by Zoë Fox
“I don’t know. You and Sean spend a lot of time together.”
“EWWW! Sean? Mom, that’s…I don’t even know if words exist to describe it.” She shuttered. “I’d join a convent first.”
“But if you’re not drinking or doing drugs, and you’re not pregnant, what have you been doing recently?” She sat the coffee cup down. “And don’t bother saying ‘nothing’. I know when you’re up to something.”
“Um…not much really.” Alex searched her mind for a better answer. She didn’t think the truth—the fact that she’d gotten in the habit of hanging out in a mausoleum with a vampire who Sean was convinced was a serial killer—would go over well. Had anyone else told her the same store, Alex would have had serious concerns about their sanity.
“Alex,” her mother warned. “The truth.”
She sighed. She hated lying, but complete honesty wasn’t going to work in this situation. “I, um, I’ve been helping a college professor I met at the coffee shop up the street with his research.” Lucas was an academic and she was helping him catch up with the last century so he could continue working on whatever it was that he studied. She’d have to remember to ask him about that.
“You’re doing what?” Her mother’s face shifted from concern to shock. With all of the horrible scenarios she’d imagined throughout the evening, it was no surprise little room was left in her mind for something less disastrous.
“You know, like a research assistant.”
“You got a job?”
“Eh…” Alex knew her mother probably wouldn’t understand the idea of working for satisfaction, not pay, so she didn’t say anything.
“This is really great!” The relief she felt was evident in her voice. “Working for a professor is really going to help your chances of getting into a good college.”
“I, uh, guess so—”
“What are you going to do with the money you’re making?”
“I’m, um, I was thinking—”
“You really ought to put it up to help pay for your tuition.” She turned the mug around in her hands. “I’m going to do my best to help, but I don’t know if it’ll be much. So, just save it up, okay?”
Alex nodded.
“And to think, I was so worried you were on drugs, or, worse, pregnant.”
Alex rolled her eyes again. Just because TV dramas made it seem like every teen in the world was jumping from bed to bed, didn’t mean she was. As far as she was concerned, all those shows did was make adults paranoid.
“So, I guess I should meet him,” her mother said after a moment had passed.
“Meet him?”
“The professor you’re working for.”
“I don’t know if that’s going to be possible—”
“Well, I’m not comfortable with you working for some man I haven’t met.”
Alex stifled a groan. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Good! Invite him to dinner.”
She nodded, secretly dreading the event. Alex hoped she’d get lucky and her mother would forget the whole thing in the morning. Why couldn’t she just be satisfied her daughter hadn’t gotten herself knocked up, like a normal mother?
Chapter Seventeen
Alex pulled her jacket closer as she walked towards the cemetery. Before school that morning her mother had reminded her at least five times that she was expected to invite her “boss” to dinner. Alex hoped Lucas would understand.
Outside of the graveyard fence a black sports car was parked. Alex scanned the tombstone covered ground, looking for its owner. The last thing she needed was to have someone see her enter the mausoleum. Although she couldn’t see anyone, she glanced around again, just to be careful, before pushing open the wooden doors.
“Hey, Lucas,” she called, noticing the candlelight reflecting on the stone walls through the second door. “We’ve got to talk.”
Lucas, clad in a chocolate brown button up shirt and blue jeans, crouched down beside a box where he’d been packing books from the shelves. “Roderick,” He said, addressing the other man Alex hadn’t noticed until that moment. “Does that phrase still have the negative connotations it did a century ago?”
“I believe,” Roderick, reclining on the couch, responded, “those words, when coming from a female, will always denote trouble for our gender, no matter what time period or the age of the woman saying them.”
Alex rolled her eyes, hoping he’d get the point. She was not happy to see him.
“Good evening to you, too,” he replied, a smirk on his face. “The black car parked outside is mine. Next time you see it, don’t bother coming in.”
Alex ignored him. “I’m serious, Luke—”
He cringed. “That is not my given name.”
“Look,” she continued. “My mom started asking questions about what I’ve been doing out so late—”
“Sounds like a problem of a personal nature,” Roderick interrupted. “I fail to see how it affects either of us.”
Lucas lifted his hand to silence his colleague. “Let her speak.” He stood up and focused his full attention on her.
“Thanks. She, my mom, was waiting when I got home last night and she wanted to know where I’ve been.” She stepped over Roderick’s outstretched legs as she spoke, taking a seat at the desk. “Would you believe she thought I might be pregnant?”
“Well, isn’t that what your kind does?” Roderick asked.
“My kind?”
“Lower class women nearing the age of twenty. You all procreate worse than rabbits,” he said, looking down his nose at her.
“Listen here, you elitist jerk!” Alex started towards him. She didn’t care if he was a vampire or not, someone needed to teach him some manners.
Lucas reached between the two of them, stopping Alex from advancing on Roderick. He turned to give him a chastising look. “The two of you need to stop. Alex, please, ignore him. He may study human nature, but only because he lacks all personable qualities himself. Now, why is your mother's concern a problem?”
“Well, I couldn’t exactly tell her I’m hanging out in a crypt with someone who drinks blood, can I?” She stared at Roderick, daring him to say anything.
“No, I guess you cannot,” Lucas said thoughtfully. “That would serve only to frighten her.”
“Might be funny, though,” Roderick offered. They both glared at him.
“What did you tell her?” Lucas asked.
“I, um, had to put a bit of a spin on the truth.” She toyed with the silver letter opener he’d left out on the desk as she spoke.
“And you are upset about having to lie?”
“Maybe a little,” she shrugged. “But it’s worse than that.”
Taking a deep breath, she began to recount the previous evening. “So, now she thinks I’m working for you and she’s got these crazy ideas about me and college,” she said after finishing her explanation.
Lucas smiled at her. There was something endearing about her when she was flustered. “And you need monetary proof of your profession? That is not a problem, Alex.”
She looked at him, surprised. She hadn’t given any thought to the idea of needing money to show her mother as proof of her job. “Huh?”
“I have plenty. It’s truly of little concern to me. I’m not a materialist by nature.” He gestured to the top drawer. “Take what you need. If it isn’t enough, I will go back to that silly little machine and retrieve more. However, I may, in return, ask you to transfer some of my notes on to the computation box you explained to me.”
“You mean, you’re buying a computer?” She asked, distracted momentarily from the original issue. The idea of him trying to work on a laptop was a bit absurd.
He nodded. “Roderick says I will require one for those silver discs he brought me.”
“Oh, um, okay, but see, that’s not the real problem—”
“What now?” Roderick asked, exasperated. “He’s agreed to give you money, despite how many times I’ve warned him
against giving handouts to beggars and street urchins. What else do you want?”
“I didn’t ask for his money!” Alex defended herself. She glanced over at Lucas, hoping he knew that.
“Of course, you didn’t,” Lucas said, gesturing with his hand to stop Roderick from insulting her further. “But seeing as how you will be assisting me, a cash transaction is plausible. Take the money and consider it an advance.” The colorful blush rising to her cheeks surprised him. The whole ordeal embarrassed her, yet he couldn’t see why. A part of him wished he’d asked Roderick to come by later in the evening. The other vampire had agreed to help him move into the new living quarters he’d procured, but he was proving to be little more than a nuisance.
“Thanks.” She looked away, hoping he hadn’t chosen that moment to read her mind. “But the thing is, my mother is worried about me working late nights with a man she hasn’t met—”
“I would be more concerned about how this would affect your own studies,” Lucas said, taking another stack of books from the shelf.
Alex shrugged. “She knows I pull decent grades. She just wants to make sure you’re not some crazy rapist.”
“And she intends to discover this how?” He dropped the books in a box.
“By having you come to dinner.” Alex winced as the words escaped her mouth. So far, Lucas had treated her like an adult, an equal. On several occasions, he’d even asked for her opinion on matters. She was afraid, if he met her mother, he’d start to view her differently. The last thing she wanted him to do was start treating her like some obnoxious kid.
Roderick snickered, but thankfully didn’t say anything. Asking Lucas this was hard enough without his running commentary. Alex was fairly certain, judging by his reaction, that Roderick was reading her mind. She tried to shut down her thoughts by continuing to talk.
“I mean, I totally understand if you’re too busy and can’t come. I’ll figure out something to tell her. I only asked because I told her I would.” Alex continued to play with the letter opener. At that moment, she would have done almost anything to avoid meeting his eyes.
Lucas dusted his hands off on the fabric of his new jeans. In the excitement last night, he hadn’t been able to show her his purchases. Tonight, she was too concerned with her own problem to notice his more modern clothes. He felt positively womanly for caring at all what she thought about his attire, but he refused to let her know this. For a moment, he was overwhelmed with a feeling of thankfulness that it was he, and not her, that could access the minds of others. “Alex, it’s fine. I have no problem visiting with your mother, if it will help lay aside her fears and make your life easier.”
“You don’t, really?”
He nodded. “However, I do not begin to understand how, in one meeting, she expects to ascertain whether or not your virtue is safe in my company.”
Alex shrugged. “She’s simple like that. I guess most people think that, if they’ve met someone, then there’s no way they can be some evil monster you see on the news. They figure they’d know if they’d been around someone like that.”
“Ah, yes, seeing the world that simply would make it easier for most to sleep at night, would it not?”
She nodded. “But you’ll come to dinner?”
“Yes.” The relief on her face made him smile. Had she really expected him to brush aside her concerns? His brow furrowed for a moment in consideration of this.
Roderick rolled his eyes again. “Meeting the parents. Isn’t it a little early for that?”
“Can’t you just shut up!?!” Alex said, giving him a dirty look. His implication hadn’t been lost on her. Thankfully, Lucas only looked confused.
“But where’s the fun in that?” Roderick asked, completely nonplussed.
“Why would it be too early for me to meet her mother?” Lucas asked.
Alex blushed and prayed, that for once, Roderick would keep his mouth shut.
Chapter Eighteen
“Alex, set the table,” her mother snapped. She’d been in a bad mood ever since Kirk had called her earlier that day to say he wasn’t going to be able to make it in time for dinner. Since she’d given him several days’ notice about the meal she’d planned for Alex’s boss, she was especially pissed off.
“Mom, chill out. He won’t be here for like another half an hour,” Alex said, putting the plates on the table. Inside, she wondered how Lucas would get around having to actually eat the meal her mother had prepared. He’d explained to her that the only substance his body no longer rejected was blood. Were he to eat, he would likely get ill all over the front lawn around the time he left. According to him, he’d learned this by making the mistake in the past.
“I don’t know why he insisted on eating so late. It’s not healthy to have dinner after dark,” she said as she stirred sauce in a pot on the stove. “You’d think a college professor would know that.”
Alex sighed. “I told you, he had a class to teach.” It was the excuse they had agreed on. Lucas needed time to wake and eat before making his way to her house. Otherwise, he’d told her, he wasn’t going to be very good company.
“Fine. It just seems odd.” She continued to fuss over the meal.
Alex didn’t say anything. There were more than a few things that were odd about Lucas.
“Why don’t you check on Toad while I finish this? I just hope we can keep him from playing with his food while we have a guest.”
Alex nodded. She didn’t see why her mother didn’t just leave the kid alone. Who cared if he made sculptures out of his food? Some of them ended up looking pretty darn artistic to her. No one made a mashed potato snowman better than Toad.
“Hey, buddy,” Alex said, taking a seat on the couch. Toad’s eyes were on the TV. Their mother had started to let him watch the news again when her boyfriend wasn’t around. As a result, he hadn’t moved for most of the evening.
“Your friend is coming to dinner,” Toad scrambled into her lap. “He’s important.”
“Is that what mama told you?”
He nodded. “She thinks he’s going to be old looking and wrinkly with those purple spots people who live a long time get, but he’s not.”
“Nope.” Alex wondered how her mother would react when she saw that Lucas didn’t look like a caricature of an elderly academic. He really was handsome, she thought absently. Recently that fact was beginning to cause her trouble. Sometimes it was hard not to notice the intensity of his eyes or the shape of his mouth when he spoke. Already she’d had to ask him to repeat himself on several different occasions. He’d gotten exasperated with her the last time this happened and asked her where her mind was.
Toad giggled in her lap, drawing her back to reality.
“What’s so funny?”
He shook his head, refusing to answer.
Ding Dong! The doorbell announced his arrival.
“Toad gets it!” Her brother yelled, running towards the sound. Alex followed him. He had a habit of opening the door, staring at the person outside for a moment and then shutting it in their face again. It seemed that he only enjoyed the part of greeting guests.
“Hi!” Toad said, looking up at Lucas. “You’re important.”
Alex cringed. There was no telling what her brother might say next.
Lucas smiled at the boy from the doorway. He’d chosen a slate gray button up shirt and jeans to wear, his hair pulled back in a low ponytail. “And you would be?”
“I am Toad. I would be Toad even if I could pick something else to be.” He nodded as he talked.
“Well,” Lucas said, still standing outside. “It is good to like one’s self.”
“Of course I like me. Toad is awesome,” he responded before running off toward the kitchen. “Mom, the important guy is here!” Alex could hear him yell as he ran.
“Sorry about that. He’s a little unpredictable.” She said as she moved out of the doorway to give him room to enter.
“He seems like a charming child.” Lucas didn�
�t move.
“Oh, do I have to invite you in?” She asked in a whisper. “Is that rule?”
“No, however, it is good manners to wait to be formally admitted entrance,” he said, chuckling softly. “A quality I wished all creatures had, don’t you?” His eyebrows lifted slightly, framing eyes that danced with the light of a joke. She realized he was teasing her about her first few entries into his sleeping chamber.
She blushed. She’d been doing that a lot recently. It bothered her.
“Alex, stop being rude and let the man in,” her mother called from the kitchen.
She rolled her eyes and gestured for him to follow her into the living room.
“Hello,” her mother greeted him as she joined them. “I’m Meredith, Alex’s mother.” She reached out her hand, intending to shake his.
“A pleasure to meet you,” Lucas said, taking her hand lightly in his and bowing over it. “I am Lucas Beinnhard. Alex has spoken highly of you.”
Her mother’s smile widened. “That’s kind of you to say, even if it isn’t true. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have a few more things to do in the kitchen before we can eat.” She started towards the door, but paused to whisper in her daughter’s ear. “You didn’t tell me he was gorgeous and young!”
Alex could feel the blood rushing to her face again.
“Your mother thinks I am something called a ‘hunk’.” Lucas said, after she left, a satisfied smile on his face. “A hunk of what, may I ask?”
“Stop playing dumb.” Alex narrowed her eyes at him, which only made him laugh.
“She also believes I’m charming.”
“Are you reading my mother’s mind?” She whispered to him.
He nodded.
“Well, stop it.”
“Why?”
“I don’t know. Because it’s creepy.”
He laughed again.
Toad turned his attention from the TV to their guest. “You’re not only important. You’re different, too.” He studied the other man for a moment. “You’re different like me, but not like me.”