always, he looked stunning in a dark, gray suit. I was looking pretty stylish myself in a pearl white blouse and black pencil skirt combo. The man had definitely stocked my wardrobe well.

  I sat down on the couch to the left of his reading chair.

  “How do I take care of stuff?” I asked, realizing I should be more specific. “You know, since I can’t do things during the day anymore.”

  Benjamin nodded thoughtfully. “You learn to adjust and deal with things as they come up.”

  “Okay, hypothetically speaking. Well, it’s not hypothetical, it’s for real.” I smiled and looked down apologetically. Sometimes, I could ramble. I looked up at Benjamin. He had great patience and unhurriedly waited for me to continue.

  “Well, before you killed me,” I started.

  “Almost killed you,” he corrected me.

  “I have no pulse.”

  “Details,” he replied curtly. He had the ability to impressively punctuate one-word responses.

  “Right, well, before I became... er, was turned into a vampire, I had a very cushy job, with a killer office. And in this swanky office, I kept a few things that I’d like to get back. The building, however, is closed when I’m awake and they probably wouldn’t let me in anyway because I ditched the company from one day to the next. My stuff might not even still be there.”

  Benjamin leaned forward, his bright eyes studying me carefully.

  “Cameras?”

  “Broken. They’re set up, but just for show. Unfortunately, there is a security guard,” I said, sounding defeated.

  “What is the guard’s name?” Benjamin asked.

  “Mmmm... Harrison. I think.”

  “Are you ready to go?” Benjamin stood up, smoothing out imaginary wrinkles in his suit jacket.

  “To my office?” I asked, following behind him. I had just enough time to grab my purse from the coffee table.

  “You want to learn things, don’t you? How about a lesson in...” He hesitated.
r />   “Let’s call it, hypnosis.”

  “Like when you hypnotized me into having the hots for you?” I hurried out the front door. Normally, my five-foot, three height would be no match for his long legs, but I was quick enough, now. The heels of my beige, patent leather pumps kept sticking between the driveway stones, but I made it to the car just a moment after he did. It was nice to be fast and nimble. Much as I hated to admit it, being a vampire had some pretty decent perks.

  “Please don’t pretend like you weren’t interested in me from the start,” Benjamin said, holding the car door open for me.

  His strong hand lingered on the small of my back as he helped me into the car. I felt a shiver up and down my spine from where he touched me. He was right; I didn’t need any persuasion when I met him at the bar. Benjamin was the most handsome man I’d ever seen in real life. Sure, the men in the movies were to die for. But, the reality is that it’s the makeup and camera lighting that enable the movie experts to make those actors look impossibly sexy. When I saw Benjamin at the bar, I marveled at his raw beauty. I still caught myself staring at him from time to time.

  “My office is in Brickell, off Tenth Street,” I said, as we pulled onto the road. Leaving his home, I remembered what it was like to drive through Coral Gables in the sunlight. The massive trees created canopied roads that sparkled on the days when the dappled sunshine filtered through the branches. Much like a kaleidoscope.

  Was I sad never to see daylight again?

  Yes. But I wasn’t going to cry about it.

  “Why me?” I asked, already sensing it was a bad idea to follow that line of questioning.

  Benjamin didn’t say anything. He kept his eyes on the road and pulled onto US-1.

  “Have you ever made another vampire?” I persisted with my questions, ever stubborn.

  “No,” he said.

  “So this is the first time you’ve ever lost control?” I asked.

  “I didn’t say that.”

  In our short acquaintanceship, I learned that he didn’t elaborate as much as I would have liked. I felt like I was always digging for more information and begging for explanations.

  “So you usually leave people for dead, then?” I asked.

  “It’s been a long time. There are new laws that were enacted in the past century. With increased global technology, we have to take more precautions to camouflage our existence.”

  “If you didn’t make a mistake in such a long time, I can’t help but wonder… What happened to make you almost kill me?”

  Benjamin changed lanes as he wove in and around traffic. He smelled incredibly delicious in the enclosed space. Under any other circumstances of life, or in an alternate reality, where vampires didn’t exist, and Benjamin was just some guy I’d met, I’d have fallen for him instantly. I would have waited eagerly by the phone for his call and cried into a pint of ice cream if it never came.

  But we lived in a world of vampires, and Benjamin was the man that made me one of the undead. So I waited expectantly for him to answer my question.

  “When I feed, I like to be practical. You were impractical,” he said, after a long stretch of driving.

  “Okay?” I said, not at all grasping his meaning.

  “Do you remember that black dress you were wearing?” he asked.

  “Yes, it cost me like half a week’s pay! And that was the only chance I got to wear it. I was going out on a blind date with a doctor so I thought I’d wear something nice.”

  Benjamin hit the steering wheel once with his open hand. “That’s what you were doing there that night. I’ve often wondered. You don’t seem like the type to go on the prowl for men in bars.”

  “Good assessment,” I said, laughing. “I’m definitely not that type of girl. I was waiting for a cab when you seduced me.”

  “Seduced you?” Benjamin said, exiting US-1 and taking the Brickell offramp. We still had a short distance to go.

  “Well, I know I didn’t end up in your hotel room on my own. You said so yourself, I’m not that type of girl.”

  Benjamin looked at me for a moment, a wickedly handsome grin splayed across his face.

  “I never should have targeted a woman I found so attractive.”

  If he meant that as a compliment, I ignored it. I shifted uneasily in my seat, wishing we were at my office building... now.

  “So, how do you date? If attraction is such I problem, I mean.”

  “We don’t.”

  “Vampires don’t? Or you don’t?”

  Benjamin looked thoughtful for a few beats. We’d driven a couple of blocks before he answered.

  “I don’t,” he said.

  I wondered why I was even interested in Benjamin’s dating habits. Geez, I knew how to make myself the fool.

  “Oh! Turn, here” I said, realizing we’d reached the building. The Kent building was imposing and beautiful. When I first got the job, I felt like such a big shot. It’s amazing how quickly your perspective on life can change.

  “It’s here,” I said, pointing to the gray, stone building. “But, I don’t have access to the parking garage anymore.”

  He nodded, turning left and going up a block into a covered, public parking facility. We drove up two levels before finding an open spot. I was surprised Benjamin was willing to leave the Jaguar in the garage, but it’s not like we had any choice.

  “I’ll get the door for you,” he said.

  I smiled to myself as I watched him walk in front of the car. I never imagined he was such a gentleman. He held the door open for me and I stepped out with more ease than I felt. I had more control over my body as a vampire. Normally, I would have had to contort my body to get out of a tiny, sleek sports car like the Jag, but with my new abilities, I was as agile as a cat.

  “Plan?” I asked, as we walked onto the main sidewalk, heading south toward the building. The streets were crowded with cars out for the night. The sound of tires driving over wet pavement filled my ears. My senses were so astute.

  “We’re going to go and talk to the security guard. Pay attention to the tone of my voice and the words that I choose.”

  “Got it.” I struggled to see against the harsh headlights of the cars passing by.

  “Everything is so intense,” I said, holding my hand up to block out the glare.

  Benjamin took my hand in his and squeezed it lightly. The simple contact quelled my growing panic.

  “You’ll get used to it. Your senses are sharp right now. Give it a few days, and I assure you, it will be better.”

  I nodded, nervously enjoying the feel of my hand in his. Should I let go of his hand? Was the moment over? I never seemed to know what to do.

  When we reached the building, we walked up to the intercom system at the right of four large, ornately detailed, glass doors.

  “You’re going to do the talking. Right?” I asked.

  Benjamin nodded. “Once we are inside, however, you take over. Remember, I’m here to fix whatever mess you make.”

  He pushed the button and I heard Harrison on the other side of the intercom. His voice was deep and throaty, like he’d been smoking for too many years, or hung out in too many dingy bars.

  “This building is closed for the evening,” Harrison said.

  “Harrison, listen to me, open the door. Open the door and let us in. You’ve been expecting us. You’ve been expecting us and you’ll let us in now. Alright, Harrison?”

  There was a long moment of silence. Enough time for me to pick a few pieces of cat hair off Benjamin’s suit jacket.

  “What is it?” he asked. “Lint?”

  “No, it’s Meowser’s hair,” I said, frowning.

  Benjamin gave me the death stare. Poor kitty. He wasn’t going to last unless he figured out a way to get Benjamin to warm up to him.

  “I don’t think this Harrison guy is going to open the door, Benjamin,” I said, skeptical of his hypnosis technique. Wait… Didn’t he persuade me into everything the night we met? On the oth
er hand, his handsomeness may have had something to do with my receptiveness.

  As that dreadful thought faded, the buzzer sounded, followed by the click of the door opening. Smiling from ear to ear, I hurried into the building before the door had a chance to shut in my face. Sure, we were in the building now, but that didn’t guarantee us entry into my old office.

  “I still need the key to my door,” I told Benjamin. “It’s the same key for the whole fourteenth floor.”

  Benjamin nodded, following me to the security guard’s station. Harrison’s office was to the right, just past the restrooms. I took a deep breath, out of habit, to steady my nerves and poked my head into Harrison’s office.

  “Harrison,” I said, in a commanding voice, reminiscent of a vampire spoof movie. Right away, I was feeling pretty silly. “You’re going to give me the key to the offices on the fourteenth floor,” I said, looking into his eyes. The skin around his brown eyes was wrinkled and riddled with crows’ feet. His office smelled like an ashtray, and I tried desperately to concentrate all my energy on hypnotizing the man.

  “I’m here so you can give me the keys to fourteenth floor,” I said, my voice alluring. “You asked me here tonight, to give me the keys. You won’t tell anyone that I was here. You’ll give me the keys and I will give them back to you before I leave.”

  Harrison stared at me with a vacuous expression.

  I turned to Benjamin, and he simply mouthed the words, “Hold on.”

  I did hold on, for what seemed like an eternity, but probably only forty-five seconds actually passed. Finally, Harrison opened the bottom drawer to his desk and just handed me the keys. As simple as that!

  “Your name is on the door,” Benjamin said, reaching the door to my office on the fourteenth floor. My old office, I guess.

  “Yes, I’m kind of a big deal. Or, I used to be a big deal.”

  He unlocked the door to the office and held it open for me.

  “I’m sure anyone would agree that being a vampire is a big deal.”

  I smiled despite myself. He had a point. Didn’t I just hypnotize a man into voluntarily giving me the keys to the building?

  “Yeah, yeah, I guess I’m still hot shit.”