Page 13 of Road Trip with a Vampire
“I don’t know.” His eyes looked troubled. “My splitting headache suggests I was attacked by someone.” That made sense. The Chicago vampires were notoriously petty and vindictive assholes, often attacking each other over pointless disputes. “I found an ID card in my wallet and a set of keys. And in my bag, I found this.” He pulled a leather-bound journal from his duffel and placed it on the coffee table. It was very nice, and monogrammed with the initialsP.E.“The entries match my handwriting, so I assume it’s mine. But I don’t remember writing them.”
My heart twisted. As much as I wished I could erase certain parts of my life from my memories, I couldn’t imagine not being able to rememberanything. To have no sense of self beyond the urges stemming from biological needs.
“Another thing I remembered when I woke up,” he continued, “was that I wanted to visit California.”
That surprised me. “California?”
“I don’t get it either,” he said. “California’s weather is straight out of my worst nightmares. But when I mentioned California to Reginald, he suggested I find you.” He shrugged. “I knew of nothing that might be keeping me in Chicago, so I left. The rest is history.”
I supposed it was. “Now that you’re here, do you plan to stay in the area?”
He thought about that a moment. “I have nowhere else to go,” he said. “And it took days to get here. So I might as well. Do you know of any spare rooms for rent? Sleeping in a casket isn’t the worst thing in the world but sleeping in a bus terminal might be.”
Fair enough. “The town is small, so there aren’t a lot of options,” I said, honestly. “It’s also expensive. You’ll have trouble finding something unless you have, like, alotof money.”
He dug through his bag and fished out a wad of cash three inches thick. “This enough?”
I gaped at him. “Are those hundred-dollar bills?”
Peter gave the money in his hands a quizzical look. “Seems that way.”
I huffed a laugh. With that much money he’d have no problem finding lodging. At least in the short term. “Where did you get that?”
“No idea,” he said, stuffing the money back into his bag. “After I woke up, I went to the address on my ID. There was a garbage bag full of cash on the kitchen counter. This here is only some of it. The rest is stashed in my coffin at the bus terminal.
My eyes went wide. “Listen, I know you have amnesia. But you seriously left a bunch of cash unattended in a bus terminal?”
He blinked at me in confusion. Then his eyes went very, very wide. “Oh, shit.” He stood abruptly. “I better go there right now and get it.”
To the bus terminal. Which was full of humans unprepared for a thirsty vampire in their midst.
What I was about to suggest was almost certainly a bad idea. A vampire was the last thing I needed in my life, even for one night. But I thought of all those times Reggie had helped me outof trouble over the years—and how welcoming Becky had been when I’d first shown up in Redwoodsville, adrift and alone.
I’d needed help plenty of times during my too-long life. Letting Peter stay here for one night was probably the least I could—and should—do.
I took a deep breath. “After you get your money, do you want to crash here tonight?” This had nothing to do with how handsome he was or the way he smelled. Nothing whatsoever. He was simply a person in need. I could at least offer him this much.
And besides, I was far more capable of handling a thirsty vampire, should he turn bitey, than anyone at the freaking bus terminal might be.
His eyes widened. “I don’t mean to burden you.”
“It’s no burden. You can sleep on the couch.” I didn’t mention that the couch I was offering was the tiny love seat he’d been sitting on, which was so small his legs would likely hang off the edge. He’d realize that soon enough.
He swallowed. “You’re certain?”
“Yes,” I said. I held up one finger. “For one night.” My generosity had limits. There was no room for vampires in my new life. He could figure out his next move in the morning and be on his way.
“I’ll be gone first thing,” he agreed. His eyes went to the door. “I need to go now, though. To get my money, and…um.” He trailed off, a hand scrubbing anxiously at the back of his neck. “To feed.”
Just as I’d thought. “So you are thirsty.”
I took his one-shouldered shrug as an admission.
Ugh. Great. Being new here, he’d have no idea where the closest blood bank was. Then again, I didn’t know where the closest onewas, either. I hadn’t interacted with any vampires since moving here, and the magical whatever-it-was in my bloodstream made being a blood donor myself impossible.
I pulled out my phone. “I’ll find a blood bank for you.”
He looked at me in disgust. “A blood bank?”
