42nd & Lex (14 page)

“Can I help you?” I ask in my most assertive
tone, usually reserved for New York street crazies and irate opposing Council.

“Hello, Abri Cole,” he says as he crosses
the room. Something in my gut tells me he does not work for Lucan. His movements
are awkward but they are still faster than a human’s. It is probably a safe
assumption he is a vampire. There is no use in looking for something heavy now.
Nothing I can wield will do the necessary damage.

“Can
I help you?”

“You are just as pretty as he said you
were.” The man—er, vampire, is a few feet from me now with only the giant glass
coffee table between us. He is wearing a business suit, expensive but in need
of a dry cleaning, and his tie is loose around his neck. His hair is disheveled
and he needs a shave. His face is familiar, but I am sure he is not one of the vampires
I saw at the Enclave. I don’t really care to ask for elaboration on who “he” is
but I want to keep him talking and not attacking until Lucan gets home.

“You know my name. What’s yours?” I ask. My
phone is on the coffee table, far enough away that I cannot risk reaching for
it to call Lucan.

“My name is Mark,” he replies almost too
eagerly. A sloppy grin spreads across his face while his eyes dart around the
room unable to stay focused on any one point.

“What do you want, Mark?” Mark. Has Lucan
mentioned anyone named Mark?

“Nothing.” His fangs are elongated and he licks at them
absentmindedly.   

My heart is beating wildly in my ears. Mark
scares the crap out of me with his wild eyes. He hasn’t noticed this fear from
what I can tell but I still want more distance between us. There is no way I will
be able to withstand any amps he might want to lay on me. 

He is still looking around the room at
nothing in particular and wringing his hands. He strikes me as being somewhat
simpleminded which probably has no effect on his ability or his desire to kill
me.

“Well, Mark, then I’m going to have to
insist that you leave if there is nothing you want. I was just about to leave
myself,” I lie.

He looks crestfallen but doesn’t move. Another
wave of stench overtakes me and I stifle a gag. It is like rotting garbage, or
rotting flesh, and it’s emanating from Mark. A few more minutes pass, neither
of us moving or talking. Suddenly, he sniffs the air and cocks his head to the
side as if he’s heard something. I strain to listen for sounds of Lucan on the
floors below but hear nothing. In three quick strides he is at the elevator. Instead
of getting in, he opts for the adjacent stairwell and makes his retreat. 

I run to the still swinging door of the
stairwell and throw the lock. The emergency stop button in the tiny elevator
wont budge so I pull the grate closed and latch it. This will not stop Mark if
he returns but it might slow him down.  

My cell phone is ringing on the coffee
table. It’s Lucan. “Lucan!” My voice is desperate and weak.

“Abri!
Thank God, you answered. Are you okay?”

“Yeah,
fine. How—” Lucan cuts me off before I can ask how he knew I was in danger.

“Go into the bathroom, lock the door, and
don’t open it for anyone. I have a key.”

“How
did you know?”

“I could smell him as soon as I got inside
the building. He must have come up just ahead of me. Don’t worry love all will
be well. Just get into the big bathroom and lock the door.” The line goes dead.
While it seemed like it had been an hour or more since Mark stepped off the
elevator, it had only been a few minutes according to my watch. Not even long
enough for Lucan to make it from the lobby to the first set of elevators below,
let alone wait for the iron beast to chug its way down two floors and back up
again.

I skid across the polished floor and round
the corner into the bathroom. Once the door is secure, I sag breathless on the
edge of the tub. The last time I was breathless in here was a much more
enjoyable occasion. Outside, the city looks as peaceful as it did last night, a
stark contrast to the scene I imagine taking place below between Lucan and
Mark. 

There are solid, sure footsteps coming
across the floor outside and I hold my breath. I want to call out for Lucan but
decide better of it, no need to give up my position if it isn’t him. Not that a
vampire couldn’t already hear me, smell me, or even think me crouched in the
bathroom. 

The lock turns and Lucan opens the door. His
eyes are glowing red instead of their normal icy blue. His fangs are fully
extended and his shirt is bloody. There is a shriek that I realize all too late
is coming from me.   

“Fuck,” Lucan says as he turns away from me,
hand over his mouth. “I’m sorry love. Give me a minute. Fuck.” In any other circumstance,
I would have giggled at how his extended fangs gave him a slight lisp. If he
hears my observation, he doesn’t acknowledge it as he turns to leave.

“No
wait,” I manage to choke out.  

“There is no need to see me like this.” He’s
out the door. I try to follow him but he is gone by the time I cross the
threshold back into the main room.

“Lucan!” I am afraid to be alone in the
apartment not knowing how the battle turned out. Mark didn’t look like he would
put up much of a fight but there was obviously blood drawn. Lucan is outside on
the building’s steel curve again. I tap on the glass like a mad woman and yell.
“Come back in. It’s okay.”

He is pacing back and forth on the narrow
steel curve of the building’s façade. It makes me nauseous just to think about
it, let alone look. I turn to go back to the couch and wait. Lucan is behind me
before I can take two steps. He sweeps me off my feet and carries me into the
living room. There is just the slightest hint of red in his eyes and I reach up
to touch his face. He stiffens his hold on me ever so slightly. With a smile, I
lean in and kiss his lips, showing him that I am not afraid.

“Is
everything ok?” I venture. “Was he gone?”

“It’s
fine now. I’m not sure how he found you here but he won’t be bothering us
again.”

“You
killed him!” Creepy vampire or not I cannot condone killing, at least not
without a good reason. “I don’t think he was here to harm me. He was too—”

Lucan
cuts me off. “No, love, I didn’t kill him. I just scared him pretty bad.” He
kisses me again before I can say anything else. “So what do you want to do
tonight? Movies, Dinner, something a little more adventurous?”

“Adventurous? I think I’ve had enough
adventure for one night thank you very much!”

“Fair enough. Staying in is fine with me as
well. Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“Most definitely. Let’s crawl in that super
huge bed of yours first. I’m not sure my legs will hold me up much longer. I
hate adrenaline.”

“Are you hungry?” He looks at his watch.
“It’s not too late for dinner.”

“No, thank you. I had some popcorn earlier.”
My nerves are shot. Even if I was hungry, there was no way I could keep
anything down.

“Get your pjs on and I will tell you
whatever you want to know. I can always cook you something later if you want.”

“Okay.” I am unsure which statement I am
answering.

Once we settle in bed, I regain some of my
mental fortitude. I snuggle up to Lucan and rest my head on his chest. He pulls
the covers over me to counteract his lack of body heat.

“Do
you know Mark?” We both say at the same time.

“What?” I say. “He is a vampire, isn’t he? That’s
more your area.”

“Half vampire, actually.” Lucan answers. “Whoever
tried to turn him didn’t finish the job.”

“There are differing degrees of vampirism?” I
have so much to learn about this vampire business. “This just keeps getting
more and more complicated.”

“Aye, well, sorta. If you know what you’re doing,
you don’t leave the job unfinished. Halflings usually result from hasty feeding
practices or inexperienced young feeding unsupervised. The Enclave does not
condone it and they are usually put to death. The Halflings that is.”

I am
shocked. “Put to death? That’s barbaric.” Then again, looking at Mark it is
probably more barbaric to be a Halfling than to be dead.

“It’s kinder, really. They are between
worlds. They can still eat food, but they have the blood lust. Only the blood
doesn’t feed them as it does me. It would be like you drinking blood.” I cringe
at the idea of me drinking blood. “Halflings are mentally unstable from the
venom’s effect on their brains. Their bodies try to fight it off but the venom
is stronger. If there were enough of it they would turn, but a half dose just
eats away at the vital organs. If zombies were real, he’d basically be one.”

“So vampires are real, but zombies are not? Got
it.” I give Lucan an incredulous look. 

“Exactly,” he replies, the irony is obviously
lost on him.

We are silent for a moment. I really didn’t
want to know, or to think about Lucan hurting this man, or any man. Then again,
I didn’t want him trying to come after me again either. It was obvious Mark
came specifically for me, not just to check out the view. The thought of his
name makes the necessary connection in my memory and I sit up.  

 “I think I might know him,” I gasp.
Christmas cards. I had been going through a stack of Christmas cards my mother
forwarded to me during my one-woman wine boxing match the other night. Mark the
Halfling was Sarah’s husband. The same man I’d served with divorce papers a few
hours ago. It all made sense now—her story of how strange Mark had been acting
since they moved to New York. He was a vampire—half vampire. 

“He’s married to a friend of mine,” I
explain unnecessarily since he’s already heard my train of though. “She said he
had been acting strange since they moved to New York. I guess this explains why.”

“You’re sure about this?” Lucan asks. “Knowing
who he is and how to find him again is critical.”

“Yeah, Sarah’s mom does these ridiculous
family Christmas card photos every year. You know the kind where everyone is
wearing matching sweaters and such. Anyways, my mom sent me a stack of cards
from this Christmas. I was going through them the other night and I remember
seeing him. I checked Sarah’s Facebook the other day when she came into my
office and I saw him there too. I recognized his face earlier, but wasn’t sure
from where. It’s all coming together now.”

“Hmm,” Lucan murmurs and pulls me closer.
“Abri, I want you to be careful, really careful, over the next few days until I
can sort this out with the Council. As much as I’d like to, I can’t keep you
locked up in here, but I would rather you stayed close by when I can’t be with
you.”

“Where are you going?” I am not afraid to be
on my own after living alone in New York all these years, but it is strange
that Lucan would be going somewhere if I were danger.

“Nowhere. But I will have to leave you in
order to speak with the Council at some point and you’re going to dinner
tomorrow with Sarah, which is really not the best idea now that I think about
it.”

“I can’t cancel on her. What am I supposed
to do, call her up and say
‘Listen, Sarah, I’ve been seeing this guy that’s
a vampire and he thinks your husband is half a vampire. So we can’t meet up
because your husband is trying to kill me or eat me, or something. Yeah, so the
reason he’s been such a freak lately is that he’s half-dead and full of vampire
venom. And according to Lucan, that’s the vampire I’m dating, the cure for that
is to just finish the job, you know put him to death. Really, Sarah, it’s
better that way. I’m sure you understand.’
No thanks. I’m going to dinner.
You can hide out in the kitchen and not eat the food or something, but I’m
still going.” Oops, I didn’t mean for it to come off angry.  

Lucan pats my arm to calm me down. “I will
be there. You’ll never see me, but I will be close in case Mark shows up for
you… or Sarah.”

“I’d argue, but I know when I’m licked. As
much as I hate to admit it, you’re probably right. He did look a little crazed
and he was obviously here after me.” I try not to notice the smile of
satisfaction on Lucan’s face. 

“Good. Now, let’s talk about something
else,” he prods.

“Okay. What do you do with yourself all day?
You’re obviously not home.”

“Lots of things. I work at my foundation. Attend
meetings to raise money and dedications for my various projects. You know,
shake hands and kiss babies.” Lucan’s eyes sparkle as he talks about his life. He
is obviously passionate about what he does. “And I do work for the Enclave
too.”

“What
kind of work?”

“Well, as you can imagine, I’ve had time on
my hands over the years so spent a good deal of it on education. I went to law
school a few times and medical school. I even got my CPA license once. I’m General
Council for the Enclave’s philanthropic arm. We work together on projects
sometimes, my foundation and the Enclave.”

“You’re a lawyer? And a doctor?” I am
shocked. It makes sense that someone who has nothing but time would use it to
study things, but I am still surprised.

“So I guess I can’t keep telling myself you
came to my office the other day looking for legal advice, can I?

“No, I guess not. I was most definitely not
there for legal advice.” He muses, stroking my cheek with the back of his cool
hand. The smooth coolness feels good on my skin in spite of the fact that it
should be against my natural instincts to think so. I lean in closer. “Truth be
told, this week is not the first time I’ve seen you in the elevators. A few
months ago, I came to the Chrysler on some business for the foundation and I
got into the elevator with you. There was one other guy in there with us. I
couldn’t help but notice you, your face was sick with worry. I was curious
about why—were you sick, had something bad happened to you, were you on your
way to a job interview or the doctor. Then it happened. I was trying to look at
you without you noticing. I didn’t want you to think I was a creep, but I couldn’t
take my eyes off you. It was as if some magnetic force in my chest was pulling
me into you. I caught your gaze for a split second and your thoughts hit me
like a tidal wave. I heard you repeating over and over in your head
‘Don’t
fall. Don’t crash.’”