Instead, he made a joke.
“You’re alive—or not, depending on the perspective—because I made you into a vampire.”
Chapter Three
I laughed. Laughed so hard I usually would have peed myself. Don’t mock or judge. As I got older, my pelvic floor didn’t get the exercise it supposedly needed to stay toned. My doctor suggested Kegels exercises or sex. Neither happened, so I tinkled when I coughed or chuckled too strenuously.
In between sniggers, I managed to reply to Cillian’s outrageous claim. “So, you’re saying you bit me and now I’m a dark mistress of the night?”
“The correct term, given you’re a newly made vampire, is fledgling.”
I uttered an unladylike snort. “Very funny. Not buying it, though.”
“I assure you, it’s the truth. Hence why you needed to drink some blood.”
I eyed the decanter then the empty glass—which tasted so good and had me craving more. No way it was blood.
“Ha, ha. Very funny. Vampires aren’t real.”
“Everyone says that until the fangs come out.” He smiled at me and I recoiled at the sight of his very large incisors.
“Big teeth don’t make you a vampire.”
“Then what does?”
I wracked my brain for what lore I knew. “Aversion to God.” I flung my hands up and made a sign of the cross.
He made a noise. “Try again. Religion is a cult created by men to control the weak-minded.” I actually kind of agreed with him on that.
I glanced around. “Got a mirror nearby?”
“I have a reflection. I’m not a ghost,” he scoffed.
“I’m guessing you’re going to laugh at me if I mention garlic,” my less than hopeful riposte.
“Love the smell of it. And I could gargle holy water if you asked. As to the rest, if you stake me in the heart, yes, I’d die, but so would anyone else. Sunlight won’t cause me to incinerate into ash as the movies would have you believe, but it is very painful to exposed flesh.”
“Prove it. Stand outside in the sun.”
“I can’t.”
My finger jabbed in his direction. “Aha! Because you’re lying.”
“Because it’s past midnight.”
“I’ve been here a whole day?” Last I recalled it was one in the morning.
“Try five.”
“Five days?” I squeaked. “No way I slept that long.”
“Given the extent of your injuries plus the change in your metabolic state and DNA, I’m surprised it wasn’t longer.”
“Listen, Cillian, I appreciate you supposedly saving me from death and all, but, obviously, I wasn’t as badly injured as I thought and my coma nap fixed me. Thanks for everything, but I’m going to get going now.”
“Without shoes?”
I glanced at my bare toes. “You going to give me the ones I was wearing?”
