Page 6 of Midlife Vampire Unexpected

“Well, that’s a small comfort,” I smirked.

“You can take me to the sheriff if you want,” he said. “But they can’t hold me. All written proof says Xavier died quite a few years ago and there are no bodily remains. Vampires don’t leave bodies. They leave a little smear of sludge that no coroner would recognize as once being human.”

A sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach made me want to retch, because of the words he spoke while looking at me. I realized he was pointing out that one day when I did somehow meet my end, I would become a little smudge, not even remotely human.

“Where the fuck are we?” I asked.

“I’m going to take you to The Estate.” He opened the door to the cabin.

“The Estate in Cougar Creek?” My head felt light. I closed my eyes and focused on the blood in my veins. It felt like it was pumping straight to my brain, giving me greater clarity.

“Yeah,” he nodded. “They’ll know how to help you.”

“Those crazy witchy ladies,” I muttered. “Doesn’t surprise me you know them.”

“They’re not crazy,” Antonio argued, motioning me to move out of the cabin. “They will be able to help. Let me take you to them.”

“Why do you care?”

“Let me put it this way. I’m a werewolf and I killed your maker. Makes me responsible for you.” He said.

“Are you fucking kidding me? I’m a cop, you realize that?”

“You don’t have to be a copy anymore.” Antonio shrugged.

“I have to go back to work.” I insisted. “I’m not a missing person. Take me… take me wherever the fuck you want, but I’m going back to work. I’m going to check in with Sheriff Ted.”

“You don’t get you’re a vampire?” Antonio asked. “You’re falling into a whole different kettle of fish than you’ve ever experienced before.”

“I don’t give a fuck if I’m a two-tailed mermaid.” I picked up all my things and went out the door. “I work for the law. I always have. I always will. So, if it’s some sort of matter of honor to you to drop me at The Estate, go ahead, and then I’m going to go see my boss at the police station.”

Chapter 4

Deep green woods surrounded us as far as I could see. It was pristine with a glistening lake stretching out down a tiny valley. Everything glistened and sparkled and shone as if it had its own radiance. It was stunning and intense.

“Is this how it always is?” I asked.

“What?” Antonio slipped his other arm through the rucksack handle.

“The way I see. Everything is so vibrant,” I explained.

“I’m not a vampire,” Antonio said. “I don’t know what the fuck goes on in your head.”

“You must’ve heard something.” I turned in circles taking in the sparkling auras coming off the trees.

Antonio paused, took a deep breath, and gave me an exasperated look. I didn’t care. The dude killed my perp. He still had more explaining to do. “It’s supposed to be really intense in the beginning,” he explained. “Then it gets clearer and more concise. So, I guess right now it’s a prism or something around everything, right?”

“Exactly,” I said. He knew. I glanced back at the rustic rest cabin hidden in the woods.

“What is this place?” I asked.

“We’re on the Crimson Trail,” Antonio said. “We’re going to hike out to the vehicles. My truck is parked next to your car. You’ve had a couple of days to get used to being a vamp, you should be fine.”

“Should be?” I didn’t like the sound of that.

“I move fast. Try to keep up.” He let out a growl and his body began to transform. The gorgeous human shifted into a white wolf, his bright blue eyes shining in the morning light.

If he was gorgeous as a human, he was fucking beautiful as a wolf. His fur was thick and luxurious. I wanted to snuggle up next to him.

---