Chapter Seven
When I woke up, I was lying on the floor. Nikolai was squatting on his haunches near my head. The only sign of him having had his nose broken was the small change in the shape and the few streaks of blood he’d missed when cleaning.
“Here, drink this,” Nikolai said. He reached for the glass Miss Wisconsin had brought.
I sat up. Without thinking, I grabbed it and chugged the whole thing. It was downright divine. I had never tasted anything like it. I couldn't imagine any manmade beverage being this amazing. It calmed the burning in my throat and the hyperactive circus still parading through my stomach. When the liquid was gone, I panted for a few minutes trying to catch my breath. Nikolai watched me closely, his hands relaxed, though the look on his face suggested he was ready for me to make another dash for the door. Finally, when my head was a little clearer, I wiped the back of my hand across my mouth. It came back dark red.
“What is this?” My even voice seemed to calm him. Nikolai stood up. I followed his example.
“Blood. What did you think it was?”
“Blood?” I asked stupidly. “I drank blood?”
“Even your horrible books have vampires drinking blood,” he neared.
I was myself enough to glare at him. Though I realized my books were a far cry from true literature, he didn't have to rub my face in it.
“We're vampires, Ashley. We drink blood. It is what keeps us alive, or whatever we are.”
“Human blood?”
“What do you think?” he scoffed. “Yes, human blood.”
I dropped back onto the leather couch, my hands going to my head. “What just happened to me?”
“You smelled human blood for the first time and it triggered your desire. Josh should have fed you already.”
“I—I tried to kill that woman. Shirley?”
Nikolai just nodded.
“Will it always be like this?”
“That depends entirely on you,” he said in that annoyingly matter-of-fact voice. He didn't even sound ruffled. “You will have to work to gain control. All vampires do.”
“I don't want to be a vampire!” I screamed and flung the empty glass at the door, a few stray drops of blood splattering against the wood while the glass shards clinked noisily onto the polished hardwood floors. Why couldn’t they understand this? Why did he have to be so calm about what was obviously the end of my life?
“You are a vampire.” Nikolai was suddenly right in front of me and hauling me off the couch. His two hands dug painfully into my shoulders. “You are a monster! That desire for blood will never leave you!”
“Do you feed off those people?” I asked the look of terror in their eyes still fresh in my memory.
“Yes.”
“You bastard!” I shrieked back, pushing him away. He released me and moved with my push, but I had a feeling it was more due to his nature than my strength.
“Listen to me, Ashley…”
“No! I can’t be like you… a villain. I can't… ”
Nikolai then did the last thing I expected—he slapped me across the face. I somersaulted over the armrest of the couch and landed a few feet away. I looked up, shock and astonishment no doubt playing on my features. My cheek blazed as though his hand was still slapping me. Nikolai glared at me, his stance indicating he was ready for me to retaliate. When I continued to stare at him, he prowled to my side and knelt in front of me.
“Are you ready to listen to me without the hysterics?” he growled, his voice sounding almost visceral. I gulped. “You have four choices. One, you can ask me to stake you right now and end what you have left of life. And trust me, it's exactly what I want to do right now. Two, you can steal from blood banks, blood that is for the sick and dying. Three, you can kill people every time you need to drink. Four, you can keep a willing food source at your disposal.”
“Willing?” I asked dubiously.
Nikolai nodded and stood up. Evidently, he didn't think I was going to have another tantrum. I, personally, wasn't so sure. “There are ten humans who live in this house with me. They willingly allow me to feed on them when I need to. In exchange, they live here rent-free.”
“So for rent, they give you their blood?” It didn't seem quite worth the trade, even in this posh house.
“They get a lot more than just rent. I generally pay for everything they need—cars, food, medical bills. I'm putting Dan through college.”
“Bet you get a lot of action from the ladies,” I grumbled, angrier at the thought of him taking advantage of the women than drinking their blood.
Nikolai smiled, showing me I wasn’t too far from the truth. “Unlike what a second-rate novelist might say, it is not all about sex with us vampires.”
“Sure it ain't.”
His smile darkened into a glare. Boy, he was good at glaring, but I could match him on my worst day, which might have been today.
“What about animal blood?”
Nikolai laughed, though I wasn’t sure why. “Animal blood is one of the worst things you could drink.”
“Why?”
He sighed. “It takes away your desire for blood, fills you up. But it doesn’t feed you.”
“I don’t get it.”
“Why am I not surprised?” He paused, his eyes roving over the office, now splattered with blood, as though looking for a way to explain it. “A vampire who drinks nothing but animal blood will starve to death without even realizing it. Animal blood can’t nourish us, or make us strong. All it does is lure us into a false sense of—of fullness.”
I stared at the intricate rug, disheartened by his answer. If it was only a matter of not keeping us super-human strong, I wouldn’t have minded. I didn’t need super-human strength to be a writer, but starving to death would certainly put a kink in my plans. “And that’s why you keep these people?”
“I don’t want to kill people,” he said as though it ought to be obvious.
“You're still a bastard,” I told the rug.
Nikolai chuckled. “Of course I am. I never said it was a good alternative, but would you rather kill people? Or take from blood banks? What is it you think we ought to do?”
Instead of answering his question, which I think was rhetorical anyway, I said, “And they don't tell anyone?”
“Of course not. When a vampire drinks from a human, that human becomes drawn to them. Loyal. Some of these people I've been feeding on for years. They would never do anything to harm me.”
“Convenient,” I intoned, heavy with the sarcasm.
“Indeed.”
I got up off the floor and rubbed my hands against my jeans in a nervous gesture. It seemed strange to just return to the couch. I eyed the blood splatter on the door and wondered if I should clean it up. Eh… he had humans for that… right? I mean, weren't they around to be his personal slaves?
I turned to peruse his books. I didn't want to look at him. His calm acceptance of what we were, and his lack of commiseration over my present situation, irked me to no end. I wondered if he even had a heart. Nikolai seemed the type to not care for anyone but himself. I heard him move to his desk and fiddle with a drawer. The silence made my skin crawl, especially as it gave me time to consider how much I didn't like him and how much I was presently in the wrong—which I didn't like either.
“Hey, Nikolai, is it safe for me to be around your—er—food source?” I asked turning back toward him. Belatedly I realized I hadn't retained even one of the titles I'd read.
Nikolai smirked. “You'll have to learn to control yourself some time, better to do it with me here to help. And you can call me Nik.”
I nodded. “What would have happened if I had bitten her?”
“You'd have drunk her blood until I stopped you. Had it been a complete stranger you would have killed them, or I would have had to—to maintain our secret.”
My head snapped up. “What?”
“No one can know about us. If the human world knew about the
mystical world, they would rise up against us.”
“Would that be such a bad thing?” I suddenly felt very depressed.
“Consider the Salem witch trials. A lot of innocent people died while very few witches did. Humans knowing only ever hurts other humans. We’re too good at hiding.”
Whether I liked it or not, it made sense. Again, his casual acceptance of our horrid existence made me want to vomit—all over him. I tried to pull my mind back to my present issues. “Do you think I could apologize to Shirley… and the others?”
Nik smiled at me in a way I had never seen before. It made me kind of uncomfortable. He nodded and stepped closer to me.
“When we go down there, and you feel the desire taking over, take a few deep breaths—through your mouth. I'll be right beside you, and with one look I'll have you out of there before you can hurt anyone.”
I nodded. The older vampire took my hand and led me out of the library. He ignored the shattered glass, so I did too. We found them in the kitchen—which was simply one part of the enormous, L-shaped room that held the kitchen, dining room, and living room. The living room—or long part of the L—held a grand piano, a mini library, a few different sitting areas and still enough space to waltz in. And I mean that literally. Definitely large enough for a royal ball.
Just like the living room, the kitchen was equally impressive. The cabinets were a light, beautiful cherry, with speckled granite countertops and stainless steel appliances. In the center of the enormous kitchen was a large island, around which the majority of the humans stood. Dan sat on the farthest counter, his head a foot above the others. I felt very self-conscious as we interrupted their discussion—about me.
“Everyone, this is Ashley Hawn. You already know Shirley and Dan.” Dan waved. “That's Liam, Nathan, Charlotte, Olivia, Parker, Ian, Logan, and Mark. Ashley will be staying with us for a while until she gets her sea legs.”
They all looked at me as if they didn't know what to say. Some nodded. One or two scowled. Shirley smiled—typical Miss America contestant. “Hey, guys… ” I began sheepishly. Gosh, I sounded like an idiot. “Sorry for the whole… pointy teeth grr thing.” I held up two fingers to mimic my “big, sharp, pointy teeth.”
Most of them nodded again, almost in unison. Dan, on the other hand, laughed. I felt Nik pat me on the shoulder. Dan's laughter seemed to be the cue for everyone to relax. I spent the next couple of hours chatting with them, Nikolai at my side. It wasn't easy being around so many humans, their heartbeats pounding in my head like an off-tempo bass line, but each time I felt the pressure in my gums start to form, I took a deep breath through my mouth and Nik squeezed my arm to the point of pain. It was exhausting.
I found myself wishing Dan and I had met under different circumstances. Though he was a few years younger than me, I quickly began to like him. He was an average, hardworking sort of student. Nothing spectacular about him in the least. I didn't picture him as a Calvin Klein model or anything like that, and after the day I'd had, normal seemed like a very good thing.
Just when the humans were suggesting they all go to bed, something strange happened. We heard a loud crash from the living room. Nikolai led the way around the corner, into the other room. My instinct was to expect a cat and a broken vase. Instead, we found one of the living room windows shattered, and five humans and two wolves—yes wolves—taking turns climbing through the hole.
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