“I can doze. But it’s not really required.”
“No, I mean, do you sleep during the day? Like in a coffin or something?”
Jared chuckled. “Mmm, not really.”
“What about daylight?”
“What about it?”
“The books…”
“We’re predominantly nocturnal. That’s true. But as you get more mature, the light doesn’t bother you as much as it does a young vampire. It’s not our skin, although it doesn’t feel particularly good. It’s our eyes.” He patted his jacket pocket. “Don’t worry. I have great sunglasses.”
“So you don’t turn into a pillar of salt or anything?”
“I always wear sunscreen, if that’s the question.”
We laughed together, and I began to think this might not be as awful as it might seem. I tore my eyes away from his beautiful face and retreated into the bathroom, thoroughly disoriented and confused by the last few hours. My reflection stared back at me, and another question came to mind. I opened the door and peered out at Jared, who was checking his cell phone.
“Do you have a reflection? In the mirror?”
Another smile. “Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”
“I don’t know. I just thought…”
“Be hard to film a movie if I was invisible.”
“Oh. Good point.”
I closed the door again, feeling sheepish and utterly exhausted. I cleaned up as best I could, and brushed my teeth with one of two cheap disposable brushes that were part of the bathroom supplies. By the time I was finished, I had dozens of other questions, but I decided to take Jared’s advice and save them for the next day.
I returned to the room and looked at Jared lying on the far bed, his hands folded over his chest, his posture rigid, eyes closed. I plopped down on the other bed and sighed. “Is that how you sleep?”
He sat up, the motion so fast it was a blur, his crooked grin in place. “I was doing my best Dracula imitation. Bela Lugosi.”
“Never saw it, so it’s wasted on me.” I fluffed the pillow. “Are you always like this, or are you just trying to put me at ease?”
“Being serious all the time’s kind of boring. Especially after the first hundred years of being a sourpuss.”
“You don’t sound French,” I observed.
“I’ve had a lot of time to lose the accent.” He lay back down. “Get some sleep, Lacey. It’ll be morning before you know it.”
“I need to… I have to say something to my roommates. They’ll panic if I don’t come home. But what do I say?”
“You’re allowed to stay out. You said.”
“Yeah, but we’re supposed to fill out some sort of form in advance or something. I never paid too much attention to the procedure.” I never thought I’d need it.
Jared looked at me blankly for a moment. “Can’t one of your friends…”
Well, yeah. And I knew which one.
Hey, Sarah, can u do me a huge favor?
I waited for a few moments, but there was no response. Perfect. She was busy. I didn’t need the third degree right now.
I’m with Jared and things are…!! anyway, not coming home 2night. But forgot to fill out paperwork. Can u cover for me? Please please
I held my breath. Still no response. Perfect.
ok turning off phone now so sorry if I cant answer for some time!!!
My reputation was now officially trashed, but if it worked, I didn’t care. I switched off my phone to make it true. And to save me getting texted all night.
I stood and moved to Jared’s bed and planted a quick kiss on his cheek. His eyes widened in surprise, and I stepped back and sat back on mine.
“I’ve been wanting to do that for a while, Jared. Too bad about the bloodlust thing.”
He looked at me with new awareness and nodded slowly. “It certainly is.”
I rose again, walked to the light switch, and flipped it off. Back on my bed, I curled up facing Jared, feeling completely safe and secure in the same room with him even though he was a blood-drinking monster, and wondered if the whole thing wasn’t just another one of my dreams. Yet I knew.
This was no dream.
“Are you staring at me in the dark?” I asked.
A pause. “Not now. I won’t anymore.”
“You promise? I won’t be able to sleep if you do.”
“I promise.”
I closed my eyes and snuggled against the pillow.
“Good night, Jared.”
“Night, Lacey.”
Chapter 21
When I awoke to the morning light from the window, I rolled over and saw Jared’s bed was empty. I looked over at the open bathroom door and listened for any hint of movement, figuring maybe he was fixing his hair or something.
Nothing.
“Jared?”
No answer.
I checked the time. Ten a.m. I rose and padded to the bathroom and then closed and locked the door. A sniff of my shirt confirmed that I would need to get some more clothes if I was going to be gone from school any longer.
I took a hurried shower, grateful that the bed-and-breakfast provided shampoo and soap, and after brushing my teeth again and blow-drying my hair, I emerged from the bedroom to find Jared sitting in an easy chair by the window, sunglasses on, the shade drawn to minimize the light.
“Good morning,” he said. “I brought you up some coffee and a few muffins.”
I crossed the room and inspected the breakfast offering with a smile. “You didn’t have to do that.”
“The least I could do after putting you through last night’s ordeal.”
He looked like ten million dollars in his shades, his shock of hair a chaotic haystack that still managed to look amazing even in its disarray. I sat in the other chair by the table and took a cautious sniff of the coffee.
“It does smell great.”
“I’ll take your word for it. To me…well, let’s just say I have too much information from my senses sometimes.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I can tell what kind of soap was used to wash the pot and the cups, the type of moisturizing lotion the server applied before handling them, and that at least
