Alex figured Raymond may have eventually made a play for her last night, until Sulie had called him away on an emergency. “They get carried away? How so?”
“Part of our security agreement with the federal government states we can’t bring guests into this house, so even with Sterling and Ben’s female interests, at least they take the women elsewhere. Let’s just say, it's a lot of women.”
Alex thought on that last statement, ‘a lot of women’. All the men? Or only Ben and Sterling? Alex had worked with many male co–workers in the past, but was never privy to their personal bedroom business. The topic didn’t embarrass her, but it did cause a blush to cross her cheeks.
Sulie had already started to open a second bag of chips when Alex decided to change the topic. It wasn’t her place to ask for a head count on the revolving door of these peoples’ love lives, so she asked about the home’s furnishings and antiques instead. Raymond had been right about Sulie’s fondness for antiques. Alex was soon being regaled by Sulie about which items in the kitchen were from which time periods, which ones had interesting stories behind them, and so forth.
*******
Alex wasn’t much into antiques, and was happy when Raymond returned to the kitchen. “I’ve rounded the group up. They’re excited to meet you Alex.”
The three entered the large living room and she saw all the members of the Colony sitting or standing around. Their massive bodies dwarfed the furnishings. Raymond put his arm around Alex’s shoulder as he walked her over to the member standing closest to them. “You remember Ben from the other day.”
A visible double take was done by Alex as she narrowed her brow and took a closer look at the man. The vampire looked like Ben, but not quite. She thought, surely she hadn’t drank that much wine.
“I’ve adjusted my age since you last saw me.” He smiled at her as she continued to examine his face.
“Nice to see you again, Ben. You look so much younger … I wouldn’t have recognized you.” He now wore his jet–black hair in a slightly longer Afro. A youthful glow now replaced the wrinkles of his face. Even his outfit, jeans and a sports coat, seemed a younger man’s attire. As she stared at his face, she added, “I mean, it’s obviously you, but you look a good twenty years younger.”
Ben smiled. “My alias ran its course. Dixon assigned a new one to me so now my name is ‘Ben Preston’.”
Seeing the change of age amazed Alex. If they could bottle and sell this to humans, they’d make a mint. “Your last alias was mid fifties or so?”
He nodded. “About that, yes.”
Alex tilted her head and studied the man’s profile. “But your alias could have lasted until retirement. Why cancel it a good fifteen to twenty years early?”
Raymond quickly offered an explanation. “Sometimes a human will suspect something odd about the alias, sometimes humans become immune to compelling and it compromises the alias … there are many reasons an alias will be terminated early.”
Ben rolled his eyes and then glanced over at Alex. “I swam in the company pool one time too often. I couldn’t perform a memory wipe on my supervisor anymore, and she was beginning to remember my late night snacks on her.”
Alex’s eyes widened and her jaw fell.
“Delicately put, Mr. Preston,” Raymond chided as he put his hand on Alex’s shoulder.
“It's fine,” Alex reassured both the men. “I’m not a porcelain doll … or any doll for that matter. Besides, … this type of predicament is now my job.” Alex took note of Raymond’s attempt to be sensitive on a delicate matter. A bit old fashioned perhaps, but a sign of something, but of what? Was he protective of her? Was he belittling her? It was hard to determine — especially when he looked so damn hot and sexy. She mentally played the he likes me, he likes me not game to decide Raymond’s feelings for her. If he put his arm around her, score one point for liking her. If the hand never travels south, take away the point. She mentally devised a point system and planned to check the score periodically throughout the night.
When Ben left the two of them alone, she focused her thoughts on Raymond and his current age. His hair had some slight gray in it, which made him look about 30 years of age. She wondered when he fed last. She wanted to test a theory, and didn’t mind using him as the specimen.
She had read that vamp skin temperature is always cold, which she did feel the other day when she touched his hand. Fresh blood would circulate faster in their system and make their body temperature warm to the touch. All she had to do was touch him. She took another sip of her wine. Would it be horribly unprofessional if she held his hand? Well, since it was for an experiment in their body warmth, she figured it would be okay.
She deliberately rubbed her hand against his and found that it was indeed cool to the touch. Naturally his extremities would probably cool off the fastest. A better test would be to touch his chest, or perhaps his magnificent abs. The white button down shirt would be easy enough to unbutton and slide her hand inside. Would he have hair on his chest? How well–defined were his abs? Were they six–pack firm?
She caught herself. Just like her New Year’s Resolutions, her promise to not think sexy thoughts sure didn’t last long. She replaced the sexy image in her mind to a body covered in an itchy rash and boils.
Touching his hand was a guilty pleasure she shouldn’t have done, especially since he could read her thoughts. Of course, now she was practically holding his hand and giving him signals. She felt like she was losing the ‘he likes me’ game, and she was the only one playing.
Raymond responded to the touch by gently massaging her fingers with his thumb. It felt nice, and she added five points to her tally to him liking her. His skin felt smooth and inviting. She decided to give his hand a squeeze, and he squeezed her hand back. He gave a gentle tug and led her across the room.
“Alex, this is my son, Sterling.”
Before Alex could stop it, a chuckle escaped her lips. This was “Mr. Seventies Haircut” from the videotape, and his hair was right out of the past – and near picture–perfect. The style did suit him though. Alex expected Raymond’s son to be a mini–version of him, but Sterling looked nothing like his father. Sterling’s hair resembled Shaun Cassidy’s hair circa 1976. Sterling’s skin was darker than Raymond’s too, like an evenly covered tan. Could vampires sunbathe? Raymond certainly didn’t prefer to be in the sun, but that didn’t mean they couldn’t have a tan. Sterling stood slightly shorter than the other vampires and Alex remembered Dixon’s comments about half–breeds not having all the same physical qualities of purebreds and full vampires.
Alex noticed Sterling give his father a look of amusement, followed by him moving his lips, but no sound escaping. She looked over towards Raymond and noticed his lips moving as well.
Sterling then turned and noticed her presence. “It's so nice to finally meet you, Alex. My father couldn’t say enough nice things about you.”
“That’s very kind of him,” she said looking over at Raymond. She wondered what he had said, and held out her hand to shake Sterling’s.
Sterling smiled at his father and then added, “I must say, you are far more attractive than my father had led me to believe.” Sterling reached for Alex’s extended hand, brought it to his lips and kissed her in a gentleman’s greeting.
Alex felt Raymond’s hand move to her waist and tighten in what she would consider a protective manner. Yes, more points were added to her tally, but she wondered what was behind Sterling’s comment and their private conversation.
“Lovely. But not my type,” Sterling announced. He looked at his father, eyebrows raised. Raymond tightened his grip on her waist and Alex noticed Sterling’s mouth twist into a smirk and his head nod.
Alex listened to the silence that followed. Raymond appeared angry with his son. “I’m not sure what all is going on …” she said.
Sterling interrupted. “Oh, don’t worry. I’m sure you’re someone’s type.” He stressed the word someone and glanced over at
his father.
“I’m sorry. I’m not following.” Alex had read about this ability between vampires. They could speak at a high–pitched level. “You’re doing that secret vampire whisper thing I read about. If it wasn’t so fascinating, I’d be royally pissed,” she said with a slight giggle.
Sterling’s grin deepened into an all out smile from ear–to–ear as he looked over to his father.
After a long pause, Alex asked Sterling, “You look much older than your father. Do you prefer to be an older age or is it just your alias?”
Sterling shook his head and his 70s style mane glided over his shoulders. “No. My alias is in the mid thirties. I can adjust my age to be in my late twenties, but no younger. Our fangs come in during our early to mid twenties. Just like humans with their wisdom teeth, but your teeth come in during your late teens. The youngest we can look is the age we were when our fangs could completely extend and feed us on their own. My fangs came in when I was 28 years old, so the youngest I can appear is 28.”
“My fangs fully extended at the age of 22.” Raymond explained. “I can look as young as that.”
Alex turned towards Sterling. “Why did your fangs come in so much later?”
Sterling shot a look at his father. “I have my human mother to thank for that. Half–breeds mature later.”
Alex noticed Raymond rolled his eyes to the term half–breed. She looked between the two. Certainly there were similarities, but the two were quite different in appearance. “You must take after your mother.”
“I look exactly like her, or so I’m told.” Sterling’s attention shifted over to his father. “My father has a portrait of her. Maybe he’ll give you a tour of the house, which would include his bed-chamber.”
As Alex admired the word choices which gave her a hint as to their true ages, she heard Raymond clear his throat. She watched as their mouths moved, but no sound came out once again. Of course, Raymond had the decency to cover his mouth in an attempt to hide his rudeness, but Sterling evidently had no issue with offending her. An awkward quiet surrounded them as the two men squared off at each other.
She was going to give them one more minute, and then scream. She took in a deep breath. “Your Aunt Sulie has an elliptic …,” Alex caught herself, “… I mean, eclectic taste when it comes to antiques,” Alex said to change the subject. “She said you finalize all purchases for the house.”
Sterling stopped the private conversation with his father and looked over at Alex. “Yes. I prefer to shop at outlet stores and get new belongings, but Sulie loves her antiques. I always try to approve all purchases because I like for her to buy objects that don’t have personal signatures if she can. If they do have signatures I like them to be benevolent ones.”
Alex had read Sterling’s profile and his ability to sense feelings and images from intimate objects. “How does your ability work?”
Sterling took a breath and explained. “When I touch an object there is always a shadow left on it from its previous or current owner. It’s a signature shadow. The more personal the object, the stronger the signature is. Sometimes I can touch a person’s skin and get readings as well.” Showing his gloved hands, he added “I wear gloves and long sleeved shirts and pants so I can touch objects as little as possible.” He lifted an eyebrow and gestured at his hand. “If you’d like for me to touch a personal object you may be wearing, I could show you my special ability. Of course, the more personal the better.”
At that remark, her chin hit the floor far faster than her eyebrow raised into her hairline. She even thought she heard a slight growl from Raymond.
“No, thanks. I’m good,” she said. Alex took a deep breath remembering something about Sterling’s preoccupation with women from his files. So much for changing the subject to a light and pleasant one. She sipped her wine and began again. “Sulie told me the story of some candlesticks she wanted to buy, but you sensed they had been used in a murder. That’s fascinating. I can see why you wouldn’t want objects like that around.”
Sterling snickered under his breath and his face flushed as he looked from Alex to his father. “Heh. OK. I’m not too proud of that one. And you can’t tell Sulie this, but I lied about the murder story on those candlesticks.”
“Why would you do such a thing? She wanted them for the dining room table,” Raymond asked.
“Oh, I know she did, Dad. I just had to tell her something so she wouldn’t buy them. Those candlesticks were too damn hideous to buy.”
“How manipulative of you, Sterling,” Raymond chided.
He shrugged his shoulders, “Hey, better than hurting her feelings.” He glanced down at his now empty bottle of beer, and decided it was time for a new one. On his way to the kitchen he warned his father, “Honesty is not always the best policy. Sometimes little white lies can smooth out delicate situations.”
*******
Alex felt a tug on her shoulder as Raymond guided her towards another team member. This man wore a white t–shirt with a big yellow happy face smile. The smiley face had a gunshot hole in his head, and his eyes were x’s. His torn blue jeans finished the ensemble. He looked odd next to the woman standing next to him. She was stunning in a Michelle Obama put together way. She wore a Pepto Bismol pink two–piece suit, and it looked incredible on her, even in its extended maternity state.
“This is William and his wife Jackie. Over there on the couch, digging into the doughnuts, are their children Sinclair and Nicole. … This is Alex, our new director.”
“Nice to meet you.” Alex glanced at the children. She thought back to the guacamole and figured these kids probably had the right idea. She shook William and Jackie’s hands. “My, two beautiful children and another one on the way. You must be so excited.”
“Thank you. We are.” Jackie said.
Alex chatted with the couple and realized how incredibly human and normal they seemed. Actually, the two of them were very lovey dovey and Alex felt as though she was stuck in a mush pit.
After a few minutes of discussing the needs of vampire children and pregnant vampires to consume human food, Jackie looked over to her children. “Damn. The kids call him Uncle Dix. As hard as it will be for us to let the man go, it’ll be harder on them.” She directed her next question to her husband. “What’s going to happen to Dixon?”
“The man will be fine. Sure, some marbles will be jumbled. He won’t remember us, the kids, or working with our group, but he’ll remember he had a military career and a good life. We’ll relocate him to a nice spot, maybe out in the country, where he can live out the rest of his days.”
Jackie glared at her husband. “Baby, we used that excuse on the kids when the dog died. They didn’t believe us then either.” She started crying. “I loved that dog.” William put his arms around her to calm her down. He mouthed the word “hormones” to Alex.
Alex had learned more about vampire children and pregnant vampires, and their food needs, in just a few minutes talking with Jackie than in anything she had read. She found it fascinating, and could have talked for hours. Raymond had already walked away to talk with other team members, and now with Jackie crying, Alex excused herself to mingle as well.
CHAPTER TWENTY–SIX
Alex found her wineglass sitting on the coffee table. Thanks to the little tassel, she recognized it as hers, but she still sniffed at contents to be sure. She took a sip of her wine and enjoyed that it remained chilled. The sweet taste coated her throat. Scanning the room, she noticed Dixon had finally arrived. He came fashionably late and wearing jeans. Men! How hard would it have been for him to tell her this was a casual affair? His denim blue button down shirt wasn’t even tucked in.
Sulie seemed to be the unofficial hostess of the party. She brought out trays of different types of food, but nothing appealed to Alex. Another member of the team helped Sulie to serve. From the team folders, Alex recognized the vampire as Daniel, a turned human who had joined the group only a few decades ago. He appeared older than the other
members of the Colony. While reading his file, Alex took note of the fact there were no past aliases listed for the man. Now seeing his fully gray hair and beard, age spots on his arms, and the wrinkles in his face, she understood why. This tall, lean vampire was still living his first life. She decided to walk over and introduce herself.
“This is hot,” Daniel said in a slight British accent. He walked past her and placed the pie on the trivet on the table. It smelled like apple–pie that had been heavily seasoned with cinnamon. “You must be Captain Brennan,” he said, holding out his hand.
“Nice to meet you. Please call me Alex,” she said as she shook his hand. She watched as his cool blue eyes looked again at his hand. She remembered from his file that he had two sires, Sterling and Raymond. He had once been human. She couldn’t stop herself from asking. “So tell me, Daniel, you were turned by Sterling and Raymond?”
He stared down at her from his tall 6–foot 2–inch frame, his cool blue eyes looking as calm as a glacial lake. “That’s right. I’m the same age as Dixon, the man you’re replacing.”
Overall, he looked like a typical history or philosophy professor in his blue button down shirt and khaki pants. His mannerisms, sense of style, and composure were so opposite of Sterling’s that she never would have put the two together. “Why do you have two sires? I thought it was a one–to–one relationship.”
His cool blue eyes now lacked their luster, and the corners of his mouth turned down. “I don’t like discussing the day I died, Captain. Let’s just say, I made the most of a bad situation.”
Her mouth fell slightly open; a tiny gasp escaped her lips. She had never thought of how personal the experience would be, and it wouldn’t necessarily be a pleasant experience. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to offend you. I was only curious.”
“Perhaps Mason can quench your curiosity,” he said dryly. “He was also turned.”
She pursed her lips and nodded in understanding. “I didn’t mean to be rude.” She lifted her wineglass and took a big gulp, finishing her drink.
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