Page 22 of Watch Me Turn
I swirl the sweet, chocolate-tinged blood around my cup and watch it coat the sides. It tastes great, but I'm not enjoying it, and the liquid sits like a block of lead in my stomach. A knot of anxiety born from making a decision I'm starting to regret. I tilt my head back and drain the remainder and make a move topull away, but Angel pulls me tight against his side, and I feel powerless to resist.
"Everything okay?" he asks.
"I need to clean the kitchen," I mumble.
"You don't need to do anything. Just sit with me. Talk to me."
I narrow my eyes. "I'm not going to bite you again, if that's what you want."
He looks hurt. "No, Sophia. That's not what I want. I want to talk. To know more about you. I want you to tell me more about your world. About what it means to be a vampire."
I shift against him. "What do you want to know?"
A warm laugh rumbles through his chest. "I don't know? Everything? Until a couple of days ago, I didn't know vampires were real. Now I guess I need to learn how to be one."
"It's really not that complicated. It's mostly instinct. One day it takes over, and you just know what to do. You can already feel it, can't you? The shift that's happening inside you? The way your senses are starting to dial up a notch?"
He nods. "I think so. Earlier...when we were... It was like I was feeling things more intensely."
"Like how?"
"Well, for a start, I could hear every tiny little noise you were making, and you were making plenty."
My cheeks flush. "Erm, yes. Okay...moving on... What else?"
He tilts his cup so the contents catch in the warm glow of the bedside lamp. "This blood mixture tastes good. It's more complicated than it was yesterday. I'd even go as far as to say it's...nutty?"
I signal for him to bring it to me, and he obliges by wafting the mixture under my nose. With a sharp sniff I confirm it. The lacrimae is more concentrated, but it does have hints of macadamia nut and almond. I'd bet on the donor being a veganNew-Agey type who gives blood willingly under the guise of spiritual enlightenment.
"You're right," I say. "You're a natural. Next time I'll expect you to get specific about the type of nut. Fuck it. If you get it right, I'll give you a cookie."
"We can eat cookies?" he says as he arches his brow.
"Not if you want to keep the contents of your stomach, no. Human food is disgusting to vampires. You can still have it and live, but by the end of this week I doubt you'll want to."
"Oh," Angel says as he sets his mug down on the bedside table. "Okay. Good to know. No more human food for me."
"Anything in particular you'll miss?"
His reply is instant. "Breakfast sandwiches."
"Sausage or bacon?"
He gets a misty, faraway look in his eyes. "Two slices of bacon. One egg over medium and a single perfect slice of American cheese in an English muffin. Finished with a good shake of chipotle Tabasco."
"My condolences," I say, making the mark of the cross and casting my eyes heavenward.
"Thank you. I'll grieve for a while." He shifts positions so he's looking right at me. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but uh...what else am I giving up?"
I take a breath so I can have a second to organize my thoughts. I don't want to lie to Angel, but it's going to be tough to hear this next part. "Well, there's the sun, obviously. You'll never have a beach vacation again, and I'd recommend staying away from tanning beds."
"Noted. What else?"
I fiddle with the edge of the bedsheet. "I mean, it sounds like a good thing at first, but you're giving up death itself."
His eyes flash with excitement. "I'll live forever?"
"Unless someone kills you, yes."
