“It’s been so long since I’ve felt a lot of other things,” Thomas mutters to Gilbert, who snickers in response.
“You do eat, right?”
“Yes,” Jacques tells me. “Of course we do.”
“Well, I took a gamble on the pizza. The only thing I was going on was the fact you don’t eat children. Pizza is a safe bet, most times. So are tacos, but the only decent Mexican restaurant is on the other side of town. And yes,” I add before they can interject, “I know you have no idea what that is. I’ll explain it all tomorrow. So come on, dig in.” I open a box of pepperoni pizza and take a slice. “That means eat.”
The four large gargoyles crowd around the small coffee table, curiously looking at the pizza.
“Sorry I didn’t think to bring plates,” I say. I’ve been single for so long it’s easy to forget things like this. When I’d order a pizza at home, I’d keep it in the box and eat it while binging Netflix. Classy, I know. “You can just pick it up.”
I pull apart four slices of pizza and hand one to each gargoyle. Feeling a little envious of tasting pizza for the first time ever, I watch them hesitantly take bites. It doesn’t take long before they go back for seconds. And thirds. And fourths.
I eat two slices before I feel full, and I’m sure part of it is due to being so tired. I’m a three to four slices kinda girl.
“This is good,” Thomas says. “Really fucking good.”
I laugh. “Pizza is a favorite for a lot of people. Eat as much as you like. I assume you’re hungry after not eating for years and years.”
“Now that I’m eating, I feel the hunger again,” Gilbert tells me. “It was there before, but dull. Now it’s back.”
“Uh, sorry?”
“No,” Jacques says definitively. “Do not be sorry.”
I wipe my hands on a napkin and lean back against the hearth, careful not to get my hair too close to the flames. “What does it feel like to be awake again?” I ask carefully, not knowing if I need to follow social norms before I bombard them with questions.
Jacques meets my eyes. “I have no sense of time when I’m asleep.” He looks at the others. “Neither do they.”
I just nod in response, studying the gargoyles. Compartmentalizing emotional or traumatic situations is a must in my line of work. I have to consciously turn it off and allow myself to feel sometimes. And right now, I’m struggling with whether I want to or not. Because on top of learning that magic and demons exist, I know in the back of my mind this has to be hard for the four men in front of me.
They were cursed to be monsters and just found out they missed a thousand years.
“Tired?” Hasan asks gruffly when he sees me yawn.
“Physically, yes. But I have so many questions.”
He stiffens, assuming my questions are going to be directed at him and his brothers. Tough luck, buddy. If I’m the one who woke them, I deserve a sit-down round of Twenty Questions. Each. But I’ll get to them later. As far as I know, they’re not going to kill me or murder other innocent people. Priorities, right?
“Vampires,” I start. “They don’t look like they do in movies.”
“Movies?” Hasan questions.
“I’ll explain that another time. The vampires responsible for the murder in the park were taken care of, but that doesn’t solve my problem, does it? You said they were young, meaning another, older vamp is out there turning humans, right?”
“Yes,” Jacques answers.
“How do I kill them? Is decapitation the only way? What about a wooden stake through the heart? Silver bullets are for werewolves, right? And any idea where the, uh, sire would be hiding out?”
Thomas tips his head to Gilbert, trying hard not to smile. “You want to hunt down the sire and kill him. Yourself?” he asks.
“I’ll do what I have to do.” I sit up and rake my fingers through my damp hair again. I’m used to working alone, but I can’t rip anyone apart—literally rip them apart—the way Hasan did. “I took an oath to protect the people in this town, and that’s exactly what I’m going to do.”
7
“You? On your own?” Gilbert’s eyes narrow with concern, and for some crazy reason, I know it’s genuine. “You could get hurt. Youdidget hurt.”
“I know, and I’ll be better prepared this time. Nothing throws you off your game like shoving a knife through someone’s heart and having them not die. Trust me, I can handle myself.”
