H.T. Night's 8-Book Vampire Box Set (105 page)

“Yeah, you didn’t fight well tonight because
of your larynx,” I said, sarcastically.

“I didn’t even want to be a Mani. It was the
last thing in this world I wanted to be.”

“What happened to you, Patrick?” Maya
asked.

Patrick paused and then looked at Maya and
said, “I had no choice. I had been bitten twice in the last two
years by Mani, and just like you, Tommy, I was in this weird limbo
place where I would crave blood, but couldn’t actually consume
it.”

“So what? You just gave up and let them bite
you a third time?” I asked.

“Not exactly. I put myself in a bad
situation one night at a bowling alley and just allowed fate to run
its course.”

“I guess you didn’t bowl too well that night
either, Gutterball,” I couldn’t help myself. I looked at everyone
and said, “I’ve now been bitten twice by Mani. Great, I’m now going
to have vampire tendencies as well as werewolf ones.”

“You’re going to need to make a decision,
Tommy,” Sasha came out and said to me.

I knew what she was leading to. “I’m not
ready to do that,” I said.

“Tommy, you’re on the Mani radar now,” Sasha
continued. “They know you’re a complete stud who just kicked the
shit out of three of their own. The way that Mani function as a
group is they don’t look for revenge against Tandra or humans. It’s
pointless to them. The way they see it, if you can hold your own
against them, then you’re a great candidate to become a Mani. They
are always seeking new members. They are going to want you to be
one of them. They know if they had you, they would have one of
toughest motherfuckers ever on their side.”

I looked at Patrick and he nodded his head.
I then looked at Maya and she was heavily engaged in the
conversation but definitely had apprehension in her eyes.

“Patrick, why were you hiding from them?” I
asked.

“Because I regret allowing myself to be
bitten for the third time,” he answered. “I put myself in a bad
situation and I regretted my decision instantly.”

“You can’t run from them forever,” I
said.

“I know, Kyro. They are worse than a street
gang. If you denounce them, once you have become one of them, you
might as well be dead. You become a cog in their machine to gain
power over the Tandra and either kill it, or recruit it. There is
no middle road with them. There is no mercy, no quarter given, and
no hope,” Patrick said.

I looked at Maya and she was doing her best
to take all of this in. How she was holding up was beyond me. “So
what do you think?” I asked Maya.

“It doesn’t matter what I think. The way I
see it, there’s no turning back for you. If you get bit one more
time by a vampire, you will be one of them, like it or not. I think
you should at least have a choice.” Maya stopped, and then looked
at Sasha. “Are the Carni like the Mani where they desire to harm
people?”

“No, not at all,” Sasha said. “Carni
regulate themselves and they live by a strict code of honor with a
respect for life. Carni try to live as normal of a life as they can
and assimilate into the human condition. Mani don’t have a social
consciousness, just a thirst for blood and damn the
consequences.”

“So, what you’re telling me is,” I jumped
in, “I have to decide between being a blood-sucking vampire that
has psychopathic and sociopathic tendencies, and being a werewolf
where I have no recollection when I turn, but I do have an innate
respect for life?”

“Basically, yeah,” Maya answered. “That’s
it.”

“Given the two choices, I’d much rather be a
werewolf. but Mani are fucking crazy—no offense, Patrick,” I
said.

“None taken,” Patrick responded.

Sasha continued, “What you need to
understand, Tommy, is you’re right; when you become a werewolf, you
have virtually no memory. You have no idea what you’re doing,
you’re no better than a stray dog wandering around looking for
something to eat.”

“Well, we seem to have you under control
with the cage.”

“Sometimes, it’s not that easy. That’s why
Carni go off to the desert or the mountains. They can at least run
free and be with their own. We control our lust for blood by
putting physical distance between ourselves and the Tandra. The
Mani, once they are matured, not like baby vampire Patrick here,
don’t even try not to do what comes naturally. There is no way they
would go into the mountains or desert to avoid biting a Tandra. The
thirst is too powerful and the mindset is without regret.”

I shuddered and looked at Patrick. “That
night where I ran into you, why did the Mani attack the Carni in
the desert?”

“We knew they were going to be there, and
the leaders of the Brotherhood were craving blood, not Tandra life
blood, but the blood of a werewolf. There is no better blood than
that of your enemies.”

“So, you look at Carni as an enemy?” I
asked.

“I don’t,” Patrick assured me. “But I’m the
exception.”

“Carni and Mani have been killing each other
for hundreds of years,” Sasha said. “They are like rival street
gangs that hate each other out of historic reasons, but they are
ten times worse and they don’t use guns. It is fang against fang
and relentless, usually to the death.”

All of this supernatural knowledge was
making my head hurt. “If I do this, agree that I should choose a
side, and become a werewolf,” I said, “I would want Sasha to be the
one to bite me. We could control that situation.”

“I think that the only way it can be done,”
Maya agreed.

“How are you so at peace with all this?” I
asked Maya.

“Don’t mistake my calmness with peace,
Tommy. This is the worst thing I have ever heard. But you have no
choice. I saw everything tonight with my own eyes. I saw men turn
into birds. I saw how they wanted to kill you. I am adamantly
against you becoming a Mani. Again, no offense, Patrick.”

“And again, none taken,” Patrick
mumbled.

I looked at the three of them. “So, I guess
we wait. In ten more days, there will be another full moon.”

Chapter Nine

After a few more rounds of going in circles
about Mani versus Carni, we decided to call it a night.

“I’ll take you home, Maya,” I said, grabbing
my keys from the counter.

“No, you’re not,” Maya said plainly. “I’m
going to take care of you tonight. I need to clean that wound on
your neck.” Maya walked over and looked at my bite. “Great, my dad
is going to think I gave you the world’s biggest hickey.”

“Trust me, I’d rather that was the case.
Then at least I could wrap my mind around it.”

“I don’t think you’d want a girlfriend who
made a habit out of making your neck a snack,” Maya said, smiling
at me. Wow, she was so amazing. I couldn’t believe how supportive
she was.

“Hey, Tommy,” Patrick said. “If Maya is
going to spend the night you guys can have…” Patrick stopped what
he was saying and thought for a moment. “I forgot, that’s the only
room you can sleep in.”

“I know, Patrick. We’ll figure something
out.”

“I’m kind of stuck. I can’t sleep out here,
there are too many windows and we don’t have enough cardboard.”

“I guess that means you and Sasha are going
to bunk together, I said. “It wouldn’t be the first time.”

Sasha gave me a look that pretty much said,
‘Don’t mess with me tonight, I’m exhausted.’

“Is it okay with you, Sasha? Want to bunk
with me?” Patrick asked, as if he was asking her to the prom.

“I really don’t have much of a choice, do
I?” she said.

I stuck up for my boy even if he was the
worst fighter I had ever seen. “You can always sleep in your cage,
princess. The last time I checked, I hadn’t received a rent check
from you.” Apparently, this was not the time to point out the
obvious to Sasha.

Sasha glared at me and said, “You know what,
you never once asked me to pay rent! You asked me to clean your
house and I do that. And now, you want to bring it up in front of
your girlfriend, so you can look superior.”

Seriously, where was this coming from? I
just stared at Sasha with a bewildered look on my face.

“I’m out of here.” Sasha got up and barged
out of the front door. The three of us remaining in the room just
looked at each other, surprised.

“Should I go after her?” Patrick asked.

“Let her go. She’s ungrateful, and the truth
of the matter is she’s needed a splash of reality. She can’t stay
here forever.”

Patrick nodded his head in a way that he
assumed I was referring to him, too.

“You’re different, Patrick,” I said. “I
almost killed you and I feel responsible for your welfare. I owe
you a debt and I am paying it. You also sell stuff on eBay to take
care of your small needs. Sasha makes trouble. Constantly.”

Patrick said, “I’m going to fix the window
up in Sasha’s room, so no sunlight can get in. I hope she comes
back.”

Maya looked at me and said, “I’m going to
run you a bath, mister. You need to soak your body. It’s been
through the wringer tonight.”

Just the idea that Maya would draw me a bath
aroused me. We hadn’t done the main event yet and it didn’t take
much to get me going when it came to her. She hadn’t given me the
‘it’s all clear for landing’ signal, and I cared too much for her
to press it.

“I hope Sasha is going to be safe,” Maya
said, walking past me to get to the bathroom. She went in and began
drawing the bath for me. Something tells me the woman in Maya
didn’t mind at all that Sasha left, but she wouldn’t let on that
she was pleased.

“She’s a big girl,” I said. “Don’t forget,
she’s the whole reason why I’m in this mess.” I turned to Patrick.
“Listen, dude, seriously…I like having you here and I’m responsible
that you’re still kind of jacked up.”

“Well, I’m responsible that you’ve been
bitten twice by vampires. Not to mention that you had to
single-handedly fight three of them tonight. We’re not even close
to being square, I owe you everything.”

“You don’t owe me shit. Get some rest.” I
took off my shoes and threw them by the door.

“You think Sasha is going to be okay?”
Patrick asked.

“Who knows?” I said. “At this point, if she
wants to act that way, I don’t really care.”

“She’s not mad about the room, you know
that, right?”

“I know, I said. “I know she’s jealous, but
the difference between her and Maya is night and day. Frankly, I
prefer day a whole lot better because I can see what I’m doing.
Sasha is like a box of chocolates and you never know what you’re
going to get.”

I walked to the bathroom and Maya was
sitting on the side of the tub, testing the warmth of the water. My
grandmother used to do that for me when I was a kid. This was one
very special woman. Why the hell did I get her involved in
this?

“You know,” I said, “It’s a pretty big
tub.”

Maya looked at me surprised and said, “I
don’t think so.”

“Would it really be that awful?”

“No, it wouldn’t be awful, it would actually
be quite nice, but under the circumstances of tonight, I don’t
think that would be too appropriate.”

All right and now was the hard sell. I was
only asking to share a bath with her, not pour hot wax on top of
her.

“I think there really isn’t any protocol for
appropriateness when one gets attacked by vampires. As a matter of
fact, I think all rationale is thrown out the window.”

Maya smiled and I could see that she was
thinking about it. “Okay, she said. “If we were to do this, we need
bubbles.”

“Really?” I said, like a kid just was told
he’s going to Disneyland.

“Don’t get weird about it or I’ll rethink
it.”

“Definitely, don’t rethink it,” I said.
“Hold on!” I went into my bedroom and went into my closet. I had a
box full of scented candles that were given to me at Christmas as a
gag gift from one of my buddies. I figured they would be perfect
for a bubble bath party. I brought the box of candles into the
bathroom. “I got the candles.”

Maya looked up and said, “I see that.” She
had poured in some shampoo and there were lots of bubbles. I put
five candles around the bathroom at different spots and lit them.
“If you like to go to my room and get it, I have a robe you can
use.”

“All right,” Maya turned off the water and
left the bathroom. I took off all my clothes; she was right about
my muscles hurting, everything hurt—especially my neck. I stepped
into the tub and I scooted over to the right. The hot, soapy water
felt so good. I leaned back and closed my eyes. I hadn’t really
caught my breath since the fight and I was really enjoying this
little moment.

I sat back and thought about everything. I
never fathomed that anything like this would ever happen to me in
my life. This life wasn’t about vampires and werewolves. It was
about getting an education and getting a good job. It was about
having a family and living in a house with a white picket fence.
Poor Maya! I couldn’t believe that she was still here. She must
really love me. I sighed and open my eyes and looked around the
candlelit room. It looked pretty cool, it definitely set a mood.
What kind of mood? I guess only the night knows.

I heard footsteps and then the bathroom door
opened slowly. Maya walked in wearing one of my white robes. The
robe was huge on her tiny frame. I smiled at Maya, and gave her a
look that assured her I wasn’t going to “perv” on her as she
disrobed. I leaned my head back and Maya dropped the robe off her
body. She stood there completely naked. She looked absolutely
gorgeous. Her body was perfect. Every curve was perfectly
proportioned. Her skin was milky white and she didn’t have a drop
of fat on her body. She looked like an angel in the candlelit room.
A really freaking hot angel who was about to share a bubble bath
with me.