Lucan cuts me off. “No, love, I didn’t kill him. I just scared him pretty bad.” He kisses me again before I can say anything else. “So what do you want to do tonight? Movies, Dinner, something a little more adventurous?”
“Adventurous? I think I’ve had enough adventure for one night thank you very much!”
“Fair enough. Staying in is fine with me as well. Do you want to talk about what happened?”
“Most definitely. Let’s crawl in that super huge bed of yours first. I’m not sure my legs will hold me up much longer. I hate adrenaline.”
“Are you hungry?” He looks at his watch. “It’s not too late for dinner.”
“No, thank you. I had some popcorn earlier.” My nerves are shot. Even if I was hungry, there was no way I could keep anything down.
“Get your pjs on and I will tell you whatever you want to know. I can always cook you something later if you want.”
“Okay.” I am unsure which statement I am answering.
Once we settle in bed, I regain some of my mental fortitude. I snuggle up to Lucan and rest my head on his chest. He pulls the covers over me to counteract his lack of body heat.
“Do you know Mark?” We both say at the same time.
“What?” I say. “He is a vampire, isn’t he? That’s more your area.”
“Half vampire, actually.” Lucan answers. “Whoever tried to turn him didn’t finish the job.”
“There are differing degrees of vampirism?” I have so much to learn about this vampire business. “This just keeps getting more and more complicated.”
“Aye, well, sorta. If you know what you’re doing, you don’t leave the job unfinished. Halflings usually result from hasty feeding practices or inexperienced young feeding unsupervised. The Enclave does not condone it and they are usually put to death. The Halflings that is.”
I am shocked. “Put to death? That’s barbaric.” Then again, looking at Mark it is probably more barbaric to be a Halfling than to be dead.
“It’s kinder, really. They are between worlds. They can still eat food, but they have the blood lust. Only the blood doesn’t feed them as it does me. It would be like you drinking blood.” I cringe at the idea of me drinking blood. “Halflings are mentally unstable from the venom’s effect on their brains. Their bodies try to fight it off but the venom is stronger. If there were enough of it they would turn, but a half dose just eats away at the vital organs. If zombies were real, he’d basically be one.”
“So vampires are real, but zombies are not? Got it.” I give Lucan an incredulous look.
“Exactly,” he replies, the irony is obviously lost on him.
We are silent for a moment. I really didn’t want to know, or to think about Lucan hurting this man, or any man. Then again, I didn’t want him trying to come after me again either. It was obvious Mark came specifically for me, not just to check out the view. The thought of his name makes the necessary connection in my memory and I sit up.
“I think I might know him,” I gasp. Christmas cards. I had been going through a stack of Christmas cards my mother forwarded to me during my one-woman wine boxing match the other night. Mark the Halfling was Sarah’s husband. The same man I’d served with divorce papers a few hours ago. It all made sense now—her story of how strange Mark had been acting since they moved to New York. He was a vampire—half vampire.
“He’s married to a friend of mine,” I explain unnecessarily since he’s already heard my train of though. “She said he had been acting strange since they moved to New York. I guess this explains why.”
“You’re sure about this?” Lucan asks. “Knowing who he is and how to find him again is critical.”
“Yeah, Sarah’s mom does these ridiculous family Christmas card photos every year. You know the kind where everyone is wearing matching sweaters and such. Anyways, my mom sent me a stack of cards from this Christmas. I was going through them the other night and I remember seeing him. I checked Sarah’s Facebook the other day when she came into my office and I saw him there too. I recognized his face earlier, but wasn’t sure from where. It’s all coming together now.”
“Hmm,” Lucan murmurs and pulls me closer. “Abri, I want you to be careful, really careful, over the next few days until I can sort this out with the Council. As much as I’d like to, I can’t keep you locked up in here, but I would rather you stayed close by when I can’t be with you.”
“Where are you going?” I am not afraid to be on my own after living alone in New York all these years, but it is strange that Lucan would be going somewhere if I were danger.
“Nowhere. But I will have to leave you in order to speak with the Council at some point and you’re going to dinner tomorrow with Sarah, which is really not the best idea now that I think about it.”
“I can’t cancel on her. What am I supposed to do, call her up and say ‘Listen, Sarah, I’ve been seeing this guy that’s a vampire and he thinks your husband is half a vampire. So we can’t meet up because your husband is trying to kill me or eat me, or something. Yeah, so the reason he’s been such a freak lately is that he’s half-dead and full of vampire venom. And according to Lucan, that’s the vampire I’m dating, the cure for that is to just finish the job, you know put him to death. Really, Sarah, it’s better that way. I’m sure you understand.’ No thanks. I’m going to dinner. You can hide out in the kitchen and not eat the food or something, but I’m still going.” Oops, I didn’t mean for it to come off angry.
Lucan pats my arm to calm me down. “I will be there. You’ll never see me, but I will be close in case Mark shows up for you… or Sarah.”
“I’d argue, but I know when I’m licked. As much as I hate to admit it, you’re probably right. He did look a little crazed and he was obviously here after me.” I try not to notice the smile of satisfaction on Lucan’s face.
“Good. Now, let’s talk about something else,” he prods.
“Okay. What do you do with yourself all day? You’re obviously not home.”
“Lots of things. I work at my foundation. Attend meetings to raise money and dedications for my various projects. You know, shake hands and kiss babies.” Lucan’s eyes sparkle as he talks about his life. He is obviously passionate about what he does. “And I do work for the Enclave too.”
“What kind of work?”
“Well, as you can imagine, I’ve had time on my hands over the years so spent a good deal of it on education. I went to law school a few times and medical school. I even got my CPA license once. I’m General Council for the Enclave’s philanthropic arm. We work together on projects sometimes, my foundation and the Enclave.”
“You’re a lawyer? And a doctor?” I am shocked. It makes sense that someone who has nothing but time would use it to study things, but I am still surprised.
“So I guess I can’t keep telling myself you came to my office the other day looking for legal advice, can I?
“No, I guess not. I was most definitely not there for legal advice.” He muses, stroking my cheek with the back of his cool hand. The smooth coolness feels good on my skin in spite of the fact that it should be against my natural instincts to think so. I lean in closer. “Truth be told, this week is not the first time I’ve seen you in the elevators. A few months ago, I came to the Chrysler on some business for the foundation and I got into the elevator with you. There was one other guy in there with us. I couldn’t help but notice you, your face was sick with worry. I was curious about why—were you sick, had something bad happened to you, were you on your way to a job interview or the doctor. Then it happened. I was trying to look at you without you noticing. I didn’t want you to think I was a creep, but I couldn’t take my eyes off you. It was as if some magnetic force in my chest was pulling me into you. I caught your gaze for a split second and your thoughts hit me like a tidal wave. I heard you repeating over and over in your head ‘Don’t fall. Don’t crash.’”
“Oh geez. Yeah, that’s my elevator mantra, or it was, until I met you. I must have
seemed like a complete idiot!”
“On the contrary, love. Oh, it shocked me. I almost yelled out. Like I said on our first date, I’ve never been able to hear another’s thoughts before, not in all my years. I’d heard of other vampires being able to do it, but not me. Before I could say anything, we’d reached the 30th floor and you launched yourself out of the elevator. I continued on up to my meeting but I couldn’t get you out of my head. Not your thoughts of course, I couldn’t hear you anymore once you left the elevator. But I had to know about you.”
I snuggle closer to Lucan again, breathing in his scent. A mixture of cologne and a sweet earthiness I can’t place. It must have something to do with being a vampire. I close my eyes and breathe in deep. “I felt it too,” I whisper. “That magnetic pull in your chest; I’ve felt it too when we are together. I felt something the first time, well I guess now the second time, we were in the elevator. When I stepped on you.”
Lucan hugs me closer. “I know,” he says against my hair. “After my meeting I went back down to security and inquired about the office on the 30th floor. Once I knew your firm name, I did some research. The internet really is the best modern invention—I’ve seen them all. Lucky for me that your bosses like to put photos and bios of their new associates on their website.”
I groan at the thought of Lucan stumbling across anything else with my name attached to it on the internet, like the various singles’ sites I’d joined at the urging of Max and Lindsey. Hopefully he didn’t find any of those. Mercifully, he doesn’t answer me.
“I would find any excuse to come to the Chrysler, hoping see you. Not that I had actually figured out what I would say to you if I did. Then a friend of mine mentioned that the Cloud Club space was up for sale as a private residence, so I bought it.” He stops trying to read my expression. “What?”
“Nothing. If it were anyone else telling me this, I would find it highly suspect and stalkeriffic, if you will. But coming from you it’s cute. You certainly have gone through a lot of trouble to meet me, Mr. O’Reilly.”
His face relaxes. I know he’s scanning my thoughts to see if I am telling him the truth. I am. Now had told me this story on our first date, I would have had an entirely different reaction. He laughs.
“Probably so. I had all but given up on seeing you again until you and Lindsey got on the elevator Monday. I was coming back from a meeting at the Enclave and there you were. I made up my mind that I was going to introduce myself to you. So I waited downstairs for you Tuesday. But you wouldn’t even look at me in the elevator so I decided I needed to take a more direct approach, and, well, you know the rest.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
“What do you mean you went to his apartment?”
“I went to visit her, sir. There was no harm….until he came home.” His words were weak, weaker than before, and waivered slightly on the last part as recalled the fight with Lucan O’Reilly.
“Ainsworth, you idiot, I told you to keep out of this. You’ll ruin it for us all.” This voice was not weak, but angry. He tensed slightly, half expecting a blow to the face to accompany the angry words. Mark mulled over the effects of his conduct in his brain, an act that proved to be more and more difficult as the weeks wore on.
“I’m sorry Serge, sir. I will not go again.” Head down, Mark was defeated. He thought his investigation would please Serge. Perhaps it was stupid to go to the home of such a powerful vampire alone, but he wanted to see Abri Cole. Mark hadn’t been shocked when he was served with divorce papers this morning; after all, Sarah had been threatening him with it for months. It was the attorney who filed them that surprised him. The attorney was the same woman Serge been lusting over all week. How could it be coincidence that his wife’s divorce lawyer was also dating Lucan O’Reilly, the most powerful vampire in New York and Serge’s archenemy? Or at least that’s how Serge had explained it to him.
Serge saw her at work earlier in the week with Mr. O’Reilly and hadn’t shut up about her since. How hot she was and how he wanted her. Mark had to agree, she was pretty. Not flashy and manicured like most women on the arms of rich men in this city, but a natural beauty. Mark should know, his own wife is one of those flashy and manicured women.
Serge hated Lucan O’Reilly on account of Lucan’s involvement with an investigation into Serge’s errant feeding habits a few years back. Serge wanted to take Abri Cole from him as revenge. And not because he wanted to date her, but because he wanted to enjoy her very life force until she was no more. He would then toss her aside like week-old Chinese. He had tried to do the same to Mark and failed. It had not been Serge’s plan to let Mark live or even turn him into a vampire.
It was hard to concentrate on that day for very long. Hell, it was hard to concentrate on anything for very long now. Mark remembered enough of it to know that Serge was dangerous and cared nothing for human life.
Mark had been working late, shortly after starting his new job six months ago, when he decided to take a break and check out the bar across the street. It was nearly empty but he struck up a conversation with another guy about his age with a foreign accent sitting alone at the bar. The guy had been cordial, asking about Mark’s job, his favorite sports teams, how he had come to New York. Mark was glad to have someone to talk to that wasn’t involved with work. He and his wife had just moved to the city and while she had taken to the hustle and bustle instantly, Mark missed the slower paced life of Texas. The guy had agreed, saying New York was so much different from his hometown outside of St. Petersburg, Russia. It was nearly three o’clock in the morning when the bar keep had insisted they take their conversation elsewhere. Mark guessed he had had about half the handle of whisky the lazy bartender left between them. He had not been this drunk since his bachelor party. Sarah was going to be furious, she hated when he worked late and now he was coming home drunker than a college freshman.
The young man had offered to pick up the tab but Mark protested and they settled on splitting it evenly. Once the bartender had returned with their change, Mark and the young man staggered out into the warm, muggy night. Mark began to look for a taxi.
“I can give you a ride, friend,” the young man offered. “No need to hail a cab this late. If you pass out the driver will take a tour of Manhattan before he drops you at your door with a hundred dollar fare.”
“You have a car?” Mark was impressed. He had not met a single New Yorker yet that owned a car. “I live near the Park on the Upper West Side, is that out of your way?” Mark appreciated the young man’s generosity and concern for his fellow man. It reminded him of Texas.
“Not at all.” The young man took a set of keys from his pocket and a suped-up red Mustang flashed its headlights as he disarmed the alarm. “Please, get in.”
“Thank you. Wait, I didn’t even ask you your name.” Mark was sure he’d offered his name at some point, but he didn’t know the name of the stranger he’d conversed with all night long and who was about to give him a ride home.
“Serge. My name is Serge.”
Mark couldn’t remember anything past that. He had woken up in his office the next morning still wearing yesterday’s suit. He vaguely remembered accepting the ride from the man at the bar, but how did he get back to his office? Had he even made it home last night?
He had called his wife, but she did not answer, no doubt angry he had not come home. Or maybe she was mad that he had come home late and kicked him out. That could explain why he was back at the office. He checked his cell phone; there were seven missed calls from Sarah. The last one came around three thirty. He had sent a text to Sarah at ten thirty telling her he was still at work and would be home soon. He had really been at the bar, but at that point had intended to come home at a reasonable time. She had texted him at four thirty-seven “where are u?” He had not been home.
Mark tried to stand up but collapsed back into his chair. His head was pounding and he could hardly turn his neck. Probably the result of a really bad hang over and sleeping in his
office chair, he reasoned.
Mark left his office and headed for the men’s room at the end of the hall. This was one hell of a hangover. Mark checked his reflection in the mirror and shrunk back in horror. His face was bruised and there was a cut over his left eye. Turning his head to get a better look at the damage, he noticed two puncture wounds on the left side of his neck near his jugular vein. What in the hell had happened to him after leaving the bar? His muddled brain could only come up with the name Serge.
Immediately worried about Sarah, he lurched from the bathroom and headed for the elevator urging his uncooperative legs forward as best he could. If his supervisor caught sight of him like this, he would be fired. No one ever took the stairs as they were on the 40th floor so Mark switched paths as quickly as possible. His legs buckled a few times and he tumbled the last half flight down but he managed to keep conscious. Once outside Mark hailed a cab and headed to his apartment on the Upper West Side.
“Mark, you idiot, focus.” Serge slapped his face, bringing him out of his memory.
“Sorry Master.” Mark hated calling anyone Master but it usually guaranteed Serge would calm down quicker.
“Well, you’re going to need to find a place to stay; you can’t keep staying here with me. The smell is killing me.” Serge threw the divorce papers back at Mark. “I still can’t get over the delicious coincidence of her choice in divorce attorneys, however. Maybe you aren’t such as mistake after all.”
“I figured I would just stay at a hotel or something. I’m sure Sarah won’t let me back in the apartment now.”
From what Mark could to piece together, Serge had attempted to feed on him after getting him in the car and they had struggled. That was how he received the cut over his left eye and the bruises. Mark assumed that Serge’s inability to finish him off was what led to his current state, not a vampire and not a human.
42nd & Lex Page 11
