Unbidden, I had a flash of me sinking my fangs into her neck during sex, claiming her as mine.
Yes claim her!my wolf encouraged.
“Only if you ask me nicely,” I winked, trying to keep things light so she wouldn’t freak me out. “But it wouldn’t be to turn you into a vamp.”
Her cheeks turned pink again. It was fascinating.
“It’s true that we drink blood, but mostly we drink synthetic or animal blood,” I continued my little lesson. “We don’t have to have it every day, but it’s best if we do. Just a few ounces at a time keeps us healthy. It’s like medicine to us really.”
“Where do you get it?” she asked curiously.
“The pharmacy. I’ve got a few doses in the fridge.”
Her eyes widened and I added, “It tastes better cold.”
“Ah. What else can you tell me?”
“We don’t burst into flames if we’re in the sun, but you see that I’m even paler than you, so we’re pretty religious about our sunscreen.”
“What about the killing you with stakes thing?” she asked.
I shrugged. “You can kill anyone with a stake. You kill vamps the same way as any other being, it’s just harder because it takes a lot more to hurt us. Plus we’re fast as hell and super strong when we’re in full vamp mode.”
“Thanks for sharing that with me,” she said, her voice getting sleepy. “I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable.”
“It’s natural to be curious about your… about a creature that’s different than you.”
She yawned, a big cracking yawn. “I’m going to go to bed now. I’m exhausted. But we need to be downstairs at nine for the bus tour.”
“Sounds good,” I said, even though seeing the tourist sites in a city I’d lived for many years had no appeal. But I’d done worse things for a job. “Good night, Hazel.”
“Good night Marilee. And thanks for taking care of me.”
“I’ll always take care of you,” I said softly, too soft for her to hear with her human ears.
I’d never meant anything more.
Hazel
“Ithought there’d be more to the Space Needle,” I told Marilee as we boarded the tour bus. “It’s just a building with a viewing platform and a park.”
“And a gift shop,” she reminded me with a smirk.
“I’m not one to buy souvenirs. I don’t like to have too much stuff in my house.”
“You’re a minimalist, huh?”
I made a non-committal sound, not wanting to tell her that when you grow up as part of a crime family, you spend a lot of time moving. Keeping ahead of the cops, moving to the next job, avoiding enemies, it all meant that we moved pretty much everyfew months. I’d kept up the pattern after I broke away from my parents, trying to avoid detection.
But I guess I’d run out of time. I’d seen the guy at the airport following us. He hadn’t approached, which meant he was just reporting back to someone. Who, I had no idea. It could be my parents, or it could be some of their enemies thinking that they’d get whatever they wanted from Colm and Elizabeth through me. I didn’t really care. I just wanted to live my life without having any criminals in it.
The bus started moving, and the tour guide announced that we were heading to Pike Place Market.
“Is that where they have those guys who throw fish?” I asked Marilee.
“Yeah. I think they still put on a show for the tourists.”
“Don’t locals shop at the Pike Place Market?” I asked.
