Wilhelmina, to Jessica’s astonishment, moved off Nathan’s lap and curled up right next to him. The cat kept her eyes wide open and trained on him, though, like she was keeping guard over her new best friend. Nathan, oddly enough, seemed more relaxed now, too. He sat back, one hand resting on his thigh, the other brushing lazily through Wilhelmina’s fur.
“Why are you asking me about vampires, Jessica?”
Jessica blinked, startled to hear her name come out of the vampire’s mouth. And still stunned by what’d just happened with her usually surly pet. But when Nathan just kept staring at her expectantly, she sat back down and folded her hands in her lap.
“Well, um, like I said, there’s been some strange stuff going on in the neighborhood lately. There’s this good friend of mine, Lucy, who works at the Acray-Sys campus not too far from here? She’s a totally level-headed girl, one of the most rational people I know, and yet she’s convinced her boss was bitten by a vampire a few days ago. In the alley behind the Red Palm. And then there’s this other girl, Dara, who lives a few blocks over?” She pointed in the direction of Dara’s luxury complex. “She says her husband’s been acting really weird lately.”
“So, he must be a vampire, too.” Nathan’s tone remained impartial.
Jessica forged ahead. “Dara showed me a picture of her husband’s neck. He has two holes. Right here.” She pointed at the spot on her own neck. The vampire’s eyes tracked her finger, his gaze lingering on the artery she was pointing out, but he didn’t comment. “I know it sounds stupid…” Jessica tried, fishing for reassurance—and wishing she’d thought to ask Dara to forward her the photo of Jason’s bite, so she could show it to him—but Nathan didn’t try to make Jessica feel any better by telling her it didn’t sound stupid. Instead, his bored expression seemed to say the exact opposite, loud and clear. Well. That was annoying. “Look, could you just answer the question?” she asked, her voice sharp with nervous impatience.
He cocked an eyebrow. “You mean, am I a vampire?”
Jessica nodded emphatically.
His delectable mouth tilted up at one corner. “Let’s say I am. What would you want from me? Do these newly-turned friends of yours need…pointers?
“Pointers?” Jessica echoed, confused.
“Advice. On where to find victims. So they can drain them, feast on their blood.”
Jessica frowned, disgusted. “No, of course not! They need to know what to do to stop it!”
“Stop what?”
“The change! Or whatever. They just want to be human again.”
Nathan grunted. “Huh. Good luck with that.”
Jessica’s heart sank. “No,” she said. “No, that’s not what you’re supposed to say. You’re supposed to tell me what we can do to turn these guys back. They’ve got, like, jobs and bills, and CrossFit classes to go to. They can’t just be vampires from now on!”
Nathan smirked, but only for a second. Then his sarcastic expression faded, and he just looked sad. “I am sorry, Jessica, but I am afraid I don’t have any good news for your friends. If their men really have been turned by a vampire, then they are cursed, and it is a curse that does not break. At least not easily.”
“It doesn’t have to be easy,” Jessica said. “I know these girls. One of them I don’t really like very much, but still. I can tell she loves her husband. I doubt she’ll give him up without a fight. And Lucy…well, I think she’s a tougher cookie than a lot of people give her credit for, including herself sometimes. Both of these girls will move heaven and earth to save their men, and I’ll help them. Just tell us what to do. Please.”
Nathan pondered her for a moment, his sapphire gaze intensifying as he lowered his eyelids. “Heaven and earth, eh? Even if it means hunting down and killing another vampire? Because that is the only way I know of to turn a nosferatu back into a human. And that is only if you can find the master vampire who turned these men in the first place. Masters do not tend to linger in an area after they have attacked someone, for this very reason. And honestly, I have never heard of a master turning two people so closely together, either geographically, or in time. Normally they keep a low profile. Very low. Which leads me to believe you are mistaken about what’s happened to your friends. Perhaps you have been watching too many movies.” His gaze went to her bookshelf, crammed with paperbacks. “Or reading too many novels.”
Jessica’s heart pounded with hopeful anticipation. Never mind that he was pretending not to believe her. There was a way! A way to help Jason and Aaron! All they had to do was find their maker! And then kill her. Kill her dead! Granted, it didn’t sound like a very pleasant thing to have to do, but…how hard could it be? Especially if Nathan told them how to go about it. But, wait a second.
“So…you really are?” she squeaked.
“I am?” he echoed, tilting his head.
She threw up her hands. “A vampire!”
His nostrils flared, and irritation flickered in his irises. For a second, she didn’t think he was going to answer her, but then he sighed and shifted forward on the sofa, propping one elbow on his knee. He loomed toward her and opened his mouth up really wide. Instinctively, Jessica scooted back half an inch. Before she could ask him just what in the world he thought he was doing, his upper lip peeled back, and she watched, fascinated, as his top canine teeth elongated to two sharpened points. They glinted keenly in the lamplight—and then retracted just as quickly, leaving Jessica to wonder if she’d even actually seen them. His next words erased any doubt, though.
“I am a vampire,”
