Part 16 (1/2)
He did, and she turned around to unlock the door. When she opened it and swept inside she neither looked back nor held the door for him, but he braced it before it slammed into his face and followed her inside.
”I guess I don't have to worry about offering you anything, do I?”
”No.”
She threw her sungla.s.ses and keys onto the kitchen counter. ”Good. I'm going to change clothes. Do you know how to fix a drink? My kind, not yours.”
He allowed himself a small smile. It had been a long time since he had done such a mundane human thing. ”I think I can manage.”
”Then make yourself useful and make me something cold and wet. Check the cabinet on the far left.” Her bedroom door slammed a moment later.
He opened the cupboard she had indicated. Several bottles, most with unbroken seals, were pushed to one side. He pulled the nearest one out. Even sitting in the cabinet the bottle had a fine layer of dust over it. Clearly Shelby wasn't much of a drinker. He glanced at the labels on the various bottles, then opened her refrigerator. His smile grew.
She appeared ten minutes later wearing denim cutoffs and a white tank top. He schooled his features to his most serious doctor look and held out a gla.s.s tumbler br.i.m.m.i.n.g with the concoction he had prepared. She stared at it, crossed her arms over her chest, then raised her gaze to his. ”What's this? Vampire humor?”
He c.o.c.ked his head and allowed a smile to break through. ”You could say that, although to get the proper dark red color I really should have used some Chambord or raspberry liqueur, but your kitchen is, ah, somewhat limited to say the least. Come on. Drink it. It's innocent enough, I promise.”
She took the gla.s.s from his hand, but studied the drink suspiciously. ”You promise? This from someone who just told me to expect a pack of lies.”
His smile faded, and he despaired of even trying to hold this conversation. She wouldn't understand him under the best of circ.u.mstances, and in her present mood, all she wanted to do was oppose every view he presented. Still, he tried. ”I didn't say that. I told you I couldn't guarantee one hundred percent truthfulness.”
She dunked a finger in the drink and sucked at it before the liquid could drip off. ”Hmm. Same difference.”
He sighed. ”Does that black-and-white cop mind of yours ever register shades of gray?”
She frowned at him and took a swallow of the drink. Her face immediately scrunched up. ”Whoa! Is what you have to tell me so bad that the drink had to be this strong? What's in here besides cranberry juice, anyway?”
”Just vodka. Come and sit down.”
She flashed him another dirty look before curling up in the overstuffed easy chair next to the fireplace. The message that she wanted her own s.p.a.ce was loud and clear. She took another swallow of the drink with a grimace, then set it down on an end table. ”So if you're really what you say you are, how can you walk around in daylight?”
He stretched out on the sofa. ”Different strains of vampirism produce different gifts. I can tolerate sunlight but I prefer the night, of course. I usually sleep for about a third of the daylight hours.”
”Guess it's a good thing you keep doctor's hours. Still, pretty convenient for masquerading as a human.”
”All of us must masquerade as human if we want to survive. Most have to do it without tolerance to light. But tell me that humans don't do the same thing, pretending to be someone they aren't.”
She ignored that. ”So are there a lot of you?”
”In a rural area like this, no. Most of us prefer the anonymity of a large city.”
She took another sip of her drink, eyeing him over the rim of the gla.s.s. ”But not you. Why not?”
He raised his brows. She had asked him more or less the same question several days ago, and he had given her a vague answer about wanting to steer his own s.h.i.+p, allowing her to draw her own conclusions. He was blunt this time. ”Simple. I don't like humans.”
She nearly choked on her last mouthful of vampire c.o.c.ktail. ”You don't like humans. What the h.e.l.l does that mean? I thought we were a rather indispensable link in your food chain.”
”You are.”
”So ... we're good enough to provide a meal but not to hang out with? Is that what you're trying to tell me?”
”Something like that. Let's just say I prefer the company of my own kind. At least with them, deception and betrayal are no surprise.”
She took two more sips of her drink and seemed to consider his statement. Then she put the gla.s.s down with a clink and a slosh, and when she replied, her anger was sharper than before. ”Then two nights ago was just some grand scheme to seduce me so you could feed on me?”
”I haven't fed on you. You have no wounds other than the ones you received last night.”
”Then what was it? What do you want from me?”
”I've asked myself the same question. I don't have a satisfactory answer for either one of us. Not yet.”
She looked down and played with her gla.s.s, turning it on the crystal coaster and idly tapping it against the coaster's lip with a tinkle and a ring. Moisture gleamed in her eyes, and he was afraid the tumbler, contents and all, would become a sacrifice to be ceremoniously flung into the fireplace's gaping mouth. But she took a deep breath, blinked, and seemed to bring her emotions under control.
She glanced up at him. ”Okay, I'll ask easier questions. Were you here last night after I fell asleep?”
He nodded.
”You knew this ... vampire that attacked me. Right?”
”We had met.”
She frowned again, and he wasn't sure if it was because of the answer itself or its brevity. Like it or not, he couldn't give out information about the council. Not even about a rogue like Branduff.
”And his attack was more than just a quick snack? There are others as well who want me dead?
”Yes to the first. As for others wanting you dead, I can't be certain.”
”But you think so.”
”Yes.”
”And you don't know why. Or you know, but you don't want to tell me.”
He merely stared at her. She was right. He couldn't be sure of anything, and even if he was, he couldn't tell her.
When he was silent, she continued. ”You're not helping me understand all this. If you hate humans and prefer your own, why did you kill a vampire to save me?”
”The vampire that attacked you was a particularly nasty creature. He'd been warned.” She took two more swallows of her drink. ”Well, remind me never to get on your bad side. But that doesn't exactly answer my question.”
”Come over here.” He swung his legs off the sofa to make room for her.
”No.”
He sighed. ”I'm not what you would call a nice person, and I never will be. My brethren call me Doctor Death. But I'm not going to hurt you. I can better explain my feelings if I don't have half a room separating us.”
”Oh, I have no doubt that seduction works better up close and personal. I'll stay right here if you don't mind.”
He wanted to laugh. If she thought this was seduction, she was a true innocent. All he was trying to do was restore some measure of trust. She was right about one thing, though. In the absence of dipping into his bag of vampiric tricks, physical proximity would make it easier to achieve his goal. But before he could overcome her misgivings, he had to overcome her stubbornness. ”You're afraid of me. That's smart. Fear keeps us alive.”