Page 10 of Tainted Blood

“Exactly. Now, for colors, you can see the trend here. I think you will look wonderful in this deep green.” He pointed it out. “But I wouldn’t be sad to see you in the dark blue, either. However, black is the most common, for obvious reasons.”

“I can still be a… messy… eater,” I said, swallowing. I knew I wasn’t alone with Rupert. Alexius was sitting outside the door, listening to every word, making sure I didn’t eat the butler. It was also terribly awkward to tell Rupert about my vampiric feeding habits.

“Everyonecan be a messy eater,” Rupert countered. “Alexius and Isaiah still wear black on most evenings. Even beyond the dietary needs of vampires, Alexius has a dangerous occupation. Clothing must often be burned. It’s easier to hide black clothing covered in blood than a white shirt until it can be disposed of properly.”

“Of course, and I work with Alexius.”

“Exactly. This is all high quality and yes, very expensive clothing, but beyond that, it’s nothing out of your comfort zone. It will just let you stand as an equal among the other vampires you’ll be meeting. We already bought your work clothes in February.”

“I paid for all of this, right?” I asked, giving him a panicked look, feeling the horror of how much everything cost beginning to rise. When I asked Alexius if Rupert could handle it, I had done it so I didn’t have to. I had been trying not to think about the trip at all once I turned on the television to relax until I had to sleep. It had kept me from thinking more about the email and getting terrified by it again.

“No. The household account covered this as it was supposed to. Your income is for you to spend. If you wanted to go out and buy a… red leather jacket, a new car, or new electronics, you could do that, but since this is a requirement of your employment, it was a reasonable expectation that Alexius would provide it. Therefore, the household account funded it. Just like we funded your work clothes. Though, I understand how you're feeling. This is all much more costly than the clothing we bought you for when you work with Alexius.”

“Let me pay you back,” I said with a small giggle of panic. “Please.”

“Do you even know how much money you have?” Rupert asked, his concern and curiosity too serious and authentic to be false.

“No.” I never checked. My paycheck was deposited into an account I had access to, and I spent the money, but I knew I wasn’t spending even ten percent of what I earned.

“It doesn’t matter. Alexius won’t let you pay him back for this,” Rupert said a moment later. “If you were… from a different situation, perhaps a small vampire bloodline, Turned by someone without much power or station, they would be expected to clothe you and the choices could be more lax without being held against you.

“But Isaiah? He is who he is, and when he sires a new vampire, he dresses them appropriately for their new position in the world. The same goes here. Alexius took you in, and if he doesn’t want you to attract undue attention based on your clothing while in New York, then he must make the proper wardrobe available to you.” Rupert gestured at the clothing on the bed. “Now, I will recommend fourteen outfits for this specific function. Seven of those will be dresses of some variety.”

“It’s only a five-day trip.”

“Yes. Spares.”

“Give her a spare for every day,” Alexius said through the door.

“Twenty outfits, then,” Rupert said with a smile. “It’s a good thing I know how to tailor like Shania. We’ll both need to be on this.”

Clothes were shoved into my hands for me to change into. Shania came in, using pins to mark the small alterations that were needed for… well, everything. Hemming the pants, bringing in blouses and dresses. Rupert mumbled about wanting to get my proper sizing for custom-made shoes, which made me cough, wondering how expensive that would be.

“All of Alexius’s shoes are made custom, including his sneakers,” Shania said with a smile as if it was completely normal.

None of this was normal. Not a single bit of it was normal.

“We should have done this months ago,” Rupert complained when we were halfway through. “To think we put it off this long…”

“I don’t think about clothing, and I don’t check my own emails anymore,” Alexius explained from the other room. “But it’s nothing we can’t handle. I’ll just… try to remember these things better for the future.”

“I was saying that I should have thought about this months ago,” Rupert replied, continuing to focus on a pair of heels he was trying to match with something. “I never make you ask me for anything concerning your own wardrobe. I shouldn’t have forgotten to consider hers.”

“This is new for all of us.” His words were kind to Rupert, soft and patient, with no sign of agitation or annoyance.

“Of course,” Rupert agreed, finally putting the heels with a set of slacks and a crop top sweater, something I already knew would leave some bare midriff on me. It needed to be tightened at my waist and ribs, and the sleeves needed to be brought back half an inch.

I continued to play dress-up, and no one else spoke again until it was finished. I was tired as if I had spent several hours in the gym with Alexius. Escaping my bedroom, Alexius was still there, a book open and reading quietly. He looked up after a moment, his expression blank as he stared.

“Never again,” I declared.

“Don’t count on it,” he said, closing his book as he stood. “Sadly, once every six months, I must go through the same if I plan to step out of the house at all. While I find it to be tedious, I hold a position in our world that demands I dress respectfully. If you want to join me on trips like this one…”

“I have to do the same. But you don’t have dresses. I bet you get one outfit for the entire day, don’t you?”

“Incorrect.” I could have sworn Alexius was going to smile, but it never appeared. “Not about the dresses, because I have worn pants since they became the preferred male style, but I have multiple outfits per night if necessary.”

I narrowed my eyes on him until he continued.

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