Despite the atrocities that that threat implied, it was very nice of Phoenix. Especially since, seeing the look on Bill’s face, Bill clearly would have loved to settle the score with me as a consolation prize.
We headed for the exit, passing the bouncer who had come inside and who took care to clear out of our way. When we stepped outside, the gang was around the car, and they were clapping for us.
I felt Phoenix stiffen next to me, ready to attack. To stop a massacre, I put a hand on his arm to reassure him.
“Come on, there’s no danger.”
He glanced at me discreetly.
“That is the group of bikers from earlier,” he said, as though I’d lost my mind.
“What? You told me to surprise you, didn’t you? Come on.”
I crossed the street, with Phoenix a step behind me.
The younger gang members scattered to let us through, and Bobby the Eel came over.
“Oh, miss, you’ve fulfilled a great dream of ours! That damn bouncer has deserved a swift knee to the ba . . . I mean, to his parts, for a long time.”
His reconsideration of his language, a clause of our contract, made me smile. Bobby turned to my boss.
“Bobby the Eel, sir. Me and the guys from Dark Angels, we took care of your car. If one day you need an extra hand, think of us.”
Phoenix sized him up, raising an eyebrow.
“We shall give you a call if there is ever need. Now, if you don’t mind, excuse us . . .”
When we left, I saw in the rearview mirror that Bobby the Eel, proud as a peacock, was strutting about for his admiring fans.
In theory we were safe, but my boss waited until we’d left the red-light district to initiate conversation.
“You were more than useful tonight. I must admit that you even helped me.”
“Are you talking about the moment where I found myself facing down Bill with my gun? I really thought I was going to die of fear!”
“You were perfect. I am proud of you.”
In truth, I was also proud of myself. I’d made a group of biker thugs believe that I was a mafia goddess adept at kung fu, and I’d stopped a bloodthirsty vampire from fleeing and from tearing my head off at the same time. I was in an excellent mood!
“What if we were to celebrate this?” I proposed.
“Pardon?”
“You may have forgotten what it’s like to feel hungry for food, but I haven’t. At this hour, we should be able to find a restaurant that’s open. We can discuss our new information and our impressions in some tranquil setting. What do you say?”
“Hm . . . Why not? You certainly deserve it.”
Comfortably settled into my heated seat, I let Phoenix choose the radio station. We left the eastern neighborhoods behind, looking for a place to eat.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Trust
We ended up at a small pizzeria run by eager Italians. There were only a few other people there, and the waitress offered us a romantic-looking alcove booth. She looked at us tenderly, as though we were newlyweds on our honeymoon.
“Oh, but we’re not . . . ,” I started to say, embarrassed.
But Phoenix interrupted me.
“That will be perfect, thank you.”
The waitress left us shortly after with my order, disappointed that my “husband” wasn’t hungry. As for me, it would be a miracle if my stomach didn’t start banging out Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony in major growls.
“These booths are quite intimate. It will make it easier to talk.”
“But that waitress thinks we’re a couple!”
“So what? If it makes her happy, we can play along.”
I knew I immediately turned beet red with embarrassment. The waitress had taken the menu with her, so I couldn’t even hide behind it.
My boss laughed.
“Stop blushing like that. I will not go that far. After five hundred years, I think I have learned my etiquette.”
Point made. I blushed even more, but this time out of shame.
“You really have a knack for making me uncomfortable.”
“Come now, you are embarrassed because a waitress thinks we are newlyweds when just a while ago, I do not know how, you took to task an entire group of unaccommodating leather-jacketed gang members! Let’s not even mention the angry vampire. What an upside-down world.”
“I’ve told you from the beginning that you shouldn’t try to understand my logic.”
“That is exactly what I am discovering.”
He asked me to tell him how I’d managed to gain the respect of Bobby the Eel and his gang. As my tale unfolded, his face expressed more and more incredulity, with a hint of pride.
“You are full of resources, Samantha. I would have liked to see you at work.”
“Bah! You were too busy with Bill . . . Actually, I’m not a specialist on behavior, even less so when it’s about decoding vampires, but I think he lied. He knows something.”
“Of course he knows something.”
“So why did you let him go?”
“I want him to think that I do not suspect him. That way, he will lead me straight to the answers that I want. Not right away, though. He is going to be prudent until he feels confident again. Soon.”
“Maybe he’ll lead you to the Kentwood vampires, then. How did you come across them in the first place?”
“I had heard rumors that several disappearances took place in a short amount of time. I went to Kentwood to take a look around, and as I was leaving the apartment of one of the victims, I ran into one of the two men you encountered. Now you must understand that vampires passing through the area must make themselves known. That is the law. Those who do not comply have something to hide. It was obvious to me that this was the case for those two because when they saw me, they recognized me and attacked me right away. I am not easy to kill, so they finally gave up and tried to run away, but I was able to trap them in the alley where we met. You know the rest.”
I didn’t have time to respond because the waitress brought my plate then. That evening had made me hungry, and I salivated at the sight of my calzone, which I promptly began to devour. At the first bite, I relaxed in my seat and said, “Yum, that’s good.”
My dining companion watched me.
“You surprise me, Samantha. You are eating heartily now, but barely an hour ago, you were staring death in the eye.”
“Do forgive me, Phoenix, but I’ve learned that if I stop eating when something shocks me and I’m in front of you, I’ll end up in the cemetery pretty quick.”
He said nothing. I drank my glass of wine before asking the burning question that was on my mind.
“Who are Talanus and Ysis?”
He looked at me with exasperation. I knew they were important, so I burned with curiosity.
“They are my employers and the leaders of our community,” he said in a solemn voice.
“You mean that they’re the king and queen of the vampires?” I said, impressed.
“No. They lead a sector that includes the counties of Kerington, Springfield, and others. Each sector leader is assisted by an angel. Together, their mission is to ensure the strict application of vampire law. They are watched over by people even more important, and it is better that you know nothing about them. If sector leaders are ever deemed incompetent, they are replaced. Everything they do is to control our population and stop humans from discovering us. Normally, there is only one sector leader, but Talanus and Ysis have worked together for centuries without any problems.”
“They must be exceptional. How old are they?”
“Talanus was a general in the age of Augustus. And Ysis was a companion of Cleopatra’s. They met shortly before Cleopatra’s death, incidentally.”
I almost choked again, but this time on a piece of calzone. Those two vampires were more than two thousand years old! And this Ysis had rubbed elbows with Cleopatra! Surely historians would kill to talk with her.
“That’s incredible! Why
do they reign together? You told me that you all guard your independence jealously.”
“Except when love comes into consideration.” He made a face. “They have loved each other for two thousand years, and despite that weakness, their territory is one of the calmest. Strange.”
That idea about love making people weak really got on my nerves.
“Oh, for pity’s sake! Worrying about someone other than yourself is never a sign of weakness. Haven’t you ever felt something for a woman in five hundred years of existing? Not even when you were human?”
“I say that even without being a vampire, I was never destined for love. I have had the pleasure of female company, both human and vampire, but I have never felt love. And I do not wish for it either.”
I frowned. I didn’t know that humans and vampires were compatible, especially considering how vampires saw us. It seemed I was mistaken. In any case, I doubted that human women would have consented when they learned about the true nature of their partner. That was troubling enough.
“I find your view of love absolutely ridiculous. It’s a marvelous feeling that makes a person stronger.”
Phoenix fixed me with his X-ray stare. I should have kept quiet.
“You’re speaking from experience, I suppose.”
There it was. I had fallen into my own trap, and I would only get out of it by exposing myself. I couldn’t lie, because Phoenix would know immediately. I felt a wildfire ravaging my cheeks while I racked my brains for an answer.
“Uh, well, I’m speaking . . . generally . . . um, I . . .” Quick, find something to say before he figures out the truth!
“You’re being quite indiscreet.” I tried to look offended, but it was certainly only panic that my boss read on my face.
I was horrified as, slowly, his sardonic smile started to appear. He’d understood.
“You have never loved a man, in all senses of the word. So why should I listen to your lessons in sentimental education?”
That rebuke was quite the cold reality shower, and its coldness should be written down in annals. I had to answer him, if only just to have the last word.
“I may have never had the chance to know love, but at least, unlike you, I believe in it. I’m not one of those romantic dreamers who waits around for Prince Charming to appear, but it doesn’t seem stupid to hope to matter to someone, at least as much as that someone matters for you. That’s life after all.”
His smile had disappeared. He didn’t seem to be mocking me anymore.
“Except that, in my case, I am dead.”
His bitterness was palpable, just like mine.
“And I’m still a virgin at almost thirty. We’re both love’s rejects. You, because you don’t want love. Me, because love doesn’t want me. What a great team we make!”
He gave me a displeased look but said nothing. The ambiance of our dinner had cooled off a bit, and thus it was in silence that I ate my dessert. When we left the pizzeria, Phoenix offered me his arm, a gesture of supreme gallantry that I accepted gladly.
We were walking toward the car when he asked, “Why do you think you are a reject of love?”
My employer was a specialist in abrupt and indiscreet questions.
“It’s simple. Getting to this age and never being engaged is quite pathetic. Because I’m so boring-looking, I can say that I’ll end up an old maid, no doubt, or, like Bridget Jones says, devoured by German shepherds. Or by a vampire.”
“You are very severe with yourself.”
“I’m just making an observation about my failures with men. They’re not interested in me. I’m not to their liking.”
“You are a beautiful woman. They do not notice you because you have no confidence.”
Did he just say that I was beautiful?
“Your closed-off attitude makes you seem unremarkable and uninteresting. You should work on that.”
I expected that the compliment would be followed by a criticism. After all, it was the first time a man other than my father had told me that I was beautiful. Even though it was Phoenix and he had no feelings for me, I was happy about it because it was an objective assessment.
“What can I do, in your opinion?”
“What you did with that gang before. You impressed them with your strength and charisma.”
Hm . . . that remained to be seen. We reached the car. I was relieved, for now we could change the subject; discussing my love life with my boss was disconcerting, and I was exhausted.
“Would it bother you if I get in back? I’m so tired.”
“As long as you are not sick, I am fine with it.”
I slept all the way through our return trip and, as I realized when I woke up in my own bed, through Phoenix carrying me to my room.
This strange man, this bloodthirsty vampire capable of flaying one of his own kind without any qualms, could be attentive and behave like a true gentleman with me. My feelings toward him these past eight weeks had evolved. The terror that he inspired at the beginning had given way to curiosity and respect.
I was very grateful to him for the transformation he had inspired in me. I’d never felt so confident in the future and in my own abilities. Without knowing it, Phoenix was pushing me to become the woman I had secretly wished to be before: strong, determined, and appealing. He hadn’t just provided me with pretty clothes and lessons in combat. He’d made me realize the person I could be and guided me to her every day.
He knew everything about me, and in return I truly hoped that one day, he would let his guard down and decide to actually trust me.
The next three weeks passed by so quickly that I didn’t even notice. To start, I was making it a point of honor to train at least an hour per day in combat and especially shooting. I was also drafting reports about my nocturnal outings with my boss. We weren’t wasting any time. Nearly every night, we trained after dinner and then left around eleven o’clock for Kerington or its environs.
For hours, we patrolled in the industrial zone, looking for abnormal activity. Phoenix was persuaded that what was happening there was connected to the kidnappings. The problem was that the place was enormous and the kidnappers could be anywhere. We thought if Thirsty Bill had warned them that the sector’s angel was on their trail, they must be laying low, at least for now. Phoenix was incensed that they had escaped him.
During the day, I checked to see if there had been any new disappearances, and I made a note of them on my map. I erased the names of the ones who were later found alive. I was taking this whole business to heart, sincerely wanting to help stop these criminals. It helped that I’d been able to break into the police database . . . I was up to date on everything they knew too.
All this work demanded a fair bit of my time and energy.
I was starting to get used to my nocturnal routine, but beyond a certain hour, I still found it hard to stay awake. Thus on our return trips Phoenix let me sleep in the back of the car. Several times I would wake up the next day, still dressed, under my blankets. My boss, not wanting to wake me, always carried me to my room.
As it happens, I found that he was smiling more. He even laughed at some of my jokes, but more often, he maintained a mask of impenetrability, striking and mysterious.
Though once, after another of our Stargate SG-1 marathons, we launched into a heated debate to determine which character in the show was the most charismatic.
“Jack is a man of action who knows how to make the right decision in difficult moments. He has the very soul of a leader,” he argued.
“And he would have been imprisoned or worse dozens of times if the talents of the linguist and negotiator Daniel weren’t so impressive. And he’s incredibly sexy.”
“You’re mixing up charisma and sex appeal.”
“Admit that it tips the balance in his favor.”
We didn’t come to an agreement, but it was a pleasant evening. I felt like I was talking with a friend.
It was in those moments that I told myself that Phoe
nix’s opinion on how far he could trust humans, and me in particular, might evolve in the right direction. That was why I never told him that I knew where he kept his bags of A+ blood that he liked so much. I was waiting for him to tell me himself.
As if that would happen! I wasn’t an idiot. Even if I hoped for it, I knew that he would never consider me a friend, just a replaceable employee at the most. Nevertheless, after recent events, I thought I had at least won his respect.
In sum, we were working hard, and I needed to put everything into perspective.
I often found myself in downtown Scarborough in the afternoon. Phoenix was right to say that the people there weren’t very curious. After a week, my presence didn’t make them do double takes anymore. I worried every time I saw Ginger Wood since I knew that in less than an hour or two, everyone would know that I was there, but the excitement about me quickly subsided. I seemed to have become one of their own.
I went to the bookshop frequently, stunned by the richness and beauty of the books that were sold there. Angela was thrilled to share her passion with someone, and it wasn’t long before we became friends. I appreciated that she didn’t pester me about my pseudo-grandfather.
I’d also developed relationships with Matthew and Danny Robertson. Every time he saw me, Danny asked when I was going to eat at his restaurant again. I always laughed, saying I would like to but that I got up way too late for lunch, which was strictly speaking the truth. With all the searches in Kerington’s warehouses, I hadn’t managed to get out of bed before two o’clock in the afternoon. And I couldn’t have dinner at Danny’s since Phoenix needed me at work in the evening.
Matthew had proposed a tour of some places around town that were worth seeing. I’d gladly accepted his invitation, but with my complicated schedule, we hadn’t had enough time for it yet. During my quick trips to town, when I wasn’t with Angela, I passed the time discussing everything and nothing with Matthew, that is, when he gave himself some time off, buried as he was in the accounts for his father’s restaurant. Apparently, Danny was an excellent chef but too flighty to take care of the paperwork. That reminded me of Phoenix, of course.
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