The realization struck me so intensely that I nearly fell backwards out of the chair.
“Vampires?” I squeaked.
“Well, that’s what we’re called in this culture, yes,” Pierce said. “But none of us will touch you. We don’t do that to guests.”
A million emotions swarmed in my mind until I finally settled on: annoyance.
“What the hell?” I stood sharply. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, man, but it’s not funny. Vampires aren’t real!”
Pierce and Adriel exchanged glances.
“It’s true! Look!” Theo cried. He pulled back his lips to reveal his long, sharp canine fangs - definitely not what human canine teeth looked like.
“Vampires only exist in books and movies,” I insisted. My next question was supposed to come out angrily, but instead ended up high-pitched with fear. “Are you guys, like, LARPers or something?”
Adriel raised a brow. “Excuse me?”
I threw my hands in the air, getting increasingly frustrated. “You know, like, a live-action-roleplayer.”
“No, I can assure you we are not…that,” Adriel muttered.
“Benji,” Pierce said suddenly. He held out his palm, asking for my hand. I hesitated, and honestly, if I was being smart, I probably wouldn’t have taken it. But something compelled me. I wanted proof, sure, but also, for some reason…
I wanted to trust Pierce.
I let Pierce take my hand, and he placed two of my fingers gently to his neck, right where his jugular vein was, and where his pulse should have thrummed beneath his skin.
Except he had no pulse.
“No, that can’t…” I muttered. I removed my fingers, then put them back, wondering how he was able to trick me. But there was no trick. Pierce truly didn’t have a pulse.
And if he didn’t have a pulse, that meant his heart wasn’t beating. He wasn’t alive.
“Uhh,” I said, slowly backing away as fear crept up my spine. “I think I should go.”
Margaret stood. A hiss exploded from her throat. Seemingly from nowhere, a flock of bat servants rushed to the back door and shut it, blocking off the exit.
I was surprised I didn’t pass out on the spot.
Pierce rushed to my side and stood partially in front of me, as if blocking me from Margaret’s view. “Margaret, please, that’s enough!”
The woman scowled but didn’t sit down. “Let the human make his decision - now.”
A wave of intense anxious terror hit me. I resisted the urge to grab Pierce’s arm and hang on to him for dear life in case my knees decided to buckle.
“That’s ridiculous,” Pierce said. “He’s only just arrived. He needs time to think and make a choice. Do you agree, Benji?”
With all eyes on me, my voice shrivelled up and died. I mumbled out a reply. “Yeah.”
“Then it’s settled,” Pierce announced. “Benji will stay the night in a guest room and make his final choice tomorrow.”
For a second, I was afraid Margaret would fly across the table and throttle me. Her expression definitely made it clear that was how she felt about me.
This is the woman that Pierce swore on earlier?
“Adriel,” Margaret growled. Her son - was he even considered her son still if they were vampires? - quickly crossed the space between them and offered his arm. When she allowed him to lead her away, I became aware of how small and frail she really seemed. I’d forgotten that she was ill, too, just like Caleb.
The thought of my ailing brother on top of everything else was too much. I collapsed back in my seat, feeling lightheaded.
