Bitten & Smitten

by Michelle Rowen

“Don’t worry, they’re only muscle relaxants,” I told him. “But, come to think of it, twenty is quite a lot.” I leaned over toward Peter, who tried to lift the steak knife at me, but it fell uselessly out of his hand. “If you don’t feel very good in ten minutes, I’d ask one of the waiters to call an ambulance, okay? Oh, and thanks for dinner; you’re a sweetheart.”

  “Sorry, pooky.” Amy bent down to kiss his cheek. “But I can’t have you trying to kill my friends. It’s just not nice. I think we should probably see other people.”

  I grabbed the arm of a passing waiter. “Our friend has had a little too much to drink and he’s saying silly stuff. Just ignore him. He’ll be okay in a minute, I’m sure, but he probably shouldn’t drive.”

  “Would he like some coffee?” the waiter offered helpfully.

  I nodded. “What a good idea. Yeah, lots of coffee.”

  “We’ll take care of him for you,” the waiter said.

  “Bye, Peter.” I patted the top of his head. “Thanks again for dinner. It was great meeting you.”

  Quinn stood by us in stunned silence. I grabbed the sleeve of his jacket. “Come on,” I said. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

  Chapter 18

  We made it to street level and out into the cold night air before I finally let out the breath I was holding. I suppose I’d almost expected Peter to come after us, even if it meant that he’d have to drag his highly relaxed body behind him like a walrus or a mermaid.

  Outside the CN Tower, Amy fumbled through her purse to light a cigar, then inhaled deeply on it, resulting in an immediate fit of coughing.

  “I didn’t know you smoked,” I said.

  “I don’t. This is Peter’s. But it seemed like a good time to start.”

  Quinn hadn’t said a word all the way down in the elevator, but I was not going to feel guilty. I wasn’t.

  Okay, maybe just a little bit.

  “Quinn.” I approached him. He’d sat down heavily on a snow-covered bench. “Are you going to be okay?”

  He stared off into space. I waved my hand in front of his face. “Anyone in there? Look, I only did what I had to do to get out of there in one piece. He would have found out, anyhow. They all would have, eventually.”

  “You’re right.”

  “See? I knew it.”

  He looked at me with angry, narrowed eyes. “They would have found out. But they would have found out from me. Not from you making it into a big joke.”

  I felt anger rising up inside me. “Do you see me laughing? It’s not a joke to me. And you know what else isn’t all that damn funny? You going out last night and killing more vampires, as if none of this means anything to you. That doesn’t make you a hero, Quinn; that makes you a murderer. You’re not exactly gaining my confidence when I hear about stuff like that.”

  He shook his head, then suddenly sprang to his feet and was in my face. “I didn’t ask for this, in case you didn’t notice. Every moment of my life now is torture knowing that I’m the same thing that killed my mother.”

  “You have to stop dwelling on that.”

  “I’ll dwell on it if I damn well want to,” he said through clenched teeth. “I did what I had to do.”

  “Yeah, killing vampires. That sounds like something you had to do. Couldn’t you have taken the night off? Would that have been too much to ask?”

  “I tried to.” He slumped back down to the bench.

  I glanced over at Amy. She was keeping her distance, puffing away on the cigar and pretending that she wasn’t listening. Wise girl.

  “What do you mean, you ‘tried to’? Tried not to kill anything for a few hours?”

  He sighed and it was a deep, shaky sound. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

  “What are you talking about?”

  “I needed the blood of a full-strength vampire. I heard you all talking the other night. I understood the rules. When the pain came again, I didn’t know what to do. It was excruciating. I wanted to let it happen. I wanted to let it kill me, but self-preservation kicked in. I wasn’t going back to Thierry. There was no way. But, damn it all to hell, I knew if I wanted to live, then I needed blood. So, I…” His voice trailed off, as if too disgusted with himself to finish the sentence.

  “So you went along on the raid to find a vampire who was willing to help you,” I finished for him.

  He sighed. “It didn’t actually matter to me if they were willing or not. When Peter and the others were done, there was plenty of blood to be had. I hid until they’d left and did what I had to do.”

  I felt the color drain from my face. “After they’d been killed.”

  “One of them wasn’t dead yet. But, yeah.” Quinn’s face was tense in the moonlight. “The older the vampire, the less there is left. The young ones stay solid after death; the old ones disintegrate.”

  Right, Thierry had mentioned that to me before. So, what Quinn was trying to tell me was that he went along on the raid, not to participate in killing vampires, but to feed from them. Like a macabre McDonald’s drive-thru. I looked at him, expecting to feel revulsion, but instead I felt sorry for him. He’d been all alone in this. He didn’t have any other options. I’d been all alone, too, but at least I’d found Thierry. What would I have done in Quinn’s place?

  “I’m sorry,” I finally said. “Nobody should have to go through what you have. And now I’ve outed you.”

  He shook his head. “Like you said, they would have found out sooner or later. I was fooling myself if I thought I could pretend nothing has happened to me.”

  “So now what?” I felt the overwhelming urge to hug him, to hold him close, and to tell him that everything was going to be okay, but I stopped myself. Mostly because I wasn’t sure that everything was going to be okay. For either of us.

  “I don’t know. I just don’t know.”

  “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”

  “Yeah,” he said. “Anyhow, I’m going to go. You two shouldn’t stick around here long, either. Peter will be coming for you.”

  “He does seem the stubborn type, doesn’t he?”

  “He told me something while the two of you were in the bathroom, and I… I wasn’t going to say anything, but…”

  “What?”

  “He said that there’s something major going on. That before they move on this year, they’ll have wiped out nearly every vamp in the city.”

  “I thought that was their plan to start with. The whole hunting-season thing. Kill as many vamps as possible, then go drink beer at Clancy’s to celebrate.”

  He frowned and shook his head. “No, Peter was talking about something different. We…” He paused. “They do try to take out as many as possible, usually out in the open, but not a complete massacre of every vampire within a hundred-mile radius. This is bigger than anything I’ve ever heard of before.”

  My breath caught. “Do you think he was just bragging? Blowing some hot macho air?”

  “I thought so myself, but he went on about it for a while. Like there s some master plan this year. Something even I didn’t know about, not that that surprises me. My father has never been all that forthcoming with his plans. I think this is for real, though. He said that they have an insider.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “An informant. Sounds like it could be a vampire who’s giving up names and locations.”

  A vampire traitor willing to sell out his peers. How horrible was that? That must be why some of the secret clubs had been hit this year. For all I knew, Midnight Eclipse might be next on the list. And Veronique had said they’d be open for business as usual tonight. I had to tell Thierry to be careful.

  I looked at Quinn. “Will you be okay?”

  “I’ll be fine,” he said. “Be safe, Sarah.”

  He held my gaze for a few moments and then turned to walk away.

  “Bye, Quinn,” Amy called cheerily after him. “It was nice seeing you again.”

  “You,” I said t
o Amy, “should go home.”

  She smiled at me. “Yeah, as if that’s going to happen. Where are we going now?”

  “Nowhere I’m taking you.”

  She frowned. “When did you get all serious?”

  “Serious situations call for serious facial expressions. Now go home.”

  “No.” She crossed her arms.

  “Go home or I’ll bite you.”

  She bared her neck. “Go ahead, I’d like to see you try.”

  I scrunched my nose. “Gross. Fine, be that way. Come with me. Just promise to be quiet and well behaved. Don’t say anything, and look as mean as you can.”

  “I can do that.”

  I snagged the first cab that came along and gave him the address to Midnight Eclipse. I didn’t want to go there. I didn’t want to see Thierry again after our exchange this afternoon, but I could do it. I had to. I’d just march right in there and tell him what Quinn had told me. Then I’d leave, job done, and never have to see him again. Sounded simple enough.

  But then I had a flashback to what it had felt like when he’d kissed me in my bedroom in Abottsville. So wonderful, so perfect, so incredible. And then to have it all dashed against the rocks so fast. It was difficult. All I wanted him to do was take me into his arms and tell me that it had all been an elaborate practical joke. There was no wife. That he only said the cruel things to me to find out how I really felt about him. And everything was wonderful and perfect, and we’d ride into the sunset together, dark sunglasses firmly in place, in his gorgeous black Audi. And we’d live happily ever after.

  But I wasn’t that stupid. Happily-ever-after was just for fairy tales. I’d never read a fairy tale with a vampire in it. Those were horror stories, and nobody lived happily ever after in those.

  “You’re quiet,” Amy said in the back of the cab. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing.” I wiped a stray tear away.

  “Sarah!” she exclaimed. “Tell me what’s wrong!”

  I looked at her and revised my answer. “Everything.”

  She nodded as if she understood and didn’t prod me for any more answers.

  When the cabdriver pulled in front of the tanning salon, Amy fished into her purse to pay. She looked confused by our location but dutifully followed me through the front doors like a good friend.

  Barry was at the front desk in his usual small black tuxedo. He sprang to his feet and walked over to block the black door.

  “Oh,” he said disdainfully. “You’re back.”

  “Yes,” I said. “And you’re short. I need to see Thierry.”

  He was about to reprimand me for not calling him “master” for the thirtieth bloody time when he looked past me to Amy. His mouth dropped open, exposing his tiny fangs.

  I turned to see Amy staring back at him.

  Then I could have sworn two cupids appeared above us and shot arrows into both of their hearts. Strange but true: it was love at first sight I raised my eyebrows. “You have got to be kidding me.”

  Barry practically ran to Amy and took her hand in his, kissing it gently. “My name is Barry Jordan, and I am at your service, lovely lady.”

  “Gag me,” I said.

  She shot me a look. “Amy,” she offered, blushing prettily. “Amy Smith.”

  “And I thought I was going to be sick before.” They didn’t respond to me. “Okay, forget it. You two keep each other company. I won’t be long.”

  I pushed open the entrance to the club. It was busier than I’d expected. Nearly every table was full. The band was onstage; the music almost too loud for conversation. From behind the bar Zelda spotted my entrance and motioned for me to come over.

  “Hey,” she said with a fanged smile as I approached. “Long time no see.”

  “In the grand scheme of things, it hasn’t been all that long.” I wearily swung onto an empty bar stool and looked at the crowded, smoky club.

  “You’re more philosophical than you were three days ago.” She pushed a shot of blood toward me. Hopefully, it was on the house, since I currently had about fifty cents to my name.

  “I guess it’s been a philosophical kind of week. The kind of week that makes you consider taking a bath with a plugged-in toaster. Busy in here, huh?”

  Zelda glanced around as she made another round of drinks and arranged them on a serving tray. “Fewer clubs are staying open these days, so the ones that are get the overload.”

  George appeared next to me and flashed me one of his fabulous Chippendale smiles. “Hey, gorgeous. I was worried I wouldn’t be seeing you around here tonight after your dramatic departure this morning.”

  I smiled back at him. If he was working this evening, it meant he was healing up quickly. “Every time I come in here, I say I’ll never come back. But here I am again.”

  “You want me to find you-know-who for you?”

  “If you mean Thierry, I think I’ll track him down myself. But not just yet.”

  Zelda grabbed my hand across the bar. “Sorry about our new arrival. I had no idea she was going to be visiting.”

  I tried to play dumb. Wasn’t all that hard. “Whoever do you mean?”

  “ ‘Queen Vee,’ of course.”

  “Oh, her.” I forced myself to laugh. “Why ever would I have a problem with her being here?”

  Zelda studied me for a second. “Oh, no reason.” She and George shared a look. “No reason at all.”

  “Speaking of Veronique”—I glanced around the dimly lit club again—“any word on how long she’s planning on staying in town?”

  “Haven’t asked,” George said. “She doesn’t like me that much, don’t ask me why. But it seems indefinite.”

  “Her visit or her not liking you?” Zelda laughed.

  “Probably both.”

  I smiled. “It’s nice that she’s come for a visit. She seems to be a very interesting person.”

  They shared another look. “Come off it, Sarah,” Zelda said. “You don’t have to pretend with us. We know you’re jealous as hell.”

  I just raised my eyebrows at them and drank my shot a little quicker than necessary.

  “Jealous? Why ever would I be jealous?”

  George glanced at Zelda. “She’s totally jealous. And can you blame her? Thierry is to die for. Believe me, if I had a chance… I’d… well, I won’t get into any details until I check your IDs to make sure you’re old enough to hear what I’d do.”

  “Actually,” I said, “I’m not all that interested in married men, especially the ones who leave that little piece of information out about themselves. So, you’re welcome to him.”

  “Ah.” Zelda poured me another shot, this time vodka.

  “Do I see our little fledgling’s shields are slipping a bit, the more we talk about this?”

  My lip quivered. “No. Just forget it, okay? I don’t want to talk about it. I don’t want to talk about anything.” I let out a long, shaky sigh. “Unless, of course, you two happen to know anything about this cure for vampirism I’ve been hearing about.”

  “A cure?” George played with the salty rim of one of the drinks he had yet to deliver. “Doesn’t ring a bell for me.”

  “I know about it,” Zelda said simply. “Didn’t I mention it to you?”

  I was surprised. “I thought you were just joking around. So, how? What? Where?”

  She laughed. “One question at a time, okay? First of all, yes, there is a cure, if you want to call it that. Very hard to come by, and not everybody knows about it. It’s some kind of secret experimental thing.”

  “Are you sure?” George said. “How come I’ve never heard of it?”

  “I guess you’re just not hanging with the right people, Georgie. When you’ve been around as long as I have, you get to know a lot of people. Add to that my current vocation as an underpaid and overworked bartender, and everyone is practically tripping over each other to tell you things.”

  I was stunned. “Have you ever tried to find out more about it?”

>   She shrugged. “Why would I? I’m not interested in being cured. I like being a vampire. It makes life so much more interesting.”

  “How about you?” I said to George. “Would you want to be cured?”

  He thought about it for a moment. “Maybe once upon a time. Not anymore. I mean, look at me. If I wasn’t a vampire, I’d be in my eighties by now, cooped up in an old-age home praying for a clean bedpan. Besides, how much fun could it possibly be to tan wrinkled skin?”

  Zelda leaned against the bar counter. “Are you saying that you’re looking for a cure?”

  “Maybe.” I frowned. “It was one thing before I knew there really was a cure, and now I’m not sure how I feel about it.”

  “This doesn’t have anything to do with finding out Thierry’s married, does it?”

  “No,” I said quickly. “All I know is, nobody tried to kill me before, or called me a monster. I could see myself in a mirror, and my teeth were a normal, nonpointy shape. My life was a whole hell of a lot less complicated, that’s for sure.”

  “Life’s no fun without complications,” Zelda said.

  “I guess that depends on your definition of complicated.”

  I watched a large, pale man approach George and tap his shoulder roughly.

  “We’ve been waiting for our drinks for a long time. You want a tip, or what?”

  George picked up the tray full of drinks and handed it to the man with barely a glance. “Here you go. You can keep the tip.”

  The vampire grumbled about lousy service, but then dutifully carried the tray back to his table while trying his best not to spill anything.

  “You see, Sarah, honey?” George put an arm around my shoulder. “Things are only as complicated as you allow them to be.”

  “You know what? I think you might be right. I am making too much of a big deal out of all this stuff. I’m going to stop caring at all. And the next time some big, self-important asshole decides to play with my emotions, I’m going to wipe the floor with his ass…” I trailed off. Zelda’s and George’s faces had blanked and they weren’t looking directly at me anymore. In fact, they were trying to look anywhere else but at me.

  I slowly turned around. Thierry stood directly behind me, his head cocked to one side and his expression neutral—although I could have sworn I saw a trace of amusement slide behind his silvery gray eyes.