Page 44 of Thirsty
Charlie’s unfortunately sound reasoning aside, Lorenzo had no desire to see Sebastian or anyone who’d be at his party. And the thought of Charlie hanging around him like some eager, easily impressed puppy made him almost sick to his stomach.
Charlie read all that on his face. “Fine,” he said, “I’ll go on my own.”
“No,” Lorenzo said quickly, “don’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“I told you, they’re...it could be dangerous.”
Charlie rolled his eyes. “Vampires are out in the open now,” he said. “They can’t just murder anyone who comes to talk to them.”
“Yes, because humans never murder each other,” Lorenzo said.
Charlie sighed. “Then come with me,” he said. “Be my vampire bodyguard.”
“No,” Lorenzo said. “And you shouldn’t go either. Hey,” he said, as Charlie started to turn away, and before thinking about it, he got a hold of Charlie’s hand—just a few of his fingers, really—to keep him there.
Charlie looked back at him, eyes wide, and Lorenzo dropped his hand just as quickly. At least he had his attention now. “It’s dangerous,” he said again, his voice low. “I’ll answer any vampire questions you could have, just—don’t go to that party.”
Charlie chewed on his lip, his amber eyes dark. “Okay,” he told Lorenzo.
Lorenzo didn’t buy it for a second.
And so the next night he headed up to Brookville’s tiny, uber-wealthy neighborhood, where Sebastian had renovated what must’ve been a ten-million-dollar town house. Parking was of course a nightmare. He waited across the street, listening in irritation to the music dimly filtering out from the mansion’s many windows. And sure enough, just past midnight, Charlie showed up.
Lorenzo stepped out of the shadows as he approached, pleased with the look of shock on Charlie’s face. “Lorenzo?” Charlie said, sounding breathless. “What—have you been following me?”
“No, I waited for you here,” Lorenzo said. He glanced meaningfully at the town house. “At the place where you said you wouldn’t go.”
“Oh,” Charlie said, deflating slightly.
“Luckily for you, you are a terrible liar,” Lorenzo added. Charlie blushed, looking away. “Let’s go.”
“Wait,” Charlie said.
As he took a step back toward the house, three more men approached from the other direction, stumbling over each other with the kind of giddy incoherence of a party already in progress. When he realized who they were, Lorenzo stiffened.
By then, of course, it was too late. “Hey man,” one of them called, laughter in his voice, as they drew close enough to recognize him. “Aren’t you, like...a vampire?”
Lorenzo grit his teeth and turned to face them. It was a clique of Sebastian’s flunkies—younger vampires he’d seen in town occasionally and spoken to once or twice. They had that dirty boyish vibe a lot of rich white vampires had—unbothered and well financed; all wellness and no showers.
The one who’d recognized him threw his hair out of his face to get a closer look, while one of the others protested drunkenly. “Heis? No way.”
“No, he is, he really is,” the first one said, amusing himself. “He lives here. You live here, right? In Brookville?”
He’d encountered this same pack outside a supermarket a few months ago. “Yes,” Lorenzo said stiffly. “We’ve run into each other.”
“Oh, I’m so sorry,” the vampire said, mock apologetic and formal, as the others giggled. “Good to see you again, sir.”
Charlie whispered, “You know these guys?”
Still laughing, the vampire added, “Don’t you, like, live with a leprechaun or something?”
The other vampires snorted. Charlie cocked his head and blinked at them. “Yeah, and I heard you run with the werewolves,” the vampire said, grinning broadly. “No, wait, you live with a troll. A she-troll! That’s fun.”
The vampires were hiccupping with laughter now. Before Lorenzo could think of something to say, Charlie surged forward at his side and offered his hand enthusiastically. “Hi!”
The giggles died away as the vampires took in Charlie with withering apathy. “This is your human?”
