by Laura Del
I shook my head. “No, it’s not. And it gets worse.”
He swallowed, his Adam’s apple doing a little dance in his throat. “How much worse?”
“Funny story,” I said with a nervous laugh. “I have to kill it.”
“What?” he screamed, jumping off the bed. “Is she insane? Does she have any…? What’s she…? How…? Ugh!” Mike usually cut off his sentences when he was nervous or angry. The latter was definitely the reason why he was doing it now.
Before I could open my mouth to calm him, the buzzer to the front door went off. I got out of bed, grabbed my bathrobe, and went to the door, while Mike paced back and forth in the bedroom.
When I finally pressed the intercom button, I sighed, “Hello.”
“Patty,” Tina wailed over the speaker. “It’s me.”
I pressed the button to let her in and ran into the bedroom. “Stop pacing and get dressed.”
“Why?” Mike asked confused.
“Tina’s here.”
His face scrunched up. “What the hell…?”
Before he finished, I was back in the living room, opening the door. There she stood, two of her Louis Vuittons on her shoulders—and probably four more in the car—, with her mascara streaked down her face. Her blonde hair was disheveled and her beautiful face was scrunched up in sadness.
I frowned. “Oh, Tina.”
“I dumped Herb,” she cried, dropping her bags in the hall and flinging herself into my outstretched arms. Her tears soaked through my robe almost instantly, but I didn’t care, I just wanted to know what happened.
After Mike had gotten dressed, he put her bags in our room and then went to go get the rest out of the car, strategically leaving us alone so we could talk.
“All right,” I said as I wiped her eyes with a tissue, “what happened?”
“He…” she hiccupped. “He proposed to me.”
I laughed. “Is that why you broke up with him?”
She shook her head solemnly. “No. We had a fight.”
I patted her shoulder. “About what, sweetie?”
“You,” she said with her pouty lower lip quivering.
“Me? What about me?”
She blew her now-red nose. “Some ridiculous story about you and Samuel. How he tried to turn you into a…” her voice faded away. “I don’t even wanna say it. And then he told me you ran away with Mike who’s a…” her voice faded again, but this time she rolled her eyes. “Ridiculous!”
I took a deep breath, becoming very serious. “Was it about Samuel trying to make me a vampire, and Mike being a werewolf?”
Her eyes widened. “How’d you know that?”
I tried to smile, but I knew it came off as a grimace. “Because it’s true.” Her mouth dropped open, and I sighed. “Oh, come on, Tina. I already told you about Samuel. You wouldn’t listen, remember? You said that it was all in my head. And I tried to tell you about Mike a million times, but I just couldn’t. You were so happy, and I didn’t want to ruin it by making you worry.”
“I don’t under—” Her sentence was cut off when Mike walked in with her bags. I stood up, walked over to him—after he shut that door—, took a deep breath and smacked him across the face.
In an instant, his teeth sharpened and his eyes yellowed.
I turned just in time to see Tina’s eyes go wide, and then Mike hurried into the bedroom with her bags.
“Tina, sweetie, you okay?”
“That was…” she paused. “Awesome! Oh my God! You were like whack, and he went all grrr, and then you were all calm, cool, and collected.” She took a breath. “So it’s true?” she finally asked, and I nodded. But there was something in the back of my mind telling me that Tina already knew all of this.
I pushed that aside, when she asked, “How’d you figure all this out?”
“It’s a very long story.” I told her, and she gave me the Tina stare: one perfectly-waxed black eyebrow cocked, a pursing of the lips, and a folding of the arms. I’ve seen grown men crumble under that stare. “All right,” I said with a sigh. “I’ll shorten it.”
I explained everything to her. I told her about Kathryn, about Samuel trying to kill me, the fact that Mike saved me from being turned into a vampire, and then about how Samuel had desecrated me in ways that I would never forget. I ended with telling her about Elliot saving my life. The only thing I didn’t tell her was that Kathryn asked me to “vanquish” the monster that was following me around.
When I finished, she sat there for a second, silently staring at me.
“Well,” I said cautiously, “what do you think?”
“What about Charlie?” she asked, and just the name made me frown.
“He was a golem,” I said solemnly.
“Wow,” she breathed.
“Uh-huh.”
“So all of the creatures in the legends are real?”
I nodded. “Pretty much.”
She grimaced. “Sorry about not believing you before.”
I shrugged. “It’s okay.” As soon as those words were out of my mouth, it hit me. “Wait a minute. How did he know about them?”
“Who’s he?”
“Herb,” I explained. “How did he know about Samuel and Mike?”
The buzzer to the front door went off again and Mike came out of the bedroom to get it. In a matter of minutes, he was back with Mr. Herbert Morris by his side.
Tina’s eyes went wide, while I looked at Mike with a cocked eyebrow. He shrugged, and Tina got up off the couch, flinging herself into Herb’s arms. “Oh, Herbie,” she managed to say through fresh tears, “I am so sorry for not believing you! Will you ever forgive me?”
“Of course, meine Liebe.” He told her with smile.
My heart skipped a beat when I looked into his eyes. “Oh, dear Lord,” I breathed, trying not to pass out. “You’re a vampire.” I got up off the couch, looking out the window at the now darkly-clouded sky. “But how…?” The question faded as I turned to see Tina pulling away from him, and Herb’s smile wavered.
“You’re a vampire?” Tina’s Brooklyn accent was almost gone when she asked, so I knew she was serious.
As soon as those words were spoken, Herb’s smile vanished. “Please, meine Liebe,” he begged her. “Do not cringe away from me.” Finally, he reached out to touch her, but she backed away, almost tripping over the coffee table, before sitting back down on the couch.
When he tried to move forward, Mike caught him by the shoulder, shaking his head. That’s when it hit me. “You’re the vampire that’s supposed to help me, aren’t you?”
Herb looked at me for a minute, then turned his attention back to Tina again. “What are you talking about?”
I shook my head, forgetting about it for now. “I’ll tell you later.”
When I looked over at Tina, she was just sitting there staring at Herb, as if he was going to hurt her at any moment. I walked over to her, placing my hand on her shoulder. She jumped a mile, and when she looked up at me, I could see the confusion in her deep brown eyes. “Tina,” I said her name softly, “it’s all right. Herb loves you, I can tell. And I’m sure you two will be so happy for the rest of eternity.”
“Eternity?” Herb asked confused, and when I got a good look at him, I noticed that he was rather handsome. His face held only a minimum amount of wrinkles—just around his beautiful honey colored eyes and his thin-lipped mouth—, his jaw was perfectly square, and he had a straight-as-an-arrow nose. Herbert was lean with just a hint of muscle, and believe it or not, he was only a little taller than Tina, who is five-seven without the heels she always seems to be wearing. Finally, I noticed his hair was stark white, not even a hint of color in it, and I wondered how old he was when someone decided to make him into a blood-sucking monster.
“Well, according to Mariah,” I said after a moment
’s thought, “like must marry like.” Mariah is Samuel’s “maker” and the main reason why I was sure my ex-husband was the way he was.
He laughed a little. “The new rules do not apply to me.”
“Why not?” I asked, confused.
“Because I am over a thousand years old and those things do not apply to us. They are for the younger generation.”
“How much younger?”
“Five-hundred years or so.” As soon as he said that, I sighed, and he smiled at me. “Yes, Mariah was telling the truth.”
“I was kind of hoping she wasn’t,” I replied, as Tina stood up. She looked from me to Herb, walked over to him without a word, and then slapped him right across the face.
I flung myself between the two of them, so he wouldn’t be tempted to hurt her, but his strong arms pushed me gently out of the way. “Chrissie,” he said her name with longing. “I know how you must feel, but please find it in your heart to forgive me for deceiving you.”
“Never,” she hissed, smacking him again. He closed his eyes, speeding out of the apartment and into the cold rain that was now coming down in buckets. I didn’t know how he was able to stand the outside, even with the cloud cover. “Mike,” I said, hearing the urgency in my own voice, “go after him before he gets himself killed.”
“Will do.” He nodded, running as fast as he could after Herb.
I turned to face Tina, shaking my head. She fell to the floor, and I knelt beside her. “What have I done?” she sobbed into my shoulder as I wrapped my arms around her. I couldn’t blame her for reacting that way. Hell, I knew how she felt. But Herb seemed like a nice guy…vampire…whatever…and even though I’d only just met him, I liked him. You know, for a bloodsucker.
“He’s gone, and I couldn’t pick up his scent,” Mike said from the doorway. It was the first time he had ever spoken like a werewolf, and it disturbed me a little. However, I needed to focus on finding Herb, so I let it go.
“Isn’t there anything else we can do?” I asked, and he shook his head. Tina wailed, and I’d had just about enough. “I’m not accepting that, Wolf. Tina,” I said, pushing back on her shoulders. I almost shook her, I was so frustrated. “It is not over. Do you hear me? We will find him. Now get up.” As I stood I helped her to stand, wiping her eyes with my robe.
“You listen to me; I will find him. Do you understand?” my voice was stern, and she nodded as I pushed her blonde hair out of her face. “Now, go in the bathroom and wash up. We have a vampire to find.”
She nodded again, walking into the bathroom, sniffling the whole way. Once the bathroom door and the front door were closed, it was my cue to get dressed.
Mike followed me, and when I took off my robe, he said, “What’re you doin’, Pat? You don’t even know this vamp and you wanna go lookin’ for ’em?”
I quickly put on a pair of panties and a bra, making my way over to the closet before I answered. “It’s not a matter of want to, Mike. It’s a matter of have to.” I pulled my striped sweater over my head, pulling out a pair of black skinny jeans to go with it.
“Why?”
“Because,” I said, as I sat on the bed, putting on my pants, “Kathryn told me that I needed to find a vampire to be in attendance when I kill this monster thing. And I just have a feeling that Herb is that vampire.”
“How can you be so sure?” he asked, as I stood up to get my new knee-high, black, lace-up boots.
Once they were on and I was laced and zipped up, I turned my attention to Mike again. “I just know.” And I did. I was very good at knowing certain things. I always get a feeling in the pit of my stomach. It also makes me very good at guessing.
He nodded. “I can tell that you know. You creep me out when you do that.”
I smiled, leaning up to kiss him on the cheek. “Wish me luck.”
He smiled down at me, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Good luck, and be careful.”
“I will,” I said, as I rushed out of the room.
I grabbed Tina, my regular purse—that I had quickly put all of my stuff in—and left before Mike changed his mind about us going.
We had searched everywhere, but Herb had thoroughly disappeared. I was beginning to worry that he had burned to a crisp somewhere when I had another one of my feelings. Suddenly, I knew where to look: the woods. He was in the woods.
I pulled the car over and told Tina to wait inside; the last thing I needed was her becoming hysterical while I was trying to see whether Herb was a pile of ash or not. It took about five minutes of convincing before she agreed, and I finally made my way into the woods.
Carefully, I walked through the trees and brush, making sure that I didn’t trip. I didn’t want to bleed all over the place and mark where I had been. After walking for over an hour, I found it…the spot in the woods from my dreams. I couldn’t believe it was real, and when I looked down at the ground there was the hole that I had fallen in over a dozen times.
“Well, shit,” I said to myself, trying to see how deep it went, but it was too dark. As a matter of fact, it was getting too dark to see anything. I looked at my watch, lighting up my face. It was almost seven-forty. We had been at this for hours and I was really starting to worry that we would never find him.
“Herb,” I yelled, and my voice echoed back at me. “Herb?” Maybe my instincts were wrong. It wouldn’t have been the first time and it most certainly won’t be the last.
I walked away from the hole, sitting down by a tree nearby. As I leaned my head against the familiar trunk, I closed my eyes and asked myself, “What am I going to do?”
“Probably get up,” someone answered. My eyes fluttered open, and I saw Herb standing there smiling at me.
I placed my hand over my heart. “Herb. Thank God. I’m so glad that you’re all right.”
He held out his hand, helping me stand, and as soon as I was up, I gave him a hug. “Tina will be so happy.”
“I doubt that,” he said, pushing me away.
“She’s in the car waiting for you as we speak.” I told him, nudging his shoulder with my fist.
He smiled, just the edges of his lips tilting upward. “I know. I can hear her inner babble.”
“You can hear her thoughts from all the way over here?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
“That’s creepy. Very creepy.”
He laughed. “I know that, too.”
“So what are you waiting for?” I asked, and he frowned. “You love her. She loves you. That’s all you really need.” Sure, I was good giving other people relationship advice, but I was terrible at taking it. Isn’t that always the way?
“I cannot be what I am not,” he said. Then he turned his back toward me, hunching his shoulders in defeat.
I walked around him, so I could see his face. “Oh, Herb,” I said, taking his hands in mine. “You’re a vampire. So what? You seem like a very nice…” I paused, searching for the word, “guy, and I can tell that you have feelings for her.”
“It is not about my feelings,” he said, looking me in the eyes. “I am too dangerous.”
I shook my head. “I’m not going lie to you, you probably are. And you might, in fact, hurt Tina. But I don’t think that you would do it on purpose. She knows that, and she still loves you. Take it from a girl who has seen evil in the eyes of a man she loved. I know what that looks like, and right now, you do not have that look. Besides, when you two are together, you look complete, somehow.” He smiled at that.
“Go to her,” I said, taking my hands from his. “Take her home, and reconnect.” I threw the car keys at him. He caught them without a moment’s hesitation. “And while you’re at it, give Samuel back the car.”
He nodded. “Will do. Thank you, Patricia. You are too kind.”
When he turned to walk to the car, I remembered. “Oh, Herb,” I called after him, and he look
ed over his shoulder. “I might need your help in the near future.”
“I will keep my mind open,” he said, touching his temple. And with a wink, he disappeared into the darkness.
“That was a nice thing you did, girly,” Stag’s voice was behind me, and I turned around to see him leaning against a tree.
I narrowed my eyes at him. “What are you doing here?”
He walked over to where I was, placing his arms around me. He hugged me for a second, and then let go. “Mike called me and said that you needed help, so I followed your scent.”
“My scent?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Lavender and chocolate. It’s a very interesting smell, to say the least.”
I smiled a little. “If you say so.”
“What’s the matter?” he asked, placing his hand on my shoulder.
I shook my head. “Nothing. It’s just…” my voice trailed away, and I wrapped my arms around his waist, placing my ear to his chest.
He must have thought I was crying because he patted my back. “It’s gonna be okay, girly.”
I nodded. “I know. I just got really scared of being here all of a sudden.” That was the truth; I was scared, but not for the reason I said or he thought.
“Shh,” Stag comforted me. “It’s all right. I’m here now.”
I pulled my head away from his chest, looking up at him. “Elliot, I—”
He placed his finger over my mouth before I could finish. For some reason, he liked doing that. “Let me speak first. I love you, Pat, and I want you no matter what, even if that means stealin’ you away from Wolfman.”
“Elliot,” I said, but before I could finish, his lips were on mine.
In that moment, I knew what I had to do. I had to go home and tell Mike.
chapter
TEN
When I finally walked back into the apartment, Mike was sitting on the couch, waiting for me. “Well,” he said, standing, “did ya find him?”
“Yes, we found him. He’s on his way back home with Tina and the Mustang.”
He sighed. “So you decided to give it back?” he asked, and I nodded, frowning. “What’s wrong, bébé?”
