Bitten & Smitten

by Michelle Rowen

  “Nothing! Not a word. I promised him. Scout’s honor!”

  “What about the other hunters?”

  “I don’t know any other hunters. This was all Melanie’s idea. She wanted some kind of revenge on her old boyfriend. I didn’t want to hurt anybody. I’m leaving town, so I won’t be speaking with anyone. I’m leaving the country and going back to Wisconsin.”

  I let him go. “Good. You do that. And, uh, have a nice trip.”

  He scurried away up the street like a scared mouse who’d just escaped from a hungry cobra. It was highly strange to have someone look at me like they were afraid I might hurt them.

  Thierry hadn’t ordered Eugene’s death. He’d let him go. I let it sink in.

  Then I took a streetcar to Lakeside Drive

  . I didn’t have enough money for a cab, so public transit would have to suffice. It was three o’clock. The club wouldn’t be open yet, but I tried the front door, anyhow. Surprisingly, it wasn’t locked and swung inward at my touch.

  I walked into the tanning salon just before I was attacked.

  Well, “attacked” might be too strong a word. It was more like a fierce hug that seemed to come from nowhere.

  I pushed away from whoever it was and looked at them, my eyes wide. But it was only Amy, smiling bright and shiny back at me.

  “Hello, sunshine!” she said. “How are you on this fine day?”

  “Amy.” I tried to compose myself, then realized it was impossible. “What the hell?”

  “I have had such a great day, you would not believe it. And last night? In-freaking-credible.”

  Oh, yeah. Amy and Barry’s little romance from hell. Spare me the details.

  She frowned at me. “You don’t look so good.”

  “I don’t?” I said with mock surprise. “That’s funny, ‘cause I feel like a million bucks. That reminds me, you wouldn’t happen to have a million bucks I can borrow, would you?”

  “Sorry, no. Oh, dear, I guess I shouldn’t be acting all happy in front of you then, if you’re having a lousy day.”

  “Try lousy decade.”

  She laughed then and flicked her light blond hair off her face. I spotted something odd on her neck. It couldn’t be what it looked like, could it? I grabbed her and pulled her hair off to the side to inspect the fading fang marks, like two tiny hickeys over her jugular vein.

  She clasped a hand over her neck and smiled sheepishly at me. “I didn’t want you to see that.”

  I waited, not saying anything.

  “I have news,” she said.

  I raised an eyebrow. It wasn’t a happy eyebrow by any means.

  She held up her left hand. She was wearing a ring with a tiny diamond in it.

  “I’m engaged.”

  I still didn’t say anything. Her smile faltered.

  “Aren’t you happy for me?”

  I felt the headache/potential brain tumor arrive right on schedule. “Amy, don’t you think you’re taking things a little too quickly? I don’t want you to get hurt. He’s probably just doing this so he can feed off you. Disgusting, but true.”

  She looked shocked. “Feed off me? How dare you say something so horrible about my Barry. He didn’t just feed off me…” She paused and then met my eyes directly. “He made me into a vampire just like you!”

  She said it with such enthusiasm, such pure joy, I almost felt happy for her. She made it sound as though she’d just won an all-expenses-paid trip around the world. But she wasn’t going anywhere. Except to hell in a handbasket, that is.

  Her smile slowly faded when I didn’t jump up and down with excitement about her “wonderful” news.

  “I’m so sorry, Amy.” I felt tears rising in my eyes. “I dragged you into this. This never would have happened if I hadn’t let you come here last night. It’s all my fault.”

  She frowned at me. “What are you talking about? This is the best thing to ever happen to me.”

  I shook my head. “You’re delusional. I can’t believe you, Amy. Wake the hell up! Being a vampire is horrible. If the hunters don’t kill you, you’re in constant pain if you don’t have blood regularly. You grow fangs and lose your reflection. It’s not normal, and it’s definitely not fun. Why would you want this for yourself?”

  Her expression turned cold. “You’re just jealous.”

  “Jealous? Yeah, I’m so jealous.”

  “You are, you just don’t know it.” She crossed her arms in front of her, defensively. “I’m engaged to a wonderful man, I’m happy, and now I’m a vampire just like you. You thought you could be the only one? Well, I’ve got a news flash for you: the world doesn’t revolve around Sarah Dearly.”

  “You know something? Just three weeks ago you went out and bought the same skirt as me because you thought it was cool. You are such a follower, Amy. Well, hate to break it to you, but this isn’t exactly a piece of clothing you can just return tomorrow if you don’t like it. This is your life, and you’ve just gone and ruined it.”

  “What has happened to you, Sarah?” Her disappointment in me was palpable. “You’ve changed so much. I barely recognize you anymore. I mean, you look the same, but you don’t act the same.”

  I snorted at that. “Yeah, I suppose I used to act like an ignorant bubblehead just like you. Funny how a week of running for your life can change a girl.”

  “It’s your own fault that you can’t see the positive side of things. Maybe that’s where we’re different. I’m sorry that you can’t be happy for me. But I’m happy for me. Barry’s happy for me. And that’s all that matters.”

  I held up my hands, totally exasperated with her. “Whatever. I don’t want to deal with this.”

  “Then don’t.” Her bottom lip quivered. “Just don’t. Now, if you’ll excuse me, Barry said I could use the tanning beds for free this afternoon.”

  She turned away and went into one of the rooms; then she slammed the white door shut behind her.

  I stood there for a minute in stunned silence. I couldn’t believe it. She was such a dope. Was that really the way I used to come off to people? Like there wasn’t anything more in my brain than what I was wearing and how pretty other people might think I look? It was sickening.

  But a part of me wanted to go after her and talk. We’d been friends for so long. We’d shared so much, and it hadn’t just been surface crap. I hoped our friendship could survive this. I really did. I just wasn’t so sure. Then again, by the sound of things we might have a long, long time to make up.

  I shook my head. I wondered where I should throw the bachelorette party.

  Maybe I was overreacting. Who, me? I took a few deep breaths. Maybe I just needed to take a little time and relax, do some deep yoga breathing. Find my zen. I think I’d lost my zen about the same time I got fired last week. That’s assuming I ever had a zen in the first place. Come to think of it, I wasn’t even sure what a zen was.

  I pushed open the black door to the club and walked inside. It was empty, but I’d expected that. It wasn’t due to open to customers for another six hours. It felt eerie being in there all alone, the chairs up on the tables, the lights off. Everything was so still and quiet.

  I went to the bar and helped myself to a few shots of blood. It’s amazing how good such a disgusting thing made me feel. Funny how you can get used to the craziest things if given enough time.

  Thierry’s office was empty, too. There was no one there but me. And Amy out in the tanning bed. It would be good to have a little peace and quiet for a while. I had to think through everything I wanted to talk to Thierry about.

  I needed to know if he had anything to do with Quinn’s mother’s death. I wanted to know why he’d let Eugene go when he’d given me the impression that he’d die.

  Sitting down at Thierry’s booth, I laid my head on the table. After a while I must have dozed off.

  I awoke to a sharp pain on my shoulder. Somebody was poking me.

  “What the hell?” I looked up.

  “Hey,”
Zelda said.

  I rubbed my eyes. “Hey yourself.”

  “What are you doing here?” She slid into the other side of the booth.

  “I wanted to talk to Thierry, but he’s not here yet.”

  “How did you get in?”

  “Amy was out front using the tanning bed.”

  “Oh, right.” She smiled. “Our little bride-to-be.”

  “Yeah.” I rolled my eyes. “Can you believe that?”

  “I think it’s kind of cute.” She pushed a newbie special across the table. “I made this for you.”

  “Oh, thanks.” I took a sip. The diluted blood tasted weak, now that I was used to the real stuff. “You seriously think it’s cute?”

  “Why not? Love is always cute.”

  I laughed. “Yeah. Love. Right. I think it’ll take me a while before I’m convinced that they’re in love. And can you believe it? He actually turned her. I’m going to give him a piece of my mind the next time I see him. Maybe a piece of my fist, too, while I’m at it.”

  She smiled back at me. “Barry’s harmless. Your friend could do a lot worse.”

  “If you say so.”

  She looked at me for a moment. “You seem a little down.”

  “Do I?”

  “Yeah. What’s wrong?”

  I sure wanted somebody to confide in. Normally, it would have been Amy, but it didn’t look as though she was going to be much help. I still needed someone’s opinion about everything. Somebody I trusted.

  Zelda waited for me to answer. It was funny, but looking at her across the table, I felt like I could be looking at my younger sister. If I had one, that is. Zelda appeared to be only in her late teens, and even though I knew she was three hundred years older than that, the illusion was still pretty persuasive. Maybe we could braid each other’s hair later and talk about boys. Maybe not.

  “I went to see that guy,” I said. “The cure guy. Met with him and everything.”

  “Really?” Her expression was guarded. Maybe she didn’t know how to react, if it was good or bad news that I went to see him. I was still trying to figure that part out myself.

  “And it’s true. There is a cure.”

  “You went there all by yourself? Wow, that’s brave.”

  “Actually, I took Quinn with me.”

  Her eyes widened. “The guy who practically remodeled this place the other night? The hunter?”

  “That’s the one. He’s calmed down a bit, though. He wants the cure, too, so I took him with me.”

  “Well, that makes sense. So, what happened?”

  I sighed. “You’ll never believe how much the cure costs.”

  “There’s a cost? Oh, I never even thought about that. I guess it makes sense. Okay, how much?”

  “Try one million bucks on for size.”

  Her eyebrows shot up. “Holy shit. That’s a lot of money.”

  “Yeah.”

  “And he wasn’t able to come down at all? He wouldn’t lower the rate?”

  “Why would he?” I shrugged. “He doesn’t know me. Why should he do me a favor?”

  “God, Sarah. I don’t know what to say. I know you were counting on it.”

  I chewed my bottom lip while I tried to decide if I wanted to tell her any more. It was eating at me like ants on a moldy egg-salad sandwich—I wanted to get it all out on the table.

  I looked at her. “He did say there was another way to get the cure. I’m not going to do it, but there is another way.”

  “Did he want you to sleep with him?”

  I made a sickened face. “God, no. Ew. You should have seen him. Not the cream of anybody’s crop. No. He wanted to know where to find Thierry. Said he’d be able to sell the info to the hunters for big bucks. That he’d be some kind of a trophy kill because he’s so old and legendary and shit.”

  “You’re kidding.” Zelda’s eyes were so wide I probably could have seen my reflection in them if I still had one. “And what did you say to that?”

  “I played dumb, of course. Wasn’t hard.”

  “And Quinn?”

  “Same deal. He didn’t say anything. But then the guy said something about how Thierry was responsible for Quinn’s mother’s death. It was terrible.”

  “He said that? What did Quinn do then?”

  “I think he had a small stroke. But he still didn’t say anything. I think he was in too much shock. But all bets are off now. I don’t know what to do, Zelda. Tell me what I should do. Should I tell Thierry that this guy is spreading lies about him?”

  She was quiet for a moment. “Why do you think it’s a lie?”

  I blinked at her. “Because it has to be. Thierry’s not a murderer. He couldn’t have done it; there’s no way.”

  She didn’t say anything to confirm that I was 100 percent correct. In fact, she wouldn’t even meet my eyes anymore.

  “Zelda.” I felt panic rising in my chest. “Talk to me.”

  “Thierry’s always been kind to me,” she said. “I told you he helped me out when I was a fledgling, right?”

  I nodded.

  “Not that he shared any of his blood with me”—she eyed me for a moment—“but I owe him, okay? He’s been good to me, and I’ve always felt a sense of obligation to look out for him and not do anything to cause him pain directly. I don’t want to say anything that’ll make things worse than they already are.”

  “Things couldn’t possibly get any worse than they are.” My voice had turned shrill. “Please, Zelda, tell me what you’re thinking about.”

  She shrugged a little and shifted around in her seat. “Don’t you ever wonder why there are vampire hunters at all?”

  “Just to make life interesting?”

  She shook her head. “They all do what they do because, for the most part, they honestly think they’re doing the right thing. That they’re the good guys and we’re the evil hell spawn.”

  “But they’re wrong. We’re not evil.”

  She paused. “It hasn’t exactly always been that way.”

  “Okay, Zelda, stop beating around the bush. Tell me what you’re trying to say.”

  Her face was grim. She didn’t want to tell me whatever was on her mind. I wasn’t sure I even wanted to hear it, but there was no going back now.

  “First of all,” she said, “try to remember that things haven’t always been as easy as they are now.”

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  “Look around. You’re in a vampire bar. For a few bucks you can get all the blood you need, with or without alcohol. We can live normal lives, interact with regular people, hold so-called normal jobs if we need to. Nobody has to know what we really are, unless we tell them.”

  I clenched my fist. I wasn’t going to hit her, but it helped ease my stress a bit. Or maybe it added to it. I don’t know. “Still beating around the bush. Move away from the bush.”

  “Hundreds of years ago things weren’t so simple. We need blood to survive. Not that many people are going to say—hey, you can have my blood. Sure, just sink your teeth in my arm or neck and have at it. When we feel the pain of true hunger, and I believe you’ve felt it yourself, we’ll do whatever is necessary to get what we need.”

  My fists were so tight my nails dug painfully into the palms of my hands. “You’re going to have to spell it out for me, Zelda. I’m a slow learner.”

  She sighed. “I’m not all that old, in the grand scheme of things. It was hard for me. Still is, actually. But before was much worse. The vampires took what they needed, and sometimes they took too much.”

  “And bled people to death by accident,” I said numbly.

  “Hunger is a terrible thing. Accidental deaths happened. And after a time it became accepted. I guess they had to rationalize it or they would have gone crazy.”

  “What does this have to do with Quinn’s mother?”

  “Nothing. But it tells you why vampires are now considered monsters.”

  “Because they once were,” I finished, my
heart thudding in my ears.

  “Mostly, it was a select group that originated in Europe who gave us the bad name we still have. They were the partiers of that age. Drinking all they wanted and, after a time, not really caring if they took too much. A great deal of blood can be intoxicating, and if you’re constantly drinking… well, you get the idea.”

  She took a breath and waited to see if I had anything to say. I didn’t, so she continued speaking. “So the vampire hunters gathered to rid the world of this group of murderers. Chased them out of Europe, but all it did was scatter them through the rest of the world. Most of them were killed over the next couple of hundred years, but I know of two that survive to this very day.”

  “Let me guess,” I said dully. “Veronique and Thierry.”

  She nodded. “They’re legendary. Oldest vamps I know personally, anyhow.”

  “So you’re saying that Thierry may or may not have had a bit of a drinking problem in the old days. But that was then and this is now. Quinn’s mother would have been killed only around twenty-five years ago. Sorry, but I don’t buy that explanation.”

  “You’re sweet,” Zelda said. “And so young. You look at him with rose-colored glasses because he’s so handsome and powerful. But don’t fool yourself. He’s also very dangerous and always has been. Anyone who gets in his path isn’t usually in his path very long, if you get my meaning.”

  I felt my frown deepen. I wasn’t enjoying story time very much today. “Veronique told me about their lives back in the old days. She called him a coward. Somebody who’d hide at the first glimpse of danger. Doesn’t sound like somebody who’s all that dangerous.”

  “Veronique told you that?” She laughed softly. “Well, consider the source, would you?”

  “Huh?”

  “Veronique has always loved to tell stories that make her shine and everyone else pale in comparison.”

  “Are you saying that she was lying?”

  “Hundreds of years can color a story. Just like an old photograph, the details fade, the edges get worn. I don’t think Thierry is, or ever has been, a coward. But I don’t know. All I know is the Thierry from today, and that’s nobody you want to mess with. I also know that he hates the hunters. Beyond that, I suppose I’d just be guessing.”