Vampire Food 08: He Smelled Like Peach Pie (5 page)

Rory thrust his fingers into his hair, brushing it back from his face. It was a familiar habit to represent irritation or that he was considering something deeply. “Em has had an obsession with the sun lately. She even mentioned to me that she thought her body was reverting back to sleeping at night and staying awake during the daylight. That obviously isn’t the case now though.”

“I hate to ask this, but what would happen if bombs were set off in the caves? If the roof was filled with fissures and holes we would all be in big trouble. Most vampires live in the upper portions of the caves.”

Rory and Russell both glared at him. “Where would they get explosives?”

“Not all of the scientists are vampires. If the humans have teamed up with the shifters and are against us, the shit could easily hit the fan.”

“I suppose you’re right. I will have to start watching and listening a little closer when I’m below. The problem is, if they set the bombs off during the daytime, what are we supposed to do about it?”

“I don’t know.”

Russell frowned. “I do. I have a feeling that we need to ask Em. I don’t know why, but I think she will have a plan. She usually does.”

Rory looked down at Em. “Well, maybe we should have had this conversation before we knocked her into unconsciousness. I just wanted her to get some more sleep.”

Salt yawned. “Actually, that sounds like a great idea. I’m still tired.”

Rory nodded. “Yeah, me, too. I didn’t sleep very good.”

Russell lay back down on Em’s body and without a word turned back into a small wolf. Salt had to think that Russell was also tired and in complete agreement about sleeping some more. He lay back down and closed his eyes, welcoming the blissful sleep of the sun.

“Are you serious, Russell? Becka said that? Is she out of her mind?” He shrugged. “Okay, so let me get this straight, you think that someone may bomb the place to try and kill us all? That would be suicide. They have to know that we will hunt them down and kill them.”

“Yeah, if we’re still alive to do so.”

She ignored Salt’s comment and turned to Rory. “How much of that sun shield gel has been produced?”

“About twenty gallons, why?”

“Can it be applied to metal? Specifically steel?”

“I suppose so.”

Em considered the caves in her mind. “Who of us would be in the biggest danger?”

“I would have to think that the members of the alliance are. They make most of the rules,” replied Russell.

Em looked at him. “Okay and most of us live in this outer, upper area. How easy would it be to blow a hole in our ceiling?”

“I have no idea. If I ask around, maybe I can find out. What are you thinking?”

“If we are the ones in the most danger, then we need to protect ourselves. Would alaneum sheets of steel be strong enough to protect us from the falling rock? If so, could they be coated with sun protection?” Em pursed her lips. “Better still, could it be applied to some kind of fabric? If we had a flexible substance that could be molded over our bodies, that would be even safer.”

“That is a very interesting question. Our goal was to apply it to clear substances to block the sun. I don’t know if anyone has ever considered putting it on fabric. Something dense like high-count cotton might work. Most fabric doesn’t block the sun, but if we could paint it with a couple of thick coats, it might just work.”

Em nodded. “Then you need to find that out. Russell, I think it might be wise for you to return to Becka. I don’t care what kind of lies you need to tell her, just get back into her good graces. We need information.”

Russell scowled at her. “Really? You want me to lie to her?”

“What are you not telling me, Russell?”

His eyes turned away and that verified her suspicion that he was omitting information.

He grimaced. “Becka claims that she has fallen in love with me. She was slinging insults about my reputation because I was with you. I wanted to get away from her as quickly as possible.”

The news was not as shocking to Em as it probably should be. Russell was easy to fall in love with. He was great in bed and had a fantastic personality. He was also intriguing to look at with the beautifully thick, muscled body and amber eyes. “Okay, so we need to find another outlet for information. Have you made friends with any of the other shifters?”

He shrugged. “Not really. I know most of them, but I wouldn’t call them friends.”

Turning her head to look at Salt, Em lowered her eyes and then grinned to offset her leering expression. “I do think it is time to ask Mia to return the favor. Everyone is smitten with Mia.”

Salt rolled his eyes. “I will warn you that Mia is likely to ask you about our sex life.”

That was a disturbing twist. “And why is that?”

“It was a discussion we had about her expectations about me and sex. I was getting a bit frustrated with her and made a comment that I probably shouldn’t have made.” He gave her a chagrined shrug and wrinkled his nose guiltily.

“Okay. I guess that I can deal with her questions. I have one myself. How and why are they banning against us? What the hell did we do to them? We try to treat everyone here as equal and everyone has a say in what happens. Each grouping of people has representatives that they can bring their concerns to who will speak for them during the meeting. I just don’t get it. Since when did we become the evil ones, again?”

Salt shrugged, but Rory rubbed her shoulder. “I think that it is simply a matter that we are considered bad creatures. It has always been that way and I suppose that mindset still lingers. We didn’t always get along with the shifters and werewolves. We were enemies for year. Sometimes change just comes hard.”

“But we have proven ourselves. We went against the elders to give them all freedom. We have done nothing but provide ourselves and our knowledge for the benefit of all.”

Rory nodded. “I know that. There are always those in any society who feel that they are not getting a fair shake. They want more power and right now, the vampires have the largest voice at the meetings. We also have the largest population because most of our kind survived the sonic. Our underground connections warned us, and our need to be protected from the sun also protected us from the sonic bombs. Shifters and weres lived above ground and they were killed along with the humans.”

“Not including the fact that it takes years for a shifter to grow into adulthood. A vampire can be created overnight,” added Russell.

Em stroked back Russell’s shaggy hair. He was right, and a baby shifter was harmless where a baby vamp was dangerous and unpredictable. “What about the werewolves? They create their own kind easily.”

“Not really. Weres can transfer their enzymes through a bite, but they risk their hunger getting out of control. Once they taste blood, the urge to kill is strong. It is safer for them to breed by normal methods and their children grow as ours.”

That was a new tidbit of information. Em had always been under the misguided notion that werewolves didn’t hesitate to bite during a full moon. That probably explained why there were only a few weres in the cave. The ones that she knew were nice, respectable people. Did she honestly believe that during a full moon, they changed into bloodthirsty beasts that only wanted to turn others into their own kind? “Holy shit.”

Russell frowned. “Holy shit, what?”

“I just had a thought about weres that is exactly what the humans think about us. Well…except the full moon part. Do they really only change during a full moon?”

“No. They can change anytime they want, although the desire to change is stronger during the full moon. The females are more likely to come into their breeding cycle during a full moon, and that is a compelling reason to change. Otherwise, they are similar to shifters. The differences come in that they can only turn into a werewolf. They can’t alter the size of the creature they become. Once they reach adulthood, their body size sets the tone for how large they are as a were. We can’t create others through saliva, they can. They can’t breed with humans, we can. Other than that, their personalities are formed through life experience, and that doesn’t change when they are in furry form.” He gave her a sly grin. “Of course, even when we turn into a wolf, we are always cuter.”

Em giggled at his comment. “I have to agree.” With a sigh, she continued. “Thank you for the education. My point was that I’m a vampire and I still had horror movie images of werewolves. I believed the hype, so how can I expect others not to believe the same about us?”

“That’s an interesting point.” Rory sat up, crossing his legs in front of his body as he leaned on his bent knees with his elbows. “Salt, what did you think about weres?”

He shrugged and leaned up on his elbow. “I don’t know. I never gave it much thought. I guess that I was for the most part, under-informed. I see Em’s point though. If vampires have less than complimentary images of weres, then why should we expect other breeds to understand us? The question is what do we do about it?”

“Education,” replied Rory. “We need to find a way to teach about all cultures. There is a meeting tomorrow night. It is a subject that needs to be discussed. In the meantime, we need to go find Mia.”

Salt got ahead of them and spun to walk backward. “I understand the need to find Mia, but I would really have liked to get laid first. I mean, I haven’t had the pleasure of your company in weeks. I think you owe me a night.”

Em slapped him across the face. It wasn’t hard enough to knock him off step, but only to accent her words. “You know how much I hate the phrase
get laid.
I have sex with you because I love you. You don’t place or arrange me, so the use of the word laid is ridiculous. Said as slang, as you used it, it sounds smutty.” Taking a quick step forward, she grabbed his hair and kissed him fast and hard. “I don’t owe you anything, but I would really enjoy a night doing what we are probably going to have to tactfully discuss with Mia.” With a chuckle at his stunned expression, she fell back into step with Rory and Russell as they headed out into the main gathering area.

Salt shook his head slightly. “Wow. I forgot what one of your kisses felt like. Now I really want to get laid.” He stuck out his tongue in a childish gesture of torment and then turned, skipping across the open walkway.

Em couldn’t help but laugh at his ridiculous gesture. “He is such an ass.”

Rory draped his arm over her shoulder. “Yes, he is. I wouldn’t harass him too much. He will be the one holding the cattail later on.”

He had a very good point. Em threw one arm around Rory and the other around Russell. She dragged them into her body. “I fear the boy wants me alone. Do the two of you mind?”

Rory pinched her ass. “I think Russell and I can amuse ourselves for a few hours. I was thinking that it would be nice to go down to the settlement and say hello.”

“Please don’t go without me. I miss seeing the people from our fortress.”

“There is nothing stopping you from going there.”

She thumped her head into his shoulder. “I know. I just haven’t felt like leaving the room.”

“I fear that was our fault. You are accustomed to being with the three of us and when we were all gone, you were lost. It was a physical and mental draw that dragged you into depression and I really should have realized it sooner. I’m sorry. I presume that you are feeling better.”

She was in a way that she hadn’t dreamed possible. Now that they were back, her entire outlook on life had brightened and she felt adventurous and playful. “Yes, although, that is quite unnerving. I have completely lost my independence to the three of you, haven’t I?”

“I don’t know if I would put it that way.”

“If I can’t function without the three of you around, how else would you put it?”

Salt was walking toward them with Mia at his side. Em let the conversation drop. It was not something she wanted anyone else to know about.

Mia put her arms out and Em released the men to give her a hug.

“I’m so glad that you aren’t angry with me,” she whispered in Em’s ear.

Em released her and stepped back slightly. She could feel her brow creasing with concern. “Why would I be angry with you?”

“I didn’t know if you were mad because Salt jumped my bones.”

Her face creased deeper. “Where the hell did you hear that, Mia? That’s worse than getting laid.”

She suddenly giggled. “I don’t know. Someone said it and it stuck in my head. It means sex, right?”

“Yes. It is very old slang.”

“That’s where I heard it. One of the older vampires was talking about ancient slang and he told us a bunch of them during a game of Parcheesi. It was a fun way to pass the time.”

“Oh, goodie. Now there’s going to be a bunch of vamps running around spouting off the clichés of our ancestors.”

“Do you know any, Em?”

“I guess I know a few of them. Ask Rory or Russell, they’re older than me.”

She turned her ear to ear grin on Rory. He sighed. “The only one I can think of is there is no cow on the ice.”

All four of them turned to him. “What the hell does that mean?” asked Em.

“It means that things could be worse because if the cow was on the ice, it could fall through the ice and drown.”

“Oh, that’s a new one on me. Russell?”

His eyebrows furrowed in thought. “How about don’t pee on my leg and tell me it’s raining?”

“Translation?” asked Em.

“Don’t fuck with me. Don’t lie to me.”

“What’s an alligator?”

“Why do you ask, Mia?”

“Because one of the ones for good-bye was ‘later, alligator.’ I don’t know what an alligator is.”

Em looked at Russell and he gave her a shrug. “Let’s go back to our chambers and I will show you. It was a reptile that lived in warmer areas of the world. I can become one if it will make you happy.”

Mia bounced her head, her grin adorable. “I would really like that.”

They turned and headed back to the hallway. Em had never seen an alligator herself. She had always wanted to go to Florida, but had never been. “I wonder if there are any still left in the wild.”