“What?” Miriam screams. “I can’t hear you!”
“Nothing,” I yell back. “I was just thinking about what my maker Clive would tell me if he were alive.”
“Yeah? What’s that?” she bellows back.
“He would say something like trust your instincts, look at the least obvious answers, assume everyone is trying to…” My words fade with the blades of grass passing us by. My heart tumbles to the asphalt beneath us. My soul quakes. I am suddenly back in that small room beside his lecture hall three hundred eighty years ago, drinking wine and talking to him. I am young, strong, healthy, and alive. He is the first person I have ever met who has earned my respect and trust.
“Michael, excuse me if I speak out of turn,” he said, “but you, sir, are a brave talker and nothing more. You spout off about wanting to see the world and learn everything, yet you do not wish to confront the ugliness of life.”
“I have had my fair share of ugliness, I assure you.” My wealthy parents left me behind to make an even bigger fortune in the New World. I was raised by uncaring, strict servants who would beat me if I stepped out of line. Years later, they would become my first meals.
“That is not what I mean,” responded Clive. “You have a good nature, but it allows others to deceive you.”
I chuckled. “I think not.”
“Hear my words, Vanderhorst. You take everyone at face value. But if you want to be the master of your own destiny, you must look beyond what your eyes show you. Learn to trust your gut.”
A few weeks later, I would discover the true meaning of his words. He was a vampire who drank blood for sustenance. I would become his first protégé.
As Miriam and I drive back to the airport, my mind reluctantly runs through the maze in search of cheese. There are only two people who have ever truly known me inside and out, who could predict my moves and know how I think. One is dead: Clive. The other is Lula. But I have been down this path before, believing she has betrayed me, only to find she has risked life and limb to save me.
There has to be another answer.
Miriam and I pull into the parking lot of the private airport, and I help her dismount.
“You okay, Michael?”
No. Not even a little. “Sure.” I take her hand and guide her to the office where we must declare our departure. This time, they do not mistake us for anything but a strange couple who doesn’t know how to dress properly.
Within forty-five minutes, we are on the plane and up in the air. My mind runs wild with questions, hypothetical answers, and everything implausible that lies in between.
Miriam sits quietly beside me. I wonder if she can feel my stress or just sees the obvious signs. Either way, she knows something is up.
Having quickly changed into jeans and my light blue button-down, I slide the phone from my pocket and call Lula.
“Mike! Anything new?” she asks.
“No.”
“Really? That’s not good.”
“No.”
“Hmmm…you heading back?” she asks.
“Change of plans. I’ve been in touch with all the generals. We’re setting up a meeting to figure this out together. I do not see another way.” This is not true, of course, but I must know what Lula will say. It is a horrible idea and anyone with half a brain would say so. Didn’t stop Otto from suggesting it.
“Great! Where’s the meeting? I’ll join you,” she says.
Wrong answer. If Lula were truly on my side, she would be telling me I’m a fool for gathering our military leaders in one place.
Dammit, Lula. Are you really in on this? I can’t believe it. I don’t want to.
My heart suddenly feels heavy. In this moment, the only one I can trust is Miriam, and the irony is that I don’t trust what we have.
“Lula, I’m sorry, but I must put my foot down. You are safe right now, and that is all I can ask for.”
“Silly, you can ask for more than that. We’re a team. Tell me where you’re going, you shit, or I swear I’ll never forgive you. Because you and I both know a room full of generals can’t make any decisions without a smart girl present.”
“I’ll text you the information,” I lie.
“Mikey?” Lula says.
“Yes?” I reply.
“You know that you’re everything to me, don’t you?”
Her words spear me right in the heart.
“I do,” I lie again.
“Good. Because whatever happens, I want you to know I am behind you.”
Sonofabitch. Yes, yes, there I go again, swearing, but this time it is warranted. Lula is never that nice. She is definitely hiding something.
I know what I must do. I look over at Miriam. It’s just me and her now. The entire human race and the majority of decent vampires are depending on a librarian and her assistant to figure this out and save them.
Well, at least she is smart.
CHAPTER TWELVE
I know my feelings for Miriam are unresolved, no matter how real they seem, but at least she can be trusted. So when I explain my hypothesis to her about something bigger, uglier going on, she doesn’t flinch.
“Yeah. Well, it all fits. But why would Lula decide to betray you now, after everything she’s done to help you?”
“I cannot imagine, but if you come up with an explanation, I’m all ears.”
“Nope. I’m still trying to understand how you require human blood to stay alive.”
“Our kind lacks certain nutrients due to our state of semi-suspended animation—a result of a virus that slows down our circulatory systems and makes it so that our cells require minimal amounts of oxygen, which means our DNA does not deteriorate as quickly, but also leaves major organs depleted of essential nutrients because of slower blood flow. I studied the phenomena for the last decade in my bioengineering job—after hours, of course. But do not worry. The virus itself is not a very hardy strain. It requires ideal conditions in order to transfer to a new host. Might I say, it is the eight-track of communicable diseases. Not nearly as sophisticated as an Ebola or AIDS virus, for example. The orchid of viruses for all intents and purposes.” I look at Miriam, who blinks rapidly.
“Nerd alert.”
I frown. “Yes, well…I take my work seriously.”
“Are all vampires as anal retentive as you when it comes to work?”
“Yes. And no. Whatever we endeavor, we tend to obsess over it. For example, Jiffy, a vampire who belongs to my society in Arizona, excels at naps and eating peanut butter, but there is no one better, more dedicated to his craft.”
Miriam laughs. “Sorry I asked.”
“Do not be. You can ask me anything.”
She looks away, out the small window at the late evening sky.
“Is there something else you wish to ask?” I question.
“It’s a little silly.”
“Makes it all the more appropriate for a vampire,” I say.
She turns her head back to me. “Were you excited to marry me?”
“That’s a question I do not know how to answer.”
“Why?” she asks.
“I never considered the marriage to be real.”
“Did you want it to be?”
Yes. Absolutely. But… “What sort of idiot sets himself up for such disappointment?”
“The kind who’s in love. Or did you not mean what you said earlier?”
I no longer know if what I feel is true, and I won’t until I get to the bottom of this thing about her grandfather. “I planned to marry you in order to secure the protection of my army. Beyond that, everything I hoped for was inconsequential.”
She nods. “I guess I understand.”
“If we had married, how would you feel right now?” I ask.
She shrugs. “I’m not sure. I…I have issues. I’m sure you’ve noticed my lack of close friends.”
I nod. “You fear losing them.”
“Something like that. I mean, I know that death is a natural part o
f life. I would argue it makes life precious. But there’s something about a tragic death before a person’s time that jars you. I think it’s why we see it on the news or worry about it happening to the people we love. No one ever says, ‘Well, hey, he was going to die in fifty years anyway. Guess it’s better to get it over with.’”
“No.” I chuckle. “Certainly not.”
“But with you, I’m not so afraid.”
“You like the fact I’m so durable,” I guess.
“Is that weird or rude?” She crinkles her nose. It’s cute.
“Not at all. But I wonder…”
“What?” she asks.
“If my durable nature is what drove you to give yourself to me.”
She looks away.
“We are being honest, are we not?” I prod.
She inhales and gazes deeply into my eyes. “No. I wanted you from the first moment we met, and I feel ashamed about it.”
I chuckle bemusedly.
“Stop it,” she scolds. “It’s not funny. I felt like a complete pervert.”
“Dear God, woman. I am not a child. Nor do I look like one.”
“Yeah, but I pushed you to take the job, and I knew you weren’t there for an interview.” I wandered in, wearing a suit—my preferred clothing—and she let on like I was there for the assistant’s position. I played along, and now I wonder if it was because of this vampire attractant.
But the attractant would not affect her feelings. So at least there’s that. “Are you saying your intentions were dishonorable and that you meant to take advantage of my innocent body from day one? Shocking. How do you live with yourself?”
“You’re pissing me off now, Mike.”
I raise my hands. “Apologies.” I can’t help but smile despite her irritation. “But you do understand the irony, yes? I am older than most countries.”
“Now I do, but at the time, I thought there was something wrong with me. Who hires a guy so they can look at their ass? Or have fantasies of seducing them? It’s just not me. Especially since I had a boyfriend at the time.”
I personally love hearing that this entire time she was lusting after me as much as I was her. “Do not feel bad. You never acted on your attraction while you were with him, and the last time I checked, fantasizing is not a crime.”
As I’m basking in the glow of inappropriate workplace romances, I think again of the fact that perhaps none of it is real—at least for me—even if I feel it.
“So, now that we’ve cleaned out our dirty little secrets,” she says, “what are we going to do about it?”
I wish I knew. “For the moment, we have bigger issues.”
“You mean your missing council members or the people who aren’t returning your calls?”
“All of the above, but,” I shake my head, “I think the matter at hand is much worse than I could have anticipated. They have outsmarted us. Outmaneuvered us. I am a king without an army. A man without a plan.”
“Come on. You’re saying the war is over? There hasn’t even been a battle yet.”
“Possibly,” I reply.
“But you can’t give up like that.”
“You think I want to?” I retort, feeling the full force of my frustration.
“No, but I think you’re doing it anyway.”
“If it makes you feel better, I plan to go check on Lula and Viviana. Then we can give up. Maybe we find a chalet in the Alps. Perhaps we go underground and begin planning a resistance. They may be able to defeat me, but there are over seven billion humans on the planet. Vampires can never rule them all.”
“I don’t like your plan. It sucks.”
“Agreed, but it does not change our next step and that you should put your disguise back on—merely a precaution.”
“Again?” she asks.
“I do not want to risk being spotted when we land.” I stifle a smile.
She laughs. “You just want to see me in those shorts again!”
“Can you blame me?”
“There’ll be time for sexy dress-up when this is all over. In the meantime, I’m going back to comfy sweaters and skirts.”
I smile weakly. I like that she is optimistic that this “will all be over” and end favorably, because I am not so sure.
Thirty hours after our trip began, Fernando has taken us right back where we started, to the private airport just outside Phoenix. I can only hope he is truly on my side, as I was for him over two hundred years ago, when I taught him to fight, to track, and how to pass off one’s self as human. With that knowledge, he trained others and played a key part in the Civil War. I am ashamed to admit it, but I did not fight by his side. By then I was far too damaged from the Great War to even look at a battlefield. Instead, I moved to Virginia and opened a barbershop. Yes, that’s right. I even faked a limp and an accent so no one would question why a young man of twenty wasn’t fighting alongside his Confederate brothers. Oddly, it was a peaceful time in my life. I would cut hair and shave beards of the men too old to fight. They were like hens who gossiped day and night. Anything of interest I heard, I passed along to Fernando. At night, I would go to the encampments behind the front lines and pick off captains, generals, or anyone who looked tasty and might be of strategic value, but I never fought.
After the Civil War, I moved to Ohio and opened a new barbershop, where I would stay until Clive’s return in the early 1900s. One day, he told me he was opening a detective agency, and I was in. The problem was that while our societies were established and fully functioning by then, there was still a lack of cooperation between territories. Clive and I filled that gap—looking for missing persons, helping business owners when shipments of product went missing in another society’s territory, and keeping tabs on roving packs of vampires who had refused to come into the fold. Eventually, toward the end of the century, I had to find other work because Clive couldn’t afford to pay me. As I mentioned, our cover stories in the human world must look authentic, and his business had been losing money. I certainly did not need the paycheck, but on paper, Clive was going bankrupt. At the time, I simply scratched my head. Why would he run his business like a charity? I would call him a softy or irresponsible, but that was Clive, always trying to make the world a better place.
The plane slows to a crawl and then pulls into a spot next to the hangar. I am vigilant, looking for any sign of Nice, soldiers, anything. But it is just after four in the morning, and all I hear are crickets and the faint sounds of cars passing on the main thoroughfare.
I grab my things and prepare to disembark.
“This is where we part ways, old friend,” Fernando says. “I must return to my society and check on everyone.”
He now oversees Georgia. It’s quite the busy little territory, with many vampires coming and going for business, but he has five deputies to assist.
“Thank you for everything.” I shake his hand.
“I am always here for you, Vanderhorst.”
Miriam says goodbye, but waits for me at the top of the stairs so I can do a quick sweep of the surrounding area. I had planned on grabbing an Uber just outside the airport, but I see the electric boogaloo has been left in the parking lot.
I walk over. Keys are still inside. Glad to see they’re cautious sorts around here, I think sarcastically.
I scan the buildings around us and listen carefully. Not a sound. Not a breath. Not even a breeze. Still, the hairs on the back of my neck stand straight up.
“Hurry. Let’s go.” I wave her over.
Miriam takes the stairs and walks to my car, but doesn’t get inside. Instead, she simply stands next to the passenger door with a strange look in her eyes, like she’s mulling something over.
“What are you waiting for?” I whisper across the roof.
“Michael, you still haven’t told me the plan.”
“Stay alive. That’s my plan.”
“I’m serious. You say you want to check on Lula and Viviana. Then what?” she asks.
�
��I am still thinking.”
“Well then, while you do that, I want to go home.”
What happened to doing this together? “Home? You cannot go home. Not until this is over. Perhaps not ever.”
“I’m not leaving my books, Michael.”
“So you are proposing to stay here and be a lamb for the slaughter?” I do not like that plan.
“I understand what you’re saying, but if this huge wave of bloodthirsty vampires is coming to take us all out, I’d rather stand and fight.”
“You just really don’t want to leave your books behind,” I presume.
“They’re everything to me, Michael.”
“You’re willing to die protecting a bunch of books?” I ask.
“Uh, yeah. Books. Hello…?”
I want to roll my eyes, but I do not. “They are merely things. They can be replaced. You cannot.”
“Bite your tongue. Books are not just things. And these particular ones are my family’s legacy. Generations of Murphys have worked and slaved and hunted for each book in this collection with the sole purpose of keeping them safe for generations to come.”
“And I am sure they will be quite safe locked up inside your home,” I argue.
“What if someone burns my house down? What if this war happens, and I can’t go back home? Not ever?”
“We cannot run around hauling millions of books. We would need fifty U-Hauls—”
“Then at least let me retrieve my mother’s ring. It’s a priceless family heirloom, and she gave it to me on my eighteenth birthday. Please, Michael? It belonged to my great-great-grandmother. I can’t part with it.”
Christ. She lost her mother and father last year, so denying her something of such sentimental value would be heartless, but that does not change the facts.
“Miriam,” I say in my most sympathetic voice, “we do not have time. I must go and see Lula and Viviana.” I need to look Lula in the eyes and hear her say she is truly on our side, because I cannot accept she would betray me. It simply does not make sense after everything we’ve been through. Then we must all get out of Dodge.
The Librarian's Vampire Assistant, Book 3 Page 12
