Moonlight Calls (Demon's Call Series Book 1) (5 page)

 “It makes you
unique,” I said firmly.  She was still looking down, avoiding me.

“Mya,” she
whispered gently.  She lifted her gray eyes to meet my inquiring gaze.  They
looked silver in the dim light, and I shivered.  I felt my breathing slow and I
started to feel light-headed.  I must have had more to drink than I realized.

I took a deep
breath to steady myself, forcing my lungs to expand.  I felt an unerring need
to touch her.  I fought it for a moment, but I was beginning to feel detached
and unreal.  Then I did possibly one of the most dangerous things I have ever
done in my life.  I let my hand slide though her soft hair and along her cheek,
coming to rest at the nape of her neck.

I leaned in to
kiss her, my body stretched across her lap.  Her lips were so soft and full-
but unyielding.  At first, I thought that I was wrong- that she didn’t feel the
way I did.  She was so still I thought she wasn’t going to respond.  I wanted
her to respond.  I
needed
her to accept me.  This wasn’t like me.  But I
didn’t care.

Her arms slipped
around me.  Her mouth slanted across mine as her small tongue darted into my
mouth, tentatively at first and then with more passion.  My hands trailed down
around her waist and I embraced her as her hands explored my body.  She tangled
one hand in my hair as the other lightly caressed my side from breast to hip
and back again, sending little shivers of delight across my skin.  Her fingers
toyed with the edge of my camisole and I arched myself against her, willing her
to slip her hand underneath.  She used the hand tangled in my hair to tilt my
head to the side, bringing her mouth to my throat.

As suddenly as
it had started, she pulled away.

“I can’t do
this.”

My face flamed
in embarrassment and I sat up, tucking my legs underneath me and hugging a
throw-pillow to my middle.  I darted a quick glance her way and saw that her
expression was utterly flat, lacking any emotion, and in the dim light her eyes
were a chilling silver color, without any hint of their usual blue gray.  She
was so still it seemed as if she wasn’t breathing.  The hurt of rejection
mingled with my embarrassment, bringing tears stinging to eyes.  What the hell
had just happened?

I’m sorry,” I
mumbled “I didn’t know…I thought that you…I don’t know why I’m acting this
way…. never mind.  I’ve just had too much to drink.”  I felt utterly out of
control.  There was a pounding in my head, and a nervous ache in my body that
screamed for me to do something.  I had no idea what. I started to stand up, to
flee the scene. Her hand shot out, lightning fast, and grabbed my wrist.

“Wait,” she said
in a cold voice that froze me in my tracks, “just wait a minute, please.”

I eased back
onto the couch and she released my arm.  I looked down at the fingerprints
clearly marked on my skin
. Jesus she was strong.
  I had really pissed
her off.  I clenched my teeth as I blushed fiercely, lost in a wave of
embarrassment.

“Mya,” she said
after a few minutes, “I’m really sorry.  Please believe me.  But this isn’t
what you think.”  She heaved a sigh.  “There are things I need to tell you.”

Her voice had
returned to normal.  I sighed and lifted my head to find her gazing at me
earnestly.  Her eyes were a steady, normal blue gray.

“So am I
imagining things then?”  I said, still feeling the hot blush on my cheeks.

“No,” she said,
smiling at me as if she knew something I didn’t.

“I don’t
know...”  I said uncertainly.  “I’ve never done this before.”  She smiled
slyly, with a hint of flirtation that sent my blood rushing again.

“You did just
fine,” she said huskily.  I closed my eyes briefly and squared my shoulders,
trying to get a grip on myself. Despite the relaxing effect of the alcohol
rushing through my veins, my temples were throbbing.

“What do you
have to tell me?”  I asked warily.  Alarm bells were starting to go off in my
head.  I had a bad feeling about this whole mess. Ailis sighed and looked
upset.

 “You aren’t
going to like this Mya.  Just remember, I’m still your friend.  I care for you
deeply and I would never harm you.  Don’t be afraid, okay?”

My brows drew
together in confusion and the nagging feeling that this was about to get very
unpleasant increased.  “Why would I be afraid?”  I asked warily.

Ailis just
sighed.  “Mya, I’m not the person you think I am.”

I had kind of
already guessed that.  She closed her eyes, as if bracing herself.  Opening
them, she continued. “I’m dangerous, but I would never hurt you.  You have to
believe that.  Don’t be afraid.”
Uh-oh.
  Bad feeling getting worse by
the moment.

“Will you just
tell me already?”  I snapped.  All this suspense was making me bitchy.

She looked at me
unhappily and said, as if it was the most natural thing in the world, “I’m a
vampire.”

I laughed aloud
and her brows drew together.  “This is not funny, and you have to keep it a secret. 
If anyone realizes that you know, you could be in danger.”

 I tried to
subdue my laughter, letting out an undignified snort in the process. Ailis
rolled her silvery blue eyes heavenward as if praying for patience.

“That’s a good
one Ailis.  You’ve been stealing novels from my bookshelf haven’t you?  You
couldn’t think of something more original?”

“I’m serious,”
she said intently.  “I’ll prove it to you.  Stay right here.”  She flitted from
the room with a strange jerkiness to her movements.  I was starting to pray
that my roommate wasn’t insane.  I
knew
she was too good to be true.  I
mean, she actually did windows for God’s sake.

Luckily, I
worked at a psychiatric hospital.  I knew that the best way to deal with
crazies was to stay calm.  I could try the calming touch thing, but I think
we’d both had enough touching for one night.  She returned a few minutes later
with a bowl, a towel, and a wicked looking knife.  A sliver of fear raced
through me.  What if she really was crazy?  Her head snapped up and her eyes
met mine.

 “Mya,” she
whispered, “stop being afraid.  I can smell it oozing off you.” I swore I
actually saw her eyes turning from gray-blue to silver.  Then she looked away. 
She set her things on the coffee table, matter-of-fact.

“Now, I want you
to watch me Mya.  Watch closely.  Don’t look away.  And please
try
not
to freak out.”  I nodded my head in a “sure, whatever” gesture.  Yep.  She was
crazy
. Damn it!

She sat
cross-legged on the couch next to me.  She placed the towel on her lap and the
bowl on the towel.  She picked up the knife with her right hand and braced her
left arm across the bowl with the soft underside exposed.  I watched in shock
as she plunged the knife deep into the crease of her elbow.

“Ailis!”  I
gasped, my voice going all shrill as my heart tried to leap out of my throat.

 She quickly
wrenched the knife out of her arm.  It was followed by a spurt of bright red
blood.  Oh my god she’d hit an artery.  She was going to bleed out right
there.  I leaned forward to grab her arm, intent on stopping the bleeding.  She
dropped the knife and held up her hand in a staying motion.

“I’m okay Mya,”
she said gently, “just watch.”

I looked  from
her face, and her shimmering silver eyes, to her butchered arm.  The blood had
already slowed considerably, and as I watched it stopped completely.  I gasped
in amazement as the wound closed before my eyes, leaving no trace of its
existence, save some dried blood on her skin and the dark blood pooled in the
bowl.

I looked at her
again in stunned silence, sparkles edging my vision.
  I am not going to pass
out!
  “What the fuck was that?”  I asked in a whisper.

“Mya,” she
sighed, “I know this is hard for you to believe, but I’m telling you the
truth.  I want to show you what I am.  I can’t keep this secret from you
anymore.”  She pursed her lips in thought.  “And we seem to be really
susceptible to each other, for some reason.  You need to know what’s going on.”

 I reached out a
tentative hand and touched her shoulder.  My mind instantly fell back on the
coping techniques I’d learned from dealing with agitated patients.  Whatever
caused her to snap, her sense of self worth was apparently tied up in it.

“I’ll try to
understand,” I said “I know I’m still missing a lot here, but I’ll listen.”  Voice
calm.  Make eye contact.  Speak soft, yet firm.

She shook her
head and gave me a sharp look.  “You have no idea.”  She stood and bundled up
her things.  “I am going to get rid of this, okay?  Don’t go anywhere.  We
still have a lot to talk about.”

I nodded
reluctantly and stayed put while she got rid of the gore.  She wasn’t going to
kill me, I hoped.  Maybe I could talk her into going to the hospital with me. 
She
nearly cut her arm off and it just went away like nothing happened. 
And I
thought she needed to go to the hospital.  Maybe
I
was the one going off
the deep end.

When she
returned, my mind was still trying to make one of us out to be insane.  That
was the only explanation.  She glanced at my face and collapsed on the couch
with a sigh.  “Mya, have you ever dated a woman before?”

I blushed and
shook my head.  “This is honestly the first time the thought has occurred to
me.”  God this was embarrassing.  And weird.

Ailis gave me a
serious look, then shook her head.  “I’m sorry Mya. It’s my fault that you’re
attracted to me.”  She tucked a strand of silky red hair behind her ear and
gave me a tentative smile.  I jerked my eyes away from her mouth.  What the
hell was she talking about?

“Vampires have a
long and sordid history of attracting humans.  This is going to sound
terrible,” she said, pausing to worry her full bottom lip with her teeth, “but
it’s an evolutionary thing.  Vampire hormones are aphrodisiacs to humans.  Why
chase down a meal, when you can have it begging at your feet?”

I cringed and
she looked at me full on, her eyes frank and her posture defiant.  A warm
thrill started in my stomach and then slithered lower.  “My power draws you in-
makes you feel good. It makes the whole experience pleasurable for both
parties.”

I sighed heavily. 
So I wasn’t attracted to women after all.  It was just the natural vampire
attraction playing with my hormones. 
Of course.

Ailis frowned. 
“You can ask me questions.” She sat up straight, like this was a business
meeting or something.  “But you probably won’t like the answers,” she warned,
reading the look on my face.  God help me, was I starting to believe her?  I
decided to play along just for safety’s sake- at least that’s what I told
myself.

“So you, um…
drink blood?”  I asked stupidly.  When she nodded, I asked the obvious
question.  “You look like any other person to me, I mean, what about the fangs
and all that,” I ended lamely.  I crossed my legs under me and leaned back into
the couch. 

 “We need blood
from others in order to survive.  No one has really figured it out just yet. 
Some think it’s a virus, or maybe a symbiotic relationship between an organism
and the host.”  She shrugged.  “ Maybe it’s magic.  Anyway, we get all kinds of
strange abilities when we’re turned that would certainly be beneficial in a
host.  But no one has been able to prove where they come from.”

I processed that
for a moment.  I was trying not to believe her, but what with the evidence at
hand and all… “What other abilities? I know you’re strong.  Are there other things?” 
I paused.  “Is it rude to ask?”  Not that I cared about manners at the moment.

She sighed.  “We
have stronger auras.  And, because of that, we can influence the minds of most
humans.  Our life force kind of …dominates others.”  I frowned. 
Shit.

“I can’t make
you do anything you don’t want to do,” she said quickly, holding up her hands
in a staying gesture.  ”Your will is so strong, I’m sure you can resist.  But
you didn’t know what was going on…. you didn’t
know to even try to
resist.”

I digested that
for a moment.  “Do you always tell your...donors what you are?”  I swallowed,
thinking victims might me more accurate.

Ailis looked
like she wished I hadn’t asked.  “Some vampires do feed from unwilling prey-
most of us don’t.  I only feed from those people that I have a close
relationship with.”  She paused and looked at me, as if to gauge how much was
sinking in.  I nodded in reluctant acceptance and she continued.

“Vampires have
the ability to do what we call passing.  This means that we can cover most of
our… tells.  We seem completely human to most people. And we can alter
memories.”  She grinned.  “Usually, people don’t even realize the attractive
guy from the bar wasn’t just a one night stand.” 

“We do have
fangs.  But they’re used for feeding and self-defense.  Most vampires can
control their teeth with the exception of strong emotion.  You should never
push a lot of strong emotions on a vampire.”  She stopped on that note and
looked at me.  I fought a wash of embarrassment.