The Fertile Vampire (37 page)

He sat there patiently, watching me over the rim of his cup. His eyes were definitely green this morning. They were also very intense, almost probing.
 

“My mother killed Ophelia,” I said, staring down at the remainder of the blueberries on my plate. For some reason I felt very sad for the cluster of three blueberries. Poor things, they didn’t belong. I speared them on my fork and ate them.

“She thought Opie was me, wearing my sweater. Of course, anyone with half a brain would have noticed the difference in our heights. But it was a tall truck, maybe she didn’t see. Or was too blinded by hate for it to register.”
 

“Are you okay?”
 

I was sitting in a castle love built. Arthur’s Folly had taken years to build, a labor of love from Arthur to his wife of forty years. Dan was the heir and I’d be willing to bet he came from a family who loved and cherished each other.
 

So it was a little difficult to nod my head and pretend, but I did it anyway.
 

“What are you going to do about Maddock?”
 

I wasn’t surprised by the question, only that he’d waited so long to ask it.
 

I’d thought about my options, only to discover I didn’t have many. Maddock was powerful enough people willingly overlooked the fact he was a vampire. I guess money could talk. Or, in this case, cloak someone in normalcy.
 

Because he was a Master, he was a damn important vampire, capable of swaying the Council. Therefore, anything he wanted to do to me would probably be allowed, including making me a breeder.
 

Therefore, anything I did to him had to be covert and untraceable.
 

“I’m going to kill Niccolo Maddock,” I said, pouring myself more coffee.
 

He didn’t say a word, just sat there silently.
 

I felt a little like I had when I was once sent to the principal’s office. I’d forgotten some form my parents had to sign three days in a row and had to explain why. My parents had been in the midst of their divorce and I hadn’t seen my father for weeks. After I tearfully told my tale of woe, Mr. Blankenship had stared at me in the same way as if he were trying to decide whether I was telling the truth. I had been and resented his suspicion.
 

There were two differences between my eleven year old self and now. I understood Dan’s doubt and I wasn’t close to crying. I’d done enough of that last night.
 

“How are you going to do it?”
 

I sipped at my coffee - another bit of heaven - before answering him.
 

“Vampires can die in a variety of ways, did you know that?”
 

“Yes.”
 

“The main way is anything to do with their blood. They can’t lose too much of it. Ergo, they try to keep their appendages and their head attached. They must keep their blood oxygenated which is why they drink the stuff.”
 

“Or use a donor,” he said.
 

I glanced at him.
 

“Willing or unwilling,” he added.
 

I knew about the countless number of willing mortals who offered themselves up to vampires for profit or pleasure, but were there that many unwilling victims? When I asked Dan, his face grew stiff.
 

“The number is growing.”
 

Why? How did he know? Exactly who was Dan Travis? All questions I needed answers as soon as my main problem was solved.
 

I returned to my explanation. “Another way they can die, easier than most people realize, is through a blood infection. They’re paranoid about it.” I remembered what Opie had said about vampires being hypochondriacs.
 

“Like HIV?” he asked, putting his cup down. The saucer made a delicate little clink like a far off bell.
 

I nodded, took another sip of coffee and almost sighed in pleasure.
 

“Maddock, especially, has devoted a large amount of money to a series of medical research facilities,” I said, and told him about MEDOC.
 

He probably knew everything I did, or more, but now was not the time to go on an “information is power” trip.
 

“Lots of studies pertaining to HIV which makes me wonder if AIDS has decimated the vampire population.”
 

He didn’t answer but he didn’t look away, either.
 

I felt wonderfully content right at the moment. I’d been fed; the food was delicious and I had a plan. What’s not to love?
 

Okay, maybe the fact I was still in Maddock’s sights, I’d had my mother arrested for murder, my grandmother was a powerful witch, I might be pregnant with a vampire’s child, and the jury was still out about what I was - goddess or genetic mutation.
 

But, hey, you look for the positive where you can, right?
 

“What are you going to do?”
 

When I told him, he sat back, coffee and breakfast evidently forgotten.
 

“Are you nuts?”
 

I shook my head. “Mutt gave me the idea,” I said. “I was thinking of making an appointment to get him his shots.”
 

Where was Mutt? Would he ever forgive me for my abandonment?
 

“Do you believe the manager?” I asked. “Do you think he didn’t know where Mutt was?” I wouldn’t put it past the guy to simply let Mutt out and let him fend for himself.
 

Dan brushed the question aside for one of his own.
 

“You realize the incubation period can be weeks or months?”
 

“Yep. But I’m a vampire.” At his look, I smiled. “Technically a vampire. If I do anything to Maddock, the Council will be my judge and jury. They have jurisdiction over vampire against vampire crimes. I doubt they’d be understanding.” Instead, they’d probably study me like an insect. “By the time it hits him,” I added, “no one will think of me and it will be too late for the vaccine. Maybe they’ll think he’s gone mad.”
 

“Rabies, Marcie?”
 

I nodded. “Rabies, Dan. I doubt his clinic would have prepared for that. HIV, yes. Rabies? Nope. Plus, because of the long incubation period, I doubt his regeneration abilities would come into play.” I studied the rhino. “Day by day it will be eating at him, changing him, destroying his brain.”
 

“I like it,” he said, leaning back in his chair. “But how the hell are you going to get it into him?”
 

I smiled. “With a needle.”
 

He looked as if he wanted to argue with me. When he didn’t, I looked longingly at the remaining waffles.
 

“I’m not letting you go back there.”
 

The idea of walking into Maddock’s house wasn’t on my top ten favorite things to do, either. I doubt I’d make it out of there as easily the next time, especially since now he knew I could walk in the sun.
 

My inner adult made me stop staring at the waffles. I had important stuff to do and I couldn’t be sick before doing it.
 

The phone rang. I answered.
 

“You’re awake?” The shock in my grandmother’s voice almost made me smile. The way I was going everyone would soon know I wasn’t affected by daylight. I could almost see the chyron: Vampire gets tan; news at eleven.
 

“Yes,” I said, wondering if she’d ask for details.

Evidently, my grandmother was capable of burying her curiosity better than me because she only sighed. Granted, it was an expressive sigh, one clearly stating I’d complicated her life.
 

“She agreed, Marcie. I’ll have it in less than an hour.”
 

“And the other?”
 

Dan glanced at me but I wasn’t about to illuminate him.
 

“That, too,” Nonnie said. “But you can’t come here.”
 

“Can I send someone to pick it up?”
 

When she agreed, I said, “Thank you, Nonnie.”
 

She hung up without a word.
 

I glanced at Dan. “I have a favor to ask.”

C
HAPTER
F
ORTY
-T
WO

Let loose the vampires of war

When Mike returned from my grandmother’s house, he handed the paper bag to me without comment.
 

Dan and I were sitting in the Great Room. A dozen people could have sat on the couch where I was sitting. The fact Dan and I were next to each other wasn’t an accident. I was feeling a little scared at the moment. The presence of a living, breathing human being - or whatever he was - was reassuring and comforting.
 

“Let me find a way to do this,” Dan said as I peered into the sack. “You don’t have to do it, Marcie.”
 

Frankly I was all for someone protecting me. It was the single most alluring proposition I’d ever received. But it wouldn’t work. I was the one Maddock wanted and I was going to let him have me, but only for a moment.
 

I reached over and placed my hand on Dan’s arm, feeling his warmth, the muscles ready to leap to my defense.
 

“I’ll be safe.”
 

“You won’t be,” he said. “Let me protect you, Marcie. I promise to do better.”

I frowned.
 

“The drive-by,” he said. “If I’d been more observant, it wouldn’t have happened.”
 

“I doubt you were expecting a machine gun,” I said.
 

“It wasn’t a machine gun,” he said, smiling.
 

“It sounded like it.”
 

He stared at me so long I wondered if he was trying to commit my face to memory.
 

“I won’t go to him,” I said. “I’ll call him to me.”
 

“You can do that?”
 

I nodded and forced a smile to my lips. “I’ve even got the location,” I said. “The lake.”
 

The gazebo in the lake was the perfect place to summon Maddock and far enough away from Arthur’s Folly that Dan and his staff would be safe.

“He might not come alone,” Dan said, not giving up.
 

“He’ll be by himself,” I said, certain of it. “His pride demands it.” I wondered if Maddock knew how much his arrogance crippled him.
 

I looked at Dan and gave him the truth. “You have to let me do this. You might have other problems with Maddock, but this is my war.”
 

I wanted to hug Dan, but I didn’t. Instead, I walked away, up the stairs and to my room.
 

My grandmother had written instructions about the potion. Basically, it was guaranteed to prevent a pregnancy. I could go to the drugstore and get the morning after pill but I didn’t know if it would work on my metabolism. I was, however, certain anything Nonnie and her sisters of the faith conjured up would.
 

I was not going to bear Maddock’s child. Not now or ever.

As I drank the mixture, I hoped God wouldn’t punish me for praying over a brew made by witches.
 

The rabies syringe was already loaded so I didn’t have to pretend to know what I was doing. I tucked it into my pants pocket, fluffed my hair, put on lipstick and studied myself in the mirror.
 

Not bad, considering.
 

I walked to the window, staring out at the lake. I was going to wait until I walked out there to summon Maddock. If he obeyed as he had in the past, it would only be a matter of minutes until he joined me.
 

Fear jelled in my stomach, then grabbed my heart and shook it for a few minutes. My pulse, normally slow, was sounding like a drum solo.
 

I walked out of Arthur’s Folly, past a silent Dan and Mike standing like bookends on either side of the door.

From the house the gazebo looked as if it was floating unattached in the lake, a lily pad constructed of cedar and green shingles. Hidden from sight of the house was a wide dock. I took the long walk slowly, my sneakers almost soundless on the boards.
 

In the middle of the gazebo were two couches. I sat on one of them, watching as night fell over Arthur’s Folly with a tender touch, the air turning hazy like gauze.

I closed my eyes, hearing the water slap against the deck. Night blooming jasmine perfumed the air. Soon, the flowers would die back for our version of winter only to be resurrected come spring.
 

Faint lights surrounding the gazebo snapped on, the click as loud as a death knell.
 

It was time.

I clasped my hands together, bowed my head, forcing myself to take a deep breath. Droplets of terror clung to my backbone then slid coldly down my skin.