Page 105 of Vampires of Eden: Oliver
In the kitchen, Daniel is at the counter. Olive-green cabinets and drawers frame him where he stands, and the space is complemented by a trail of healthy, leafy vines winding their way across the top of the cupboards. They trickle down, reaching like tendrils over the window above the large sink.
There’s a rice cooker and a large pot on the stove. Both are billowing with steam and mouthwatering fragrances. A large wooden chopping board covered in an assortment of vegetable scraps sits in front of him.
Daniel turns to glance at Leoni and me as we walk toward a round wooden table with four mismatched chairs—one is sky blue, another rose red, the third is sunflower yellow and the last one is the same olive green as the kitchen cabinets. It’s eclectic, richly colored and smart. A cheerful and pleasant space.
“Dinner is almost ready,” he says calmly as he turns back toward the counter. “Why the hell am I cooking for two perfectly healthy and capable purebreds?”
“Don’t do this,” Leoni encourages him. “We talked about this, and it’s your week to cook. Do you want me to take over?”
Daniel sighs heavily. “No. But for the record, I feel some kind of way.”
“Noted,” Leoni says, then winks at me. She mouths, “He’ll be fine.”
After dinner, we move into the sitting room to continue our conversation. Well, I should say, my and Leoni’s conversation, since Daniel hasn’t said much at all aside from expressing his displeasure with cooking for us.
Leoni cradles a steaming cup of tea as she sits in a large armchair. Daniel is on the floor with his legs folded. Beside him, there’s a basket full of what looks like colorful balls of yarn. He works diligently, wielding two long wooden needles entwined with red fabric.
“There used to be an entire staff at this house, working my family’s vineyard,” Leoni explains. “One by one, though, everyone started quitting.” She takes a long sip of her tea before continuing. “Soon, there was no one left to run the place. It’d been abandoned for six months by the time Danny and me got here.”
“What happened?” I ask, holding my own spiced apple tea in my palms as I sit on the couch. This sounds like the makings of a ghost story.
“Times have changed, and they were tired of being servants to our family—tired of being treated like second-rate citizens in Eden. This phenomenon has been happening more frequently across the aristocracy.”
“Hudson, the lead servant at my family’s estate, recently told me that as well,” I offer. “He said that some smaller houses can’t maintain a full staff anymore. My handler, Camille, officially quit after she helped me escape. She dropped me off at Roland’s safe house in Nantshire, then caught a train to Paris.”
Leoni smirks. “Good for her. Ranked vamps are getting sick of this bullshit—these strict roles and dogmatic ways of existing. Me included. And you too, obviously. Otherwise, you wouldn’t be sitting here.”
She already knows most of my story because of my impromptu interview during lunch. I’d like to know more about her, and Daniel, too, but I’m not sure how receptive they’ll be. I’ll give it time before I start probing.
“Why did you dump Alexander?” Leoni says, sitting up a little straighter and obviously not nearly as concerned with probing as I am.
The question feels so direct. It makes my heart skip. “I didn’t dump him. I just… I don’t think Alexander and I were meant for each other.”
“He certainly doesn’t feel that way,” she says, point blank.
“I know, but… we were forced into this traditional arrangement. We’ve always been starchily supervised and managed by the older vamps around us—everyone telling us what to do and how to interact. It was suffocating and I really… I want something entirely different for my life, and I met someone who helped to validate those feelings.”
“Someone?” Leoni asks. “Someone special?”
I nod. “Yes, he’s… Well. To me, he’s everything good. He’s patient and thoughtful. Accepting of me like no one has ever been. He genuinely listens when I have something to say, and I listen to him, too—his stories about his travels and his concerns. He’s the first vampire to tell me that my thoughts and feelings were valid, and I… Meeting him has changed my life for the better. No matter what happens, I’ll always be grateful to him for that.”
Leoni exhales, then shrugs a shoulder. “Well, he sounds nice. Sucks for Alex, though… Christ. Welp, lucky you for finding another purebred that’s capable of such compassion.”
I shake my head. “Ah, no—Aries isn’t purebred. He’s first-generation.”
Unexpectedly, everything goes silent. It’s as if an invisible current had been flowing within the room, but then halts. Leoni blinks, then her light brown eyes flicker over to Daniel, who’s stopped knitting altogether. He stares down at the red fabric with his pale irises, unmoving.
“Wait,” Leoni says, staring intensely. “Your someone special is afirst-genvampire?”
“Yes. Is that so strange?”
“In Eden?” Leoni asks. “Yes. Hell yes, it’s strange.”
“You say that he’s ‘special,’ so are you serious about this vampire, Aries?” The sound of Daniel’s assertive voice surprises me as I meet his concentrated stare. “Or was he just a convenient, emotional comfort to you? Like a therapy dog.”
“No, it wasn’t—it’s not like that at all. I love him. Very much.”
“And you’dwant to be with him, publicly? Not just behind closed doors, but bonded with him, drinking his blood and permanently entwining your natures?”
