by Maria Arnt
Suddenly the sound of retching came from the kitchen, as well as the that of a glass shattering on the floor. Too late he realized what she was up to. He put the book aside and hurried into the kitchen.
Tanya stood barefoot in the center of a mess of broken glass and spilled water, one hand pressed against her mouth and the other on her stomach.
“You drank cold water?” he guessed.
“I was thirsty,” she moaned, trying to find a way to escape her predicament.
Seth sighed and crossed the room, the glass crunching under his shoes. He lifted her by the hips and sat her on the counter, and then grabbed another glass from the cabinet. He turned on the tap, fiddling with the handle until it reached just the right temperature. Filling the glass, he handed it to her and then retrieved the broom and dustpan from the pantry.
As he swept up, she gulped down the water greedily.
“Better?” he asked, throwing the last of the shards away.
“Yeah,” she gasped, then frowned. “But... I’m still thirsty.”
He stood, resting his hands on the top of the broom handle. “That’s because you’re not thirsty for water,” he explained. He gestured to the empty glass she held. “You tolerated that because your body assumed it to be something else, since it was precisely ninety-eight degrees.”
She stared at the glass with growing horror. “Oh, god, no...” she whispered hoarsely.
“It has been a week since you arose, Tatiana,” he reminded her. “Did you think you could go without feeding indefinitely?”
As he watched, a stubborn expression settled on her face. He knew that look—she was going to start another fight. He scrambled to stop it before it began, this was not a subject open to negotiation.
“We will go out,” he told her, hoping that would be incentive enough.
“I’m not ready for that,” she shook her head.
She was probably right, he knew. “Then I can bring someone in,” he suggested. “It is uncommon for a changeling to succeed in keeping their first victim alive, and it would be easier to dispose—”
“No,” she interrupted. “That’s not acceptable.”
He hid his smile, pleased that she had reacted as he had guessed. “Alright then, we go out. I will keep a very close eye on you, and guide you through the process,” he assured her.
She leveled a piercing gaze at him. “Do you promise that I won’t kill someone?” she demanded.
He hesitated. If he lied, and she did kill, it would cause more trouble than her compliance now was worth. “I cannot guarantee that, no. Have you ever interrupted a vampire while they were feeding?” he asked.
She pressed her lips together a moment. “I only made that mistake once,” she admitted, obviously catching his meaning.
“But I will endeavor to do my best,” he added.
Running a hand through her short hair, she gazed off into the middle-distance. She looked deeply unhappy, and he felt a mixture of pity and irritation watching her reach the inevitable conclusion. An idea came to mind—she had reacted well to quid pro quo bargains thus far.
“If you agree to come out with me,” he offered, “I will allow you to have your cell phone back.”
Tanya had been trying to figure out an alternative solution to her thirst when Seth’s offer finally sunk in.
“What?” she asked, incredulous.
He repeated his bargain calmly. She had heard him fine the first time, she simply hadn’t believed it.
“You... you would let me... call my parents?” She was flabbergasted. She’d hardly thought of them since she had arisen. It had not occurred to her until that moment how odd that was.
“Of course,” he said, smiling. “They are quite worried about you. Eventually you will need to assure them you have not... what was the phrase? Fallen off the face of the earth?”
She recognized one of her dad’s favorite phrases. “You’ve been talking to them?” she scowled, slipping off the counter and landing in a ready stance.
She watched him notice, saw him shift his own weight accordingly, change his grip on the broom. “Texting, actually.” His voice remained light, at odds with his battle-ready posture.
“And what, they were just cool with that?!” she was aware that she sounded a bit hysterical, but she couldn’t help it.
“Well, er...” he smiled sheepishly. “I didn’t say it was me,” he admitted.
Tanya clenched and unclenched her hands, breathing deeply and trying to suppress the anger that was welling up in her. Seth had been impersonating her, communicating with her parents all this time. How dare he. “Show me,” she growled.
“We have an agreement, then?” He grinned.
Her stomach lurched. She was so angry at him that she had forgotten why he had mentioned the phone in the first place. She swallowed, her throat feeling dry and tight. Deep down, she knew he was right. Eventually, she was going to have to learn how to feed without killing. If she waited long enough, she’d probably just botch it. “All right, let’s go then.”
“Not tonight,” he said. “It’s already four in the morning, nothing will be open. Tomorrow evening, you can call your parents when you wake up, and then we will go. Fair?”
She pressed her lips together and nodded.
“I need your word, Tatiana,” he said slowly.
Sighing, she gave way. “I agree,” she said.
That seemed to make his day. With a spring in his step, he put the broom away and walked out into the living room. She followed him as far as the door of his bedroom, where she stopped. No way she was going in there again. The clever bastard had hidden the thing where he knew she wouldn’t go looking for it.
He came back a moment later and put the phone in her outstretched hand.
As soon as she turned on the screen, she knew something was wrong. “What did you do to it?”
“Hm?” He came to stand next to her to look at it as well.
“The date’s all wrong. It says it’s October 2nd,” she pointed out.
Seth looked from the phone, to her, and then back again. “Ah, yes. That is today’s date,” he said slowly.
“What?” she gasped. It had been the end of August when she had been hunting him. “What the hell happened to September?” she demanded.
“The change... takes time,” he tried to explain.
“A whole fucking month?” she shouted. “I’ve been here a month?”
“The change itself takes one lunar cycle,” he said. “And then it’s been another week.”
Tanya’s mind was almost a blank with rage, but it was clear enough to inform her that twenty-eight plus seven was thirty-five. She usually called her parents at least once a week, by now they must be flipping out. She unlocked the screen again and quickly opened up her texts. What she saw there made her blood run cold.
Entire conversations, between her dad and ostensibly herself, all fabricated by Seth. There was even an exchange with Bradley, in which she had, apparently, told him a job had gone badly and she needed to stay under the radar for a while. That was the nearest to the truth any of it came.
To her dad, Seth had spun an amazing fabrication in which she had failed to kill her target, but run into Professor Walker, also trying to kill the same vampire. They had fled together, it seemed, and were hiding from said vampire, while he shared with her his vast knowledge of vampire hunting. Until they managed to kill the guy they were after, though, it wasn’t safe for them to do anything traceable, like make phone calls.
It was just crazy enough to be believable. “I can’t believe you did this,” she whispered as she read on.
“What else could I have done?” he asked. “Your father knows what you’re up to. If you went missing, what would he assume?”
“That I’d been killed,” she said.
“Did you want your parents to suffer that pain?” he asked softly.
She glared at him, so completely done with his emotional manipulation. “I’d prefer my parents th
ought I was dead than know what you made me. I wish I was dead!” she spat.
“Well this way they don’t have to think either of those things,” he sniffed. “It’s a rather good cover story, if I do say so myself.”
She clenched her jaw because honestly, it was a good story. She went back to reading and saw that her dad and Seth had even come up with a second story to tell her mom, about working undercover at the museum to get a better story. It wasn’t as air-tight as the first, but it was enough to keep her mom satisfied, for a while. But it wasn’t going to last much longer.
The latest texts were dated in the last few days, after she had already woken up. His front was falling apart, and only an actual call from her would be enough to shore it up.
“You magnificent bastard,” she said in disbelief. “You made me promise, but you needed me to call them anyway, didn’t you?”
His smile turned smug for a moment. “It is still a privilege,” he warned. “One which I will take away if I think you’re misusing it.”
Tanya clutched the phone to her chest and bit down on the urge to dare him to try it. Somehow she knew he would, just to show that he could, and he would enjoy it too. “You’re a real piece of work, you know?” she shot back, and made her way upstairs.
“Are you done training for the night then?” he teased, just before she slammed her door.
14
Tanya woke up the next evening with her phone still clutched in her hands. On her bedside stand was a piece of scratch paper on which she had written a rough outline of what she would say to her parents. She flipped on the lamp next to it and studied it over and over again.
When the knock at the door came, she jumped a foot in the air.
“Tatiana? Have you called yet? We need to leave soon,” Seth reminded her.
She ground her teeth together and then got up to answer the door. He looked pleasantly surprised, and too late she realized she was still wearing just the T-shirt and panties she had worn to bed. She slammed the door, grabbed some shorts, threw them on, and opened the door again. Now he looked like he was trying not to laugh.
“How did the call go?” he asked, by way of changing the subject.
She sighed. “I haven’t called yet. I don’t know what to say.”
Seth tilted his head, thinking. “Does your mother typically ask many questions about your work or your activities?”
“Uh, no...” she frowned. She tended to avoid the subject, paying attention just long enough to make sure Tanya was okay before rambling on about how her day at work was. “But my dad does.”
“Well tell him you haven’t much time, and you want to reassure your mother you’re all right,” he suggested.
She pressed her lips together. Damn, but he was a master manipulator. “Okay, give me like... twenty minutes,” she said.
He gave a slight bow of his head, and she closed the door again. Before she could lose her nerve, she dialed the number she’d had memorized since she was five.
“Cooper residence,” her dad’s familiar voice answered on the third ring.
For a moment, she honestly couldn’t speak. “Hi Dad,” she choked out. “It’s Tanya.”
“Tanya! Are you okay, hon?” He sounded really worried.
Crap. “Yeah, Dad, I’m okay,” she lied.
“You sure? You don’t sound too great,” he prodded.
She gave a watery chuckle and rubbed at the tears forming in her eyes with the base of her palm. “I’m just really tired is all,” she lied again.
“That Professor Walker guy working you too hard?” he asked.
This time her laugh was genuine. “You can say that again. Hey, I don’t have much time. Is Mom there?”
“Sure thing, pumpkin. Hang in there, okay?”
“Love you, Daddy,” she smiled.
“Love you too.” There was a long pause on the line, some rustling, and then her mother came on.
“Tanya, sweetie, why haven’t you called?” she immediately began. “I’ve been worried sick about you.”
“I’ve been super busy Mom,” she said, her irritation at her mother’s nagging keeping her from being as emotional as she had been with her dad.
She huffed. “That’s what your father said. Something about some silly undercover story...” she went on, “And some silly professor I’ve never heard of—”
Suddenly she latched onto an idea, and as idiotic as it seemed, it was the only solid explanation she had. “Mom, you remember Dr. Walker,” she said. “He’s the guy who talked to us in the museum.”
There was a long pause. “That Dr. Walker?” her mom said slowly.
“Yeah. He’s been helping me learn more about... about stolen artifacts,” she scrambled. God, she sounded stupid to her own ears.
“Uh-huh,” Julie said slyly. “No, I remember him. Okay. That makes sense now.”
Oh dear god, Mom, she thought, but bit down on her protest. Anything that would convince her would help. “Hey, I gotta go, Mom,” she said, not knowing how much longer she could keep this up.
“Okay, honey. Don’t wait so long to call next time, okay?” she said.
“I’ll try, but it might be a couple weeks, at least,” she sighed.
“Well, do what you can,” she sniffed. “Love you, sweetie.”
“Love you too, Mommy.” She ended the call and collapsed onto the bed.
Seth waited until the silence had stretched on for a full minute, and then tapped lightly on her door.
“Yeah, I’m done,” she replied, just loud enough to be heard through the steel.
He opened the door but did not enter. “Are you alright?” he asked softly. She looked so tragic, staring down at the small phone.
Tatiana sniffed. “Yeah, I guess.” She let out a weighty sigh and held the phone out to him.
He remained in the doorway, stunned by her sudden display of obeisance. “I meant for you to keep it,” he explained at last.
“Oh,” she let her hand drop. “Thanks?” she seemed uncertain of her gratitude, but he appreciated it all the same.
“I suppose I should allow you to get ready,” he said and began to close the door.
“Actually,” she said, lifting her head. “I don’t even know where we’re going. What should I wear?”
He raised his eyebrows. “A club.” He told her the name of it, and she laughed. “What?” he asked, delighted.
“It’s just... that’s one of the places I tailed you,” she explained. “They call you Casanova there.”
He grinned. It was a nickname he had chosen to encourage. “And tonight you shall see why.”
She snorted quietly. “I still don’t know what to wear,” she lamented. He could tell she was stalling.
Looking over at her closet, he thought a moment. “May I?” he asked, gesturing into the room.
Leveling him with a sarcastic look, she said, “Oh don’t tell me all that nonsense about inviting a vampire in is true?”
“Of course not,” he smiled tightly. “I was only being polite. The last time I was in here you all but threw me out.”
To his surprise, she smiled right back. “Okay, since you asked nicely.” She flapped a hand at the closet.
He hesitated, clenching his fists. How had she learned to irritate him so quickly? When he heard her snicker, he strode into the room and threw open the closet doors, thumbing quickly through her clothes. He soon found what he was looking for, a gold top that was little more than a large handkerchief with ties, and a short black pencil skirt. He laid them out on the bed.
“You have got to be kidding,” Tatiana laughed. “Those, together? I’ll look like a freaking streetwalker,” she protested.
He began rooting around in the mess at the bottom of her closet for the shoes he remembered. “Girls as pretty as you rarely become prostitutes,” he countered. “They need merely smile, and the world is handed to them on a plate.” He looked up just in time to see a hint of a blush on her cheek. It faded, though, when she s
aw the shoes he held.
“Hm,” he murmured, trying to think of a way to convince her to wear them. “I’m not sure if your balance is good enough to manage these yet,” he sighed.
She scowled, jumping up from her bed and snatching the black Cuban stilettos from his hands.
“Do you have the stockings to go with them?” he asked, knowing she didn’t.
“Oh, I hate pantyhose,” she whined.
“Not hose, I agree,” He made a sour face. “Stockings.” The word itself made him smile again.
She regarded him with a suspicious stare. “I am not wearing anything you give me, Seth, so we can end this conversation here and now.”
He shrugged. “It was merely a suggestion.”
“Ugh,” she said, but she sounded somewhat amused as well as disgusted. “Okay, now I am kicking you out,” she rolled her eyes and half-heartedly shoved him out of the room.
“I will meet you downstairs in fifteen minutes,” he told her before he was forced through the exit. He knew she wasn’t the type of girl to take forever to prepare herself, but she might pretend to be in order to stall for more time.
“Yeah, yeah,” she grumbled and shut the door.
Well, he thought pleasantly. This was going much better than he had imagined. We’re not there yet, he reminded himself. He hoped that he could continue concealing how important this first feeding was for the duration of the night.
It only took a couple minutes to get dressed, although she fussed with the gold shirt for another few, still not comfortable with how much it revealed and the impossibility of wearing a bra with it. She was tempted to pick out a different top, just to spite Seth, but then she caught sight of herself in the vanity mirror.
Okay, so the creeper knew how to pick out clothes. Big surprise there, as he always looked like something straight out of GQ. She sat down and pulled open her makeup drawer. She didn’t need to use much, foundation and lipstick would just be gilding the lily. She couldn’t resist a little black eyeliner, and just a hint of her favorite eyeshadow, a shimmery green powder. Before, it had helped her hazel eyes look greener. Now that they actually were green, it brought out the gold flecks.