Star, Starland Vamp Series, Book 1 (22 page)

“Start from the beginning,” Zac said with a smile, looking deeply into my eyes for encouragement.

“Why the change of heart?” I asked, looking deeply into his eyes. “Earlier, you freaked out and stormed away from me when I tried to tell you just a small piece of the puzzle. Are you sure you really want to hear this? All of it?”

Zac’s eyebrows pulled together. “I’m sorry about earlier, but I’ve had time to think about everything.”

“And?”

“And I decided that I love you no matter what,” Zac answered looking deeply into my eyes. “So what if you’re a vampire? I’ll accept you for who you are.”

“I’m going to remind you of that in a few minutes,” I said, giving him a weak smile as my eyes glistened.

“Please do,” Zac said, kissing each of my fingers one by one, then looked up at me with a mischievous smile. “If I freak out again, please remind me of what I said.”

I laughed, hoping he meant what he was saying. “Well,” I cautiously began as he patiently waited. “I already told you I’m a vampire,” I began, and he nodded. “Well, I’m also a shape shifter.”

“What does that mean?” Zac said, holding my hand a bit tighter. “Do you turn into animals or something?”

“No,” I laughed, taking a deep breath to steady myself. “I can’t change into animals. Just people.”

“So you mean that you can change into the president or Arnold Swartzenager?” then he smiled mischievously. “Or into Marilyn Monroe?”

I punched him lightly on the arm, but he just laughed. “No, I have to touch them first. Once I get someone’s body print, then I can change into them.”

“Show me,” Zac commanded, incredulous.

“I’m not a circus freak, Zac,” I softly chided. “I won’t just change for your pleasure.”

“I know you’re not a circus freak,” Zac said gently. “Sorry. I was just curious.”

“No problem,” I answered, smiling. “For now, just take my word for it.” Zac nodded, and I continued. “Anyway, I was changed into a vampire long ago.”

“How long?”

I took a deep breath to steady myself, but now that the truth was coming out, I really wanted him to know. “The Revolutionary War.”

Zac nodded, looking at my fingers, needing a moment before meeting my gaze. I gave him a moment to absorb what he just heard, waiting for him to speak. A moment later, his eyes met mine. “So, you knew Benjamin Franklin and George Washington?”

I couldn’t help but smile. “I knew
of
them, but I didn’t know them personally.” I thought for a moment, remembering times long ago, then added, “They were great men.”

Zac nodded in agreement, finally realizing what I was saying was true. “Please, tell me more.” He thought for a moment, then added, “Who was that guy at school today. Thank you for that, by the way.”

I gave him a weak half smile and nodded. “I’m getting to that,” I thought for a moment, hedging, wondering how much he could handle. But at this point, there was no stopping now. “I work for the government, for a secret organization within the CIA. We’re a team of vamps that go in and clean up messes, or protect people, but only in extreme cases. And to the government, we don’t exist.”

Zac nodded, looking at my fingers again. So far, so good. He might get through this in one piece after all.

“And,” I continued. “You’re father’s my boss.”

Immediately, Zac’s head snapped up and his eyes met mine in disbelief. “No way.”

“Yes, there is a way,” I gently replied, meeting his gaze. It wasn’t every day that you find out your own father had lied to you all your life.

“There’s no way!” Zac repeated, incredulous.

“He’s the fifth boss I’ve had since I’ve been with the agency. I’ve worked with him for about 20 years,” I continued, letting the words spill out. He really needed to hear it. “I really hate to be the one to tell you this, Zac, but you really need to know. He’s been a good boss, but less than honorable at times. And this is one of those times.”

“I suspected as much,” Zac replied, looking away, jumping down off the hood of the car, turning away from me. “And here all my life I thought he was an architect.”

“I’m sorry, Zac,” I replied softly. I crossed the forest at vamp speed and wrapped my arms around his waist from behind him. Then I whispered into his shoulder, “I know this is a lot to hear in one day.” I hated myself for going on, but there was no stopping now. “And there’s more.”

“There’s more?” Zac turned to face me. His eyes glistened with tears, threatening to spill over, then he squared his shoulders, bracing himself.

“There’s a million dollar price tag on your head,” I said, throwing the words out in a rush.

“A what?” Zac said, incredulous. “Me? A million dollars?”

“Yes.”

“For what?” he asked, his eyebrows pulling together.

“Rick and I have been trying to figure that out,” I began. “The only thing we can think of is that someone wants to use you to get to your father.”

“So what does this mean?” Zac asked, still finding it difficult to believe.

“It means that there are a lot of rogue vamps we call The Others that are after you,” I said, then paused, taking a deep breath.”And these vamps are not like us. The Others have no humanity, no desire to preserve human life. The only thing they think of is self gratification and the kill.”

“So where do
you
fit into all this?” Zac asked, stepping away from me.

“Now, Zac, remember what you said,” I hedged, already sensing his alienation. “That you would still love me no matter what?”

“I remember,” he replied, unmoved, then asked again. “Where do you fit into this?”

“Your father sent me here to protect you.”

Zac turned toward the car without looking at me. “So the only reason why you’re here is to protect me.”

I crossed to him at vamp speed, stepping in front of him before he could get into the car. “Zac, don’t do this.”

“So every kiss was a lie?” he said, letting the words flow, unstoppable. “So was your pretending to fall in love with me a part of the plan, too, to get close to me?”

And without thinking, I slapped him across the face. It wasn’t hard enough to knock his head off, thank goodness, but enough to get his attention. “Don’t ever say that to me again,” I began, looking him straight in the eye. “Of course, it wasn’t a part of the plan. It just happened, and I’m glad it did.”

The tears that were brimming his eyes spilled over onto his cheeks. “I don’t believe you. You must be really good at your job.”

And his words hit me like a slap in the face so hard that I stepped back. “Zac, I’m telling you the truth. It wasn’t a part of the plan, but something happened and I fell in love with you.”

“And do you fall in love with everyone you protect?”  Zac let his tears stream down his cheeks, unashamed, waiting for the answer.

“No, of course not!” I answered, letting him get it all out.

“How many have you fallen in love with, then?” Zac demanded, wiping the tears from his eyes.

“Only one,” I replied. Then Zac put his hand on the car door before I could finish. “You.”

Then his hand fell limply from the car, and I wrapped my arms around him, letting him cry on
my
shoulder for once.

After a few moments, he pulled away. “Take me to him.”

“Who?” I asked, incredulous.

“My father,” Zac said with cold eyes, appearing to have aged within the last 24 hours. “I have to see him. There’s some things I have to know.”

“You know what? That’s not a bad idea,” I said with a half smile. “I have a few questions for him myself.”

Then Zac held out his hand for the keys, in control once again. “I’ll drive.”

“But I know where to go,” I joked, dangling the keys in front of him.

“Give me the keys, Abigail,” Zac replied, unmoved.

I slipped them into my back pocket. “You’ll have to come after them,” I joked.

And within a second, Zac had his arms around me, pulling me into the contours of his body, then crushed his lips down onto mine, as his hand slipped into my back pocket—grabbing my tush while he was at it—as I laughed. Then his powerful lips moved with mine, answering every question mine asked. A moment later, he pulled away. “Let’s go,” he said in a husky voice.

I nodded, and within a few minutes, we were in Zac’s car, driving down I-88 on our way to Washington D.C. to pay a visit to Zac’s father. God help him.

We drove for hours toward Washington D.C., neither of us barely saying a word. Zac kept his eyes on the road most of the time, but stole glimpses of me upon occasion. He drove at human speed, which was just fine with me. We turned onto I-81E entering Pennsylvania when the silence became too much for me.

“Zac, are you getting hungry?” I broke the silence as delicately as possible. It was getting dark and he needed to eat. I was sure of it.

“No, I’m fine,” Zac replied, keeping his eyes on the road. “What about you? I mean … human food, that is?”

I couldn’t help but laugh. “No, I’m fine on both counts.”

Then Zac looked at me from the corner of his eye. “If you don’t mine me asking …”

“Go ahead,” I replied, knowing exactly what the question would be. Here it goes.

Zac laughed. “Okay,” Zac began, hedging a bit, then continued. “What do you eat? I mean, besides human food,” Zac asked, then one side of his lips curled into a half grin. “I thought vampires didn’t eat human food.”

“Myth,” I replied, taking a deep breath. So much for normality. “I eat human food and it sustains me for a time, then I have to feed.”

“On humans?” Zac asked, matter of fact, but his eyes narrowed slightly.

“No,” I replied, looking out the window, watching the scenery pass by. “I swore off human blood years ago.”

“What do you feed on, then?” Zac asked, truly curious now.

“Animals,” I replied. “Big game, mostly. My body metabolizes blood as food. Humans replenish their own blood, but vamps don’t. My body actually uses blood for food, so I have to replenish it occasionally.”

Zac nodded, taking it all in. “It makes sense,” he replied, keeping his eyes on the road. Then a thought occurred to him. “Why not human blood?”

I laughed, and grinned mischievously. “Why, you mind if I sample yours?”

Zac couldn’t help but laugh, knowing I was joking. “Sounds kinky,” he replied, throwing me off a bit. If he only knew …

I looked out the window, sounding matter of fact. “They say sharing blood can be a very sensual experience.”

Zac looked a bit surprised. “Have you ever done it before?”

“Shared blood with someone?” I hedged, surprised by the direction our conversation had taken.

“Yeah,” Zac said, sounding curious. “Have you ever shared blood with anyone before?”

Suddenly, I felt like I was truly eighteen again. A teenager. Nervous and vulnerable. How could I be falling so completely for this man? For this boy I barely knew? “No, never,” I replied, my voice merely a whisper, as I gazed out the window. Zac was silent, taking it in, when a thought occurred to me. “Don’t you think you should call your mother and let her know why you’re not coming home tonight?”

Suddenly, his hands clenched the steering wheel and his eyes flared. “No.”

“Zac, she’ll worry about you …”

“Abigail, she’s in on it! Don’t you see?” Zac blurted out, then regained his composure. “She lied to me, too.”

“Zac, she had no choice …”

“Yes, she did!” Zac retorted. “You always have a choice! She could have told me who my father really is, what he does, but she kept it to herself and said nothing.”

I turned to face Zac, slinging my arm over the back of my seat. “Zac, she wanted a normal life for you. A human life.”

“A
human
life?” Zac replied, taking his eyes momentarily off the road. “And what good has it done? Am I living a
human
life now?”

And his words were almost a slap across the face, bringing me back to reality, reminding me that I wasn’t human and that I could never be. “Yes, you are. You’re still human, Zac. And when this is all over, you can go back to your human life.” Then I turned away, unwilling to let him see the tears welling within my eyes. “I can disappear and you can go on with your human life, if that’s what you want.”

Without warning, Zac abruptly took the next exit.

“What the hell are you doing, Zac?” I asked, as he took the exit a bit too abruptly, squealing the tires, then pulled his candy apple red Shelby Mustang convertible to a sudden stop in a truck stop parking lot.

Angrily, he threw his car into park, then turned to face me in the seat, head on. “Is that what you want, Abigail? Is it? Because if that’s what’s going on here you’d better tell me now!”

“What the hell are you talking about, Zac?” I asked, my green eyes flaring, suddenly on the defensive.

“Are you going to disappear when this is all over?” Zac paused, asking me point blank, as I looked at him in stunned disbelief. “Are you? Just tell me now, if you are.”