The Accidental Vampire (7 page)

"There's one high school and we all went there together. We're pretty tight because of that, I guess, but over the last five years or so we've lost several of our group. Mabel's husband died six years ago of a heart attack. Elvi's husband and daughter in a car accident a year later, then Elvi turned…" He frowned. "It's all been downhill from there. We've lost one or two a year since then, but this year we lost three in a row in a six-month period. We're at that age," he acknowledged solemnly.

Victor remained silent, aware of the discomfort of the other immortals. There was a certain amount of guilt attached to the knowledge that this was not a problem they suffered. Heart attacks, cancer, and so on weren't an issue for them. Victor himself was over two thousand years old. Age wasn't a threat to his kind like it was to mortals.

"We all took the deaths hard," Brunswick went on, "but Elvi seemed to take it worse. She's watching her friends and loved ones die around her and realizes she'll soon be completely alone. Of course, the younger set will step up and befriend her, I'm sure, but it won't be the same. Besides, they'll die soon enough too, and so on." He frowned down at the table and ran his finger around one of the ceramic tiles before admitting, "We don't like the idea of leaving her behind to go through that alone."

Victor's eyes widened at the knowledge that—as they realized their own mortality—these two people, Mabel and Brunswick, were more concerned with their immortal friend being left behind alone, than with how death was creeping up on them. It impressed him and made him curious too.

Victor had always avoided attachments to mortals precisely because they weren't around long in the grand scheme of things. If an average life was sixty-five years, he'd lived more than thirty-four lifetimes. Spending that time watching friends die around you one after another just didn't bare thinking about.

"So…" Brunswick straightened. The pink flags in his cheeks announced that he was embarrassed by what he was about to say and his expression was pained. "Barney and I took a couple trips up to Toronto some months ago."

"Barney?" DJ queried lightly.

"My lieutenant."

"Unbelievable," Victor muttered.

"What's that?" Brunswick asked.

"Nothing. Go on. You and Barney made a couple trips to Toronto."

"Yes." He looked uncomfortable again. "We were thinking if there were any vampires in Canada besides Elvi, they'd be in a big city like Toronto. We went looking for some."

This then was how the rumors had started going around the clubs, Victor realized. "You hit the club scene?"

Brunswick nodded. "It was Barney who thought we were more likely to find them at the clubs. He said if there were some, they probably didn't have a town like Port Henry to support and help them get what they needed and he figured they'd probably… er… hunt at the clubs."

He grimaced apologetically, then admitted, "We were too old for the clubs. The young women thought we were a couple of old perverts. No one would tell us anything. After the third trip with no results, Mabel decided to go the way of the singles ads. She felt sure there must be at least one lonely male vampire out there."

"I thought she was crazy, but…" He gestured around the table. "Her way was more successful than our attempts."

The men at the table were silent for a moment, and then DJ stood abruptly. "I need to go to the men's room. Victor?"

Nodding, he stood to follow, knowing the younger immortal wanted to discuss this latest information.

"I thought only girls traveled to the bathroom in packs, but you male vamps do it too, huh? Is it in case someone tries to stake you while you're taking a leak?" Brunswick asked as they moved away from the table, and then added, "You won't have to worry about that here. We're vampire friendly in Port Henry."

Victor ignored him, his mind chewing over what he'd learned as he followed DJ to the washroom and waited as he slipped into the minds of the few men there and made them leave, done with their business or not.

"Well?" DJ said as the door closed behind the last man. "Can we go home now? She didn't put the ad in the paper or spread the rumors around Toronto."

"No," Victor acknowledged. "But she
has
shared the knowledge of her existence with mortals."

DJ waved that away impatiently. "There's no law against that. Marguerite's servants know, and most immortals have one or two mortals in the know. Hell, half of Argeneau Enterprises is made up of mortals who are aware of the secret and sworn to silence on the matter."

"But Brunswick and the other mortals here aren't staying silent on the matter," Victor pointed out.

DJ ran a hand through his hair in agitation. It was obvious that the more they learned about the woman, the more the younger man was feeling sympathy for her.

Victor suspected he was thinking none of this was her fault, but Victor knew the council wouldn't see it that way. Immortals were extremely careful of whom they shared the information with for precisely this reason, and if nothing else, Elvi Black had failed to ensure the people she entrusted the information to were trustworthy. Having a whole town know you were an immortal was hardly being cautious and discreet.

"What if we warn them to silence before we go?" DJ suggested hopefully.

Victor just shook his head and reminded him, "She's biting mortals." Which meant she was on a collision course with the council and it wouldn't be pretty, but it was their job to take care of such matters.

DJ let his breath out on a sigh. "I was hoping you'd forgotten that bit." Scowling, he shook his head. "Who the hell was her sire? He should have told her it was wrong."

"How do you know she
doesn't
know it's wrong?" Victor asked dryly.

"She'd hardly be doing it so openly if she knew the consequences," DJ pointed out. "Using it as a ritual of manhood for all the young men in town is hardly sneaking around and biting boys in the dark. She
can't
know it's against our laws."

"Hmm." Victor supposed that was true. Unless the woman had a death wish and actually wanted her head cut off, she probably didn't know what she was doing was wrong. "Well, it appears that will be our next objective. We need to find out if she is aware of our laws, and who her sire is."

"What does it matter who her sire is?" DJ asked with surprise. "He can't be held responsible for her actions."

"He can if he didn't tell her our laws."

"The only sire likely to turn a mortal and not bother telling them our laws is one who's gone rogue."

"Exactly," Victor agreed.

"Ah." The younger immortal nodded with understanding. "We may have a rogue we don't know about. He might have turned her and left her to her own devices." He nodded again, then asked, "Would the council punish her if she didn't know she was breaking our laws?"

"Ignorance is no excuse, even in mortal court."

DJ sighed and shook his head. "It seems a shame. If she doesn't know any better, there was no intent."

"You sound like a lawyer marshalling his defense," Victor said with a smile.

DJ shrugged. "Maybe I
will
defend her in front of the council. I like her."

"You haven't even met her yet," Victor pointed out with a laugh.

"Well, I like her restaurant, and I read Brunswick's mind," DJ announced. "He thinks she's a 'damned fine woman' always there to help others, and a pillar of the community all her life. She apparently volunteered at everything before she was turned and still does. She's a good woman, Victor. The very fact that her friends would go to all this trouble for her says as much."

"Hmm." He frowned. "Then we'd best find out all we can so that the council can make a fair judgment. Otherwise, I fear she could lose her head."

Mouth tight, DJ nodded and led the way out of the bathroom.

"Are you ready now?" Brunswick asked when they reached the table.

When both men nodded, he heaved out a little breath, and stood. When the other men stood as well, he said, "Now, just remember to keep your traps shut about this ad business and restrict yourself to only saying hello until Mabel has a chance to explain."

"Why not wait to introduce us until after Mabel's explained?" Edward asked dryly. "Surely that makes more sense."

"Not if you know Elvi," Brunswick assured him. "Once she knows what we've done she'll be mad as hell, but she'll also be terribly embarrassed and if she hasn't met you already, she'll no doubt refuse to do so." He shook his head. "No, this is the best way. Now, come on."

As had been the case throughout, the man didn't wait for protests or agreement, but simply gestured for them to follow and turned to head back the way he'd come.

"Well?" Harper asked, glancing to Victor for guidance.

Shrugging, he turned to trail Brunswick, aware that the rest of the men followed suit.

They nearly reached the booth this time. Victor was just walking past the shelf with the statue of the iguana family on it when he noted movement out of the corner of his eye. Then part of the statue separated from the rest and launched itself at him.

And all hell broke loose.

Chapter Five

"I told you I saw it move," DJ muttered.

Victor didn't pay him any attention. All his focus was on the petite woman presently fussing over him and pressing a napkin to his ear and neck. Victor's roar when the iguana landed on his neck and shoulder and latched onto his ear had managed to get everyone's attention, but the whole place had erupted in shouts and screams when he'd begun to claw at his neck and spin on the spot.

Shouting for someone named Pedro, Elvi had abandoned the birthday boy and hurried to Victor's side. She'd removed the iguana, passed it off to a little Mexican man who'd come running from the back of the restaurant, and then had snatched up napkins from the nearest table, cooing as she fussed over him.

"I'm so sorry. He's never done anything like this in the five years we've had the restaurant," she repeated, tugging at his arm to force him to bend over so she didn't have to continue to stand on her tiptoes to see his wound.

Victor grunted and bent obligingly forward, blinking as he found himself peering down the low neckline of her dress at her considerable cleavage.

"Oh dear. We'd best clean this up and put a bandage on it." Her voice sounded shaky as she stepped away from him, removing her bountiful breasts from his view. "You better come with me."

Victor straightened and waited as she excused herself to the birthday boy and his family. He then followed her gyrating hips in the tight skirt as she led the way through the beaded arch and turned into a small office with a desk, two chairs, a small refrigerator, a filing cabinet, and a tall metal cabinet with double doors.

"Have a seat." Elvi gestured to the two chairs in front of the desk. She moved to the metal cabinet and opened one of the doors to reveal shelves stacked neatly with paperwork and various other items including a first-aid kit. Retrieving the small white kit, she set it on the desk and opened it. After a pause, she removed a swatch of cotton, then opened a dark brown bottle and poured some of its contents on the cotton before moving to him.

"This will sting," she warned and set to work cleaning his ear and neck.

Victor sat completely still, hardly noticing the sharp stinging she caused as he inhaled her scent. She smelled of vanilla and spices from the kitchen, a delectable combination that made his mouth water. Tightening his lips, he tried to ignore the smell, but found his nose working to inhale more of it.

"Hmm," Elvi murmured at his side, her breath teasing his ear. "It isn't as bad as I first feared. More blood than damage, thank goodness."

Victor didn't comment. The wound had been quite deep; however his body had started to repair itself at once. This answered one of their questions, however. She couldn't recognize another immortal. It was usually instinctual with their kind. Although, unless taught, they wouldn't recognize the signals their mind and body were sending.

Aware her hands had gone still and hearing her swallow thickly by his ear, he turned to peer at her. Her eyes must have been hazel as a mortal, now the green shone with silver and the brown around the outside glowed gold. She was biting one corner of her lip, a sharp fang poking out as she peered at his still bleeding ear. He wasn't terribly surprised. She was pale and obviously hadn't fed enough. The blood would be tempting to her. He waited curiously to see what she would do.

"Oh." Elvi gave her head a sudden shake and stepped back, one hand coming up to cover her mouth and the fangs he'd glimpsed pushing past her lips. Turning away, she threw the blood-soaked cotton out as if it were on fire. "I'm sure it will heal quickly. Though you might want to let a doctor take a look at it tomorrow."

"There's no need for a doctor," Victor murmured, watching her closely. "Our kind heal quickly and well."

Elvi stilled and turned slowly back.

"Our kind?" she asked uncertainly, still shielding her mouth with one hand.

"Immortals," he said quietly, then used the term Brunswick and Mabel had repeated several times. "Vampires."

Elvi sucked in a breath. "You—You're… one too?"

When Victor nodded, her hand fell to her side and she dropped into the opposite chair. She was silent for the longest time, simply staring at him, seemingly at a loss. It was long enough that her teeth withdrew back into their resting place before she finally said, "When I first got back from Mexico, Mabel and I tried to find others, but…"

Elvi paused and raised one shaky hand to push the hair back from her face.

"You need to feed," he said mildly.

Nodding reluctantly, she stood and moved to the small refrigerator behind the desk to retrieve a bag of blood. Avoiding his gaze, she grabbed scissors off the desk, clipped off a corner of the bag, and poured half of the blood into a glass on her desk.

Elvi started to raise the glass to her lips at once, then paused and, apparently remembering her manners, held it uncertainly out to Victor. When he shook his head, she lifted it to her lips, and then turned self-consciously away as she drank it. The action seemed one of habit more than anything and Victor watched her curiously. Elvi drank the glass quickly as if knocking back a shot of whiskey. She then poured another glass.