by Kira Barker
“My pleasure. If you have any other questions, don’t hesitate to ask. You can also call us at any time of the day—or night. Our telephones are staffed around the clock,” she offered.
“No, that’s all,” I replied, then hesitated despite my claim. “What happens now?”
“Well, first our specialists in the lab will use some of your blood sample to test for possible contaminants. You probably know that vampires cannot be infected by most human diseases, but we like to make sure that the safety of all our clients is ensured, not just the human half.” Her smile widened for a moment. “We also see that as a service to our clients to make sure that they are in perfect health. Once we have the results, you can still opt out of reading them, but we only accept you if there are no medical concerns. You already submitted a report from your doctor with your application, so I don’t expect our tests to come up differently.”
“And after that?” I hedged.
Emily shrugged.
“Then we divide the rest and keep it refrigerated for taste sampling. Some people think this is morbid, but only prospective matches who have read your questionnaire will be provided with those to ensure no misuse of resources happening. Then I compile the list of possible matches for you, and we set up another appointment so you can meet and choose.”
Everything she told me I’d read in the brochures already, but the last part surprised me.
“I get to choose? What if there are no matches?”
Irritation flitted across her face but was gone before I could latch on to it, and when she saw that my bewilderment was genuine, she looked a little guilty.
“That has never happened before. Our algorithms are stringent, and I do the last round of selection personally to ensure that no incompatibilities slip through the cracks. Usually, of the eight to ten matches who go on to actual blood sampling, at least five signal their interest for a face-to-face meeting, and then it’s up to you to pick who you feel most comfortable with or are attracted to the most.” As an afterthought, she added, “We also store the results in our system, so if your preferences don’t change, next time you can drop the procedure and go straight to the last interview. You see, it’s more of an all-you-can-eat buffet from your end rather than theirs.”
I could feel my heart hammering in my throat, and not just because this suddenly all seemed so much more real.
“How soon can you schedule the interviews?”
Emily’s grin was a knowing one. I hated sounding like an overeager puppy, but she didn’t seem to hold it against me in the least.
“Depends on how much time you want to allot to the selection process? The more time, the more positive matches, but provided your sample comes back clean, I can have the first results as early as tomorrow evening.”
“Tomorrow already?” I squeaked, then cleaned my throat. “How long do clients normally wait?”
“Their first time? Not more than a day or two,” she confided, then laughed softly when I looked at her sheepishly. “If you continue to use our service for an extended period of time, you will see that you get more selective, but that’s normal. We always try to match experienced clients with new ones, so you need not worry that any of the candidates we find for you won’t know exactly what they are looking for. If they indicate their interest, they are interested for real. We also inform them that this is your first time with us so they know what to expect. Don’t worry, you’re in good hands with us.”
Part of me told me to be wary of her assurances. After all, she was a sales woman, even if I wasn’t the party paying for the service provided, but it was hard to keep that in mind when the bigger part of me just wanted to clap excitedly and rub my thighs together. As it was, I did my best to keep my composure as I threw away the cotton pad, then followed Emily back into the main room. Rachel was where we’d left her, still looking petulant and itching for a fight, but I didn’t give her another opportunity to antagonize me.
We said our good-byes quickly, and five minutes later we stepped out into the sunlight again that seemed blindingly bright after the comfortable gloom inside. I blinked, my eyes tearing up until I got my sunglasses back out, but Rachel remained standing there, letting the rays warm her face.
“Won’t you miss this?” she asked, her voice almost small and forlorn.
“Sheesh, why do you have to be such a drama queen? I’m not asking anyone to turn me. I’m just going to spend one single night with a vampire of my choice. Hopefully not sleeping, if you know what I mean.”
“Anyone would know what you mean, only you’re too prim and proper to call it by its proper name.”
Rolling my eyes, I turned down the street toward the coffee shop.
“Are you coming? The brochures say to load up on sugar beforehand, and I’m not going to let this opportunity of an excuse to indulge get away!”
Rachel sent another long, dirty look at the tall glass facade, then turned to follow me.
It was over coffee and cupcakes that I shared the details about the time frame with Rachel, and she reacted exactly as I’d expected, storming off after telling me—twice—that I was rushing into things I didn’t understand, history repeating itself. Just as she must have expected in turn, I didn’t contradict her, knowing too well that there was nothing I could say to convince her otherwise. It was true that I’d made my share of mistakes in the past, but this time was different.
And just as I’d anticipated, when I returned to the Embassy the following evening, half an hour after sunset, Rachel was already waiting for me in the lobby. With her arms crossed over her chest, she was obviously trying to look tough and disapproving, but utterly ruined the effect with the way she kept gnawing on her bottom lip. She was dressed in her usual T-shirt and jeans, while I’d taken my time with makeup and hair and had slipped into a sleek, blue sheath dress that I knew accentuated what curves I had, and simulated those I didn’t. Looking good was easy for her when virtually everything she wore looked painted on and sexy, while my evening dress just made me feel like I was borrowing someone else’s clothes.
When she caught me watching, she stopped worrying her lip. I half expected her to launch into another tirade, but instead she surged forward and hugged me, throwing me off balance.
“What is that for?” I asked once she let go and I was able to extricate myself from her grip.
“For good luck,” she offered, even managing a small smile, if a shaky one. “Contrary to what you seem to believe, I just want what’s best for you. And if I can’t set your head straight, least I can do is make sure that you don’t spend the next hours silently bitching me out.”
“I doubt that I’ll be thinking of much, if at all,” I replied, laughing softly when she made a face. “Relax. I know what I’m doing. Trust me on this?”
“Of course I trust you!” she shot back, offended, but then quickly reined in her temper. “Just be careful, okay? I really don’t like this. It’s all too sleek, too concerted—there has to be a catch somewhere.”
“You have to stop being so paranoid,” I chided her, but I couldn’t help the bit of doubt weaving its way through the armor of my conviction. “You know that they have a spotless record. No complaints, no issues. And, you know, you can always wait here for me and make sure I get home safely.”
“You bet I’m not leaving here without you!” she huffed, and after giving me a last squeeze with her hands on my arms, let go. “Have fun.”
“I will.” I smiled and did a quick whirl in front of her. “How do I look?”
Rachel dropped her gaze, clearly at war with herself. For a second, I thought that this was the moment when her resentment would win and she would start bitching me out, but she remained calm, if worried, as she responded.
“You look good enough to eat. They don’t stand a chance of getting away from you.”
Sharing her grin, although with a much brighter one on my side, I took a step away to turn toward the front desk where the receptionist was already waiting for me.
“Don’t stay up for me. I plan on spending the night.”
Exhaling noisily, Rachel left it at a brief nod before she turned in the other direction. I thought I heard her murmur something under her breath about needing a drink, but I made myself ignore her. Wherever that resentment came from, I could do nothing about it, and I wouldn’t let her bully me into backing down.
Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if the bloodsucking part was what had her all up in arms.
“Ms. Taylor told me to lead you right in when you are ready,” the receptionist let me know, and at my nod showed me the way.
I’d expected her to aim for the office we had met Emily in yesterday, but instead she went over to the bank of elevators and pressed the button for the second floor. Between the closing doors, I caught a last glimpse of Rachel at the bar, staring at a glass of vodka in front of her. It would be vodka, because it always was with her.
Sighing inwardly, I forced myself to forget about my friend, and hoped that I wasn’t making a colossal mistake.
The elevator came to a halt almost as soon as it started to ascend, opening into a hallway paved with white marble. The receptionist led me down to our right, then took a quick turn and held the door to what looked like a conference room for me. I thanked her when she told me that we’d arrived at our destination, and after a last moment of hesitation, I stepped in.
The first thing I noticed was the bank of windows spanning two sides of the room, making me realize that we’d reached the corner of the building. Even only two floors up, the city lay sprawling around us, a sea of lights and life, making the soft, warm illumination of the room seem stark in contrast.
But I wasn’t here to enjoy the view—at least not the view outside the windows—so it wasn’t hard to make myself focus on the inhabitants of the room.
My eyes found Emily first, likely because she was the only one standing, my familiar lifeline in this. She was wearing almost identical clothes to the day before but had ditched her suit jacket, lending her an air of casualness as she smiled at me in greeting.
A pang of nervousness had my pulse spiking, but I tried my best to remain calm as I let my gaze drift to the three men waiting for me. Just that fact—three guys, here just for me, and I’d get to decide who I’d want to get to know better and maybe have sex with—made my thoughts rile. I must have looked like a deer caught in the headlights as Emily approached me and led me to the single remaining free seat opposite the occupied ones, but none of them batted an eyelash. That made me remember that Emily had explained that they were aware that I was a novice at this, and likely expected me to blunder around.
And, if not, it had only been a day, and I was sure that she could round up more if three had answered on such short notice.
Not that I wanted any of them to reject me, of course. As I looked—mute, and likely as attractive as a fish—from one to the other, I felt the usual unease that was always present when I had to meet new people rise at the back of my mind. And they weren’t just any people—they were vampires, and try as I might to sound brave to Rachel, right then I was very aware of the fact that I was pretty much their natural prey.
Although, none of them looked particularly like a predator, or even threatening. The one to my left looked young, maybe twenty, twenty-two, but I was sure that he had a couple of decades on me. No human guy that age had ever seemed so patient and calm that I could remember. Even his eyes looked calm, and while his dark skin had a grayish tint to it that took me a moment to identify as just another version of the fabled pallor, he was on the attractive side of average. Of the three, he was definitely the most approachable guy and could easily have blended in at any college. If I’d been there to find someone to talk to, he would have been my first choice.
But talking was not what had my fingers bunched in the skirt of my dress, so after a hesitant smile I turned my head to study the man right in front of me.
I couldn’t say why, but he seemed to exude age and gravitas that the other two simply lacked. Maybe because he’d been older when he’d been turned, or there was something to that myth that even humans could pick up on the power whammy that supposedly came with age for vampires, but there was something sophisticated and classy about him that made him seem wise beyond his years. He was dressed the part, too, in a tailored shirt, pants, and suit jacket, his tie neatly knotted at his throat. While the entire image he presented was delectable, there was something about him that made me want to keep my distance rather than approach. And for once in my life, I was happy to rely on my gut instinct and move on.
One look into vampire number three’s face—that incidentally made me catch his gaze—and I knew that I wouldn’t need to ask Emily for an extension.
Some people claimed that vampires had the ability to ensnare humans with some weird kind of magic, but that was not what made it impossible for me to look away. He also wasn’t that terribly handsome, like I’d heard people describe vampires before. His face wasn’t quite symmetric, and there was a light scar on his chin visible through his five-o’clock shadow of a beard, the dark brown matching his hair and eyes. When he gave me the hint of a smile, I saw that one of his lower front teeth was slightly crooked. Don’t get me wrong—he was still quite the looker, and likely what I would normally have guessed above my level, even if Rachel would have slapped me for thinking like that. There was just enough imperfection to him to make his obvious attractiveness a little more… human, although the word was likely the wrong one.
It certainly made me want to jump him right away, and while I felt terribly shallow with my split-second decision, I knew that I wouldn’t change my mind tonight.
Either I must have started to salivate, or everyone else in the room was a lot more observant than I preferred, but it only took a minute for Emily to herd the other men out of the room, telling me to call if I needed anything and leaving us to our own devices. No good-byes, and, come to think of it, not even introductions. My mind was reeling from the speed of how things were progressing, even if parts of my body were complaining that they weren’t progressing quickly enough. I didn’t even know his name.
“Lewis,” he said and offered me his hand, derailing my train of thoughts.
Staring at his hand, I hesitated a moment before I shook it. It was the perfect kind of handshake, firm and just long enough to have meaning, with no crushing or icky sweating involved. What I couldn’t ignore was how cool his skin felt, as if he’d spent too much time out in the cold.
Or had no working circulation to speak of, but right then that was one more thing I didn’t know about vampires that wasn’t burning a hole into my mind.
“Can you read my thoughts?”
His smile widened just enough to let me catch a glimpse of fang, if only for a moment.
“Only those so obvious on your face that even a blind man could catch them,” he replied, a hint of laughter in his tone. “But even if I could, which I cannot, the contract forbids any kind of mind control or even influence, and I think sifting through someone’s most intimate mental workings is included in that rule.”
“Can you do that? Influence people?”
The words were out before I could hold them back, making me blush immediately. Great—now he had to think that I was a bumbling idiot.
Lewis shrugged as he leaned back, draping one arm over the back of his chair in a casual gesture.
“Most women consider me more than average as far as attractiveness goes, which makes them act much more favorably toward me. Beyond that…”
He trailed off there and gave me another one of those fang-y smiles, leaving me with the sudden impression that he was playing with me.
“Let me guess… most of that gets quickly negated when they realize what a cocky bastard you are?”
I got a much brighter—and strangely less intimidating, even if it showed both of his fangs—smile for my trouble.
“Pretty much. See, you can do it, too—watch people, judge them, react to their re
actions. No mind control needed.”
“So giving straight answers isn’t sealed in the contract, I presume?”
He went on grinning, but looked away in what I realized was an attempt not to laugh at—or rather, with—me.
“Let’s just get some things out of the way before we waste each other’s time, okay? I’m happy to answer any questions that you may have, but if talking is all you have in mind, I’ll do the rude thing and just go.”
His rebuke made me self-conscious rather than angry.
“Sorry. I always babble when I’m nervous. Some people call that endearing, but I hate when it happens. Like right now. Sorry.”
It was easy to shut up when he leaned forward, then reached out toward me so he could press one cool finger gently against my lips.
“I’m sure we can find ways to shut you up. Either by alleviating your fears, or, you know, the obvious, really crude suggestion that goes with that really bad pick-up line.”
Despite my embarrassment, his words made me smile, and I really liked how that got his eyes focusing on my mouth and remaining there for a little longer than was strictly decent. He withdrew his finger then as he leaned back, but seemed as reluctant about it as I felt at the loss of contact.
“Talk first?” he suggested, settling back comfortably into his seat. With his jeans and leather jacket, that was an easy feat to pull off, and I didn’t try to imitate him as I crossed my legs and put my hands atop my knee.
“I do have a few questions first,” I admitted, then wondered if I should have written them down as I’d come up with them throughout the day.
“Shoot.”
I had no idea where to start, but the fact that he didn’t seem in a hurry made me feel a little better about drawing things out a little.
“Is there anything specific that you require of me? Like that I shower first, or eat or drink something? I know that you have heightened senses, and I guess something like sugar or alcohol would show up in my blood…”
Now it was my turn to trail off, and for a moment his amused grin actually pissed me off. Before I could tell him to wipe it off his face if he wanted to get any, he did so unbidden, but the twinkle in his eyes remained.