Finally Dead (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 1) (5 page)

It would
be for the next day though. For now she was getting heavy, and it was hard to
move. Time crawled by, but she felt like she was drunk, by the time Barb popped
her head out of the house. Dawn had just started to really happen, and the
light touched her gently.

It
didn’t burn, physically. Not much. It just hurt. She stood though, and moved to
get herself inside.

“Hey.”
She sounded slow, and tired, compared to Barb. The other girl, who looked no
more than a few years older than she did, was pushing fifty or so. It showed,
because she was moving around like it was easy or something.

“Eve!
Let’s get you into bed. You can sleep under Troy today, in the case I built
under his bed. With me. You
did
want an all girl cuddle fest for your
second night, didn’t you? If not you should have asked one of the guys along,
too.”

She
could barely speak, her mouth feeling hard to use now. Stumbling a bit, she let
the other woman lead her, and then tuck her, not into Troy’s bed, but onto the
sofa in the basement. It was Bey’s room, for when he visited, but no one would
mind, as long as she brushed herself off before crashing. Her behind had tiny
rocks sticking to her jeans, after all.

It was
difficult to get clean, but she managed it, just before she fell over. Then the
world vanished. It didn’t go dark, it was just
gone
.

That was
the way of it, she’d heard. It would be too, until she learned to stay awake
all day long.

That
would only take two or three hundred years though, she thought.

Something
like that.

In
short, she had a bit of time to adapt.

She
didn’t wake with a start, but was, this time at least, where she’d been when
she laid down. Starving too.

That was
an illusion though, she knew. The links from the day before were still pretty
strong, and with her eyes closed Eve could still feel the lines of pink flowing
toward her. How she could feel a color, she didn’t know, but it was there, and
kind of neat, once she realized it.

There
was a small, and old fashioned, clock on the far wall, which said that it was
five-fifteen. This time of year, being late November, that meant it was well
and truly dark outside already. Eve grinned, because she could see the clock’s
hands clearly, even though there was virtually no light in the basement.
Getting up, she stretched, and decided that a shower was in order. Not that she
smelled bad yet, but it never hurt to be tidy.

On the
great side, she still had some clothing there. Troy hadn’t seemed to mind when
she’d stolen one of his drawers about two years before, and being a nice guy
he’d never tossed the things out for her. It probably meant that she should
have considered dating him exclusively, but he was young and good looking
enough that playing the field still probably felt right for him. She kind of
felt the same way, or had, until that moment.

Now that
her sex drive was gone, she kind of saw how having one guy trapped into a
relationship could really work out that way.

Grinning,
she ran up the stairs, making herself ignore the call of the fridge. There was
probably no blood in there anyway. That kind of thing had to be kept fresh and
there was no reason for Zack or Troy to get any in. Not just for her. Besides,
she knew, for a fact, that she didn’t need any yet. It would be at least nine
more days, and she was going to hold to that as well as she could.

Yes,
most young Vampires like her ate daily, and couldn’t help themselves, but she
didn’t
have
to be most people, did she? On the good side, the way she
felt wouldn’t really get worse over time. It was, she’d heard, pretty much a
constant desire to get more energy. Even if she had plenty of it at the moment.

She
showered first, knowing that Troy was still sleeping, and about to wake up. She
could tell the difference in his breathing. From the bathroom, with the water
running. It was incredible, but also a bit annoying. Worse, when his breathing
changed it was pretty clear that he wasn’t alone. Barb hadn’t made any noise,
but Troy gasped and then there was a scent of fresh blood. Okay, it took about
a minute to reach her, but it was so far from fair as to be painful for a few
seconds.

Then,
because Barb wasn’t a
total
bitch, there was a sound of sucking.

As in
Troy getting lucky, not her trying to drain him.

It was a
bit of a gray area in the law, really. They weren’t supposed to use direct
feeding, but if the Human knew about it, and wasn’t being coerced or
threatened, it could be overlooked.

Of
course Barb worked for the council, which meant she should have been following
the rules a bit better, but it wasn’t like Eve was going to snitch on her.
She’d done a lot worse than get a guy to part with some bodily fluids in her
time. Even before she’d died and come back.

Honestly,
so far her track record as a Vampire was
beyond
good. That probably
wouldn’t last too much longer, so she decided to enjoy it while the chance was
available. For once in her life she was practically heroic, and all that junk.
A virtual Vampire poster child.

She
dried quickly, her short black hair fairly absorbing the water, which left it
thicker looking than it had been. Not so much as to be a problem though. Then,
knowing what she was walking into, the smell of blood trying to call to her,
she walked in on Barb as she was going down on Troy. Her clothing was in there,
and traipsing around naked was…

Honestly,
she just wanted to catch them out, and make Barb feel a bit bad for using Troy
like she was. Not that he’d mind. Since the older Vampire didn’t stop what she
was doing, it was pretty clear that there would be no guilt trips taken that
day by her, either.

Eve just
grabbed some clothing out of the drawer, and sat on the edge of the bed,
putting her socks on one at a time. Finally, about the time that Troy was
stiffening up, Barb got the picture, and made a small, rather alarmed noise.

“
Fuck
!
Eve! Are you…” She glanced at the twin pin pricks of red on Troy’s right inner
thigh. Because calling attention to the wound was a
brilliant
plan. Not
a test of Eve’s resolve at all. She cleared her throat, and then winked.

“I’m
good. It smells a bit tasty in here, but I have enough energy links. Though,
seriously,
worst
babysitter ever.”

Barb got
that there wasn’t going to be an attack on Troy, and laughed.

“Ohhh,
not even close. I remember the first time that David was watching me… I was
only a few years old at the time, Vampire time, and he decided that selling me
to a half dozen men would be a good way to get some free blood. It worked,
since we were able to drain them all after I killed them, but… I’m practically
a saint compared to
that
. Lenore was not pleased, to say the least. Dave
got locked in a box for a month, with no food.”

Lenore
was Barb’s maker, Eve thought.

She’d
never asked, honestly. It probably wasn’t some kind of major secret though,
just a thing that had never come up before, and didn’t need to at that moment.

Since
she wasn’t planning on eating, it seemed like a good idea to find something
else to do. Troy still needed a few more minutes of attention, and seemed a
little embarrassed about something. Probably the part where he’d let Barb feed
on him. The man had
no
shame about sex. There was no invitation to join
them though, which made sense, but was a bit atypical for him. Then again, he
knew what a Vampire was and had probably gotten a talk about what it would
mean, having her around like she was.

It was
pretty hard to sit there, smelling him like she was. If her teeth got close
enough to do anything fun, she’d probably bite him. Hard.

“Okay,
you kids finish up and I’ll… Um, go clean the living room? Tidy up downstairs?”
There was no plan as to what she was supposed to do that day, as far as she
knew. Keeping busy was a good idea though. Not that she loved to clean or
anything, but not being a burden was important to her.

Plus, it
would get her out of the room.

Troy
really did smell nice. Meaty and a bit like sex. It didn’t turn her on, but it
made her feel a bit thirsty, which was new and strange, but not unexpected
totally.

So,
about fifteen minutes later, she was sweeping the main room when the phone
rang. Practically pouncing on it, she got the thing to her ear just in time for
the second ring to start. It was done so fast that the device hadn’t even
registered that she’d taken the cordless thing from its cradle yet. Slowing
down a lot, she started to speak, only to have nothing come out. After a bit,
she realized that she just didn’t have any air in her lungs. That made things
like chatting a bit harder, didn’t it?

Taking a
breath she started again, before the other person could speak at all.

“Troy
Lopez’ phone. This is Eve, how may I help you this evening?”

“Ah!
Miss Benson! So good to hear your voice. It is I, Bey. I was hoping to impose
on young Troy this night, having just come into town. The Line Walker has
brought me to the embassy here. Is that a thing that could be arranged, do you
believe?”

She
walked to the bedroom door, which was closed, and knocked. Troy wouldn’t care
if Bey was coming to visit really, not in a negative way. As far as he was
concerned the ancient Vampire was his roommate, now that Zack had moved out to
get his own place. Bey however, still felt like he had to ask each time.

“Let me
check on that? I mean,
I
know that it’s all right, except that you’ll
have a pesky roommate come daylight tomorrow. You can just shove my body in the
corner though, right?” She was being awfully cheeky with the man, but they had
been friends for years, more or less. He chuckled, kindly.

“I had
heard that you’d finally decided to join our ranks! Indeed, it is due to the
events of yesterday that I am come to this location at this time. Edom has
suggested to me that you are doing well? I feared for you, on hearing what has
transpired. Is there anything I can do for you?”

“Maybe.
Here, let me see about arrangements first? Troy…” She asked politely if it was
all right for her to have Bey come over, as if she were dating the Vampire.

He came
to the door, grinning.

“Hey
Bey. You know that you live here, right? I’ll see about getting some blood in.
Oh… Eve, you haven’t had anything, have you? Barb…”

She
waved that away.

“No big
thing. I had some blood yesterday. I’m not going to need more for… Nearly a
week. Maybe longer.”

There
was silence from the phone, and then three sharp claps.

“Oh!
That is wonderful, young Eve! Truly. I shall come directly, and then we can
discuss our plans? We should strive to locate the beings that took you. They
might need a stern talking to.”

She
nodded at that.

“Yep. I
agree. I can come to you though, if that’s easier? Barb is here, and I think
she can give me a ride in? I left my car at Edom’s.” It wasn’t the nicest thing
in the world, but it was hers and she was fully insured and licensed. Everyone
she knew had demanded that of her. Even the Vampires had, because the fewer
gaps in her identity, the less likely it would be that she’d have to kill a cop
to protect herself.

Barbara
heard her, and came to the door, nodding. She was one of the people that felt a
lot more uneasy about Bey than not. Still, he’d been around often enough that
she wasn’t going to refuse to be near him. No, she’d just act quiet and a bit
scared the whole time. As if that would help her? If Bey wanted something dead,
it was pretty much just going to happen. That described about a third of the
people she knew though, so Eve tried not to dwell on the idea too much.

“There
we go! So you’re good for staying here, and I’ll come to you? Unless…” She
really didn’t want to presume.

“Perfect.
That is most polite of you. I look forward to seeing you again.”

She
nodded, and then made herself take another breath.

“Me too.
I mean, I look forward to seeing you, as well.”

They
both hung up after that, and she hurried to the door, since keeping Bey waiting
was a silly thing to do. Not that he’d care, but Barb would freak out if she
tried it. Blinking, she held up a hand first.

“Sorry,
I have to call and check in with Ed. I should have done that already.”

It was
funny, because she got in touch with him as he clearly stood talking to Bey,
about her coming in. She heard the last of the words as the handset picked up.

“Hello!
I was just calling to let you know that I was planning to come there. Is that
all right? I know, I should have done that first thing, but honestly, I forgot.
It won’t happen again.” That kind of thing was important, she knew. Edom was
responsible for her actions, until she was fully trained. That could take
better than half a century, so it made sense to stay on his good side.

“Good
thinking. How are you feeling?”

She
could have lied about it, but tilted her head and shrugged a bit.

“Not
bad? A bit hungry, but I can hold out for a lot longer than this, and will. It
would
have been better but Barb accidentally bit Troy, and the whole place smells
delicious at the moment. It’s fading a bit at least. We can be there in… I
think twenty minutes? Half an hour, tops?” It was about fifteen miles, but
there wouldn’t be a lot of holiday traffic yet. It was early November still.

“See you
then. Come to the embassy here, first?” It was a question, which she decided to
take as a very kind way of giving her an order.

“Got it.
Be there as directly as possible.”

Barb
looked at her funny, on the way out, but didn’t talk to her until they were
underway. Finally, she growled a little.

“Kiss
up. Telling on me like that. All I can say is that Bey better not kill me for
this, or you’ll feel horrible. You know it, too. I’ll totally stick around and
haunt your ass.”

She
really didn’t seem happy about it all, but Eve shrugged.

“That’s
me, the good girl. Really, if you and Troy are a thing, it isn’t a problem
though. Is it? That’s inside the law.”

There
was eye rolling then.

“Oh,
yeah, sure, but Edom can pitch a fit if his people are being fed on, and Troy
is the highest Human in the organization at the club. I work there too, so…
That could be a problem.”

Eve
winced.

“Oh,
that. Sorry. Well, don’t make a big thing of it. We can tell them that you were
just testing my resolve, and that I totally powned the thing? I
did
, so…
That’s good, right?”