I tried to imagine what that must be like, but couldn’t. I poured a steaming cup of rich, dark brew and filled it to the brim with cream. I gave Jared a sweet smile and held the creamer container aloft. “Can you tell me the cow’s name and the zip code of the dairy?”
He grinned. “See? You can be funny too.”
I took an appreciative sip of the coffee. “So what’s the plan for today?”
“Go meet the seer and confirm you’re who I believe you are. I’ve already told Christina and Carl about the tracking device.”
I almost dropped my coffee. “Wait. Are they…are they like you, too?”
He nodded. “Yes.”
I let that sink in for a moment. I’ve been surrounded by vampires since I got here, and I had no idea. Something occurred to me. “I don’t understand. Why take the risk of shooting the film if you know there are hunters after you?”
“I had no idea until last night.”
I frowned in thought. “How do you think they figured it out? That you’re…special?”
He smiled sadly. “You can say vampire. It doesn’t hurt my feelings. Or…we can come up with a code word. Cucumber. Mangrove. Whatever you like.”
“I prefer special.”
Jared nodded again. “Then special it is.” He shifted in the chair. “I don’t know how they discovered it. I’ve taken extreme precautions to leave no clues.” He paused. “Could be they had help.”
“Help? What do you mean?”
“I told you there’s a realm that mortals are unaware of. Some in that realm bear us grudges that go back eons. It wouldn’t be the first time one of them tried to cause us trouble using humans as their foils.”
I tried a nibble of one of the muffins, made a face, and set it down by my coffee. Blueberry makes a good muffin; sawdust, not so much. “Another question. This one I really don’t understand. About your career choice. I mean, why take the chance of discovery by deliberately putting yourself in the limelight? With the singing, and now the movie? Why not be…” Who gets no attention? “Like a writer or something. Who lives in a shack in the woods.” I warmed to the idea. “You could have stuff delivered, and maybe one trusted friend who would be your connection to the outside world.” It was beginning to sound good even to me. Maybe I’ll be a writer someday.
He sighed. “The truth? Pride and boredom, I suppose. It certainly isn’t the money. When you’ve been around as long as I have, amassing a fortune is ridiculously easy – I’ve already done so ten times over. Mortals behave in very predictable ways, and investing is child’s play when you understand how they react to bubbles and busts.” He looked directly at me, and even with the sunglasses muting the intensity of his gaze, I felt a stir deep within me. “But imagine being around for centuries, seeing the same things over and over – the same petty jealousies, the same rush to war, every day an unending stream of nearly identical sameness. Anyone would get bored. I decided that being a star might alleviate some of that, if only temporarily. For which I’m grateful.” He hesitated for a long beat. “Otherwise I would never have met you.”
I blushed and looked away, although his words warmed me like an open fire.
“So…you still have emotions?” I asked. “Even with no heart?”
“Of course. That’s part of the curse of the condition. I’ve often thought it’s the universe’s ultimate revenge – to keep creatures who are intended to spend a relatively short time on the planet instead on it forever, subjected to recurring cycles of violence, genocide, avarice, superstition, hatred, oppression…and unable to change any of it for the better. And unable to have children or watch them grow up. Unable to be part of the world in a meaningful way. Think about what that’s like. The things that make life vital are made so by its temporal nature – because everyone knows that nothing will last forever. Remove that, and you have unending monotony, without respite or challenge.” He sighed. “I’ve often said that if it were possible to die of boredom, there would be no vampires.”
I considered his words for a moment. “Being immortal and rich doesn’t sound so terrible from where I’m sitting,” I observed.
Jared stared at me for a long time without speaking, and when he did, his voice was soft. “None of it means anything if you have to spend your life alone. Hell is caring for nothing while having everything…but with no one to share it with.”
His expression was heartbreaking, and the pain in his voice palpable. I yearned to cradle him as he’d cradled me when I’d passed out at the brook, to hold his beautiful head in my lap and stroke away his suffering. I was sliding my chair back when his phone warbled from his jacket pocket.
Jared stabbed the call to life and held the cell to his ear. He listened for several beats and then murmured a few words and hung up.
“I have an address for the seer,” he announced. “In Bar Harbor.”
“Who was that?”
“Christina.”
“Of course,” I said, regretting it the moment I said it.
He studied me. “She’s a true friend, Lacey. She would do anything for me.”
“That sounds like more than a friend,” I snapped.
“She’s like a sister. We’re family. She’s the closest…of the, uh, the special…to me in the world. She and Carl.” He regarded me and stood. “You have no reason to dislike her. Believe me.”
I thought for a moment. “Did I know her…before?”
He shook his head. “She was made after.”
“By you?”
Jared frowned. “No.” He glanced at my barely nibbled muffin. “Let me know when you’re done.”
“Is that your way of letting me know we have to go?”
He laughed. “I have literally forever. But I thought you might want to learn the truth before time got away from us.”
“Did she say anything about hunters?”
“No.
