Vampire Romance Series - Coffee And Vampires 1-7 (Vampire Romance Bundle) (5 page)

Page smiled a little, ignoring the twinge from her cut cheek. Nicholas dug through the drawer in the bedside table, eventually pulling out a bottle of rubbing alcohol and a small bag of cotton balls.

“
I can still take you to the hospital if you’d feel safer there,” he said in an undertone as she peeled the bloodied cloth away from her face. He wet a cotton ball with the alcohol and began expertly swabbing her face, apologizing when she winced.

“
No,” Page said. Her experience with her landlord had left her leery of normal authority. “You guys seem to know what you’re dealing with.”

“
I’m afraid it’s not uncommon,” Nicholas sighed. “Not all werewolves are that bad. Armand certainly isn’t. But there’s a few packs that are big on. . .” he hesitated, as though searching for words. “Entitlement, I guess. Might makes right. You mentioned that he’d disappeared for a couple years.”

Page nodded, nearly getting a cotton ball in her eye for the trouble. “Yes. He said he learned about controlling his powers. Stayed with family.”

“
Hmm.” Nicholas stopped swabbing and inspected the cut. “You’ll be fine,” he said crisply, changing the subject. “Won’t even need stitches.”

“
Why did
you
disappear?” Page asked suddenly.

“
I was ashamed,” Nicholas said simply, looking at the floor. His glasses had been knocked askew during the skirmish and he still hadn’t adjusted them. Page reached out and carefully set them straight on his ears. He smiled. “I hadn’t told you, and what he said. . . part of me wondered if it was true, you know? That you were just prey.”

“
Was I?” Page asked.

Nicholas shook his head. “I’ve never taken blood from anyone who wasn’t willing. I didn’t really lie to you before, either. There
was
a car crash, and it did kill my grandparents. It almost killed me too, though, but one of the EMTs saved me. He told me later his son had died in a car accident and he couldn’t stand to see another kid die so pointlessly. So he turned me, and made sure I woke up in a ward where all the nurses were vampires.”

“
All of them?” Page asked, shocked.

Nicholas grinned at her incredulity. “There’s more of us than you’d think. Nursing is a good career for a vampire. Doctors need to go through more background checks, and they’re on a stricter schedule. But a nurse? No one questions a nurse with a cooler full of blood bags and a bedpan in his hand.”

Page laughed and was surprised to find that she suddenly felt a bit lighter. “So what happens now?”

Nicholas shrugged. “This café, if you haven’t guessed, is kind of a safe house for anyone who’s a bit. . .out of the ordinary. Includes people like you who are otherwise normal but got swept up in it. We’ll do our best to keep you safe – help you move out of your apartment, find a new place to stay. You might even want to look for a new job.”

“
Janine,” Page said weakly. “Van knows we’re friends.”

“
I’ll ask someone to keep an eye on her, if you like,” Nicholas said. Page nodded gratefully. Nicholas began to stand up. “Perhaps you should rest. Think things over.”

“
Wait,” Page said, reaching out to him. Nicholas paused, eyebrows raised. Page tugged gently at the lapels of his jacket until he bent over her, and she kissed him for a second time.

This time, he didn’t freeze or flinch, but was instantly responsive to her. His lips were firm and cool, though hers seemed to catch fire as they touched. He pulled away too soon.

“
Page,” he said. “You’ve just been through a lot, and I can’t let myself take advantage of you.”

“
Nicholas,” Page said, mimicking his tone exactly. “I liked you before my ex-boyfriend went absolutely insane, and I want to spend more time with you.”

“
Did you miss the bit where I’m an undead creature of the night who drinks blood?” Nicholas asked, half-serious.

Page rolled her eyes. “I’ve dated a werewolf, Nicholas. Who is now stalking me. I then got rescued by a guy who happened to be by because he wanted to apologize for not telling me his deepest secret before our first date. How much weirder could things possibly get?”

Nicholas blushed a little. “I see your point.”

“
Thank you,” Page said. She sighed and rubbed her eyes. She felt inordinately tired, but when she closed her eyes, all she could see were Van’s horrifically elongated teeth. His narrow, hateful golden eyes.

“
Do me a favor, Nicholas?” she asked suddenly.

“
Anything.”

“
Stay with me. Hold me until I fall asleep, even, if you don’t mind.” Page shuddered involuntarily. “I
know
I’m safe but I keep thinking about Van.”

“
Of course,” Nicholas said. He slipped out of his jacket and untied his shoes before sliding onto the bed next to Page.

The two lay down, their bodies fitted together, and Nicholas held Page close until long after her breaths had slowed into deep sleep.

****

“
Remember: anyone orders their ‘usual,’ you hand it off to me,” Armand said. “That pretty much always means they want a shot or two added from the special pump, but there’s one or two humans who come in regularly and somehow are still clueless, and you don’t want to make that mistake.”

Page nodded vigorously. The “special pump” was one just beneath the counter, out of any customer’s line of sight. Armand had told her what it was, and when she laughed nervously, he’d demonstrated to ensure that she believed him.

“
Isn’t that a biohazard?” Page asked timorously.

Armand laughed, white teeth flashing in the colored light of the coffee house. “Not for most of our clients.”

The special pump, of course, was attached to a small heated keg. Nicholas and a handful of other nurses – one human, even – kept it full of a steady supply of A-positive. That had seemed weirdly specific to Page.

“
Do you ever get any other blood types?” she asked.

“
Only at Christmas, baby.”

Page tried not to ask so many questions after that. They could wait until she knew Armand well enough to know when he was just messing with her.

Quitting her old job at the café had been more difficult than Page liked to admit. It just seemed so
final
. Janine had nearly cried when Page told her she was leaving, but explaining her reasons had made it easier.

“
I didn’t realize it had gotten that bad!” Janine exclaimed. “You let me know if you need anything, girl.”

Page had actually glossed over the worst details, simply telling Janine that her ex-boyfriend Donovan had started following her around and even broke into her apartment. She very carefully neglected to mention that Donovan had physically attacked her and that she’d needed to be rescued by Nicholas. She’d also conveniently forgotten to mention that the two men were a werewolf and a vampire, respectively. She felt a little guilty for lying to her friend, but nothing good could come of telling Janine everything. It would just put her former coworker in danger.

Janine had helped Page empty out her apartment, with Nicholas standing guard in the kitchen as the two girls packed up Page’s belongings. As Page still hadn’t found a new place to live and was still staying in the spare room at Armand’s café, it was lucky she didn’t own much that she really wanted to keep: the old futon she used as a couch as well as her battered old television ended up left on the sidewalk. Her kitchen had been outfitted with the absolute bare necessities, most of which were dented, cracked, or chipped. She left them. The bed frame and mattress had come with the apartment, and of course her coffee maker was broken after the fight with Van.

In the end, Page didn’t take much more than her clothes and a box of old books. Nicholas had promised to help her find a small apartment somewhere safe, which meant she’d be living in the strange, old part of town where the café was.

She still wasn’t quite sure how Nicholas managed that, but Armand had clearly been waiting for her when she and Janine returned to his coffee house with her things.

“
You’re a barista, right?”

“
The best,” Janine answered for her.

And Page had a new job barely twenty-four hours after leaving her last one.

Armand roasted his own beans somewhere in the basement of the house. He hadn’t shown her that part of the process yet, focusing on teaching her their particular measurements for drinks. He made his cappuccinos a lot stronger than her old café, automatically making each a double shot. His mochas used more milk and less syrup. And of course she had to learn how to use the new machine, which was an older model than she was used to and could get a bit finicky at times.

It was still going remarkably well, though. Armand had even quietly put out the word that if Van came inside, he was to be watched.

“
I’m almost always here anyway,” he reassured Page. “I doubt he’ll dare come in here now, but if he does, everyone here’s on your side.” Armand grinned that hugely toothy grin again.

Nicholas showed up near the end of Page’s morning shift.

“
The usual?” Page asked, ready to summon Armand. Nicholas shook his head.

“
I don’t like drinking good coffee on the go,” he explained. “I think I’ve found you a decent apartment.” He took a seat to the side of the counter and waited patiently until Page finished the last fifteen minutes of her shift. Armand gave the two of them a cheery wave as they exited the coffee house.

“
It’s nearby,” Nicholas said, taking Page’s hand. “It’s smaller than your last place, but it’s not like you have a lot of stuff. Rent’s reasonable.

“
Of course,” he continued. “Normally I’d warn someone like you away from the neighborhood, but in your case that’s hardly a concern.”

Page giggled. Nicholas’s good mood was catching, and he was practically humming as they walked.

The new apartment turned out to be a few converted rooms on the second floor of an old house. The landlady lived next door, and Nicholas introduced her simply as “Ellen.”

Ellen was a grizzled old woman who walked with harsh thumps of a cane she didn’t seem to entirely need. She patted Page’s arm reassuringly as they entered the house with the rooms to rent.

Nicholas was right. The place
was
smaller than Page’s old apartment. The main room was already half-kitchen, with enough space for a dining table. A small alcove to the right of the door could maybe house a small living chair and a new television, if Page decided to splurge. The bathroom had once been a closet and still featured a sliding door, and the bedroom had probably once been another alcove but was now set off from the rest of the room by a rattling wooden bead curtain. The entire apartment had dark hardwood floors, except for the bathroom which featured very new-looking checkerboard linoleum.

“…
and the plumbing just got adjusted a few months ago,” Ellen finished, completing the short tour. “What do you think?”

Page grinned. “It’s perfect.”

It was easily within her budget, too, which had been a relief, especially as she’d need to buy a new bed soon. Nicholas left to fetch her belongings from the coffee house while Page and Ellen straightened out the paperwork. Page was exploring the kitchen cupboards when he got back, setting her boxes on the floor with an ease that belied their weight.

Page hugged him. “Thank you so much,” she said. Nicholas merely smiled and pulled her in for a kiss.

“
I thought,” he said once they pulled apart again, “that perhaps we should have another date today. There’s a few secondhand stores around here that you could use to start outfitting your new kitchen. Maybe even find a bed frame.” He paused. “Getting a mattress might be a little more difficult, but I’m sure we’ll find something for you to sleep on tonight.”

Page agreed readily. She hated to impose upon Armand longer than necessary, especially as there was always the chance that someone else might need that emergency room soon. As for a place to sleep, well! She smiled a bit to herself.
Let’s see how this date goes.

Nicholas had brought with him a large canvas bag to hold their smaller purchases, and immediately volunteered himself as a carrier.

“
I’m a lot stronger than any human,” he said casually as they walked into the first shop. “It wouldn’t make sense for you to struggle when I’m here.”

Page carefully chose out some lightly-used aluminum pots and pans that looked like they’d last a good while. Nicholas managed to locate an almost complete set of matched plates and bowls on one of the top shelves of the packed shop. Even better, when they went to check out he greeted the cashier by name and immediately another ten percent somehow slipped out of the total.

“
Do you know
everyone
out here?” Page asked in an undertone as they left the shop.