“Does he even know how to use a shower?” I mumbled and hoped I could find something to eat in the kitchen.
“I know how to use the shower, human,” Marlon said as the shower turned on.
Obviously, his hearing was better than that of a human. I needed to keep my thoughts to myself and refrain from blurting out everything that came to mind. I found a can of chili and a few other ingredients while the chili heated and layered it all in a bowl. Then I wondered if Marlon might be hungry. “Do vampires eat human food?”
“Yes, and whatever that is, it smells delicious,” Marlon said as he appeared next to me.
I threw my arms up, startled again by his sudden appearance and launched the food in the air. Before I had time to react, he caught the bowl of chili and everything I’d added and set it neatly back on the counter. “You really gotta stop sneaking up on me.” My pulse pounded in my skull as I drew in a deep breath.
“I’ll try to move slower and make more noise. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to move freely, so I must relearn everything.” He stared at the bowl of food he’d saved while he spoke, and I hurried to make him his own. After adding corn chips, cheese, some lettuce, and sour cream, I handed it to him.
He took it from me and closed his eyes as he inhaled the scent. It was only Frito Pie, but he smiled like it wasthe most delicious thing he’d ever smelled. His eyes widened in excitement, and I handed him a fork. “Go ahead,” I said and watched as he took his first bite. He looked a little better, less dirty, but his skin still sunk into his face and had a strange color. His eyes rolled back, and he groaned as he chewed. That groan did something to my insides and I couldn’t look away. He opened his eyes, and they immediately locked with mine.
“This is—good,” he said and scooped up another forkful.
“Just good?” I grinned, unable to hold it back. He was weird and dangerous, but there was just something about him. What the fuck?
“It might be the best thing I’ve ever had in my mouth,” he said, and I fought the urge to laugh. “What is it?”
“Frito Pie or some people call it a walking taco if you make it in the bag of chips.” And I was officially talking to a vampire about food. Weird.
“Can I have more?” He held his empty bowl out, and I made him another before finally starting my own.
Thesun was still up, and he was still stuck here, but maybe that wasn’t such a bad thing. “Can I ask you something?” His eyes narrowed at me as he took another bite and nodded. “Can you heal? The way you look now isn’t the way you’ve always looked.” I resisted bringing up the flashes of his past.
“No, and eventually I will return to a more human appearance. During the time I was trapped, my body had to sustain me, and I survived on any creatures that wriggled into my casket. Why do you ask?” I cringed at the thought making him laugh. “You’d be surprised what you’d eat if you had no other choice.”
“I just thought a vampire would look more human rather than dead.” I slapped my hand over my mouth, embarrassed by my words. Not that it wasn’t true.
“I will. Once I feed a little more.” He grinned then, and I noticed his teeth weren’t coated with dirt anymore, but the way he looked at me had changed. Now it was clear who was predator and who was prey.
Six
Marlon
Blake now knew I was not just a decaying corpse. If I chose to, I could snap his neck and drain him before he even realized he was dead, but first I wanted to see if he was cut from the same cloth as his ancestor. Driven by the need to find gold or riches to make himself feel complete. Never realizing there was more to this world than that.
I knew, without looking outside, that the sun was almost down, and I fought the urge to feed. While it was true, I did not need much blood to satisfy my needs. But it had been far too long since I’d drank my fill.
Blake’s eyes narrowed as he watched me. In this instant, he stopped seeing me as a weak adversary and started to believe I was indeed a vampire. Even if he had no clue what that truly meant. “Why are you looking at me like I’m a piece of meat?” he asked.
“Because to me you are,” I answered, not willing to spare his feelings. “I choose not to drink from you except for a small amount each day, but I will need to feed more. It’s been far too long.”
“You said you only needed a little.”
I stepped closer to him until we were nearly toe to toe and met his eyes. Even though I was now clean, I knew how I looked, and it was not human. “Would you have allowed me to feed at all if I admitted I could see every drop of blood as it moves through your body and it all calls to me to drink it down? My need for blood will never go away, and it will never lessen, but I do have control over that need.” My lips curled at the words. He needed to know Ichosenot to kill him.
He gulped some air before asking, “Are you going to kill me?”
“Not yet. Now, let’s go to the farm.” I was out the door and running before he had time to think about my words. The smell of water in the air from nearby fields caught my attention as I ran so fast my feet barely touched the ground. The fact this human and his idiot friend thought they could make me do anything was laughable. They had no idea what they were dealing with. I slowed down and came to a stop at the front of the old farmhouse. I’d been here when there was no more than a small shelter for the few livestock we had when we first arrived. The house looked much as it had the night of my betrayal. A low growl registered in my chest at those thoughts, and I forced those emotions down so I didn’t attack and kill whatever human arrived here first.
Blake’s truck rumbled along the dirt road as he made his way to the house. When he pulled to a stop close to where I stood, I could see the fear in his eyes. “Come with me,” I demanded, far past the niceties I’d so far bestowed on him.
He cut the engine and slid out of the cab but stayed far away from where I stood. “What did you want to show me?” He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked everywhere but at me.
“This way.” I led him to the barn and back to the rear corner. There I tapped until I found the loose board I’d used so many years ago to conceal the one thing that meant something to me. I lifted the board out and reached under it. My fingers brushed against the cloth that held a small part of my human past. “This is the treasure your ancestor lied to you about.” I handed him the small bundle, and he took it as his eyes met mine.
“What is it?” he asked without looking at what I’d placed in his hands.
