A Reluctant Vampire (2 page)

I nodded. “It is
Latin for things of the night.” Evil things like phantoms and
witches.

“We are vampires, the
living dead. Blood sustains us. The sun burns us.”

“This is impossible!
You have bewitched me. I will not listen to--”

Her hand shot out
with lightning speed, gripping my chin and forcing me to look at
her as fangs descended from her gums and her irises glowed red. She
snarled like an animal and snapped her teeth close to my nose.

“
DEMON!
”

“
And
so are you
.” She bit her wrist
and thrust it at me. “
Drink
.”

The dark force inside
me craved the offering. I could not refuse. Pain blossomed in my
mouth when my new fangs dropped. They sliced through her skin as if
it were parchment. Drinking her blood, I felt a bond solidify.

“There, now… Don’t
you feel better?” she asked.

Afraid to anger her
again, I nodded. She smiled and my body relaxed.

She was the most
beautiful woman I could remember seeing. Her eyes were blue and her
fair skin was perfect. Black hair was artfully pinned up and her
lips were naturally pink, though perhaps that was the stain of
blood. Her clothing…

There, I glanced
away. Unless styles had changed much since I was a boy—which was
certainly possible—her dress exposed a near-indecent amount of
bosom. Certainly more than would be considered chaste, and
therefore, not for my eyes. This woman—vampire—was indecent as well
as evil.

I would not abandon
my faith or its tenets no matter what she had done to me.

“Your name, boy. What
is it again?”

“
Adamo,
signora
.” Why did she call me a boy when she looked in
the prime of her youth?

“Do you have a
surname, Adamo?”

I shook my head and
silently asked the Lord to forgive the lie. Mother visited me once
a year on my birthday and I did not want these monsters to do to
her or my sisters what they’d done to the monastery.

“No matter. Do you
know your age?”

“
I was born in
1700,
signora
.”

“Thirty years…” She
touched my cheek and turned my face toward her. “You will look at
me when you speak, boy.”

My eyes flicked up to
her and down. “Forgive me. Until…until this, I was blind and
accustomed to listening.”

“I see. That explains
your clumsiness. Were you always blind, Adamo?”

“
No,
signora
. I started losing my sight as a child and was
sent to the Order many years ago. They taught me how to work with
my hands. An ailment is no excuse to be useless.”

“And what do you see
now, childe?”

Despite being night,
I could see fairly well. Another part of the gift, or just an
ability I didn’t remember having? It was a fine coach, lined in
velvet and silk with sumptuously padded cushions. The windows had
black velvet curtains to keep out the light. Necessary, if she was
truthful about the sun. The red silk walls matched her dress and I
wondered why the color stood out to me so intensely in the
dark.

“Adamo…”

“Yes?”

“Do you know why I
chose you?”

I shook my head. She
was very close now, her perfume of roses and spice filling my nose.
She smoothed my hair around my ear. My mouth watered at her scent,
a strange occurrence, and my scalp tingled from her touch.

“Because we match,
and I like my accessories to match. Do you remember your
reflection?”

“
No,
signora
. Not really.”

The knowledge of my
appearance was vague. My hair was black and my skin light. Mother
told me I was handsome, but the description meant little to me with
no comparison in my mind. My eye color, along with most details,
was long forgotten.

She smiled. “Trust me
when I saw we are complimentary, Adamo. I’ll show you things you
might have only dreamed of. Would you like that?”

“Do I have a
choice?”

She laughed, as
if it was the most ridiculous notion she’d heard in years. “Where
would you go, boy? No money, no home, no title…you have no idea
what you’ve become, little fool.” She suddenly gripped my throat,
her nails feeling like claws against my skin. “Ask any of the men—I
can be very nice or
very
cruel, and it’s up
to you which one I will be. Understood?”

Her grip was too
tight for me to speak. She took the sounds I made as an
affirmative, though, and released my throat. I gasped for air.

“You don’t need to
breathe, idiot,” she said. “Stop acting like I choked you.” She
pushed the curtain aside. “Vittore!”

One of the men on
horseback appeared next to the window. “Yes, my lady.”

“Remind me to toughen
up the boy when we reach safe lodging.”

He grinned. “I told
you he looked delicate.”

“Would you please not
discuss me as if I am deaf?”

She struck my face. I
stared at her in shock. The blow came faster than I could see.

“
You will speak
only when spoken to,
boy
,” she ordered. She
turned back to the man, Vittore. “How much longer to
sunrise?”

“About three hours.
We will reach the villa in two.”

“Good. I do not like
being out close to daylight. Carry on, and see if you can coax the
men a little faster.”

“Yes, my lady. If it
would also please you, I could run the boy with me.”

She glanced at me,
considering the offer. “Tempting…but no. Ask me in another
hour.”

He nodded to her. “As
you wish.”

She let go of the
curtain and sighed. Pressing my body into the corner of the coach,
I held my tongue and tried to keep my distance from the viper
sitting next to me.

Why had this happened
to me? Had I not been faithful and obedient? My brothers died and
went to Heaven, yet I was denied. Why must I bear this curse…what
purpose lay before me?

“Adamo, I am four
hundred years old. Whatever you are planning, you will not get away
with it.”

“I do not have plans.
On the contrary, I am lost.”

“You would rather
have died with the others?”

“Yes. It would be the
natural order of things.”

“Perhaps I will tire
of you and give you your wish, Adamo. We do not grow old, but we
are not invincible.”

A seed of hope grew
in my heart. I would do my best to bore this creature.

The End

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