by Paige Tyler
He shook his head, his face serious. “No. How else can we get the services we need?”
She stared at him. “What kind of services?”
Kaige put down his fork. “I had this whole conversation all planned out. If we can get back to the part about the anemia, then I’ll get to the part about the census—“
“Who takes the census?” she asked. “More importantly, who provides these services? Wait a minute. Are vampires part of some shadow-government that controls the world from behind the scenes?”
He regarded her for a moment in silence, then burst out laughing. “Okay, maybe I’d better talk about that part first. I’ll try to make this as understandable as possible. First off, we’re definitely not part of any shadow-government. Humans don’t even know we exist. Each vampire community is served by a local administrative office. These offices receive their guidance from a governing body called the Counsel. Representatives on the Counsel voluntarily serve for a period of twenty years at a time and make decisions based on the good of all vampires.”
Her brow furrowed. “So, the Counsel is kind of like Congress then?”
He shook his head. “It’s not really a political organization. There are no elections, agendas, or grand schemes for the future. And before you ask again, there are definitely no plans to take over the world. The Counsel simply sets and enforces some basic rules to ensure everyone’s safety, including that of the human race.”
Huh. Well, this was completely different than how she’d thought it would be. It all seemed so…ordinary. “Okay, so what are these services you were talking about?”
He sipped his coffee. “Blood delivery, medical and administrative services, employment—”
Savanna blinked. “Blood delivery?”
Kaige set down his mug. “That’s how we get the bagged blood I mentioned to you.”
“Oh,” she said. “But you didn’t always have bagged blood, right?”
“No, but bagged blood is much easier. There’s no muss, no fuss, no strange bite marks to explain, no angry villagers with torches and pitch forks.”
She had the impression he spoke from experience, and she couldn’t help but shiver a little at the thought. “Okay, but what does blood delivery have to do with the census?”
“The Counsel uses the census data to tell them where to locate the distribution centers, as well as where to send the automatic deliveries,” Kaige explained.
“Automatic deliveries?” she said, forgetting all about the angry villagers he’d mentioned earlier. “You’re kidding me, right?”
He shook his head again. “No. The distribution centers are pretty good at calculating how much blood a vampire needs, based on height, weight, and age. And with the automatic delivery system, they have no problem keeping up on the shipments. You can even go online and put a shipment on hold, or forward it to another address if you go on vacation.”
Savanna laughed, sure he must be teasing her this time. “Internet? Vacations? You go on vacation?”
He shrugged. “Not in a while, but everyone needs a vacation now and then. Even a vampire.”
She shook her head. “This is just too weird,” she muttered. “Okay, what about these other services? And if you say that this vampire Counsel runs its own travel agency, I’m going to know you’re making it up.”
Kaige chuckled. “No, no travel agency. Though that would be a good idea,” he said. “The Counsel also sets up and runs emergency medical facilities for vampires.”
Her brow furrowed. “Vamp hospitals? Don’t tell me I can still get a cold or the flu!”
“If you’d let me start at the beginning like I wanted to, you’d know the answer to that question,” he said in what she imagined was his best professor voice. “But no, you won’t be getting the common cold anymore.”
Savanna relaxed. “That’s good to know. Maybe you should go back and start at the beginning. Sorry I interrupted. It won’t happen again.”
“Somehow, I doubt that,” Kaige said dryly. “As I was saying, vampirism is a genetic condition with the number one symptom being acute anemia. There are a lot of other side-effects to the condition, but the anemia sort of drives the train. A vampire’s body can’t produce its own red blood cells. That leads to all of the problems you’d expect a person with severe anemia to have—pallor, weakness, excessive sleeping, and in extreme cases, death. If that were the end of the story, vampires would have died out a long time ago. But the same genetic mutation that created the anemia gave us a way to overcome it. The first vampires discovered that they had the ability to absorb the red blood cells from the food they ate. Our stomachs, our whole digestive system in fact, is completely different from a human’s.” He shrugged. “How those first vampires figured out that their bodies could digest and process human blood is anyone’s guess, but according to our history it was pretty common knowledge by the fifth century.
“The really unusual thing about the condition,” he continued, “is that it can be transmitted to another person. Basically, it’s contagious. Once my blood got into you, it changed your body, making you like us. That’s why you were unconscious for two days. Your body needed time to make all of the physical changes necessary to turn you into a vampire."
She was silent for a moment. “So, being a vampire has nothing to do with demons or evil or anything like that? It’s a blood born…disease?”
“We like to think of it as a condition,” he corrected. “Most vampires would be offended if you called it a disease. We don’t like to think of ourselves as sick—just different.”
Politically correct vampires. Who would have thought?
She was silent for a moment, then frowned. “So, what does any of that have to do with us not getting sick? Anemia should make us less resistant to disease. And where do the fangs come into this?”
“I’m getting to that,” Kaige said. “The fangs likely developed so that vampires could feed more efficiently. Of course, since we get our blood from a bag, there’s not really much need for fangs now. And like with most things in the human body that aren’t needed any more, fangs are slowly starting to become less and less prevalent.”
“Like wisdom teeth, you mean?”
“Exactly like that,” he agreed. “Some newer vampires never get fangs.”
Savanna made a face. “That would just suck.”
“Why would that suck?”
“Because that would be like being Superman, but without the x-ray vision.”
Kaige chuckled. “I never thought of it like that, but I guess you’re right.”
“Besides,” she said. “The whole fang-thing is sexy.”
He leaned forward in his chair. “You think so?”
Savanna caught her breath at the suddenly intent look in his dark eyes. “Don’t you?”
He regarded her for a moment, then gave her a slow smile. “Actually, I do.”
Her pulse started to race so fast that she was sure he must be able to hear it, but whether he could or not, she’d never know because his cell phone rang.
Kaige let it continue to ring, like he was hoping whoever was calling would hang up. When they didn’t, he muttered something under his breath and pulled his iPhone out of his pocket. He glanced at the call display, then back at her. “I have to take this.”
Savanna nodded. She licked her lips, listening to his conversation with half an ear. It was probably a good thing his phone had rung. Another minute of gazing into those soulful, dark eyes and she might have crawled across the table and onto his lap. Even as she blushed at the thought, she couldn’t help but wonder if maybe Kaige had been using some kind of vamp mind control on her, maybe mesmerizing her with his eyes. Definitely not, she decided as she let her gaze run over his broad shoulders and muscular chest. It was pure masculinity that drew her to him, not any form of mind control.
Across from her, Kaige shoved his phone back into the pocket of his jeans. “Sorry about that. It was my teachi
ng assistant. He’s covering my classes for me. So, where were we? Fangs, right?”
She nodded, wondering if he’d pick up where they’d left off. But to her disappointment, he didn’t.
“So, the fangs are just a minor side effect of the mutation,” he said. “The other part you asked about—the immune resistance response—has a more far-reaching, long-term effect. It turns out that in the process of absorbing the red blood cells from blood that we ingest, we also receive large quantities of white blood cells and other things in the blood, like platelets.”
Savanna thought about that for a moment. “That actually makes sense. The white blood cells control our body’s immune response. By upping the WBC count, our immune system must be more effective at fighting off infections. And the increased platelet count would aid in faster blood clotting and make for less scarring. It would also explain why you don’t look two-hundred-and-seventy-eight.”
Kaige looked at her in surprise. “That’s right, actually. We’re not immortal, but our immune system does a good job of keeping us young for a long time.” He looked at her appraisingly. “You seem to be picking this up pretty fast.”
She smiled. “I’m a hematologist. I work with blood at one of the labs near the hospital.”
“Jensen will be interested to hear that,” Kaige said. “He’s a doctor, so he’s always looking for people to help him out with medical services.”
Her brow furrowed. ‘There you go mentioning medical services again. If we don’t get sick and we heal so quickly, then why do we need a vamp hospital?”
He took a swallow of coffee. “Mostly for secrecy’s sake. If a vampire gets in an accident and ends up getting seriously hurt, we don’t want them going to a regular hospital. It might cause a problem if human doctors take a close look at us. Even something like a CAT scan would reveal how different we are. Which is why we take care of our own.”
She nodded. “That makes sense.” Though she wondered how the vampires in charge made sure that never happened.
Kaige regarded her thoughtfully. “You’re really taking this well. I thought you’d be freaking out about now.”
Savanna laughed, her face coloring. “I’ve always kind of had a thing for vampires. Why do you think I was hanging out at that Goth club?”
He shook his head. “And here I struggled with whether I should turn you into a vampire or not that night.”
She looked at him in surprise. “You did? Why?”
He looked away. “Not everyone is necessarily thrilled with the idea of becoming a vampire. Some people react quite badly, in fact.”
The way he said the words made her wonder if he’d been one of those people. But thinking that it might be something he didn’t want to talk about, she changed the subject.
“So, when do I get my lessons on how to use my powers?” she asked.
His brows drew together. “Powers?” he asked in confusion.
Savanna nodded eagerly. “Yeah. You know—powers. Like flying and shapeshifting. Oh, and levitating and teleporting, too. And I can’t wait to learn how to read minds.”
When Kaige only stared blankly at her, Savanna’s heart sank.
“You mean we don’t have any powers? I can’t fly or turn into a bat or anything?”
He gave her a small smile. “Sorry. We don’t have any powers like that. But during the turning, certain parts of your body were optimized for hunting, I guess you’d say. Your hearing, eyesight, and sense of smell have all improved, and they’ll continue to get even better over the years. You’ll be stronger and faster, too. But as far as flying or turning into a bat goes, that only happens in the movies.”
“How do you know?” she said. “Maybe no one bothered to teach you.”
He lifted a brow. “Right, that’s probably it. They just forgot to teach me. Of course, it’s just a coincidence that in two-hundred-and-forty-years as a vampire, I’ve never noticed any of my friends turning into a bat and flapping off into the night.”
She gave him a pout. “You’re laughing at me now.”
Kaige chuckled. “Maybe a little,” he admitted. “But there’s a lot I still have to teach you, and since I sired you, it’s my responsibility.”
“What kind of things?”
He shrugged. “Mostly how to hide what you are and how to blend in with humans. That can be even more difficult in our modern information-age. With the IRS and all the various databases of information, it can be dangerous if someone notices that you’ve been paying taxes at the same address for a hundred-and-fifty years. I’ll also teach you everything you need to know about feeding.” He was silent for a moment. “Speaking of that—and I don’t want to pressure you—but it’d be easier to do all of those things if you spent the next couple of days here.”
Savanna chewed on her lower lip as she considered his suggestion. She’d already spent the past several days at his condo anyway, so was spending a couple more there really that big of a deal? She certainly felt safe with him. Besides, it would give her a chance to explore this connection she thought was going on between them. Who knew? Maybe she might get a chance to nibble from his wrist again. And if she was lucky, a few other delectable parts of his body, too. As her imagination began to run wild with that idea, she was suddenly glad that vampires couldn’t read other people’s minds or she’d be blushing even more hotly than she was now.
Realizing that Kaige was still waiting for an answer, she nodded. “Okay, but I’ll need to get some clothes and other things from my place.”
“No problem,” he said. “I can drive you over. That will give us a chance to stop by the local Counsel administrative offices and the clinic that Jensen runs. That way you’ll know where they are.”
As they were finishing breakfast, Savanna glanced out the window. It looked like a beautiful, sunny San Francisco day. That made her frown.
“I assume that I don’t have to worry about bursting into flames when I go out in the sun,” she said. “But then why did I get sunburn after only a few minutes outside the other day?”
“That’s one of the inconvenient side-effects of our condition,” he told her. “Our skin is extremely sensitive to sunlight. We’ll get sunburn unless we wear a hell of a lot of sunscreen. There have even been some cases of vampires getting trapped outside who have died from exposure. That’s what led to all of the folktales about vampires not being able to go out during the day. Even now, there are a lot of vampires who still don’t like to go out in the daylight. Which explains why most vampire-run establishments are open at night and closed during the day.”
That made sense. It was a good thing she’d always been a night person.
After breakfast, Savanna went upstairs to change and put on sunscreen. It wasn’t difficult to find, since Kaige had a whole linen closet full of the stuff.
They stopped by the clinic first, where she met Jensen Flynn. Tall, blond, and handsome, he was completely charming.
“It’s good to see you up and about,” he said with a smile. “Kaige was very worried. He hardly left your side.”
Savanna looked at Kaige in surprise, but he only shrugged sheepishly. “Not all humans make it through the turning. I wanted to be sure you were okay.”
Though he said the words casually, she thought she detected something else in his tone and it warmed her all the way down to the tips of her polished toes.
As Kaige had predicted, Jensen was very interested to hear she had a background in medicine.
“I’m always looking for experienced vampires to work with me. And the blood distribution center could use your expertise as well. Maintaining blood quality is always a problem for us. I definitely think you could help us out with that.” He smiled. “No pressure, just think about it.”
Savanna was impressed by the clinic. She’d expected it to be small and minimally staffed, but instead it was large, full of high-tech equipment, and had way more employees than she imagined.
Halfway throug
h their tour, Jensen’s cell phone rang and he apologized for the interruption before moving off to the side to take his call. When he returned several minutes later, he gave them a smile.
“My wife,” he explained. “She wanted to remind me to pick something up at the store on the way home.”
Savanna blinked. “Vampires get married?”
The blond-haired man nodded. “Some of us. If we’re fortunate enough to find a mate we can see ourselves spending the rest of our very long lives with.”
“Your wife is a vampire, too, then?”
Jensen gave her a smile. “Humans tend to notice when they start to age and their mates don’t.”
Her brow furrowed. She hadn’t thought of that. When it came to being a vampire, she hadn’t thought about quite a lot of things apparently.
“So, can you get married in a church?” she asked as they started down the hallway again.
Beside her, Kaige chuckled. “Savanna is still trying to reconcile the fact that we’re not the soulless monsters the movies make us out to be.”
Savanna glared at Kaige, her face coloring with embarrassment. “You’re making fun of me again.”
He only grinned.
Jensen laughed. “Don’t let Kaige fool you. Ask him to tell you about the first fifty years or so he spent as a vampire sometime. But to answer your question, yes, those of us who are religious get married in a church.”
She nodded. “So how exactly do vampires meet? Do you have vamp personals or something?”
Kaige and Jensen both laughed at that.
“No,” Jensen said. “The vampire community is small, so we get to know one another fairly well. Though, to tell the truth, you’re not the first to mention the idea of vampire personals. My wife has wanted to open up a dating service for vampires for quite a while. She believes every vampire has a soul mate out there.”
Before they left the clinic to go to the Counsel’s local administrative offices in the next building over, Jensen reminded her about the job he’d offered her. She smiled and told him that she’d think about it.
The administrative offices resembled those of most government buildings. There was a lot of stone and the floors were highly polished. All in all, it was very industrial looking. Once inside, Kaige explained to the female vampire behind the counter that Savanna was newly turned and was there for orientation. Savanna had to admit she was a little nervous about that part, but she felt better with Kaige there to guide her through the registration process.