Night Lurks (12 page)

“Well, she is my angel and I am happy you don't feel the same,” Alex tells him. “It is getting to be time for bed, should we try to feed the baby and then call it a night?”

“Did someone bring home an unexpected guest?” Dante asks looking around for the baby Alex mentioned.

“He is talking about Will, you dope. He claims to not really be hungry, but wants to give blood a try. Marcus, or any of you vampires that are real vampires, does he have to drink right from the source to be properly nourished? I know you can purchase bottles of blood at the store, but I don't know if that is just a recreational thing or if it does the same job as a vein.”

“The blood in the bottles is preserved in a way that it doesn't lose any of the oomph that the original supply gives. I am sure Sebastian has a couple of bottles here for emergencies. I will run and get one,” Marcus says heading towards the kitchen.

“With you being his sire, we should also take into account that he may only be able to feed from you,” Smitty adds. “Are you willing to let him try a sip if the bottled stuff doesn't work?”

“I turned him, so that is my responsibility. He doesn't seem comfortable drinking from the source and I know I wouldn't be exactly okay with that, so we should probably get an IV or something ready to draw it out.”

“Technically, if it was you, I wouldn't mind the source that much. We had a fun make out session not that long ago, but I prefer not to get my balls smashed in for making the rude noises I can only imagine one makes when they are enjoying dinner,” Will says. Good. Another guy worried I might accidentally lose control of my foot or fist and end up landing a shot to their privates.

“Here you go. He had a couple of different bottles, so I chose the one I like most. Everyone's palate is different, but we should get a feel if blood is something you will enjoy.” Marcus hands him a nice champagne flute full of a dark red liquid.

“I will go grab a donor bag and IV while you guys are doing the experiment. I have a feeling we may need it,” Smitty says hurrying off to his room.

Will takes the glass from Marcus and stares into it. I think trying to take it from the source might have been a better option. You don't have to think about it quite so much. Instinct takes over a bit more and if you are lucky you might get a little action in your southern hemisphere at the same time. For me and Sebby, sexual satisfaction has always been included. I know that is because of our bond, but the act of sharing blood with another is such a sexual act by itself, that taking it the step further isn't a far stretch at all.

“It doesn't really smell appealing. Should it?”

“Most babies would have slurped that glass down already and started looking for seconds. Take a little sip just to check, but I don't think it is going to do anything for you,” Marcus directs.

Smitty returns with his medical equipment and takes a seat by me and Alex. “We better get you hooked up for this experiment. We won't siphon a lot out, just enough for him to do the test.”

I give up my right arm to his doctoring. I don't feel like watching him stab a needle in me, so I keep focused on Will. He has raised the glass up to his lips and is in the process of slowly tilting his head back to have a drink.  It only stays in that position for a second and then the glass is moved away and the funniest look I have ever seen appears on his face. It is akin to the one that Sebastian wore when he tried a cheeseburger for the first time.

“That is awful. You guys actually drink that stuff?” He looks around for a place to get rid of the glass and Marcus takes it from him and tips it back himself.

After a quick lick of the lips, he says, “I don't taste anything wrong with it. It has a nice cherry aftertaste.”

“It tasted like mud. If I am stuck having to live off of that, I am screwed.”

“Eat a lot of mud in your days to make that comparison?” Dante asks chuckling at the situation.

“Sure. As a little boy, I made mud pies all the time to give to the girls. I always sampled my baked goods to make sure they were getting top quality,” Will responds and I am not sure he is joking. If he isn't, maybe him and Clyde will get along even better than I thought because Clyde does have a fascination with mud.

“Hand me the glass,” Smitty says and takes it when Marcus offers it to him. I realize that he has released my arm, so I bring it back up to my body. “Holy crap. This stuff smells really potent.” He deposits the contents of his blood pouch into the glass and takes a big whiff.

“I can smell that over here,” Dante says from across the way. With a vampire nose on him, I imagine he could pick up the smell of blood from around the block, so it doesn't really impress me.

“Just give him the glass and let's get this over with. My bed is calling,” I say working to move things along. Hearing them talk about my blood is creepy.

Will walks over and takes the glass. He treats it like the previous offering and gives it a smell test. “It smells better. Kind of sweet instead of improperly aged cheese.”

He tilts the glass back and takes an introductory sample taste. He looks to be letting the flavors have a chance to meld. He isn't spitting it out or vocalizing how much it sucks, so I am starting to get a little worried. I will feed the guy if I have to, but I will hate having to do it. Me and Sebby sharing is one thing. We need each other to live and we get a little something extra out of it. Will and I would not be partaking in extracurricular activities and the feeding would be only one directional, making things just a bit awkward.

Will finishes his sample and then tips back the rest of the glass. I glance around at the other vampires in the room and their eyes are all glued to the glass.

“Darn. I was really hoping he didn't like that one. Sebastian would understand us not letting it go to waste,” Marcus says looking over to me.

“I thought vampires preferred to not feed from other vampires,” I reply.

“It isn't something we do unless mates are involved or food is scarce. You are not just a vampire, though, and that blood was giving off what I am guessing is your new angel mojo in pretty strong quantities.”

“I don't know of a vampire that has ever fed off of an angel. I bet there is a little power kick that goes along with it,” Smitty adds.

“That stuff tastes good and if I didn't see you take it from the source, I would swear it was some really good wine. The only problem is that it seems good for quenching a thirst, but it didn't do anything for the hunger that still seems to be building itself up. Any more suggestions?”

Maybe things aren't that bad. If the blood didn't fill him up, that should mean we don't have to worry about feedings. A happy dance is in full swing in my brain now. After a couple of turns on the dance floor, I move back to the question just asked. “Sure, I have a suggestion. Get in the kitchen and fix yourself a steak.”

He doesn’t like blood, so I am going to assume he is going to be able to keep his old diet. The happy dance starts again and this time I found a pair of tap shoes.

Chapter 15

Another rare beef convert

Jake takes Will off into the kitchen so they can try the real food experiment. The rest of us remain in our seats and I am ready to ask Marcus more about his visit with Hilda and what goodies she sent home with him.

“If I am successful with these trials, we should have a way to take care of Candace, but I am interested to learn what the wicked witch gave you to help our cause. We cannot rely on me actually being able to obtain the knife. I will do my best, but if I am required to kiss a bunch of babies, we are screwed.”

Marcus rolls his eyes at having to talk about his visit with Hilda. “I forgot to mention earlier, that the betrayal she told you about previously is only going to sting a little. Nothing at all like the Great Spirit originally thought. She said you find out about it a different way than what was formerly planned and that you will probably be able to just brush it off.”

“Great. I am sure everyone knew just how worried I was about her big warning.”

“She puts a lot of faith in whoever she talks to, so to her it is always a big deal. My feelings on the matter lean towards she is nuts, especially if that other voice is telling her she has a chance with me. As far as the help for the current situation, she made up some of the banishing bombs that Alan told you about. She was familiar with the recipe and didn't trust you to get it right.” That sounds about right. She wouldn’t trust me to brush my own hair. “She said we could use those against the succubus too, but also sent along a little something that will freeze her in place. I don't know how much that will help, but she said it lasts about thirty minutes.”

I wonder how much Candace would like to be stuck in place while I use one of her whips on her. Maybe I will let Sebastian do the actual whipping. He is stronger after all and it should hurt more coming from him. I need to come up with something better than just whipping. I need to know what a demon’s pain tolerance is before I make any final decisions on that matter. It has to be pretty high, so the torture will have to be comparative. Bamboo shoots under the fingernails are most likely too mild.

“I like it,” I say focusing back in on the conversation before my mind gets carried away. “You say they are bombs? We just throw them and they have the desired effect.”

Marcus hops up and runs towards my bedroom. Guards don't tend to cross the threshold, so I find it a little odd. He returns with the sack that I stored in my closet. Not only did he cross the bedroom barrier, but he made it through to the closet. I think I would have preferred if he just asked me to go get the bag.

“I want to double check the fine print. I did look at it with her before I left, but I don't trust that she didn't somehow alter it when I left the shop.” He dumps the contents out onto the coffee table. Will and Jake return and they are both carrying plates.

“You didn't think to offer to make something for anyone else?” I ask. Jake deposits his plate in front of Clyde and takes his seat. Will follows the seat taking part of the action.

“It is for Clyde, silly. He is always hungry and you said you were going to be heading to bed soon. I know you don't like to sleep on a full stomach. Everyone else is capable of getting their own food if they are hungry. Clyde would be able to feed himself with just a few modifications to the fridge. You should think about looking into that.”

He has a point about me not liking to sleep with a ton of meat in my belly. I am not too sure about allowing Clyde access to the fridge. I see a lot of problems arising from that move, namely us being eaten out of house and home. I focus over on Will who is taking the time to cut his steak into small pieces. He catches me looking and smiles.

“I am not used to having my meat still mooing, but Jake assured me that would be how I enjoy it now,” he says as he lifts a bite up to his mouth. He quickly licks his lips and then inserts the piece of cow.”

By now, everyone is tuned in on the action. I hope that someone in the group knows the Heimlich in case Will ends up not being able to swallow the food down. My height makes it hard for me to perform the maneuver on anyone over the age of ten.

“Holy cow, literally. That is a really good piece of meat. Do you guys only buy Kobe beef or something?” He begins to annihilate the rest of the steak like I am used to seeing the men around me do. Darn, I thought there would be at least one guy I could take out in public. Sebastian is usually elegant, but the other men have started to wear off on him and it isn’t always pretty.

“Nah. You are just one of us now and can really appreciate the delicious hunks of protein the world has to offer,” Jake says clapping him on his back.

“Any other points of interest from the witch front?” Alex asks Marcus directing the conversation away from the male bonding taking place between Jake and Will.

Marcus turns his attention back to the paintball looking objects in his hands. One is red and the other is green. They don't look like something capable of banishing or freezing a person, but I will take Hilda's word for it. I am pretty sure she could make a flick of dust level an entire state if she really wanted to. You would think knowing that, I would try to work out my differences with her, but I just cannot find the motivation to put forth that kind of effort.

“I think they are clean. I don't see anything that says I will magically fall in love with her once they are activated. We just toss them at our targets and they do the hard work,” he says putting them back into the bag. I see he is handling them like they are priceless pieces of glass and I am a little concerned on just how big of a wallop they really pack.

“How many did she send you home with and do we know if they have any effect on beings that are not demons? What if a demon is able to move out of the way and one of them lands on one of us?”

“You would think by now I would have remembered to ask more questions. None of us should be banishable, so I don't think that would be an issue. We will probably be frozen in place though if the other ones hit us. If you want further clarification and assurances, you are going to have to call her yourself. As far as quantity, she sent thirty-five of the banishers and five of the freezers. She claimed that we wouldn't need more than a couple of the freezers and the others were going to be put in storage for a rainy day.  I took that to mean we wouldn't meet up with any Shagles and Kurkua on the mission.”

“But I want justice done for what they did to all of you guys. I cannot just sit around and let all that slicing go unpunished.” Whether or not I am really turning over a new leaf because of all this angel business, I totally believe in an eye for an eye and they at least need to get carved as nicely as Marcus was.

“The witch said not to worry and she would take care of everything on that front. She wanted you to hurry up and get Sebastian back so you could hear the big news. Don't ask for me to explain her comment.”

It is probably just the big news about me being an angel. I think that is just about as big of news flash as one can get in their life.