Page 4 of Overexposed

A long shower and brushed teeth had me feeling more like a person. I dressed in sweatpants and sweatshirt I’d stolen from the beach house because my editing shorts were no good for the colder weather, and went to look for Auris. I was reasonably sure I’d find him sitting somewhere near the kitchen with his laptop open, but the apartment was big.

I’d not really seen the living room yesterday, but the large room I found down the hallway deserved that name. It had a fancy sunken floor and another fireplace. The black was broken by antique carpets and a few select other pieces, but other than gold, cream, and maybe copper and red tones, the only other thing that was allowed here was crystal. If we were going to stay here longer, I would have to talk about adopting a few houseplants.

When I spotted the gargantuan chandelier above a round dining room table behind open sliding doors, I could guess where the designer had taken the idea to use crystal from. The chandelier was a castle piece, something you see in fairy tales, which was fine, given Auris was most definitely a faerie prince to me.

The kitchen was down two steps. I craned my head around the rounded archway and spotted Auris sitting at a rectangular kitchen table, backlit and framed by light. I also smelled coffee.

“Ah, you made coffee! For that alone, I might revisit the vampire cult plan,” I said.

Auris looked up. “You will do no such thing. How do you feel?”

“Pretty good.” I made straight for the fancy coffee maker and marveled at how he’d set out a mug for me right next to it, everything just ready and waiting. It was the little things that made me adore my vampire.

I took a low-backed chair across from him, but then looked out the window over his shoulder. “Wow. Is that a courtyard garden?”

I couldn’t see much of the actual courtyard due to the untrimmed ivy that blanketed the wall and tapped tender leaves against the window, but there was something down there.

“It is. You don’t get these as much anymore today. This one can only be accessed from this apartment and from Jan’s and his niece’s.” He pointed to a smaller and white hallway leading away from the kitchen. “This would have been the servants’ entrance. It takes you down to the garden now and to the basement as well.”

“Wow. Jan has a niece?”

“She’ll be doing the housekeeping and cooking. And has been looking after the place all this time.”

I nodded and finally settled in my chair. “I don’t envy her. This place is huge. And, you know. It’s really stylish. Like a nice vampire lair should be.”

Auris’s smile stretched. “So glad you are pleased. Then I’m sure you’ll approve of me ordering a few of your pieces for here.”

I put my mug down with a loudish click. “You didn’t.”

“Oh, but I did. I insinuated that I would. You barely told me not to, so I bought a few things. I splurged.”

I leaned back, blushing. “You just want to impress me. With your credit card.”

“Absolutely. Which brings me to the next thing. You need to go clothes shopping.” He pointed at my pants and the sweater as if he wanted to accuse me of thievery. “I like you wearing my things, but they are a bit big on you. And winter here gets cold. You’ll need a proper jacket.”

“You want me to go shopping on your dime?”

He shrugged. “As a matter of practicality. The church’s worker bees will be looking for you. They don’t know all the names on my accounts, not to speak of the cash I have on hand.”

I spent a few moments savoring my coffee. I didn’t enjoy shopping, but he was right. By now, I’d planned to be back home.

“Okay, fine.” I nodded. “But also, we are here because you wanted to go look for that other vampire, right? The one the priests told you they’d killed here a while ago?”

He nodded. “Seven years ago, yes. They mentioned a bone church, and I think I know where that is.”

“I’m coming,” I said, because I was pretty sure he was going to tell me not to.

His sigh confirmed that. “We’ll go there at night.”

“Tonight?”

“Not if you insist on coming. It’s been seven years, so a few more days will not change what we are likely to find. I want you to get used to this place, decide whether you want to live here for the time being. And then, when you are ready, we can discuss how to handle your business, whether you want my manager to take it from here.”

I nodded. That had been coming, and if he brought it up first, he felt some urgency about it.

“But for today… do I get to be a tourist for today?”

My vampire smiled at me and nodded. I was already looking forward to him touring the city with me.

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