Page 26 of Accidental Vampire

I stood and advanced on Omar, the dagger still slick with blood in my hand. It would be foolish to be more afraid of the of a knife in my hand. As old as Omar was, he should know that weapons were meaningless.

I put my hand on his shoulder with a little squeeze, congenial, forgiving his trespasses. I pressed the dagger, slow and steady, into his side, until the hilt laid flush with his belly. I watched his eyes round in fear and pain, choking back a grunt.

“Omar, Omar, Omar.” I twisted the knife a half-turn. That got sound moving out of him. “We are not going to do this again, are we?”

“No.” His response was surprisingly solid.

“I did not think we’d have to resort to this, but I’m going to need you to swear,” I pulled the knife out, and held it between us, like a promise, the red glistening in the moonlight, “on your blood.” Vampires were vain and petty, and valued little in this world save blood.

“I swear I will tell no one.”

I affectionately cupped the back of his head like the good boy he was and licked the blade clean, finding the taste of his fear refreshing. Omar inhaled sharply, his nostrils flaring, like his oath had a physical weight he struggled to take on.

I turned to the man on the ground. He clamped his hands around his neck. The wound had healed enough that he was drawing broken breaths. I sat on his chest, making his attempts to recover all the more difficult. I wanted to be sure I had his full attention. I put the dagger tip right next to his left eye. Eyes were delicate, without proper attention, even a vampire might not be able to fully heal that kind of wound.

“You don’t know who I am.”

His face scrunched in confusion.

“Lach…” He sputtered when I buried the dagger tip in his cheek.

“I wasn’t asking. I am telling you.” I made another hole in his face, not like this would mar his beauty.

“You do not know who I am.” A nice slash now, like playing connect the dots. “You do not know that I am here.”

He nodded feverishly. “I swear on my blood.” His words were guttural and wispy. Some vocal cord damage, I suspect.

“Good. Swear.” I invited while I filled his mouth with the blade. He fumbled around the metal and the welling blood, as he swore and shredded his tongue. Words complete, I licked the red from the dagger and pushed off of him.

Even in the dim light, I could see the dark stain spread across Omar’s belly as we waited for the other one to gain his feet. The silence was deliciously tense and thick. The man was making progress, he was on his knees at least.

“And the blood?” Omar had seemed to be working up the courage to inquire.

Right. Fuck. Tiffany needed more blood. She’d need blood for quite some time before it was safe for her to drink from mortals.

I raised an eyebrow and looked pointedly at the other man just gaining his feet. Omar inclined his head, we’d talk about it later. Veronica owned all the blood banks in the City. I had no idea what the situation was all the way out here.

The vampire was on his feet now, eyes downcast, but keeping me in his field of vision. He took a tentative step backward. When I made no movement to crush his departure, he picked up the pace and retreated back into the woods. Omar had manners, though, didn’t he? He waited for a nod to be dismissed.

I took time with the walk back to the little cabin to settle the roiling emotions warring in me. But once passed the threshold, I flashed down the stairs and through the steel door.

Tiffany was still out, curled on her side, just as I had lain her when she went unconscious. I stretched out next to her. I reached out to push a lock of hair out of her face, but pulled my hand back. Blood still lingered on my fingers. She didn’t need to be tainted by what had happened.

I took a cleansing breath. All the weight of the emotions that has raced through me melted away. I wouldn’t, but I felt like I could sleep for an eternity.

TWENTY

TIFFANY

“This really is a bother, isn’t it?” He gestured at the glass wall between us.

His voice should have been muffled. Should have been. No, itwasmuffled, but my ears had no issue picking up the sound waves from the other side of the glass. This enhanced hearing was going to take some getting used to. I perked up at the prospect of the eavesdropping potential. The gossip I could learn… I scowled. No. None of this was OK. There shouldn’t be perks to becoming… whatever the fuck I was.

“Oh, it’s a bother. A bother.” I would have chuckled if it wasn’t so ridiculous.

All of this was ridiculous.

We had come to blows, an actual fucking fist fight. Well, OK, I was trying to throw punches, and he just swatted me down effortlessly. I had a pretty good right hook. Monique made me take self-defense classes. She went through this phase, testing my newfound fighting skills. She’d stalk me around campus and jump me just to see what I would do. She got the idea from her grandmother’s favorite Pink Panther movie. She’d add her own flair by shouting “Constant Vigilance!” before putting me in a headlock. She wanted to make sure I could defend myself at the drop of a hat. “You never know what kind of creep is gonna roll on up on you.” Ha, little did she know that a practiced hay-maker would have zero effect on a… Vampire.

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