“Nope,” Ari was firmly shaking her head, “that’s not all we need to know. You’ve been forcing your way into our lives for almost a week now. If you wanna stick around you better at least explain the basics of what’s going on. Don’t think you can drag us into this without telling us what ‘this’ is.”
“Fair enough,” Sean said. “I’ll give the basics. Our main system used to be a few core rules: don’t kill people when you drink unless it’s necessary, if you do kill don’t leave traces—”
“Does no one enforce this?” I couldn’t help but interrupt to ask because from what I’d gathered of Dennis so far, it didnotseem like he complied.
“Kind of?” Sean rubbed his neck before glancing at Dennis. “Vamps can usually get away with a small amount of kills. Nothing comes of it unless you become too much of an issue.”
“And he’s not an issue?” I nodded toward Dennis. “Didn’t you say you kill when you’re annoyed?” I asked him.
“Every once in a while. As a treat. It’s fun leaving corpses out for humans to find.”
There was a tense silence while Ari and I waited for him to laugh. He didn’t. Not even a smile. I barely held back a shudder before asking, “What else is there?”
“Don’t tell people about vampires or how we work,” Sean continued, “don’t turn or bind anyone without their permission, and don’t mess with another vamp’s bind. Right now, the only one still being respected is the last one. And it’s not for the human’s sake, it’s because binds are seen as a claim.”
“Wait, should someone bind Ari?”
“I can do it,” Sean said.
“What? No.” She dropped the fork she’d barely used.
“What if a vampire tries to kill you?” I asked. “I’ve always saved you from anyone who messes with you, but I can’t save us from a vampire.”
A heavy silence filled the table. The entire thing was sketchy, but having a bind seemed like the better choice if it came with protection. Especially if a million vampires were gonna start popping up around town. So far, we’d gone from having no idea they were real to meeting four within five days.
“How do you guys feel about things changing?” Ari asked.
“I’m indifferent,” Sean said. “If things keep going in this direction, the public might learn vampires are a thing soon. Which wouldn’t be too bad. But it’s becoming more dangerous for humans. There’s been some talk of vamps using binding as a way to put humans into servitude. It probably won’t happen, but who knows.”
“I like it.” Dennis killed the lighter and leaned forward. “Who needs all these useless humans, y’know? It’s about time something takes care of it.”
“Please tell me you’re joking,” Ari said.
“Not at all.” He sat back and smiled. “A few humans are fine. Like you two, I like you both. But so many are pointless, useless, weak things that exist for no reason. I don’t agree with servitude. That’s a waste. Personally, I think we should turn all the attractive humans to vampires and kill the rest.”
“That’shorrible—”
“But what aboutAri?” I cut her off. “She’s not bound. I don’t want anything to happen to her.”
“I don’t want a bind. I don’t trust either of you. Or Mateo. We barely met and you keep breaking into our house. You’re not normal people.”
“We need to figure this out,” I said. “Go away so we can discuss without you.” I scooted from the booth and Ari followed suit, setting them both free. “Actually, wait,” my hand shot out as Dennis stood, “is it safe for us to go home alone? Now I’m paranoid.”
“You’ll be fine,” he said. “Unless you want us to walk you?”
I glanced at Ari, who’d gone unusually quiet. “Maybe just to our car? We’ll go home and think about it.”
“Yeah. I’ll think about it.” She paused before adding, “Thanks for the offer, I guess.”
“My pleasure.” Sean smiled and stood.
“Go ahead, we’ll be out in a minute.” She waited until they were both outside before saying,“Dennis scares me.”
“Yeah, I can tell. He just likes picking on you. Try not to show it bothers you and maybe he’ll stop?”
“I’ll try.” She sighed lightly. “How are you so calm about this?”
“I honestly don’t know. That cashier guy was kinda cute.” I glanced toward the register as we left the table.
