Finally Dead (Eve Benson: Vampire Book 1) (3 page)

That
was, after all, why she’d become a Vampire in the first place. To make sure no
one could hurt her again. Not easily. It was also why she’d trained so hard for
the last four years. Nearly five now, really.

So that
when she became one of them, the undead, she’d start out more powerful than
most did. In control of herself, and able to fight. Not just flail around like
a young woman was supposed to do. She’d even taken lessons for that, which had
already paid off, she realized. Not ten minutes after she woke up dead, she’d
had to fight already.

Even
better, she’d
won
. True, that had a lot to do with the element of
surprise, and the fact that she’d acted in a way no one had probably thought
she could, she was willing to bet, but it had worked, which was enough for the
first day.

The
drunk street man finally stumbled over, and rapped on the window. She both
heard and smelled him coming without even looking up. He favored his right leg,
which had a sore on it, near the knee. She could tell,
somehow
.

“Hey,
baby. You want spend some time wit me?”

She
looked at him, and shook her head.

“Nope!
I’m too busy for the time being. Thanks for the offer though. I’d take you up
on it, if I wasn’t waiting on people to show up.” Well,
if
he smelled
better. It wasn’t about his looks, even though he was kind of ugly. She didn’t
judge people that way.

Unlike
before, she didn’t get turned on though, which could be the disgust she felt,
but she thought it might be that her sex drive was actually shutting down. All
she felt for the man was a desire to drink his blood. That feeling was decently
strong, but not allowed. As in actually against the law. Vampire law, but
still, that was a real thing for her now, wasn’t it?

The day
before, if she’d broken their laws or rules, she would have been fine. They
just didn’t count for a Human. Now, that night, the world brilliant and shining
around her, the man outside the car she’d stolen frowning a bit, there was a
whole new set of things for her to keep in mind. Luckily she knew them all, and
the basics weren’t all that different from what they always had been.

Don’t
drink from Humans. If you had to kill anyone, make sure you didn’t get caught.
Pay your taxes in a timely fashion. That was really about it. It wasn’t like a
movie where they were required to keep their kind a secret or anything either.
That one took care of itself for the most part. She could tell anyone she
wanted all about what she was now. No one would really believe her, but she
could
do it, if she wanted.

The only
thing that would really set anyone off would be if she somehow managed to get
onto television and prove that she was real, in front of the whole world. Even
that might not do anything though. A lot of people had tried. It never actually
worked though. Humans just couldn’t handle the truth.

The
drunk man stared at her.

“Fucking
bitch. You’re all the same. No love fer Tim, is there? Can’t even get a
handjob. Stuck up assholes.” He grumbled and hit her window. Not hard enough to
break it, but enough that a woman coming out of the store saw it and looked
scared. That was bad, since she might well call the cops in, trying to help.

They
were in a parking lot, a public place, and the store was still open since it
wasn’t all that late. Before nine, still.

Eve
looked at the man, and smiled, then concentrated as hard as she could when he
locked eyes with her. It wouldn’t hurt to
try
and compel him, after all.
If it failed, then she could always just… She didn’t really know, but didn’t
care either.

“No. I
just
gave
you a handjob, remember? It felt really nice, and now you’re
going to go and take a walk. You won’t come back this way for a few days. You
should go away now, before anyone realizes what we just did here.” She didn’t
whisper the words, and didn’t really think anything was going to happen, but
the man stood up a bit straighter, and grinned. He was missing two of his upper
teeth, near the front.

“Thanks.
I should take off.” Then, looking at her over his shoulder, he gave a little
wave and did exactly that. He walked away with a will, a bit of a spring in his
step. He didn’t even seem half as drunk anymore, either.

The
other woman looked at her again, but seemed relieved that the man was leaving,
and climbed into her own vehicle, not making eye contact with her. That was
normal, though. The place was busy enough that she didn’t have to feel like she
was the only person that could, or would, help Eve out. So she didn’t, just leaving
after that.

No one
got there for hours, but by one in the morning Edom pulled in, his red sports
car purring practically.

He moved
to her quickly, his black skin glowing with the pink of life energy. He had a
solid core of the stuff, that was brighter than the other Vampires she’d seen
earlier.

Getting
out of the yellow muscle car, she smiled at him.

“There
you are. Do you want to go back and burn a house down? There were at least four
of them there. I got away, naturally, because I’m pretty nifty, but I don’t
think I killed any of them.”

He
stopped, going still enough that she could sense the waves of activity that
most people had all the time just cease.

“Eve.
Are you all right? You have burns…”

She
looked down and shrugged. Her once nice leather jacket was
ruined
. A
sudden urge to kill some people overcame her, but she fought it back. That was
the kind of thing she had to do now, she knew. Rage was a part of the Vampire experience.
You either dealt with it yourself, or you were dealt
with
. Normally by
being beaten so hard that your fear of pain would overcome the anger. It was
easier to make yourself take control, or at least that was the theory she’d
been working on so far.

“A
Manthori with fire powers. I healed. Honestly, I barely noticed it. I guess
that means I’m all tough and junk?” She smiled, and was a bit shocked to find
herself being hugged. The Vampire wasn’t really the huggy sort, as far as she
knew.

Then,
she
didn’t smell like food now, so maybe it was that?

Eve could
sort of understand how that might work, now.

Her
master smiled at her, his face happy, suddenly.

“Now, I
think we might well want to have a chat with these people. Can you get us back
to them?”

It
wasn’t straightforward, but after half an hour of driving around, she realized
that she really could.

It was
going to be interesting, she decided.

As it
turned out, she was totally wrong.

Eve had
thought they’d be going back to find the four evil feeders and possibly get a
chance to dispense a little, and more permanent, justice. They’d kidnapped her
after all, and to her mind that meant they deserved to at
least
have
their heads cut off.

“Well,
darn.” She actually felt a little worked up about it, but faked a smile. No one
had insisted that she had to be perfect, but going around acting like she was
about to attack everyone wouldn’t fly.

Edom
actually grinned at her however.

“Darned,
indeed. There were four of them, and a Human?”

She
nodded, having gone over that already.

“A girl.
The New Vamp cut her with a knife. A Bowie I think. I lost it somewhere in the
fight. That, or while I was running. I licked the blood off of it to form a
link to the girl. It helped.” She didn’t go into how much she’d wanted to drink
the girl dry. Ed knew that, no doubt.

Been
there, done that, and
mastered
the feeling. That was why he could work
in politics now. Not all the older Vampires could do that, even if they were
otherwise powerful.

Instead
he nodded at her, as they poked around.

“Good
plan. Well, we should be getting back. Can you hold out on what you had?”

Making a
face, she shrugged.

“Yeah. I
know that I can. I don’t feel like it’s possible, but there’s enough energy. I
should get something else too, so I don’t accidently drain the girl.” That
could be a real problem if you only fed on a single source. If she tried to do
too much, say lifting up a car for a while, the life energy that powered it
would have to come from somewhere. The fact was though, even though it would be
hard, she could just
sit
around almost indefinitely. That didn’t take
much energy at all, and as long as she didn’t exert too much effort, Eve could
hold out for months.

If she
mastered herself well enough, she’d eventually not need to eat much at all. The
oldest and most powerful Vampires hardly had to, she knew. That wasn’t her, not
yet.

It
would
be though.

“I can
hold out.”

Edom
looked at her strangely, but nodded.

“I think
you can. You did well, tonight. If you
can
hang on, until we get back,
I’ll give you a reward.”

She
wondered what that would be. Probably sex, though she really didn’t feel like
it would be much of a prize now. That was too bad, because for a while there
she’d kind of hoped that
she
was going to be the special Vampire that
still had a sex drive. It had been one of her favorite things, while alive. A
way to connect to people, without making a lot of real effort. Now she was
going to have to actually be nice, and
do
things for people, or at least
make a solid go of being friendly.

She
grinned.

“Well,
is it a job at your club?
I
wouldn’t put me in at the embassy for a
while, but maybe doing something like cleaning, after hours? I do a mean job
with a mop, and you can only
dream
about what I can manage with a
sponge.”

The man
looked over at her, then pointed toward his car, not bothering to burn the
place down or anything.

“Not a
horrible plan. I want to test you first, though. If you can handle being around
a crowd, we can work something out. Most can’t, at first. Normally for a while.”
It was just the truth.

Honestly,
from what Eve had been told,
no one
managed it, at least for the first
five years or so. Not if they were a Classic Vampire, like her. The New Vamps
could pull that off a lot faster, she’d been told. So could the flyers from
South America. The problem there was that
they
all looked like giant
bats. They were sweet though, and even tempered. Blood drinking aside. Most of
them lived off of animal blood.

So, she
was doing pretty well so far.

“I
trained for this. Well, you know, you helped with it.” She felt a little
annoyed, since he clearly didn’t believe she was really ready, but buried that.
It wouldn’t help anything, acting like a brat. Besides, if she couldn’t control
that feeling, then she
wasn’t
ready.

Edom
nodded though. His voice was rich, and carried undertones of humor, for some
reason. It was a
good
voice, she realized. Back when she’d been alive
she’d actually gotten wet, just listening to him, more than once.

“I know.
It seems to be working, too. That doesn’t mean we can’t be careful though. In
the last two hundred years I’ve never even heard of anyone doing what you have
to get ready, as a Human. If this works we may have to set up a real program to
help train people. Bey will be pleased.”

He
seemed a bit uneasy talking about the ancient Vampire. Eve could see that. She’d
met the man however, and he was darling. At least if you were a Human and
halfway polite to him. The Vampires all figured that when he showed up some of
them were about to die. It was normally the way it worked too. The man was
tiny, and had a big nose and large ears, with no hair on his head. In short, he
was adorable.

Also
deadly. Ignoring that part of things could get her killed, so she kept it in
mind. Her friends, Keeley, Darla and Zack had all pointed that one out to her.

They
were Demons though. Greater Demons, which was a thing that had been hard for
her to understand for a long time. Basically they were beings so powerful that
no one wanted to screw with them. You had to be born one though, or she would
have opted to be one of them. That not being an option, she went with the next
best thing. A Vampire.

She
nodded though, trying to remember that she still needed to talk. That meant
breathing first, which was still her habit, having been alive less than a day
before. She didn’t need to however. That was part of the whole being dead
thing.

“I hope
he will be. He’s one of my favorite people, after all.” It was kind of true,
but Edom gave her a look that clearly said she might just be insane. He didn’t
correct her though, or tell her that she had to be scared of her friend, just
because things had changed. She understood that if she crossed the Council, Bey
would kill her. That was his job, after all. He was one of them too, but so
deadly they always sent him in if there was a real problem.

“Now, we
need to get you to a secured location. Do you have any idea why they took you,
in particular?”

She had
to shake her head, and take a deep breath.

“Not
really. I woke up, and instead of you sitting there with a container of fresh
cow blood, there was a New Vamp, and a girl. He cut her and told me to… Really,
I was distracted at the time. I can’t remember if he said anything at all.
Something about how I should drink?” She shrugged, and then looked over at her
maker. “My best guess? It wasn’t about me at all. It was probably done to try
and get
your
attention. You know, to show that as Vampires we all need
Human blood, and that they’re our rightful prey, or something along those lines?”

As a
rule Eve wasn’t all that great at political intrigue, but she thought that
seemed pretty close to what could be happening. Unless it wasn’t. Really, she
needed a lot more information than she had, didn’t she? Maybe they’d just
really wanted her to like them?

That got
her to smile, trying to fake it well enough to seem real.

“Well, I
guess it
could
be about how awesome I am. Or, I don’t know, maybe they
wanted me to join up with them, so they could use my contacts? I
do
know
a few people, I guess. Mainly you, but…” Except that wasn’t true, was it?

Eve had
friends, and some of them were powerful. Beings that no one would want to screw
with, if they knew about them. That kind of argued for her being picked based
on other reasons, actually.

Clearing
his throat, a total affectation, Edom kept his eyes on the road.

“Well,
if they wanted to use you, or make a point about how we’re all insane animals
that can’t control ourselves, then they rather failed, didn’t they? We need to
find them however. Just in case they’re going to try for you again. Or worse,
someone else. Too bad you didn’t get a chance to take a prisoner.”

It was
true, but she felt a sudden urge to growl at him for saying it. Biting her
tongue, she forced a smile and didn’t speak for a long time, letting the anger
she felt start to pass first.

“Yeah. I
kind of wish I could have, too.
I
blame the whole being new thing, you
know? I mean, if I had a little more experience, I wouldn’t have acted like
that. Running off instead of simply kicking all of their asses.” Okay, so she
sounded a little short when the words came out, but she managed to smile again,
and sigh at the end of it, softening the whole thing.

It was,
she realized, a lot harder to control herself than she’d thought it would be.

Ed made
a face, but didn’t lash out at her for being rude.

“Given
everything you probably did it as well as anyone could have. Taking a Vampire,
any Vampire, prisoner is a risk. As you showed those others a few hours ago.
You did a good job.”

He’d
said that before, but she got the general idea. She was being good, and he was
trying to reinforce that kind of behavior, pointing out what he liked. If she
got out of line, he’d have yelled, or even hit her, depending on what she did.
It had all been explained to her first. There was a plan in place for it even.
One that she’d agreed to. She might not like being raped or beaten to control
her, but she’d signed off on it.

So she
nodded at him, trying to keep all of that in mind.

“So,
what’s the plan? We should hide for the day, right? Someplace harder to find
than your house? I’d love to take a shot at waking up in a safe and secure
environment for once.” She glanced at him and noticed his jaw clench. She
hadn’t meant that it was his fault that she was kidnapped like that, but it
probably seemed that way. Scrambling she tried to find some way to make that
seem less like a condemnation of his skills or ability to protect her, but
nothing came to mind. It
was
kind of a big deal, letting that happen on
her very first day.

After
ten more minutes of driving, he shrugged. It nearly seemed real when he did it,
even though chances were good that he’d forgotten how a long time before and
had to practice the move on purpose.

“I’ll
get Barb to babysit you, and see if you two can stay at Troy’s. Do you think
you’re up to that? I know that being that close to a Human this soon might be
hard…”

Because
they were so very tasty. That part went without being said however.

She
shrugged back, noticing how unnatural it felt already. She smiled too, and
looked at the side of his dark face, the glare from the oncoming headlights
bright enough that a regular person might well have been left blind.

“I think
so? I guess I should take you along at first, so you can punch me in the head
if I start to go for him? Or, I guess Barb can do that part. I won’t lie, that
girl earlier was tempting. I managed to hold off, but it’s work. Is it always
like that?”

“Yes.
Pretty much. Eventually you’ll gain the ability to resist all the time, even
with a lot of bodies around. It takes practice, but it will happen. Honestly,
resisting in your first minutes like that… No one does that. I’ve seen people
that have been undead for years not be able to handle that kind of thing. Fresh
blood in the room with them like that. So, I think you can do it. I’ll get Barb
a baseball bat though, so that you can rest assured you won’t hurt Troy. I know
you like him.”

So did
Barb, but for different reasons. Eve had kind of dated him for a bit, and
they’d had sex for years, off and on. Barb treated him like a pet. Still, she’d
protect him from being killed, which was all that was needed, really.

She
looked out the window, and watched the scenery
crawl
by. They were
driving the speed limit, she knew, but it seemed like the vehicle was barely
moving. As if she might well be able to simple step out and walk alongside of
it. That was silly of course. She’d have to
run
in order to keep up.

“Can I
borrow your phone?”

That got
a strange look, and a nod. Thinking about things first, she dialed the frozen
yogurt shop, getting in touch with Barb again. They were friends, after all.

“Hey!
Edom found me, so it’s all good. I was wondering if you’d be willing to stay
with me at Troy’s for the day? Ed thinks we should make it a bit harder to find
me, just in case these morons try again. I still have to ask Troy, but you
know, I can find someone else if you don’t want to have baby vamp duty? That
would be a pain in the rear, so I understand if you want to pass the buck.”

It was a
lot to just come out with, but there was no discernable pause.

“Sure.
Edom’s all right with that? I haven’t done anything like that before. It’s
kind
of a big deal, being asked to watch someone like you. Important.”