Infamous: (A Bad Boy Romantic Suspense) (20 page)

“Watching. You were waiting for them to pull something,” I said flatly. He nodded and shrugged. “Well, thanks, I guess. If I could just suggest something?” He looked at me, raising an eyebrow I could barely see. “Next time, stop the crazy vampires before they start dragging a girl down an alley and her friend has to wield pieces of plumbing.”

“Noted. Shall we?” he said, offering me his other elbow. I looked at it like it was a live, poisonous snake.

“Shall we what?”

“I have a car down the street. I’ll take you both home.” He sighed again and dropped his arm. I followed him down the alley. He had broad shoulders and one of those perfect, slim, triangular shapes. And really long legs. I didn’t really want to notice any of that, but my brain was on autopilot and desperately trying to distract itself from the rest of the evening.

His car was sleek and black and clearly expensive. He opened a back door for me and I got in. It was roomy, not quite a limo, but plenty of space. He placed Tasha in next to me and then set himself up across from us. He tapped on some tinted glass and the car started. Tasha slumped against me and murmured something that sounded a lot like “vssgl.”

“Will she remember anything that happened tonight?” I asked, finally looking up. And then I wished I hadn’t. Because in the car I could finally see my vamp rescuer’s face. And it was beautiful.

“No. She might have some weird dreams, though,” he answered, watching me from dark eyes that glittered. His weren’t anything like the flat shark eyes of Jake and Cheekbones. They sparkled and were fringed with thick lashes and framed by crow’s-wing-shaped brows. His nose was finely arched, narrow, and very aristocratic. He had a soft-looking mouth and several days’ worth of stubble that I had a feeling he carefully maintained. His jawline was sharp and defined and he had a look of being in on a joke you weren’t. His hair was definitely brown, but with a reddish hint in the passing streetlights that filtered through the windows. It was thick and shiny and the kind of length that probably made a lot of girls want to run their hands through it.

At that particular moment I kind of hated him for looking like that. I probably had puke on my shirt.

“I bet,” I said, putting an arm around her. “Am I going to remember this, or are you going to vampire whammy me or something?”

He laughed, leaning back and watching me. I was uncomfortable. He was doing us a favor, but this night had been completely unreal and I wasn’t feeling especially grateful or generous just then.

“Why bother? It’s not like anyone would believe you,” he pointed out. Which, okay, fair. I couldn’t exactly tell the police that we’d been slipped vampire blood, nearly eaten, then rescued by a tall, dark stranger and expect them to do anything but laugh.

“Won’t Jake or Georg tell someone about all this? Won’t they…come after us?” That was my real worry. That this wasn’t actually over.

“Unlikely. They’d have to admit to defying the council to do so, and then go against my orders. Which, I can tell you, would not go over well.” He leaned forward, pushing his hair out of his face with a smile.

“So you must be pretty important, then,” I said, with what I hoped was a complete lack of curiosity.

“Yes.”

“Ah.”

We rode in silence for a bit after that. I was suddenly really tired. So tired that even the thin mattress I called “home” in the hostel sounded amazing right then. I wanted to sleep for days and, when I woke up, have this magically be not real. And then I could go home and find a crappy job and never, ever try to have an adventure again. Right then, the idea of leading an exceedingly boring life forever sounded incredibly appealing.

“Are you going to tell me where to drop you off or do I have to guess?” he asked, sounding amused.

“Oh. Right. Uhm. We’re off the Gansemarkt, near the Alster Lake. It’s a hostel,” I said. He told the driver through the tinted window. I realized he kept watching me carefully, like a bug under glass.

“What?” I said, finally.

“I’m just wondering why the blood didn’t work on you. That’s not…usual,” he said, crossing a long leg and folding his arms in front of him.

“How should I know? Lucky, I guess.” I didn’t really care why it hadn’t worked.

“It didn’t make you feel anything? Nothing at all?” he asked. His voice was casual but there was something in it, something very curious.

“It made me feel a little dizzy and sick. And I could taste that something was off about the water.” I remembered the metallic undertaste and shivered.

“You could…taste the blood in the water?” He was leaning forward again, staring at me hard.

“I guess? I didn’t know what it was. But it was off somehow. Like someone had dropped a rusty nail in it or something. Only worse than that. Sour, almost.” I shrugged. It was difficult to describe, but “it tasted bad” didn’t seem enough.

“Interesting.” He sat back, running a hand along his chin.

“Is it? Well, great. I’m so glad. I live to fascinate.” I bit the inside of my cheek. It probably wasn’t a super great idea to be sarcastic at a vampire. He smiled, though.

“What’s your name?” he asked quietly.

“Emma. You?” I asked.

“Dimitri.”

“Of course it is.” I rolled my eyes. He looked put out for the first time.

“What’s wrong with my name?” he demanded.

“Nothing, sorry. It’s just that you sound like a Boris Karloff character. And this night has been too weird for me to be tactful about it.” I put my head back on the seat, rubbing Tasha’s shoulder. The city was moving past in a steady blur punctuated with pink and orange lights. The sky had cleared and there were stars out, doing their best to twinkle.

“I’m impressed you’ve handled this so well so far. I think most people would have freaked out,” he said.

“I’m sure I’ll freak out later. And have a good cry. And maybe some ice cream.” I wasn’t just tired anymore, I was exhausted. Down to the bone. But also still strangely wired, the way you are after you pull an all-nighter and drink a ton of caffeine. You’re not really awake so much as in a fugue state that resembles consciousness. Tasha started to snore.

The car pulled up and I let out a breath I didn’t realize I was holding. I had never been happier to see a seedy, rundown, funky old building that often smelled like pee. Not exactly home, but good enough for now.

Dimitri got out and held the door open as I steered Tasha, who was finally at least groggy enough to move on her own, into the fresh air. She managed a zombie-ish shuffle, but still.

“I feel weird, Em. Emma. Your name is like the letter M,” Tasha said. I was relieved she was talking again, though I wasn’t sure how good a sign it was that she was making quirky observations about my name.

“He’s cute!” she said, squinting up at Dimitri.

“Yeah, very cute. And helpful. Let’s get you inside,” I said. I caught Dimitri smiling. “Oh, don’t. You don’t get to smile at compliments.”

Inside, I got Tasha settled, and when I came out found Dimitri still lingering in the hallway. He was looking at the furnishings with a curious frown on his face. Then he poked the wall, which bent a little.

“Uhm, thank you for getting us back here with all our limbs and no puncture wounds,” I said.

“You’re welcome. We should probably talk.” He nodded towards the lounge, which was really just a bunch of beanbag chairs thrown into a small room that smelled like cloves barely covering the other scent of mold.

We stood, awkwardly looking at one another. Well, I stood awkwardly. He just kind of casually leaned against a wall. See, this is the problem with good-looking guys. They get comfy and take up all this space and never think about how annoying it is. Then he tossed his perfect hair back. It was disgusting.

I crossed my arms over my chest and waited. I was all out of patience for the evening and wasn’t really up for more vamp talk. But I supposed I owed him a conversation.

“So…this is where you live?” he started, eyeing the beanbag chairs and wrinkling his nose a bit at the interesting combination of body odor and cloves.

“Well, I thought about the Ritz, but this seemed homier.” I was seriously on the sarcasm train with no end in sight. I couldn’t seem to help myself.

“I just meant, aren’t there better places to stay for a young woman traveling abroad?” He was trying, I could tell. I just didn’t care.

“Probably. But I’m broke and about to head back home. This place is cheap and, up until this evening, the people seemed decent. I guess you never can tell who’s human or not.” I rubbed my face, trying to stifle a yawn.

“We’ll keep an eye on this place from now on. I don’t think Jake is so stupid as to come back here, but if he thought to try this, others might. And Georg—”

“Is a raging asshole?” I suggested. He laughed.

“Now, as for you leaving town.” He was serious now, face etched finely in the dim light. It was really unfair that he was so pretty.

“Don’t worry, I’ll be gone in like two days. My folks will be thrilled to help me get home. They didn’t like this whole vagabond thing I was trying anyway. Besides, I’m over it. Maybe I’ll try traveling again when I’m forty-something and just really tourist it up.” And then I did yawn, so wide it felt like my face was going to split.

“Actually, I can’t let you leave,” he said quietly.

It was now my turn to stare.

“You can’t make me stay here,” I said, suddenly not very tired and quite angry. My mouth tasted sour. He shook his head.

“I think you know that I can.” His voice was even, placating. Which made me want to smack him.

“Why? I’m just going to go back home, pretend this never happened. I’m not a threat of any kind.” I started pacing, hands clenched.

“It’s the fact that our blood had no effect on you, Emma. That’s really unusual. As in: it never happens. I don’t know if Jake and Georg realized it, but I can’t just let you leave without discovering the reason. Maybe it was a fluke. However, you could be in a lot of danger if anyone else found out.” He walked gracefully towards me, every limb perfectly coordinated. I flinched back.

“That’s not my fault. I don’t know why that happened and I don’t care. How would anyone else find out? I don’t plan on running into any more vampires at late-night clubs. I’m going to become a shut-in old lady with cats from now on.” I heard a note of pleading in my voice and hated it. This feeling of suddenly not having any say in or control over my life was like the moment a plane takes off and you realize you’re in the air, in a metal tube, far above the ground. And you can’t get out until you reach your destination.

This was like that feeling, only worse.

“Look, let’s just wait a few days and see if everything blows over. I can show you more of the city.” He was close now and he smelled like cloves and vanilla.

“If you’re doing this for a date, I can think of better ways to go about it.” I rubbed my forehead, too tired to fight anymore. Maybe I’d wake up in the morning and everything would be back to normal. Non-bitey, non-monstery, normal.

“I don’t generally have to convince women to date me.” His voice was smooth, amused, deep. I looked at him and frowned.

“I bet. Fine. Coffee tomorrow, your treat. But now I need sleep.” I started to walk away, but he gently touched my arm. He didn’t grab it, though he could have.

“Emma.” I turned to him and, in the next moment, his lips were kissing my cheek gently. It was like the touch of a moth’s wing, soft and fluttery. Surprised, I looked at him full in the face. His eyes were sparkling, with humor and…something else.

“Thank you. I’ll pick you up in the evening.” And then he was gone.

I stood there for a minute, blinking, realizing I’d just been kissed by a vampire. My life had definitely taken an interesting turn.

Even though I was exhausted, sleep ended up being elusive. It didn’t help that my other roommates appeared to be having a snoring competition. Plus, every time I closed my eyes I saw those horrible, expanding, toothy grins. Only they wouldn’t stop smiling and they’d be lunging…

I got up, wrapped a shawl around my shoulders, and checked on Tasha before heading down to the kitchen. I had my shoes on because the hostel was in some hundred-year-old building and I didn’t really feel like getting tetanus along with everything else.

Tea, I needed tea. Tea would make everything better and normal. I kept going over the events of only a few hours before like the most horrible carnival ride. The tea warmed my hands and I breathed in the gingery scent that reminded me of the holiday cookies my mom makes.

The next minute I was quietly crying, tears falling into my mug. It wasn’t just the last few weeks’ compounded disappointments, although that would have been enough. Nearly getting killed and discovering vampires were real had clearly frayed a few nerves.

I felt a little better after crying. My tea was cold and I was so tired I could barely shuffle my way back up to my room, but I’d needed it. Maybe things would be better now, I could get perspective, get out of here and go home.

As I made my way back, I looked through one of the dirty windows and a saw face leering at me, teeth wide and sharp, red tongue licking at spread, horrifying lips. Then it was gone.

I dropped my mug with a crash and ran back to bed.