Her forehead wrinkled.
“Anyways, he said something about you feeding me. Got any chocolate?” I’d been craving it since I woke up.
“You must be joking.”
“I never joke about chocolate.”
Her lip curled in disgust. I’d take that as a no then. Too bad. It might have made this night a little better. If my entire life was going to be uprooted again, a little chocolate would have gone a long way.
She regarded me as if I was a wayward pupil that needed to be given a certain amount of leeway. I’d been on the receiving end of that look on more than one occasion. I’d really thought I’d never have to be the recipient of it once I left school.
“Let’s get you cleaned up and then fed.” She gave my clothes another look. “On second thought, perhaps we’ll feed you first.”
I followed reluctantly, casting a quick glance back at the exit. She was too strong for me to go against her directly. I’d have to wait for a better moment. Best to play the docile yearling before making my move.
The club’s non-public parts were much bigger than I’d ever expected. There was practically enough room for a second club behind the real one. I wasn’t the best at judging spatial areas, but I was pretty sure the outside size did not match up with the interior. How did they get all this extra space?
There was a soft laugh beside me, and I realized I had said the last bit out loud.
“You have a lot to learn, little sister,” the woman said with a smile. “Part of it is illusion, the other half is done with the help of a few spells.”
I felt the urge to correct the woman. I wasn’t her sister and had no intention of toeing the vampire line, whatever that might be. But I would take every drop of information she imparted, even if it meant letting her make certain assumptions.
“What is your name?”
Now that was going a bit far. I had no intention of giving these people my real name. It would make it too easy to track me. There couldn’t be too many Aileen Travers in the city.
I couldn’t entirely ignore her, not if I wanted her to keep her talking and lower her guard.
They used to call me The Animal when I played sports in high school because I was vicious and scrappy when I went after the ball. Somehow, I didn’t think that name would work in these circumstances. Same with any of the nicknames I’d gathered in the military.
I could see she was starting to get suspicious of my hesitation. Needed a name. Any name.
“Lena,” I said, giving her a shy smile.
It seemed like she bought it because she smiled back.
“I’m Kat.”
I hoped the name wasn’t too close to my real one. It was all I could think of on short notice. Jenna used to call me that when we were kids, and I missed it. She hasn’t called me ‘Lena’ in years now.
“How long have you been a vampire?”
Truth or lie?
“About two years.”
This was a rare chance to get some good intel. I’d stick to the truth as much as possible, if it meant finally learning about the fanged masses.
She stopped and stared at me in horror. I stopped too.
“Impossible. Vampires have little discipline for nearly a decade after their turn. They require strict control and near constant oversight by a guardian. No newly turned could survive without leaving a massive trail of bodies behind them.”
That did not do a lot to inspire my confidence. A shiver skated down my back. If what she said was true, I had posed a much bigger risk to those around me than I had realized.
She could be lying.
“And yet I’ve managed to not kill a single person since my turn. Maybe those stories about the freshly turned are just exaggerations.”
