by Jessica Sims
And for a moment, I felt weak. Uncertain. “Need me?”
“To help me navigate this strange time and place.” His blue eyes captured mine. “Last I slept, it was six hundred years ago. I know nothing of this place, the people, or its customs.”
“I’m not sure I’d be the best guide,” I told him. “I’m a stranger here, too.”
He looked surprised. “Is this not your home, then?”
“It’s not. Gem—uh, a friend and I are cleaning it out for a sale. The owner passed away.” I didn’t want to tell him Gemma’s name. If he’d gone exploring, he’d seen her upstairs, but still. Confessing her name felt suspiciously like betrayal, and that I wouldn’t do. “My actual home is a very, very far distance away from this place. Across the ocean.”
He gave me another one of those smug smiles and wagged a finger at me. “Lindsey, Lindsey. I am not a peasant. I am a learned man. Even I know that the world is flat.”
“You caught me,” I agreed, amused. Let him figure it out the hard way. “Regardless, I don’t live near here.”
Rand accepted that with a nod and pushed away from the counter—and me. He began to pace, hands clasped behind his back. “Then who are the owners of this place? How did my sleeping place come to be in their possession? Why did they not wake me?”
I drummed my fingers on my chin, thinking. I certainly wasn’t going to think about how the room seemed less pleasant and exciting now that he wasn’t in danger of kissing me anymore. Nope. “The people that lived here before were old and wealthy and collected a lot of stuff. That’s why there are so many boxes. But I don’t know if they were the ones that bought your coffin. I don’t even know if they knew you existed.” Quickly, I told him about finding the secret room full of antique treasures from different centuries. “It’s possible that a collector from an earlier time purchased your coffin and hid it, and no one’s known about you for years. There’s no way of us knowing without going through receipts—”
“Receipts?” He touched the side of his nose. “Another word—”
Right, he didn’t understand. “Papers that record the sale amount and date,” I told him. “I found some of them for the jars, but nothing in your coffin. It doesn’t mean that there wasn’t something. It just means I haven’t found it yet.”
“Well,” he said agreeably, “you purchased the temporary rights to this place, did you not? And with that, you purchased the rights to all belongings here?”
“That’s right,” I agreed.
“And did you not find my coffin below?”
I was starting to get a sinking feeling about where this argument was heading. “I did.”
His brows went up. “Then would it not stand to reason that you are now my caretaker? Are you not responsible for me?” He pressed his hands to his heart dramatically. “Am I not as a babe in this time and place?”
I snorted. “Rand, you are many things, but helpless, you are not.”
“I am certainly glad you think so,” the man said, and his voice was practically purring. Gah. It was like he thought I’d complimented him. Double gah. “Regardless, I need you.”
“Fine. What is it you want to do?”
The playful look on his face disappeared, all flirtiness erased. “When I was staked, I was in the city of Rome, visiting an old friend. Another one of the Dragon’s men. If I am yet living after all this time, it reasons that he is as well.”
My eyes widened. “Another vampire? Really?”
“All of us whom the Dragon has claimed are upyri. Vampire, as you say in your language. Blood drinkers. Strong. Dangerous. Hunters of men and women. Feasters upon flesh.” He gave me another up and down look, as if assessing my flesh. “We are cursed men, though one would argue that it is not always unpleasant.”
Yep, he was definitely staring at my boobs. Just when I felt a little sympathy for the guy, he knocked it away again, like we were in some sort of sexual ping-pong match.
“Okay,” I said quietly. “I help you find another vampire, and then you’re out of my hair, right? No more of this wench crap?”
He gave a nod. “I shall avail myself of a new wench. You have my word.” His smile widened. “Though I doubt she will taste as perfect as you.”
I rolled my eyes. “I’m sure there are lots of people that taste just like me.”
“You’d be surprised. Your flavor is a rather unique one.” His eyes were hooded, the look in them sultry. Was he . . . was he trying to seduce me into volunteering to be his personal blood bank?
I was insulted. “I don’t care if I taste like chocolate pudding. If I’m helping you, you don’t get to drink from me whenever you like.” I waved one of my cookies in the air. “It’s clear I’m not good at donating.”
“Very well. Then you agree to help me?”
I sighed, thinking of the basement full of treasures that had to be carefully packed, cataloged, photographed, insured, and shipped back home. I wouldn’t be able to do that with a vampire hanging around, asking what made the toilet flush. I needed to get rid of Rand. Dropping him off with the nearest vampire sounded like a good idea to me. “How are we going to know where to find a vampire?”
He touched his temple. “It rests in here.”
“Like the languages?”
“A little different.” Rand touched his breast. “My blood is connected to that of the Dragon. Through him, I have knowledge of your language. It is also through him that I am connected to others. I feel the hum of vampire blood somewhere else nearby. It is faint, but it is here.” He rubbed his forehead. “Very faint. I do not know if it is because so much time has passed that my bond has grown weak, or if it’s because there are so many other things interfering now. The hum you mentioned—”
“Electricity,” I offered.
He nodded. “That, and the scents and sounds of so many other people.” For a moment, his eyes looked hollow, tired. “It is so much crowding into my head at once.”
“Then we should get you to your vampire friend sooner rather than later, shouldn’t we?”
“Indeed. Swear you will not abandon me again?”
Fair enough. It wasn’t like I was going to be able to get away. If his senses were so keen that he could smell another vampire, I had no shot of escape. “I swear it.”
“Ah, but you are quick to swear. You also swore upon your lord that you would not run, and yet the moment I turned my back, you fled. Your word is not to be trusted.”
I licked my lips and hopped down off the counter, brushing off my jeans. How did this get turned around to me being the untrustworthy jerk? You swore one oath on Elvis Presley and people sure got all gripey. “All right then, smarty pants, how did people make oaths in your time?”
He grinned, showing me fangs. “Why, an oath of blood, of course.”
“Ix-nay on the blood,” I said quickly, taking a step backward. “First of all, I lost too much already. Second, if we share blood, won’t that turn me into a vampire?”
“True. You could always swear fealty to me the way a vassal swears fealty to his lord.”
“How’s that?”
“A kiss.”
“I’m starting to think this is all an excuse to make out with me,” I grumbled, but I stepped forward anyhow. “So you made out with all your vassals? Tongue included?”
He flashed another smile at me. “No tongue. Just a chaste kiss of fealty on my foot.”
“Your foot?” I sputtered. “I’m not kissing your foot!”
“I will allow you to kiss my mouth, then.”
Sneaky vampire. But it beat foot-kissing. “I’m not sure I signed on for any of this.”
“Then how can I possibly trust you?”
Damn vampire. “Fine. Let’s get to it, then.” I moved into his arms and tilted my head back.
To my surprise, his arms went around me, one sliding to my waist, the other cupping the back of my neck. If this had been any other man, I’d have thought this was a prelude to an intense make-out session
. But this was a vampire. I watched him warily as he leaned in and his lips lightly brushed against mine.
Soft. Sensual. Brief.
Cold.
I shivered.
“Now swear your fealty to me,” Rand murmured, and his thumb skimmed over my lower lip thoughtfully.
“I swear I won’t abandon you again,” I told him.
“Then you are mine—and I am yours.”
That sounded so very . . . final.
Five
Upstairs in the bedroom, Gemma was snoring away. I hated to wake her up, but since my world had been upended in the last hour, she needed to know things. We were a team.
I convinced Rand to stay outside the bedroom for a few minutes, trying to assure him that no, I wasn’t running away again, and truly, I wasn’t trying to betray him. I was just going to break things to Gemma . . . gently. Well, as gently as Hey we have a vampire could go. So I tiptoed into the room, sat on the edge of the bed, and nudged her. “Gemma. Wake up.”
She came awake with a snort, peered around the room, and groaned, flopping back on the bed. “What time is it?”
I looked at the clock on the wall. “Um, three a.m.”
“God, I fucking hate you. Why are you waking me up at this hour?” Gemma whined, pulling a pillow over her face. “Someone better have died.”
Oh, the irony. “So I have good news and bad news. Which one do you want to hear first?”
She peered at me from under the pillow. “Uh-oh. Bad news?”
“The coffin wasn’t empty.”
Gemma gave an earsplitting shriek.
I clapped my hands over her mouth even as Rand slammed into the room, the heavy wooden door banging against the opposite wall. His eyes were wild, his longish hair flying. At the sight of him, all menacing in the doorway, Gemma’s shriek died. Then she looked at me, wide-eyed. “That’s him?”
“Yeah.”
“He’s hot.”
“I guess that’s the good news.” If there was any.
“Wow.” She stared at him, then at me. Then she leaned over and pinched my arm.
“Ow!” I pinched her back.
“Ow! Okay, I’m definitely not dreaming.” Gemma fluttered her lashes, then patted the edge of the bed. “Come sit down. So, what are you, a vampire? Or just incredibly hot and in my room at three in the morning?”
“Why aren’t you freaking out a little over this?” I couldn’t believe how easily Gemma was accepting the fact that there was a vampire in the bedroom.
“Well, it might be that I’m still half asleep,” Gemma said with a yawn. “But you found a hot guy in Venice who’s dressed like a guy from the Renaissance faire and you have a big bruise on your neck. And we have a coffin downstairs. So the fact that the dude is hot and not eating our faces? I’m calling this a bonus.”
“Give him a few minutes,” I muttered.
But Rand came and sat on the edge of the bed. He took Gemma’s hand in his and kissed the back of it as if she were a princess instead of a girl in an old ratty T-shirt with her hair standing on end. “It is a pleasure to meet you.”
“Oooh,” Gemma said. “It must be true about vampires being charming. Do you also turn into a bat?”
Rand gave her his signature sexy grin. “I am afraid that is but a myth.”
“Much like the charming part,” I countered.
Gemma thwapped my arm and continued beaming at Rand. “Can I see your teeth?”
He smiled widely, pulling back his lips. His fangs shot out, elongating, and both Gemma and I flinched backward. Rand hissed.
“I-I’m good now,” Gemma said, her hand clenching my arm. “Thanks for the show.” She sidled a little closer to me and gave me a wary look. “So how exactly is it that we went from coffin in basement to vampire in bedroom, pray tell?”
I told her the entire tale. Maybe it would have sounded like a ridiculous story if it hadn’t been for the fact that Rand was in the room with us, poking the alarm clock with a wary finger and then moving to the mirror. He didn’t show up, but we did, and he kept lifting the edge of it away from the wall to try to see what was “behind” it.
It was clear that Rand had no clue about modern anything. And that made the whole vampire thing a bit easier to go down, I imagine.
“Soooo, now we have a vampire,” Gemma said, watching curiously as Rand picked up a discarded bra from the floor and tried to figure it out. Her lips twitched with amusement, and she looked back to me. “Can we keep him?”
I smacked her arm. “What? No! He’s not a puppy!”
“We can’t just leave him on his own,” Gemma said. “Look at him. He’s so sad and confused.”
I looked over, and he was trying to open the closet door. Or rather, he didn’t know how. His fingers moved along the seam, and he completely ignored the doorknob. Then he tried to peer through the seam and gave up.
“Bless his heart,” Gemma said. “He doesn’t even know how to use a doorknob. You said he’s not a dog, but there are dogs that know more than he does.”
He bites like a dog, I thought unhappily. “Well, don’t worry about it. I told him I’d take him to the nearest vampire.”
“Oh, you don’t have to,” Gemma said. “I’ll take him if you don’t want to.”
I looked over at her in surprise. “What?”
“We both know you’re not good with men. And you’re a bit of a control freak.” Gemma gave me an apologetic look and a pat on the arm. “And all that stuff in the basement needs to be taken care of, in addition to the rest of this apartment. Like you said, it’s going to take all month just to do what we have to for this place. You can’t spend your time running around with a stranger.”
She had a point. I did like to control things. And with the treasure trove in the basement, there was so, so much that needed to be handled delicately and with the utmost of care.
“And I know you don’t trust me with things.” Her smile was faint. “So, you know, I can handle the guy. I can do that much at least.”
Oh. That felt like reproach. Had I hurt Gemma’s feelings with my control-freaky ways? Hurt her self-esteem when it came to helping handle the business? Here I thought we both just focused on the things we did best, but maybe I was wrong. Maybe my need to control everything meant I’d hurt my best friend’s feelings somewhere along the way.
I felt like an ass.
“It cannot be thus,” Rand said, interrupting my thoughts.
“Hmm?” Both Gemma and I looked over at the vampire in surprise.
“The fair Lindsey has promised to be my blood vassal. She has sworn it with a kiss to her liege.”
Gemma’s eyes went big as saucers. “Did she, now.”
I wanted to kick that smug look off Rand’s face. “Yeah, for some reason, he thinks I’m lying when I say the world is round.”
“I see,” Gemma murmured. “So while I’ve been sleeping, we’ve acquired a medieval vampire and you already made out with him.”
“He started it.”
“Oh, I’m sorry, I must’ve misunderstood.” Gemma patted my arm. “So you have to suck face to survive? Is that it?”
I glared at her.
“Are you two sisters?” Rand asked. His gaze went back and forth, studying us as we argued on the bed.
“We grew up in the same state home,” I told him. “Neither of us has family.”
“So we’re each other’s,” Gemma said. “Now don’t change the subject. I want to know more about this kiss of fealty.” She gave a little shiver. “Was it sexy?”
I just kept glaring at her. “I am not answering that.”
“Is his mouth cold?”
“Gemma! Let’s stay on track, please? I don’t want to talk about that. Let’s talk about what we’re going to do with him.”
“I’m right here,” Rand said. “I can speak for myself.”
Gemma wiggled her eyebrows. “I told you I’d take him.”
“Lindsey is my blood vassal,” Rand repeated. “It is
she who has given her word that she will remain at my side.” He moved toward me and put a hand on my shoulder possessively. “I want her and no other.”
“Oooo,” Gemma said. She made kissy noises. “This is intriguing.”
“She simply tastes better than most. It is something in her blood. Like a fine wine. Do you still have wine in this time?”
“Oh yeah,” Gemma purred. “So Lindsey here is like a nice merlot? Is that what you’re telling me? I wonder if it is because of something in particular? What about my blood?”
He leaned in and sniffed Gemma, then shook his head. “Sour. Metallic.”
“Wow, really? I’d almost be hurt if I wasn’t so fascinated by the fact that Miss Lindsey here is the tastiest thing on the block.”
“Her blood is . . . very fine.”
I ignored the heated look he was sending my way. He was driving me crazy as it was. “I’m sure Gemma tastes just dandy,” I said out of loyalty to my friend.
“Not like you,” Rand said. “Your blood perfumes the very air. I’ve never tasted anything like it.”
Gemma’s eyes widened, and she reached over and tapped my ID bracelet. “I bet it’s this.”
“Shhh,” I told her. Let him just think I was tasty. If he found out I was rare, I suspected I’d never get free. “Anyhow—Rand’s my burden. I’ll take him to his vampire friend. It shouldn’t take too long, really. He says he can sense where the guy is, and then I can get back to work.” I shrugged. “You’ll just have to keep packing without me.”
Gemma’s hands clasped together. “Really? You trust me to do that?”
Jeez, I wasn’t that controlling, was I? “Of course I do.”
Her eyes lit up with happiness. “This is so awesome! And you said Venice would suck.”
“Suck?” Rand asked, honing in on the word.
I held up a hand. “Don’t ask. Just don’t ask.”
Gemma gave another uncomfortable, inappropriate giggle. “I can’t believe we found a vampire.”
I wished we hadn’t, but with Rand’s piercing blue eyes locked onto me, I couldn’t exactly say that. I rubbed my forehead instead. “So what now?”