The Vampiric Housewife (30 page)

    
“No, we’re alright,” she said. “What I would like is to know everything you know about Venjamin and how you plan to stop him.”

    
Alessandro laughed and even Jonathan cracked a small smile. “You are direct. Ethan did not lie. We’re going to like you. But you have had a long night—a long week I would imagine—maybe this conversation could wait until tomorrow night after you’ve had some rest?”

    
“No. Ethan’s been stone walling me this whole time saying that you were the ones to answer my questions. I am not waiting another night,” she said defiantly.

    
“Alright then. But I do suggest that perhaps the children get some rest. We have rooms prepared for them.”

    
“No way!” Amelia protested. “We’ve been waiting just as long—“

    
“Venjamin has our father!” John interrupted.

    
Valerie turned to face her children. They had been forced to grow up so much in this last week. But they were not adults yet. John and Amelia still did not know what Venjamin had planned for their futures. Valerie had no idea what Alessandro and Jonathan were about to expose. She would prefer to hear it first so she could process it before she had to explain anything to the children.

    
“No. This is a conversation for adults. Get some rest.”

    
“That’s not fair!” Amelia said.

    
“No, it’s not. But I’m the parent. I do not have to be fair. Get some rest. We will talk tomorrow.”

    
“As if we’ll be able to sleep now,” Harry muttered.

    
“Come,” Gabriella said stepping forward with a smile still on her face. Valerie noticed John swallowing hard and adverting his eyes. Harry chose the opposite approach and openly stared at her and her succulent body. “I’ll show you guys to the rooms we’ve made up for you. I think you’ll like them.”

    
Begrudgingly the three followed her up a staircase. Valerie looked back at her two hosts. Ethan sat quietly on the arm of a couch.

   
“Why don’t we start with who you are?” she said.

Chapter Thirty

Symbiotic Blood Relations

    
Harry was restraining himself. He was hungry and following the exotic female up a flight of stairs, he was salivating at the way her rump moved with every step she took. He had taken notice of the bite marks on her neck as well and his curiosity was peaked. He thought humans weren’t supposed to know about vampires. He thought they were supposed to be afraid of them. Gabriella was not scared. Did she voluntarily let vampires drink from her? Was she trying to become one? Could he turn a human into a vampire? Why would he want to? He had so many questions.

    
“How come you have bite marks on your neck?” Harry asked bluntly.

    
“Harry!” Amelia hissed.

    
“It’s alright,” she said as they reached the second floor. “I choose to donate my life force to keep Jonathan alive.”

    
“Life force?” Harry asked.

    
“Blood.”

    
“Does it hurt?” he asked. He visualized the expression of the girl in the Blood Market. She looked like she had been in pain.

    
“At first, but only for a moment. It can be quite enjoyable if you trust the vampire and let go of the fear.”

    
“Is Jonathan your boyfriend?” Amelia asked, her shyness resurfacing.

    
“It’s a bit more complicated than that.”

    
“Could I taste you?” Harry asked.

    
“No. My symbiotic relationship is only with Jonathan. Besides, I thought you were vegetarians.”

    
“Just my mother,” Harry said.

    
“No, we
all
are,” Amelia said, more to her brother than Gabriella.

    
“We use to drink human blood,” John said in a harsh voice. “We’ve killed humans.”

    
“You’ve never killed a human,” Harry said.

    
“Only because I was never given the opportunity,” he said viciously. Amelia didn’t know what had come over her brother.

    
“I realize that you’ve come from a different environment and were only taught one way of survival for your species. I hope you come to see that there are many different options for you now,” she said in a sweet voice. Her serenity irritated John. He hated her. He hated all humans. They were mere food, like his dad said. Vampires were on top of the food chain; they were superior. Humans should fear them, tremble in their presence. The idea that this one did not—on top of the fact that he was physically aroused by her—only made him feel more helpless and angry. Not angry but irate.

    
“My dad kills humans and drinks their blood. I don’t need any more options.”

    
“John!” Amelia hissed again.

    
Amiability finally left Gabriella’s face, though no fear replaced. She took on an air of authority. “Well then, that’s your choice. Regardless of that, you do have a lot to learn about the way the vampiric world operates. First thing you need to learn is that vampires are territorial. This island belongs to Jonathan and Alessandro. You encroach on another vampire’s territory, the penalty is death. I’m sure your father knows that. So when your hunger does find you, I suggest you keep that in mind when you look to murder for your food.” Her emerald eyes bored into John’s hateful dark ones. He would not back down. Not this time. Not to a filthy human. He was stronger than her. Superior to her in every way. But her eyes burned so deep into his that he could not take their heat and looked away, shamed.

    
A smile slid back across her face. “You each have your own room. Across the hall is the bathroom. I did pick up some clothes for you. I hope they fit. Maybe tomorrow evening I can take you guys shopping so you can pick out something you like. My room is on the other side of the house if you need anything. Are you guys hungry? If you’d like I could bring up some meat while your mom talks to the guys.”

   
“I’m going to bed,” John said and slammed his bedroom door.

    
“I’m sick of meat,” Harry said, “but thanks. How do I get a sym-be-toes-sis or whatever you called it relationship with a human?”

    
“It takes meeting the right person, time, and trust. But if you crave human blood, there are other methods. I’ll talk to Alessandro.”

    
“And my mother?” he asked with raised eyebrows. It wouldn’t matter what Alessandro said if his mother refused.

    
“If you’d like,” she smiled.

    
He smiled brightly at her then went into the middle room.

    
“I’m sorry about my brothers,” Amelia apologized. She understood Harry’s bluntness and bloodlust. That was just Harry. But John had been so far out of line. She was embarrassed to call him her brother. She knew he was worried about their father, so was she, but these people were trying to help them. Human or not, that was uncalled for.

    
“I’ve lived with vampires for years. I don’t offend easy. Besides, it’s not your place to apologize for anyone other than yourself.”

    
Amelia gave her a small smile. She wished that was true. “Humans and vampires can really live together?”

    
She nodded. “Like I told your brother, you grew up in a limited, one-sided environment. You’re going to find the world a lot more open and exciting place. There are going to be many options for you now. And not just concerning blood.”

    
Amelia’s future had never looked so promising.

Chapter Thirty-one

Questions Answered

    
“We are vampires who are concerned with the fate of our species. We became aware of Venjamin’s project nearly twenty-five years ago,” Jonathan said. “That was when he felt safe to introduce made-vampires into his little town. Until then, there were only humans and born-vampires in Sangre Valley.”

    
“That’s why I was raised by humans?”

    
Both Jonathan and Alessandro’s eyes flickered to Ethan then back to her. “Yes. He had been doing experiments in his hospital on made-vampires for years. But twenty-five years ago he began a major recruitment for made-vampires for his town.”

    
“What do you mean ‘recruitment’?”

    
Alessandro took this question. “He employed a group of vampire hunters. Humans who were aware of our existence and believed that we were, for all intense purposes, the spawn of the devil. They actually knew little about us, just superstitions, but they had the capturing and killing methods mastered. Vampires who were captured were given a choice: play in Tobar’s game or die.”

    
“This is what happened to Charlie?”

    
“Yes. Venjamin dressed it up so it wasn’t purely a threat. No more worries about money, or having a place to live, finding blood, escaping human capture, no more territory wars. And death if you refused.”

    
Suddenly Valerie didn’t hate her husband as much.

    
“Then a vampire who had been recruited came to me,” Alessandro said. “He was known to hunt vampire slayers and this time had gotten himself caught. He told me how they tortured him with unheard of weapons for the location of other vampire covens. Then a man entered the room and stopped the torture. He told this vampire how he could save his own life. All he had to do was come live in a city full of vampires, vampires like he’d never seen before. He would have money and a house, and a life that would resemble the one he had as a human. Or else he could die now. The vampire refused by spitting in his face. The man had been arrogant and fearless of vampires which gave our vampire the advantage. The man carried no weapons against vampires, and our hero was able to escape. After that episode, Tobar discontinued his use of humans for his recruiting needs and employed made-vampires to round up other vampires.”

    
“Why would this vampire come to you?”

    
“We were acquaintances,” Alessandro said carefully. “And I am slightly unique among my peers. I’ve been studying medicine since the fifth century—most of my vampiric life. I could comprehend and appreciate Venjamin’s project more than any other vampire.”

    
She nodded. Fifth century. Valerie had pushed the fact that her husband said he was two hundred years old out of her mind simply because it was so outlandish and the least important fact at the moment. Alessandro had been walking this earth for over a thousand years.

    
“I began my research with the doctor himself. Tobar Venjamin is the son of a renowned anthropologist and mythologist who wrote and lectured almost exclusively on folklore and mythological creatures such as vampires. That was where Tobar first learned so much about us. His mother died shortly after he was born from complications of childbirth. He toured Europe as his father did research in third world countries and villages lost to the modern world then lectured at the finest universities. It was a well known fact that Tobar was humiliated by his father’s field of study. Tobar was more scientific. He came to the United States to escape his father’s reputation which was considered both brilliant and eccentric to become a medical doctor. He attended Harvard Medical School where he was leagues ahead of the rest of his class. He did cutting edge research in genetics long before the layman knew anything about DNA and genes. Then suddenly he became obsessed with what he had always shunned and considered nugatory—the mythical. He spun theories about living vampires, genetically mutated to live off of human blood, creatures who healed unbelievably fast, and who were immortal. He was determined to prove such a creature existed. He destroyed his reputation. After some experiments on humans as he tried to locate the gene that may have mutated, he had his license revoked. That did not stop his work though. He used his own father’s tales to find a born-vampire. It only took him a couple of years.”