“You haven’t had my dreams. It’s not all it’s chalked up to be,” I said.
“You’re a special case – sort of half in this world, half in mine.”
I pondered that as he escorted me up a flight of heavy oak stairs to the second floor, then down a long hall to the door at the end. He opened it and we walked across the threshold into pitch darkness. A flick of a wall switch and a chandelier glowed to life, revealing a room as large as the Plaza Hotel suite, with an antique dresser and armoire at one end and a sofa and desk at the other. In the center of the opposite wall was a four-poster bed that had to be as old as the house. Its dark polished wood gleamed in the light.
“Oh, wow. That’s amazing,” I said, taking several steps toward it. Jared followed with my duffel and set it on the floor beside me.
“It’s more comfortable than it looks.”
“It’s the nicest bed I’ve ever seen,” I said. “Like something out of a fairy tale.”
“Until you lie on the mattress, anyway,” he said. “But it’ll do.”
I took in the tapestry on the wall, a hunting scene with a host of figures in colonial dress, and shuddered involuntarily.
“What’s wrong?” Jared asked, moving closer.
“I don’t know. Probably just a chill or something.”
He frowned. “Maybe not. I researched the house before I rented it. Rumors about it being haunted have circulated through the centuries. Back in your past life, you were always sensitive to things like that – spirits and hauntings. Could be you sense something but can’t put your finger on it.”
“Why would it be haunted?”
“The story is that the original owner was murdered here.”
I glared at him. “Great. You’re recording your album in a haunted mansion, and that’s where you want me to hole up for who knows how long?”
He chuckled. “There’s no danger here, Lacey. I have motion detectors around the house and an alarm system I set when I’m home. Nobody can get in without me knowing.”
“Except the ghosts of the dead.”
His grin returned. “No extra charge for them.”
I swatted his arm. “It’s not funny, Jared. It’s creepy.”
“You’re alone in a house with a vampire, and you think ghost stories are creepy?” he asked playfully.
“I didn’t say it had to make a lot of sense,” I conceded.
“Well, don’t worry. I’m here to protect you. I won’t let any harm come to you. You have my word on that.”
I looked around the room again. “Are we sleeping in the same bed?”
“I don’t sleep, remember?”
“You know what I mean.”
His face clouded. “I’m not sure it’s a good idea to tempt fate too much, Lacey. I’d say I’m only human, but…well…”
We both chuckled. “I see what you did there,” I said.
“I’ll relax beside you, but I think it’s better if you sleep by yourself. I’ll rest on the sofa and keep you safe.”
I frowned at him. “You really don’t trust yourself? What’s the worst that can happen?”
“You don’t even want to consider that, Lacey.”
I sat on the edge of the bed and pulled Jared toward me. I stared into his deep blue eyes and sighed. “What? I become a vampire too? What’s so terrible about that? I mean, that’s what I was before. Why are you so…what’s really wrong if that happens? Wouldn’t it be like all the time in between then and now got erased, and we’re exactly as we were when I died?”
“You can’t think like that, Lacey. Seriously. There’s so much you don’t know.”
“Then tell me what I’m missing. I’ve asked you a couple of times, and you keep deflecting till later. Well, now is later. We’re here, and I want answers.”
Jared was the first to look away this time, and my stomach tightened at his expression. He sat on the floor, cross-legged in front of me, and nodded slowly. “Very well. As I’ve told you, there’s a prohibition against making new vampires. What I haven’t told you is the entire story of why.”
I held his stare. “Now would be a good time.”
“When a vampire makes a new yearling, that yearling is a wild, voracious, violent creature, unthinking and bloodthirsty like nothing on earth. A killing machine, and a monster in every sense. But there’s a ceremony where the viciousness can be tamed, and becomes what you see before you – in many respects a mortal, but with immortality and a host of special powers and heightened senses. The problem is, that ceremony requires a number of sacred ingredients, one of which is exceedingly rare, from the steppes of central Asia. The exact composition was a closely guarded secret even before it was lost – and it being lost would be a pretty huge problem in and of itself – but what I do know is that the last of the rarest ingredient disappeared over a century ago; and with its disappearance, the ability to transform the monster into something manageable. That’s the main reason why there’s a ban on making new vampires. To do so would be to unleash an army of monsters on the planet, which would ultimately threaten our existence.”
I stared at him, dumbfounded. “So…I can’t be made again, is what you’re saying? That’s the short version?”
“You shouldn’t want to be, Lacey. You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
“I want to be with you. How do we do that if I can’t be…special?”
It was his turn to frown. “I’m thinking that one through. Believe me. I’m serious when I say I’m never giving you up again.”
“But you don’t have a solution!” I accused, my frustration building as I spoke.
“Yet,” he clarified. “I don’t have one yet. Remember, I’ve only had a few days to think about all this.”
“What if you never come up with one? I’m supposed to spend my life alone on beds while you ‘rest’ down the hall? Get old and die while you ‘work on things’?” I sputtered, close to panic. “Why did you
