Rainer shook those thoughts from his head as he looked up from where he had jotted down a few notes. The vampire who sat across from him was pale, gaunt and looked more or less lifeless. His heart only beat a few times in a minute, indicating that it had been a while since he had had any blood fresh from the vein.
“How are they about feeding you?” Rainer asked.
It was his wealth that enabled him to have this interview in the first place, but the vampire glanced at the large mirror to one side of the room. He wasn’t going to be getting the full truth, not when the prison warden was watching.
“I get the requisite amount of blood per day.”
The requisite amount. Meaning whatever the humans had decided was the minimum a vampire needed to live. Rage boiled up in Rainer’s chest, but he fought it down. This was, unfortunately, quite common in prisons. The actual figures were difficult to come up with. Vampires were starved and then when they drank from other prisoners—from desperation or starvation because their hearts were dangerously close to stopping but they weren’t allowed to stay out of the sun—they were given longer jail terms. Even when that drinking was agreed upon and paid for.
“And what were you put in here for?”
The vampire sucked in a deep breath. His shoulders hunched. “I had a human boyfriend. He was murdered and they didn’t look past me.”
Rainer closed his eyes briefly. He had read the case before speaking with this vampire, of course. When the time came to write up the article, he would be using his name. Right now, though, he needed some distance. This was just another vampire. A number in the system. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to complete the interview without beating the crap out of these humans.
“What evidence did they have?”
“My fingerprints were on the murder weapon. It was a baseball bat. Johnathon and I would go play ball with our friends every Friday. But my prints were on it. Didn’t matter that there were half a dozen other prints on it. Didn’t matter that we’d been getting homophobic threats. My prints were there, and I was a vampire.”
Rainer nodded, having heard this story far too often not to accept it. “And why haven’t the vampire kings given you any help?”
“I was from the Starlight Mountains. When did King Gregory help anybody, other than the women he was fucking? I chose to live with humans, I chose to fall in love with a human. According to the kings, I got what I deserved.”
“But there are programs to help vampires get lawyers—”
“Programs that are only offered if you have lived a certain amount of time in the kingdom within a year. But you’re not allowed to live in Starlight if you live a certain amount of time among humans. That’s a shame, Mr. Weiman. The kings do not care.”
Rainer leaned back in his chair, nodding. He had his own side-project of helping vampires out when they were in jail, but even with his billions, there was only so much he could do. A huge part of the problem was that there was a significant bias against paranormals in the justice system. Not quite as bad for shifters as it was for vampires but still bad.
The vampire before him slumped back, a look of devastation crossing his face. “The kings. They’ve been in power for so long, they’ve forgotten they’re not gods. They only serve their own interests. The Elders shouldn’t have a say who becomes the new king of Starlight. Forty percent of the vote? They’re more concerned with maintaining themselves… It should be a democracy! It’s why I left Starlight in the first place. I wanted to have a say in my government, the laws I had to follow…”
For a moment a fiery look shone in his eyes, then he barked out a bitter laugh and leaned over the table. “And now I’m here. Now I’m here.”
Before Rainer could say anything else, the door opened. The Warden stalked in, looking strangely amused. “Time’s up.”
Rainer ground his teeth. “Before he leaves, I’d like to give him some fresh blood—”
“No.” The warden’s smile dropped. “He gets enough as it is.”
“And when was the last time he got blood fresh from the vein?”
The warden scoffed and rolled his eyes. “He gets the requisite—”
Rainer stood. He glowered at the warden and stepped a little closer. “You are aware of the lawsuit against Richard Jackson going on right now, correct? He was also a warden giving the vampires he had locked up the ‘requisite’ amount. One of them burned up in the sun. Something that only happens if a vampire isn’t getting enough blood fresh from the vein. It’s not looking good for him. Maybe you should start thinking about preventing something like that from happening to you.”
The warden bristled. “I don’t take kindly to threats, Mr. Weiman, no matter how much money you have to back yourself up. This bloodsucker gets the requite amount and doesn’t need any more than that.”
Rainer trembled with rage but held himself down. If he made any more of a fuss, he might find himself brought up on trumped-up charges, too. So, he calmly picked up his tablet and tucked it into his suit jacket and gave the vampire a sympathetic look as he was roughly shoved out of the room.
The warden stuck a finger in Rainer’s face. “Get out of my jail.”
Rainer waited until he was in his car and away from the jail before he pulled off to one side of the road. He struggled to hold in the fury at what he had just witnessed. The only thing that was worse than the fact that these vampires were in such a bad situation was that their kings—who should be protecting them—were doing nothing. Seriously, if they weren’t going to step up and help, who was?
He slammed his fist into the dashboard, then leaned back and tried to get himself under control. He’d broken one of the glass panels with his blow. Grimacing, he brushed the glass aside and pulled out his tablet again. He hadn’t told the vampire—Greyson. His name had been Greyson—that he was going to record their interview. For the sole reason that he knew if he had, then the warden would have stopped it right there.
Maybe it wasn’t entirely ethical. Maybe it was on murky legal ground. But at least he had something he could work with now.
The image wasn’t great, but the warden was clearly in the shot when he called Greyson a bloodsucker. It wasn’t the worst slur out there, but it was pretty bad. And indicative of the warden’s attitude toward vampires; indicative of the justice system’s attitude toward vampires.
His mind flashed to Angelina’s little boy. He wasn’t about to tell Angelina, having seen how concerned and upset she was already that she hadn’t been able to give her son what he needed, but the truth was the ‘condition’ her son had wasn’t so rare at all. As soon as a child stopped breastfeeding, their immune systems plummeted. Most children were okay until they reached five or so when they grew fangs and started drinking blood naturally.
But there was always the chance that the child wasn’t going to be okay. And there were so few natural-born vampires that even vampires, in general, didn’t know this! Prejudice against vampires on the human side, prejudice against humans on the vampire side. It was worse for vampires living among humans, that was for sure.
He put the tablet away and started driving again. The fact was, if Angelina hadn’t brought Tommy to work with her, if he hadn’t had blood to give him right then? His stomach clenched. Even if she’d taken him to the hospital, it might have been too late. Not when he was so flushed as he was, his skin pale beside that fever.
Tommy had looked exactly the same as Matthew had. They hadn’t known how to save him, and he’d died in his mother’s arms. He could still remember the sound of Jennifer’s sobs. The way it had ripped his own heart out. It was worse than the overhanging, constant dread that filled every waking moment from the moment he first stepped onto the battlefield during World War One and didn’t stop until close to ten years after World War Two had ended. Rainer pressed his palms to his eyes. Tommy had been mere hours from death.
He wouldn’t tell Angelina that. She knew now and would be able to get Tommy what he needed moving forward. Maybe h
e’d connect her with a doctor who specialized in vampire pediatric cases—yes, that was a good idea.
But as he continued driving, all he could think of was the past. Matthew would be fifty now if he had lived. Jennifer would have been seventy. She’d have been old. Wrinkled, starting to lose her natural vigor. Or, would she have changed her mind and decided to become a vampire, like him? She always said she wouldn’t, but would he have been able to change her mind? Would seeing Matthew grow up have changed her mind?
If Matthew had been here, now… what sort of things would he have been through? Would he have fallen in love? Would he have had a girlfriend or boyfriend or both? Neither? What would he have thought about the world today? Would he have been attacked on the street for being a vampire? Would he have been arrested for something he had nothing to do with? Would he have been happy, or would he have looked at the state of the world and raged at the unfairness of it all?
And what sort of future did Tommy have? He was so little, so small, so fragile, so innocent. So unprepared for the world that awaited him. Angelina loved him. That was clear. She was like a mama bear, ready to take on the world for her cub. But did she understand? Did she have the resources?
Did she know who to turn to when her son was bullied at school for drinking blood? When the principal phoned her up and told her that unless she had Tommy’s fangs removed, he was no longer allowed to be in school? Or when the police arrested him for doing some threatening thing, like hanging out at a mall or walking down the street? What was she going to do if he ended up like Greyson, accused of a crime because he was the easiest target?
What sort of world was he going to have to navigate in fifty years? What sort of connection with his past, his culture, his people? Was it going to get better or worse for him?
Rainer grit his teeth and pressed a little harder on the gas pedal, as though he could outrun the demons creeping in around him. The twenties had it right. Live big, live fast. Eat, drink and be merry. Because the world’s already hell in a handbasket, so why the fuck not?
Chapter Three
Her brain felt foggy, like she’d just wadded up the multiple articles she had spent the day reading, editing for punctuation and understandability and shoved them up her nose. There were so many facts and stories in her head that it pounded. Although, that might be from the stress of what happened with Tommy as much as anything else.
He’d gotten all of his energy back as soon as he had drunk the blood and had spent the day running around the office, finding things to play with. The fact that Rainer was absent the whole day had made it a little easier. Since his office was on the top floor of the building and there wasn’t really anybody else around, Tommy’s more noisy games didn’t disturb anybody.
Except Angelina, of course. Even though she reassured herself that his rambunctiousness meant that he was better, the fact that any of it had happened still made her shaky. She tried not to think of what would have happened had Rainer not recognized the signs and taken action. Gratitude welled in her heart when she did, and it beat against her determination that he wasn’t going to find out that Tommy was his son.
Rainer was a notorious playboy. If she told him, he’d probably assume that she was trying to get money out of him. Or, worse, he would simply refuse it all and fire her. Threaten her with a lawsuit if she said anything to anybody. The way he controlled such a large media empire… it was terrifying what he could do with her name if he decided he wanted Tommy for himself, without having her in the picture.
Especially after what had happened today. The more she thought about it, the more she couldn’t remember if he had been gentle with her or if he had been hostile and she had been too focused on Tommy to realize it.
“You’re spiraling, Angelina,” she told herself as she turned off her computer. “Let’s not make assumptions, shall we?”
She did wish he would come back, though. Then she would be able to tell him thank you again and see for herself whether he thought she was stupid for not knowing about this rare condition. She had done research on her lunch break but hadn’t found anything… maybe he’d be able to point her in the direction of better resources.
It was a long day, well past when she should have gone home, but after her late morning, she thought she owed it to Rainer. Not to mention she kept hoping that he’d be back soon. However, it was getting late, and if she didn’t leave soon, she might end up missing the last bus.
Angelina stretched her back out before heading into Rainer’s office. Tommy lay on his couch, tucked in with her coat, sound asleep. Angelina hated to wake him but bent over her small son and gave his forehead a kiss.
“Time to go home, sweetheart.”
She gently took her coat, then sat Tommy up.
“No, I wanna sleep,” he pouted as she helped him get his coat on.
“I know, sweetheart. But we have to go home. Then you can sleep in your own bed.”
Tommy shook his head and pulled his arms tight against his chest. He kicked his feet when Angelina tried to put his shoes on him. “No! I wanna sleep!”
Angelina sighed. She sat on the couch next to him and put her arms around him. Exhaustion ached in her bones. If it wasn’t for the fact that Rainer would undoubtedly know that she had spent the night, she would have been tempted to lie down on his couch and fall asleep herself. The office was cool, but she knew where the thermostat was. If she curled under her coat, she could be quite comfortable.
Rainer’s office, though. There was no way she could do that.
Hmm. There were couches and chairs in the break room. How difficult would it be to set something up there? Then she wouldn’t have to drag her toddler out into the cold night. She had showered that morning and had the basics of what she needed in her purse, in case of emergencies… The bathroom was fairly large, and she had experience washing in a sink.
Tommy leaned against her, closing his eyes again.
Angelina smiled as she combed her fingers through his dark, silky hair. “Okay. We can sleep here, but we have to go to a different room. And we still need to put on new pull-ups.”
She had put him in a pair before settling him down to sleep and she only had one more in her purse. Well, he was potty trained when he was awake, anyway. She wouldn’t need any more until tomorrow. If she got up early enough, she might even have time to run home quick before she needed to drop him off at daycare.
Just when she had gathered up Tommy in one arm and her coat and his shoes in the other, there was a burst of laughter from in her reception area. Loud voices, one of them female, the other Rainer, carried into the office.
Moments later, Rainer stumbled in. His arm was clutched around the waist of a leggy blonde. Her top was unbuttoned all the way down to her skin-tight leather skirt, revealing a rather expensive-looking red lace bra. Her lipstick was smeared on Rainer’s neck and collar. When he saw Angelina, he stopped and blinked rapidly at her.
The woman looked over Angelina and made a little snorting sound of disgust. “You didn’t tell me that we were going to have company.”
“I’m his receptionist,” Angelina blurted. She adjusted her hold on Tommy, turning him from the sight. He twisted around anyway, frowning at Rainer and the woman. Thank God he was too young to understand any of this! “I was just leaving.”
“Oh, good.” The woman smirked at her. “I don’t mind sharing, but I’m not sure there would be room for all of us.”
Angelina’s face flushed. Anger and embarrassment warred in her chest. Did that woman not see that she had a child with her? And that comment about her weight—it was completely unnecessary! Angelina wanted to snap at her that she was no competition, but honestly, she just wanted to get out of here as fast as she could.
“Who’s dat?” Tommy asked around the thumb he had in his mouth.
Angelina hurried for the door, bending her head.
When she reached it, though, Rainer caught her elbow. He frowned, first at her and then Tommy. “Do you have any
blood for him in the morning?”
Angelina stopped. Cold dread filled her. “That wasn’t a one-time thing?”
“No. No, he needs a regular supply, now. And with how sick he was this morning, it’s a good idea to give him a little extra for a while.”
Where would she even go to find blood? The blood bank? A hospital? Could she just keep it in her fridge next to the milk?
Rainer’s eyes weren’t as fogged by the drink as she expected. He frowned at her a moment longer before he scrubbed his hand over his face. “Look, it’s late. The break room has blankets. You should probably bed down there for the night. In the morning, little Mr. can get some more of my bloodstock and I’ll help you find your own source for him. I mean, you could always have him feed off you but that will mean he can read your mind and I don’t imagine you want him to be able to manipulate you into giving him ice cream for supper every night.”
He grinned at her. It was such a winning grin that if it wasn’t for the woman beside him, now kissing his neck while giving Angelina a very obvious look, Angelina might have been tempted to tell him that there was enough room in the break room for him, too.
“Come to think of it…” His grin widened and his hand slipped from her arm to rest on her waist. “Maybe I would like some extra company, if you know what I mean.”
Angelina stepped back. If it wasn’t for the fact her arms were full, she might have taken a swing at him. “I am holding my son and you say something like that? I don’t give a fuuu…” She bit down on what she wanted to say as Tommy started to squirm in her grasp. “A hoot as to what you do with yourself, but you could show a little decency.”
In Bed with the Vampire Page 3
