Finally dead eve benson.., p.4
Finally Dead (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 1), page 4
Troy got there about half an hour later, just as the sky was starting to lighten up a bit. To her it was as bright as high noon, but the sun wasn’t even that close to being up yet and wouldn’t be for about an hour. It hurt though, like a giant point of pain coming into the sky. She stood as the cute guy walked toward her, out of his garage.
“Hey! I’m waiting back here so that no one will think my stalking skills are lacking.”
It was a joke, but Troy just nodded.
“Good to know you aren’t slipping that much. Here, come on in.”
She shook her head, and moved a bit away from him. He was glowing with energy, and smelled like a combination of body spray and musk. It was delicious. She could hear him moving through the air, and his heart thumped strongly enough that it was hard to miss, pumping lovely, bright red blood through his miles of arteries.
“No can do. You smell incredible by the way, and not in a sexy way. So, you get the idea? I’m going to stay out here until we have a proper chaperone. It shouldn’t be too long.”
Though she did move closer to the garage, away from the nifty snack treat that her former boyfriend represented to her. On the good side, her mouth didn’t water over it. On the bad, her fangs had popped out, getting ready to drain all the life he had within him, even if that was a stupid thing to do.
He just waved at her, and made a peace sign with two fingers, because he thought it was cool. It probably meant he was a hipster though, since no one did that now. They hadn’t for at least as long as she’d been alive.
Twenty-one years, before she’d died the day before.
Honestly, she’d have thought it would have been a bigger deal to her than it was. She was dead. Her life hadn’t ended though. It had only gotten better.
Eve had gone from being a strong, capable girl the day before, to a powerful, kickass, Vampire. That didn’t mean no one could, or would, touch her again, but she was, more or less, safe from the things that had haunted her dreams.
No pedophiles were going to trade drugs to her mother for her ass again, were they? Not that they could, or would have before, but now, if it came down to it, she could take on all but the most powerful of beings to protect herself.
The rest, handling those few that were still a threat, that would take more. She needed to learn and make contacts. Start some kind of business that would let her rise in the Vampire world, maybe? She kind of had an idea for that already, too.
It would be for the next day though. For now she was getting heavy, and it was hard to move. Time crawled by, but she felt like she was drunk, by the time Barb popped her head out of the house. Dawn had just started to really happen, and the light touched her gently.
It didn’t burn, physically. Not much. It just hurt. She stood though, and moved to get herself inside.
“Hey.” She sounded slow, and tired, compared to Barb. The other girl, who looked no more than a few years older than she did, was pushing fifty or so. It showed, because she was moving around like it was easy or something.
“Eve! Let’s get you into bed. You can sleep under Troy today, in the case I built under his bed. With me. You did want an all girl cuddle fest for your second night, didn’t you? If not you should have asked one of the guys along, too.”
She could barely speak, her mouth feeling hard to use now. Stumbling a bit, she let the other woman lead her, and then tuck her, not into Troy’s bed, but onto the sofa in the basement. It was Bey’s room, for when he visited, but no one would mind, as long as she brushed herself off before crashing. Her behind had tiny rocks sticking to her jeans, after all.
It was difficult to get clean, but she managed it, just before she fell over. Then the world vanished. It didn’t go dark, it was just gone.
That was the way of it, she’d heard. It would be too, until she learned to stay awake all day long.
That would only take two or three hundred years though, she thought.
Something like that.
In short, she had a bit of time to adapt.
Chapter three
She didn’t wake with a start, but was, this time at least, where she’d been when she laid down. Starving too.
That was an illusion though, she knew. The links from the day before were still pretty strong, and with her eyes closed Eve could still feel the lines of pink flowing toward her. How she could feel a color, she didn’t know, but it was there, and kind of neat, once she realized it.
There was a small, and old fashioned, clock on the far wall, which said that it was five-fifteen. This time of year, being late November, that meant it was well and truly dark outside already. Eve grinned, because she could see the clock’s hands clearly, even though there was virtually no light in the basement. Getting up, she stretched, and decided that a shower was in order. Not that she smelled bad yet, but it never hurt to be tidy.
On the great side, she still had some clothing there. Troy hadn’t seemed to mind when she’d stolen one of his drawers about two years before, and being a nice guy he’d never tossed the things out for her. It probably meant that she should have considered dating him exclusively, but he was young and good looking enough that playing the field still probably felt right for him. She kind of felt the same way, or had, until that moment.
Now that her sex drive was gone, she kind of saw how having one guy trapped into a relationship could really work out that way.
Grinning, she ran up the stairs, making herself ignore the call of the fridge. There was probably no blood in there anyway. That kind of thing had to be kept fresh and there was no reason for Zack or Troy to get any in. Not just for her. Besides, she knew, for a fact, that she didn’t need any yet. It would be at least nine more days, and she was going to hold to that as well as she could.
Yes, most young Vampires like her ate daily, and couldn’t help themselves, but she didn’t have to be most people, did she? On the good side, the way she felt wouldn’t really get worse over time. It was, she’d heard, pretty much a constant desire to get more energy. Even if she had plenty of it at the moment.
She showered first, knowing that Troy was still sleeping, and about to wake up. She could tell the difference in his breathing. From the bathroom, with the water running. It was incredible, but also a bit annoying. Worse, when his breathing changed it was pretty clear that he wasn’t alone. Barb hadn’t made any noise, but Troy gasped and then there was a scent of fresh blood. Okay, it took about a minute to reach her, but it was so far from fair as to be painful for a few seconds.
Then, because Barb wasn’t a total bitch, there was a sound of sucking.
As in Troy getting lucky, not her trying to drain him.
It was a bit of a gray area in the law, really. They weren’t supposed to use direct feeding, but if the Human knew about it, and wasn’t being coerced or threatened, it could be overlooked.
Of course Barb worked for the council, which meant she should have been following the rules a bit better, but it wasn’t like Eve was going to snitch on her. She’d done a lot worse than get a guy to part with some bodily fluids in her time. Even before she’d died and come back.
Honestly, so far her track record as a Vampire was beyond good. That probably wouldn’t last too much longer, so she decided to enjoy it while the chance was available. For once in her life she was practically heroic, and all that junk. A virtual Vampire poster child.
She dried quickly, her short black hair fairly absorbing the water, which left it thicker looking than it had been. Not so much as to be a problem though. Then, knowing what she was walking into, the smell of blood trying to call to her, she walked in on Barb as she was going down on Troy. Her clothing was in there, and traipsing around naked was…
Honestly, she just wanted to catch them out, and make Barb feel a bit bad for using Troy like she was. Not that he’d mind. Since the older Vampire didn’t stop what she was doing, it was pretty clear that there would be no guilt trips taken that day by her, either.
Eve just grabbed some clothing out of the drawer, and sat on the edge of the bed, putting her socks on one at a time. Finally, about the time that Troy was stiffening up, Barb got the picture, and made a small, rather alarmed noise.
“Fuck! Eve! Are you…” She glanced at the twin pin pricks of red on Troy’s right inner thigh. Because calling attention to the wound was a brilliant plan. Not a test of Eve’s resolve at all. She cleared her throat, and then winked.
“I’m good. It smells a bit tasty in here, but I have enough energy links. Though, seriously, worst babysitter ever.”
Barb got that there wasn’t going to be an attack on Troy, and laughed.
“Ohhh, not even close. I remember the first time that David was watching me… I was only a few years old at the time, Vampire time, and he decided that selling me to a half dozen men would be a good way to get some free blood. It worked, since we were able to drain them all after I killed them, but… I’m practically a saint compared to that. Lenore was not pleased, to say the least. Dave got locked in a box for a month, with no food.”
Lenore was Barb’s maker, Eve thought.
She’d never asked, honestly. It probably wasn’t some kind of major secret though, just a thing that had never come up before, and didn’t need to at that moment.
Since she wasn’t planning on eating, it seemed like a good idea to find something else to do. Troy still needed a few more minutes of attention, and seemed a little embarrassed about something. Probably the part where he’d let Barb feed on him. The man had no shame about sex. There was no invitation to join them though, which made sense, but was a bit atypical for him. Then again, he knew what a Vampire was and had probably gotten a talk about what it would mean, having her around like she was.
It was pretty hard to sit there, smelling him like she was. If her teeth got close enough to do anything fun, she’d probably bite him. Hard.
“Okay, you kids finish up and I’ll… Um, go clean the living room? Tidy up downstairs?” There was no plan as to what she was supposed to do that day, as far as she knew. Keeping busy was a good idea though. Not that she loved to clean or anything, but not being a burden was important to her.
Plus, it would get her out of the room.
Troy really did smell nice. Meaty and a bit like sex. It didn’t turn her on, but it made her feel a bit thirsty, which was new and strange, but not unexpected totally.
So, about fifteen minutes later, she was sweeping the main room when the phone rang. Practically pouncing on it, she got the thing to her ear just in time for the second ring to start. It was done so fast that the device hadn’t even registered that she’d taken the cordless thing from its cradle yet. Slowing down a lot, she started to speak, only to have nothing come out. After a bit, she realized that she just didn’t have any air in her lungs. That made things like chatting a bit harder, didn’t it?
Taking a breath she started again, before the other person could speak at all.
“Troy Lopez’ phone. This is Eve, how may I help you this evening?”
“Ah! Miss Benson! So good to hear your voice. It is I, Bey. I was hoping to impose on young Troy this night, having just come into town. The Line Walker has brought me to the embassy here. Is that a thing that could be arranged, do you believe?”
She walked to the bedroom door, which was closed, and knocked. Troy wouldn’t care if Bey was coming to visit really, not in a negative way. As far as he was concerned the ancient Vampire was his roommate, now that Zack had moved out to get his own place. Bey however, still felt like he had to ask each time.
“Let me check on that? I mean, I know that it’s all right, except that you’ll have a pesky roommate come daylight tomorrow. You can just shove my body in the corner though, right?” She was being awfully cheeky with the man, but they had been friends for years, more or less. He chuckled, kindly.
“I had heard that you’d finally decided to join our ranks! Indeed, it is due to the events of yesterday that I am come to this location at this time. Edom has suggested to me that you are doing well? I feared for you, on hearing what has transpired. Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Maybe. Here, let me see about arrangements first? Troy…” She asked politely if it was all right for her to have Bey come over, as if she were dating the Vampire.
He came to the door, grinning.
“Hey Bey. You know that you live here, right? I’ll see about getting some blood in. Oh… Eve, you haven’t had anything, have you? Barb…”
She waved that away.
“No big thing. I had some blood yesterday. I’m not going to need more for… Nearly a week. Maybe longer.”
There was silence from the phone, and then three sharp claps.
“Oh! That is wonderful, young Eve! Truly. I shall come directly, and then we can discuss our plans? We should strive to locate the beings that took you. They might need a stern talking to.”
She nodded at that.
“Yep. I agree. I can come to you though, if that’s easier? Barb is here, and I think she can give me a ride in? I left my car at Edom’s.” It wasn’t the nicest thing in the world, but it was hers and she was fully insured and licensed. Everyone she knew had demanded that of her. Even the Vampires had, because the fewer gaps in her identity, the less likely it would be that she’d have to kill a cop to protect herself.
Barbara heard her, and came to the door, nodding. She was one of the people that felt a lot more uneasy about Bey than not. Still, he’d been around often enough that she wasn’t going to refuse to be near him. No, she’d just act quiet and a bit scared the whole time. As if that would help her? If Bey wanted something dead, it was pretty much just going to happen. That described about a third of the people she knew though, so Eve tried not to dwell on the idea too much.
“There we go! So you’re good for staying here, and I’ll come to you? Unless…” She really didn’t want to presume.
“Perfect. That is most polite of you. I look forward to seeing you again.”
She nodded, and then made herself take another breath.
“Me too. I mean, I look forward to seeing you, as well.”
They both hung up after that, and she hurried to the door, since keeping Bey waiting was a silly thing to do. Not that he’d care, but Barb would freak out if she tried it. Blinking, she held up a hand first.
“Sorry, I have to call and check in with Ed. I should have done that already.”
It was funny, because she got in touch with him as he clearly stood talking to Bey, about her coming in. She heard the last of the words as the handset picked up.
“Hello! I was just calling to let you know that I was planning to come there. Is that all right? I know, I should have done that first thing, but honestly, I forgot. It won’t happen again.” That kind of thing was important, she knew. Edom was responsible for her actions, until she was fully trained. That could take better than half a century, so it made sense to stay on his good side.
“Good thinking. How are you feeling?”
She could have lied about it, but tilted her head and shrugged a bit.
“Not bad? A bit hungry, but I can hold out for a lot longer than this, and will. It would have been better but Barb accidentally bit Troy, and the whole place smells delicious at the moment. It’s fading a bit at least. We can be there in… I think twenty minutes? Half an hour, tops?” It was about fifteen miles, but there wouldn’t be a lot of holiday traffic yet. It was early November still.
“See you then. Come to the embassy here, first?” It was a question, which she decided to take as a very kind way of giving her an order.
“Got it. Be there as directly as possible.”
Barb looked at her funny, on the way out, but didn’t talk to her until they were underway. Finally, she growled a little.
“Kiss up. Telling on me like that. All I can say is that Bey better not kill me for this, or you’ll feel horrible. You know it, too. I’ll totally stick around and haunt your ass.”
She really didn’t seem happy about it all, but Eve shrugged.
“That’s me, the good girl. Really, if you and Troy are a thing, it isn’t a problem though. Is it? That’s inside the law.”
There was eye rolling then.
“Oh, yeah, sure, but Edom can pitch a fit if his people are being fed on, and Troy is the highest Human in the organization at the club. I work there too, so… That could be a problem.”
Eve winced.
“Oh, that. Sorry. Well, don’t make a big thing of it. We can tell them that you were just testing my resolve, and that I totally powned the thing? I did, so… That’s good, right?”
Barb made a face, but it seemed considering.
“I doubt they’ll buy it, but you sort of did. Next time I’ll let you go down on him, too. Now that’s a test. I bit the first ten or so guys I did that with. The trick is keeping the fangs back.”
She clicked her teeth back and forth, with her mouth open to demonstrate. It was a bit awkward, and she was making funny faces, but Eve finally managed to do the same thing, copying the older woman.
Barb nodded, “just like that. I was kidding though, don’t let yourself get that close to anyone yet. Figure on it being a few years before you can really do that safely. Maybe less, for you, if you can keep all this up. Still, we’re totally lying to them and claiming it was a test, like you said. You’re in on that one aren’t you?”
Eve agreed. After all, she needed to make friends, didn’t she?
“Yep. It’s all about you and me against the… Um. World is wrong. Against the man? Not that they’re bad guys. I mean, I’d cuddle Bey so hard, you know?”
That got her stared at, as if she were insane. The guy was adorable though. How Barb missed that, Eve couldn’t tell. Oh, she got the part where he was the killer of the ruling council, and that where he went Vampires tended to die, but it wasn’t like they were breaking the rules and he didn’t just go around destroying people for no reason.
Plus, he was really sweet. All the time.
Except when he had to kill some fools.
