by Melody Raven
“Not getting my hopes up and ignoring everyone altogether aren’t the same thing.”
She winced. It wasn’t a terrible argument. Tela just didn’t want to be the one to keep on crushing Dani’s hopes. Taking another drink of the orange juice, she abandoned her path to her bedroom and went for the living room instead, flopping down onto the couch. “All right. Tell me who you found.”
“All right. On the first channel, I found Will, who sounded like some kid who just went through puberty. Then there was Gareth. He was over in Belltown, and it sounds like he’s been on the radio every day since the invasion.”
Why did her underage sister only connect with guys? But it wasn’t as if she’d be silly enough to actually try to meet one of these people. This wasn’t like internet dating here.... “Did Gareth have any interesting insights?” She rubbed at her head.
“Gareth knew nothing. Travis is the one who was so fascinating. He’s with the resistance.”
Oh, God help her. “The resistance?”
“Yeah. Get this, he’s outside the wall.”
This was exactly what she’d been afraid of. “I don’t want you getting involved with any resistance.” Tela tried to make sure her voice was firm. To make sure that there was no mistake that this was an order and not a suggestion.
“You have to be kidding me. I can’t afford to not be part of the resistance. Look around us. Look what you just had to do tonight. I can’t in good conscience sit back and do nothing while people are suffering and dying every day.”
“You’re a kid. That’s what you’re supposed to do in times of war. Sit back, do nothing, and wait to be rescued.”
“And in seven months, when I turn eighteen? Is there some magical switch that’s gonna go off? That will allow me to actually help somebody?”
“You are helping somebody. You’re helping me. I will lose my goddamn mind if anything happens to you. I want you to know that I’m putting all of my sanity in your hands, and I really hope you can handle that kind of responsibility. And my sanity is not an easy burden to bear.”
Dani narrowed her eyes, but she let it go. “So tell me more about your night.”
“I really don’t want to talk about it.”
“If you don’t want me to be a part of the resistance, okay. For right now, I’ll listen. But you have to at least keep me informed. What are the vampires like?”
Tela didn’t know what to say to that. Really fun to grind against? Oddly sexy if you give them a chance? Besides, she had a feeling John was hardly a standard by which to judge other vampires. He seemed more like an exception than a rule. “It’s... different. They seem to be catching up to society more and more. The last time I went, I had to manually check in, and this time they had a human receptionist.”
“A receptionist! You’re kidding. How on earth do they find humans to work for them?”
“I assume the same way they found me. I needed money and they had it.”
“And did the girl seem... terrified? Injured?”
“No. She seemed happy. As far as I can tell, of course.”
“And what about where they live? Do they sleep in coffins or anything?”
“I didn’t go in his bedroom,” said Tela harshly. She winced as she realized what she did and tried to backtrack. “I mean, I don’t see why they’d sleep in coffins. It’s not like they’re dead. You’d be surprised how warm they can be.”
“No, I remember. That dance club was scorching.”
Tela glared at her, and Dani quickly clarified, “I mean, it was way too hot. Uncomfortably so. So uncomfortable I never want to go back. Happy?”
“I’m never gonna be happy. After that little escapade, I’m surprised my hair didn’t turn white.”
“And did you see John when you went today?”
And there it was. Dani had been asking about John repeatedly ever since he dragged her out of that club. Understandably so. She’d been just as perplexed and confused by the help he’d offered as Tela had been. Should she lie? If she told Dani that John had requested her, that would only stoke the girl’s curiosity. But no, she couldn’t. Even if Dani was still legally a minor, she wasn’t exactly a child to be protected. In fact, she had to admit she respected Dani’s urge to help people and her willingness to put herself at risk for others, even if she didn’t agree with it. And Tela wasn’t in the habit of lying to people she respected. “Actually, I did see John tonight. He, um.... He requested to see me.”
“Requested to see you about what?” Tela just looked at her sister, and Dani’s mouth dropped open. “He requested you? You specifically?”
“Yep.”
“Wow. That’s, um, good?”
“I have no idea.”
“How was it?”
“He was much nicer than the last one,” she said honestly. And that was officially as much information as Dani was ever going to get about what had just happened.
“So he likes you then.”
“He likes me well enough to eat me.”
“No, I mean he likes you. This could be exactly what we need. Tela, if you can get him to fall in love with you, then we can—”
Tela stood up from the couch and slammed her empty juice carton down on the table. “You better not finish that sentence.”
“I’m not crazy,” insisted Dani as she followed Tela down the hall. “Vampire and human relationships are becoming more and more common. Just think of the things that we could get if you had a vampire falling all over himself for you. All you have to do is—”
“All I have to do is get some sleep, because I’m tired and suffering from blood loss. I will see you tomorrow morning.” Tela shut the door in her sister’s face. She then let out a deep sigh and leaned against the wood, her heart beating unexpectedly fast. A vampire in love with her? She had to let out a laugh as her head fell back against the door. Good Lord, that was the last thing she needed.
Tela put the book down on the table. It had ended all too soon. The nice little influx of cash she had since her meeting with John had allowed her to splurge just a little bit and pick up a paperback from one of the few grocery stores that were running on emergency supplies. There weren’t a lot of books left, because boredom was an increasingly large issue in the city, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. The trashy romance had grabbed her from the first page, and she’d been unable to put it down until now. She was happy she liked it so much but upset that it was over already. She wanted more. She wanted to be able to go online and look up every single book that author had ever written and read them all now. Maybe tomorrow she and Dani could make a trek to the library. There had to be some books left there....
The power was still on, and the TVs were still operating, but she was so sick of sitting in front of that glowing screen. She never thought she’d miss working so much. Scrubbing floors and toilets had never been fun, but at least it got her out of the house and doing something. Now her days were all mindless and repetitive. She found herself repeatedly looking at the calendar. Donors weren’t supposed to give blood more than once every two weeks. She’d stretched it to four last time because she’d been so afraid to go back, but now that she knew she was working with John, she was almost... excited to go back. As much as the idea annoyed her, she couldn’t deny it. As confusing and infuriating as her time with John had been, it had also been damn pleasurable, and more than that, interesting.
Every time she saw any of the news networks talk about Seattle, they kept on saying the same things over and over again in different ways. More ways scientists couldn’t figure out how to penetrate the magic wall around the city. More ways they were trying to work with the vampires to a diplomatic solution. More ways nothing was actually happening to make her life any better.
And on top of that, Dani was constantly on that radio now. She thought it would be a nice distraction for Dani when she’d originally allowed her to use it, but now it was becoming the bane of her existence. Most of the people on the radio were harmless, and
Dani loved the interruption in their boring existence. She would talk about the most inane things, like her favorite color, favorite nail polish, favorite restaurants before the invasion, and the best ways to make rice taste good.
She was happy Dani was entertained, but if she had to listen to the inane small talk much longer, she was going to lose her mind. But worse than the small talk was when Dani would find a channel with the resistance on it. From what Tela heard, they’d never told Dani anything specific, which was smart because the vampires could be listening in at any given moment. Considering they were getting set up on their own VPNs, Tela was sure they could figure out a CB radio in no time.
Tela hoped like hell this resistance wouldn’t risk setting up a face-to-face meeting with Dani. But her concern grew every time that stupid Travis came over the airwaves and started talking to her younger sister. Once the resistance found out that Tela was a donor, they’d become insistent about talking with her, but Tela had made her stance very, very clear on the resistance. She was more than happy for them to continue doing what they were doing, but she wasn’t helping them.
She was a housekeeper, for crying out loud. What did she know about fighting vampires? The first time she’d gone to the Sorenson Building, she’d nearly died. The second time she went, she’d almost orgasmed while dry humping a vampire. She was definitely not going to be any help to the resistance. They’d be better off finding some other patsy.
A knock came on her bedroom door, and Tela called, “Come on in, Dani!”
Not that it would be anybody else besides Dani. Nobody else was ever here.
Her sister cracked open the door and poked her head in. “Hey. Travis wanted to talk to you.”
“I’m sure he does, but you know how I feel about that.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah, we all know that you are completely unwilling to help. That’s not news. But there are things that he wants to say to you that could change your mind.”
Tela rolled her eyes. “If there was anything that would change my mind, he would’ve said it already.”
“No, he wouldn’t have. Some things can’t be said over the radio. If you would just agree to meet with him, then—”
“Meet with him? Are you crazy?”
“You know I’m not crazy. I’m determined. Besides, he’s a dude. I told him I talked to you and he’s convinced he’d do a better job. So why don’t you prove him wrong by meeting with him and telling him in person that you’re determined to be utterly unhelpful.”
Tela’s eyes narrowed. “You’re really upping your manipulation game, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Psh. You’re trying to make Travis sound like a douchebag who’s underestimating you so I’ll confront him and then end up agreeing to a meeting. Unfortunately for you, I’m not about to underestimate you any time soon.”
“Ugh. You’re impossible!” Dani dramatically walked away.
Sometimes she seemed so mature for her age. And sometimes she was like a thirteen-year-old throwing a tantrum all over again.
It was times like this that she was happy she wasn’t a mother. Dani was great and all, but starting all over again would be... a lot. Not to mention the whole vampire apocalypse thing.
She was just about to turn on the TV to start flipping through the channels of people whose entire lives hadn’t been upended by the vampires when there was a knock on the door. Tela froze. Someone at the door wasn’t totally unheard of. Since cell phones didn’t work, Tiffany and Dani were running back and forth between apartments all the time.
The sun had just gone down maybe fifteen minutes ago. Any sane person would be indoors by now. People didn’t wander outside their apartments at night. Not unless they were working or going to flirt with danger.
She wanted to ignore it, but the knocking came again. It didn’t seem distressed, as if someone needed help. There was no frantic energy to the knocks or the screaming of someone who was in a panic.
Should she just wait for them to go away? Let’s be honest. Her entire strategy for dealing with the vampire apocalypse had been to keep her head down and wait for it to pass. Why would that change now in the safety of her own home? Especially when that safety could be threatened.
Dani appeared in her doorway again. “Aren’t we going to get that?”
Tela appreciated that Dani hadn’t just opened the door herself. At least Tela still had some kind of authority. “Why would we get it? If it’s important, they’ll come back tomorrow. In the daylight. When it’s safer.”
“I don’t think it’s safer for him.” Dani bit back a smile.
“What is that supposed to mean?”
“It means John is here for you.”
Tela jumped out of her chair and started to run for the door before forcing herself to control herself. “Does he look okay?” she asked as she reached the door.
“I’m fine,” called John from the hallway.
Dani let out a laugh, and Tela shot her a stern look. She supposed she couldn’t pretend she wasn’t home. She could ignore him, but she was once again reminded that John, personally, hadn’t done anything against her. She also needed him. Right now, he was her only source of income.
She jerked her head at Dani, signaling her to get out of the room. Dani mouthed, “WTF” but finally walked out of sight, even if she knew her sister was right behind the corner listening to everything.
Finally Tela opened the door and was taken aback at how big John was. She should be used to it by now. Hell, the last time she’d seen him, she’d been writhing all over that body. But seeing him here, filling her doorway, was still a shock. The last time he’d been here, she’d been a little distracted and she definitely wasn’t thinking about John the way she was now.
No, scratch that. She wasn’t thinking about him in any of those terms. Not even a little bit. If she kept telling herself that, maybe it would be true.
“Hello,” he said simply, as though it was no big deal that he was here.
“Hello,” she said back, holding in all of the questions she wanted to spit out.
“I assume you’re not going to invite me in,” he said with the tiniest bit of movement at the corner of his mouth.
Was that almost a smile?
“You’d assume right.”
She most definitely didn’t want to tell Dani everything she found out. The girl was too reckless and too damn... young. She was all set to try to save the world but gave absolutely zero thought to her own safety.
But she couldn’t take it back now. “Just stay here,” she warned as she made sure to grab her key off the key ring and stepped into the hallway where John was patiently waiting.
He wasn’t quite as casual as he’d been the last time she saw him. Instead of jeans, he wore black slacks and a snazzy full-length wool coat that stopped midcalf. He looked rich and powerful, and totally out of her league in so many ways.
“Hello.” He pushed away from the wall. “How have you been?”
The question was much too formal for the situation they were in and made the whole thing seem more awkward. Tela just shook her head and started for the stairs. Dani might not have supernatural hearing, but she was fully capable of putting her nosy little ear to the door and listening in. Once she was outside, she took a deep breath of the cold night air. She glanced up and down the deserted street and didn’t see anyone. It was so odd to see so little activity in Seattle at night. Even now, it was hard to get used to.
It wasn’t as if she’d been out many times after dark since the invasion. Even now, with John by her side, she was filled with a sense of unease.
She looked him up and down, now back to ground zero when it came to questioning his motives. “So why are you here? Just couldn’t get enough of me?” she said with a smile, meaning for it to be a joke. But John was just quiet, staring at her that intense way she was becoming used to.
Maybe she should avoid joking with him.
“I�
��m here because I need a favor.”
She had to stifle a laugh at that. Now he was obviously the one joking. “You want me to do a favor for you? I already let you bite me—I don’t see what more I can do.”
Of course there was something she could do for him. Judging from the way they left things last time, she knew for a fact that he wanted a lot more than just a little bit of blood from her. Hopefully he wouldn’t bring that up....
“There’s a dinner coming up. I’d like you to come with me.”
Her eyebrows shot up. “Not as the main course, I hope.”
He tilted his head. “Of course not. If you were the main course, I wouldn’t be asking your permission.”
The matter-of-fact way he said that was simultaneously reassuring and terrifying. “All right. So if you’re not going to eat me, why on earth would you want to bring a human to a vampire dinner?”
“Vopura dinner.”
She winced. “I’m not calling you that, and don’t avoid answering me, please.”
“There will be other humans there. It’s sort of a... diplomatic thing. It would look better if we could show that we’re playing well with the humans within the borders of the wall.”
“Okay. I’ll make it easy then. No. Of course I’m not going to go to some stupid diplomatic dinner.”
He had the decency to not look surprised, but his jaw did tighten in frustration. “Why not?”
“Because you’re not playing nice. If your kind was playing nice, I’d be allowed to leave if I wanted to. I wouldn’t be held prisoner here. I’d be able to move to a place where I could get a job that doesn’t involve letting some parasite feed on my blood.” She thought about putting a “no offense” after that, but she knew it wouldn’t be genuine.
“I’m trying my best here.”
“I’m sure you are. And I like you. You seem like a decent guy, even for a vampire. But that doesn’t take back any of the shit that’s been going on out here. You know that, don’t you?”
“Even if I am a parasite,” he said, spitting out the word with disdain, “you should come with me. The situation is more dire than you realize.”
