The Accidental Vampire (25 page)

"Now, do me a favor and get out of the car before Tall-boy tries to beat my brains in. I'd hate to have to deal with the paperwork of arresting him tonight."

Elvi glanced out to see Victor stomping up the sidewalk toward them. Sighing, she opened the car door, and then leaned over to give Teddy a kiss on the cheek before sliding out of the car.

"Where—" Victor began the moment she started up the sidewalk, but Elvi interrupted him quickly.

"Sorry I took so long. I should have let you know where I was going before I took off, but I suddenly remembered something I had to tell Mabel," she lied cheerfully, moving past him on the sidewalk and heading for the door to the house.

Scowling, Victor turned to follow her. "You—"

"Gosh, all that running around did me in and I'm famished. Do you want a bag of blood? Or maybe a steak or something? I could start the barbecue."

Aware that he was following her, Elvi kept up a lively chatter as she led him to the kitchen and began to poke around the refrigerator. Mostly to keep him from asking questions or saying something they might both regret. She wasn't ready to answer questions. She needed to think. She needed time to adjust to all this.

It was all well and good for Teddy to tell her not to let fear stop her, but Elvi wasn't jumping into anything either. She'd only known Victor a couple of days. It was too soon to love him. She wasn't committing herself to anything until she was ready.

The men returned while they were eating and regaled them with their thoughts on the play. For the most part, they seemed to have enjoyed themselves despite its being an obviously amateur event. They'd also enjoyed the company and praised her for having "
quite civil and entertaining"
neighbors. Elvi suspected this was high praise from these men.

"We were talking about building another fire on the way back," Harper announced as he claimed a seat at the table and snatched a bit of salad from Elvi's plate. "But it's started to rain."

Elvi glanced toward the window to see that this was true and wondered to herself how she was going to entertain these men. She was considering suggesting another game of poker when Victor spoke up.

"I haven't quite finished telling Elvi all our laws yet. We're going to take coffee up to the sunroom and finish it."

Elvi shrugged when the men glanced her way. Victor was telling the truth. She'd only learned one more law today and was sure there must be more than that. It would probably be good to learn them all so she didn't inadvertently break one.

"There are movies in the cupboard in the living room if you want to watch something," she suggested as Victor picked up his empty plate and carried it to the kitchen. "I'm sure we won't be long."

She was being optimistic, Elvi knew, but really, there couldn't be that many laws and if they would just stop getting distracted, they might get through them quickly, Elvi thought as she carried her own plate out and collected two cups for the coffee.

The men were silent at first, but by the time she'd poured the coffee and started to lead Victor out of the room, they'd begun to discuss their options when it came to entertainment.

Elvi led Victor up to the sunroom, and moved to open a couple of windows to allow the cool night breeze in as Victor settled in one of the wicker chairs. Once done, she settled on the wicker sofa adjacent to him and raised her eyebrows expectantly. "So, no biting, only one child every hundred years, and… ?"

"And you can only turn one mortal in a lifetime," Victor said. "Those are the top three."

"You can only turn one?" Elvi asked with surprise.

"I told you, it's all to keep the population down."

"Yes," she murmured.

"Most immortals save that turn for their lifemate."

"Yes, I guess they would," Elvi said, but was frowning. "Then who turned me and why would they waste their one turning, turning me?"

"DJ and I were wondering about that," Victor admitted, then set his coffee cup down and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "Elvi, would you tell me exactly what you remember about your turning? Maybe we can sort it out from that."

"I can try," she said unhappily. "But it's all pretty blurry."

"Just close your eyes, relax, and take yourself back there," he suggested.

Elvi smiled faintly. "You sound like a hypnotist."

"I wish I was," Victor admitted, then added, "If I could read your mind I could pull the memory from you myself, but—" He paused, eyebrows rising. "DJ might be able to. We can wait for him and—"

"No," Elvi interrupted quickly. The last thing she wanted was someone poking around in her brain. Besides, no one else seemed to be able to read her, what if DJ couldn't either? That was a complication she didn't need, especially not with Mabel so obviously head over heels for the man.

"Okay, we'll do it the hard way, then," he said wryly. "Sit back, close your eyes, relax and just let yourself go back to that day. You said you were in Mexico…"

"Yes." Elvi murmured. "Mabel and I were supposed to stay in a resort, but when we arrived we found there was a problem with their water. Everyone was being moved to other resorts. They'd made arrangements for us too and we got out of our taxi just to be ushered into a van."

"Were there others in this van?" Victor asked.

Elvi nodded. "Three couples and four individuals."

"Describe them," Victor suggested.

"Two of the couples were our age," Elvi said, her brow drawing together as she tried to picture the people in the van. "They were near the front of the van. The other couple was younger. In their forties I think. They were right behind the driver."

"And the other four?" Victor prompted when she paused.

"Three were young women, university students, I think," she began, and then grimaced. "They were seated at the back and complaining about the lack of "
action"
at the resort and hoping the next one was better." Her voice was surprised as she said that. She'd forgotten all about it, but then she'd spent the better part of the last five years trying to forget that trip.

"And the last person?" Victor asked.

Elvi squinted her eyes more tightly closed, searching her memory for the last man. For some reason, her mind seemed to shy away from him.

"He was seated across the aisle from Mabel and me," she said slowly. "I can't… I have a vague recollection of jeans and a dress shirt. Average looks. He was quiet. The rest of us talked some, but he seemed to want to keep mostly to himself."

"How old would you say he was?" Victor asked, sounding tense.

"Mid to late twenties," she said and opened her eyes with realization. All five of the men in her home this week looked to be in that age range. For that matter so did she.

Victor nodded, and then suggested, "Okay, now tell me about the trip itself."

Elvi closed her eyes again. "They told us it would be a five-hour drive. It started out fine. Mabel and I were tired from the flight and napped for the first hour or so. When I woke up, Mabel was chatting with the German couple in front of us. They were a nice couple," she added sadly. Mabel told her afterward that they both died in the crash.

"So, you were chatting with this other couple…" Victor prompted.

"The accident happened about an hour after I woke up." She paused and frowned. "We were on a narrow mountain road. I think the driver swerved to miss something. The next thing I knew we were rolling. Everyone was screaming and the world was topsy-turvy, baggage was flying everywhere.

"The van ended up on its side, on the side Mabel and I were on. I must've been knocked out; I remember waking up to find I was lying on Mabel. I heard her moan and was afraid I may be crushing her, but when I tried to move, pain shot through my head and I think I passed out again."

"And the next time you awoke?"

"That was in the hotel. We were apparently transported there after we were found," Elvi said reluctantly, then ground her teeth together and admitted, "I woke up to find I had fangs and they were sunk in Mabel's throat while she struggled weakly." She opened her eyes to see Victor was wincing at these words and nodded grimly. "Yes. I damn near killed her."

"To be frank, I'm surprised you didn't. It takes a lot of blood for a turning. More than one mortal could supply." Victor frowned with sudden curiosity. "Where
did
you get the blood?"

"Mabel bribed one of the maids. The woman's brother worked at a blood bank. She paid a lot of money for it."

Victor raised his eyebrows. "Well, at least she didn't follow the story of Dracula and think you could only drink from the source. Was your biting her the first clue to your having been turned? And how did you end up at the hotel? The turning makes a mortal very sick. Why didn't you end up in a hospital?"

"I think regaining consciousness after the accident to find me with my head in a cooler, lapping up spilled blood from burst blood bags was really her first clue," Elvi said dryly.

Victor stiffened. "You didn't mention that."

"Well, it's not really a clear memory," Elvi explained. "And you said to tell you the next thing I remember. Mostly the blood bag episode at the crash site seems like a dream to me and I'm only sure it happened because Mabel said it did."

Victor frowned. "Tell me your memory of it, dreamlike or not."

Elvi paused to collect the memory, and then said, "Well, as I say, it's kind of blurry. I remember waking up and smelling something that…" She hesitated, unsure how to describe what she'd felt. She'd been in terrible pain, every inch of her body aching, and that smell had driven her into a frenzy. She'd been desperate to get to it.

"I understand," Victor said. "You must have been amazed when you realized it was blood drawing you so."

"Maybe. I don't remember feeling anything at all except relief. I'd caught the scent, struggled to get free of my seat belt, crawled over Mabel, trailing the smell and there was an open cooler there. It must have been in with the luggage that fell everywhere. The lid was off and one of the bags had burst open. And…"

"And you lapped it up, then went after the unburst bags," Victor guessed.

Elvi nodded. "I didn't have anything to open them with, not even fangs at that point, so I was tearing them open with my teeth, getting more blood on me than in me when Mabel woke up and spotted what I was doing. I have a vague recollection of her yelling at me, and then I think I passed out again."

"She said I was already starting to look younger when she found me and that I had a bad gash on my forehead, but an hour later it was gone and I looked younger still. She knew right away something was wrong," Elvi offered. "When someone came across the accident scene and the authorities showed up, they wanted me to go to hospital, but she wouldn't let them take me. She bribed them to take us on to the resort."

Victor was silent for a minute, and then asked, "Are there any other dreamlike memories, prior to that one, that you haven't mentioned?"

"One," Elvi admitted. "But I know that one's a dream."

"Tell me," he insisted.

She closed her eyes, trying to place herself back in the van so that she would remember more clearly, Finally, she said, "The first thing I remember is it was raining."

"Raining?" Victor echoed with bewilderment.

Elvi nodded. "Yes. My mouth was open and filling with water."

"In the bus?" he asked doubtfully.

She nodded. "It tasted funny when I swallowed it. Tinny."

"Like blood," Victor suggested.

Elvi kept her eyes closed. Now that she was examining the memory, it was clearer than it had ever been before. She could actually recall the slow drip, drip, as the liquid hit her tongue and slid down her throat.

"I opened my eyes, and… the lone man in his twenties was hanging over me."

She sensed Victor leaning further forward, his body tense. "Hanging over you?"

"The bus was on its side," she reminded him. "His seat belt had kept him in the seat, but he was dangling over us." Elvi could see him there now and cringed. "He'd been injured in the accident." She opened her eyes, banishing the image. "That's how I knew it was a dream. Mabel said she saw him after the accident and he was just fine. Uninjured."

"Forget about that," Victor instructed. "I want you to close your eyes and picture the scene again. What exactly did you see?"

Elvi reluctantly closed her eyes. She allowed the memory to blossom in her mind despite its unpleasantness. "His eyes were closed. I thought he was dead. There was a large, sharp triangle of glass in his stomach, and another in his upper shoulder. It had pretty much sliced his arm off and there was blood running down his dangling arm and dripping…"

"Into your mouth," Victor said with triumph.

Elvi opened her eyes with amazement. "Yes."

"You really are an accidental vampire," he said with a grin that then faded. "I'm surprised he didn't realize what had happened when he woke up and saw you jonesing for blood."

"I don't think he did," Elvi said with a frown. "Mabel says she got me out of the van and away from the others when she realized something was wrong with me."

"That was very brave of her," Victor said solemnly. "Especially if she suspected what you had become."

"Yes," Elvi agreed. "She's a good friend. She got me to the hotel, arranged for blood for me, and then called Teddy and had him overnight Casey's passport to us in Mexico."

"Your daughter's?"

"Yes. Mabel wanted to fly me home right away, but my passport picture showed me with graying hair and wrinkles…"

"And you didn't look like that anymore," he murmured.

Elvi nodded. "I don't think I would have survived if Mabel hadn't been there to take care of everything. She kept me alive, got me home, talked to Teddy and some others and smoothed it over so they didn't come after me with stakes." She grinned. "Somehow she presented it to the town as a really cool adventure rather than a horror story, and I was the tragic hero rather than a monster."

"But to yourself, you were a monster," Victor guessed quietly.

Elvi eyed him solemnly. "I nearly killed her."