Vampire Addiction (9 page)

“I like to compose my own music,” he said.

“Play something for me.”

“Another time,” he said as his face flushed pink. “I better get you back home in time for the cake.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet your mom,” she said as they walked back to the car.

“She will be, too,” he said.

Before getting into the car, Gertie said, “Hector?”

“Yes?” He looked down at her, where she stood near the passenger’s side of the Mini.

“I’m sorry I accused you of drugging me that night…”

“It’s okay.”

“No, listen. Please.” She looked up at him. His face was so close. She couldn’t resist glancing at his mouth and recalling the way he had kissed her. “If I had known it was all real, I wouldn’t have kissed you like that. I…”

He took a step back.

“Because of Nikita,” she added.

“Nikita?” He furled his brows.

“She likes you,” Gertie said. “I wouldn’t want to, you know…”

“I don’t feel the same way about her,” he said. “She’s like a sister to me.”

Gertie swallowed hard, as she returned his intense gaze. “Even so, she’d hate me. Don’t you see? I have to live with her for an entire year.”

“She’d get over it. It’s just a school-girl crush.”

“Maybe.”

“But you don’t want to take the chance.” The muscle near his jaw flexed again.

“I just don’t know.”

He opened the door for her, and she climbed inside. They were quiet during the drive back to the apartment. Gertie knew she had hurt him. She liked him so much, but she just couldn’t hurt Nikita. She felt like she would be betraying the whole Angelis family. They already suffered enough with the death of their little brother and with Phoebe’s affliction. Tears rushed to Gertie’s eyes, and, not for the first time, she wished she could go home.

Chapter Fourteen: First Bite

Although Gertie had tried not to let it show, it had been obvious to everyone that she and Hector weren’t speaking to one another. Nikita’s spirits seemed lifted by this, and so her good mood made up for the quiet tension between the other two as they all enjoyed Babá’s special cake. Gertie was too numb inside to taste it, but she ate it anyway.

After Hector had left, and Gertie and Nikita were alone in their room with the lamp out, Nikita said, “I’m sorry about earlier.”

“It’s okay.”

A few seconds later, Nikita asked, “So it really wasn’t a date?”

“No, it wasn’t.”

Nikita turned on her side to face Gertie. “Can you tell me what you two talked about?”

“He told me the story of his birth—about his parents.”

“Oh.”

“That night on the ferry, when he jumped in, I thought he was trying to kill himself,” Gertie explained. “I don’t know how I thought I could help, but I jumped in after him. And then when he called to his father to help us, well, I thought it was a dream or a hallucination. I thought he had drugged me.”

“It was too hard to believe,” Nikita agreed.

Gertie didn’t add that she had awakened without her clothes on in Hector’s bed. She also didn’t share what had happened last night, when she had gone with Jeno. She didn’t want Nikita to know, because she was hoping Jeno would come tonight, and she didn’t want her to try to talk her out of it. Gertie wanted to thank him for protecting her from his sister—because she knew that’s what he was doing. She also wanted to tell him to never mess with her mind again. Erasing her memory was unacceptable, and she wanted him to explain why he had done such a thing.

Plus, she really wanted to see him.

“So Babá and Mamá seemed especially happy tonight about Phoebe,” Gertie said, changing the subject.

“If you would have seen Phoebe after school before today, you’d understand why. Kids made fun of her.”

“I hope they won’t at the American school,” Gertie said.

“Me, too. Maybe they will be more understanding and tolerant.”

Gertie rolled to her side and leaned on one elbow. “Do you think she’ll ever talk again?”

“I don’t know. The doctors say maybe in time, but it’s been three years since the fire.”

“Oh.”

“The fan in her room caught fire. Babá says that when he woke up from the smoke and ran into their room, Phoebe was sitting up in bed and staring at the flames. She must have been in shock. He thinks that’s why she won’t talk now, because she couldn’t talk then.” Nikita’s voice broke. “She might have saved Damien.”

“It’s not her fault.”

“I know that. But she doesn’t,” Nikita said through tears. “At least, that’s Babá’s theory.”

“I didn’t mean to upset you.”

Nikita sniffled. “I know. It’s okay.”

Gertie listened to Nikita’s sniffles until they both fell asleep.

Sometime later, Jeno’s voice awakened Gertie. He called to her in her head.

“I’m outside waiting for you,” he said.

She folded back her covers and tip-toed to the front door. She let herself out quietly, and then crept down the stairs. Jeno was bathed in moonlight on the sidewalk, looking as beautiful as ever.

“Good evening,” he said, as she descended the steps to the sidewalk.

“Kalo apogeyma,” she said with a smile.

“Ah. So you already know Greek?”

She laughed. “Yep. The whole language.”

“Eisai omorfh,” he said with a grin.

In her mind, she asked what that meant.

“You look beautiful,” he replied.

She blushed.

“And even more so with the blood in your cheeks,” he added.

She started to ask him about last night.

“It was ugly—the fight with my sister. She got really vicious. I didn’t want you to have nightmares.”

“Oh.” She supposed that was a good reason. “But I’m a big girl. I can handle it, okay?”

“Okay.” He took her hand. “I’m sorry. Do you forgive me?”

His hand on hers sent chills up her arm. How could she not? “Yes.”

He walked with her along the abandoned sidewalk. “No shoes again tonight?”

“Aren’t we flying anyway?”

“As you wish. Where to?”

“Maybe not the acropolis this time. Somewhere safe, where we can be alone.”

“There is no such place in Athens at night. Maybe we should go to an island I know.”

“Where’s that?”

“Just south of here. It’s full of olive trees and sandy beaches. Some of my people used to live there in caves in the center of the island, but the human population was too small to sustain them, so they migrated elsewhere.”

A shiver swept down her spine. She kept forgetting that Jeno was a real vampire who wanted blood, and his description was a frightening reminder.

“Don’t be frightened, koreetsi mou,” he said. “I will take good care of you.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist and lifted her off the ground. They went higher and faster than they had the previous night. Her belly fluttered and her knees twitched.

“Don’t let go,” she said.

“Never,” he whispered in her ear.

She enjoyed the sensation of his body pressed against hers. His muscular arms and hard chest exhilarated her. Her legs felt heavy as they dangled out of control beneath her, and it both comforted and excited her to be in his arms. He must have been listening to her thoughts, because she heard him sigh and felt his grip around her tighten. Then he placed the tops of his shoes beneath her feet to stop her legs from dangling.

“So thoughtful,” she said to him in her mind.

He whispered in her ear, “The pleasure is all mine,” and his breath sent titillating chills down her neck.

She closed her eyes and relaxed against him.

Soon they neared a small island surrounded by nothing but sea. He took her down to the sandy beach, where gentle waves lapped onto the shore. The bright moon and stars reflected on the water and in Jeno’s twinkling eyes.

“It’s beautiful,” she said.

“One of my favorite places, for getting away. Maybe one hundred people live here—if that.”

“Have you brought other girls to this place?” she asked.

He grinned. “No one as interesting and as beautiful as you.”

“Nice evasive tactic.” She laughed. Of course someone who had been around for centuries had brought another girl to his favorite spot. Why had she asked?

He laughed, too, as they sat together on the clean sand and gazed out at the sea. She wondered again if he wanted to drink her blood.

“I’m not hungry tonight,” he said.

“The old man?”

“No.” He chuckled. “It’s so strange to me to discuss my feeding habits with a human. No, I can’t drink from the same source each night. For each pint, I must wait one month. In the case of the old man, who wants my powers often, I take a quarter pint once a week.”

“How can you tell a quarter of a pint from a whole?”

“Easily, believe me.”

“I suppose you’ve had a lot of practice.”

“More than I wish for anyone,” he said softly.

He moved a strand of her hair from her eyes, and his touch brought another round of chills dancing up her body. She looked down at her toes, digging in the warm sand. She was surprised by how warm it felt, when the breeze was chilly.

“The sand absorbs the sun all day,” he said. “It stays warm for many hours, but it will be cold soon.”

“How old are you?” she asked. “I mean, how long have you been…”

“A vampire? I’m one of the originals.”

“What does that mean?”

“Back when Dionysus first turned away from the Olympians,” he explained.

“Because Hera was angry, right? Zeus fathered Dionysus with someone else.”

He arched a brow. “Very good. Yes, Semele. Hera was always making trouble for Dionysus, so he left to live on his own, and he created a set of companions.”

“The Maenads.”

“How do you know so much?”

“I read a lot.”

“My mother was one of the first Maenads. When she went wild on the wine of Dionysus, she ripped my arms from my body and drank my blood.”

Gertie shuddered. “How horrible. Oh my God.”

“All of the Maenads did that to their loved ones. My mother did it to my sister and father, too.”

“That’s how you became vampires?”

“Not quite. Zeus scolded Dionysus for his carelessness, so Dionysus repaired our bodies and turned us into the living dead. He thought his wine would sustain us, like it does the Maenads, but he was wrong. We need blood to survive. If we go more than two weeks, we go into a kind of coma. That happened to my father, because he refused to drink from humans. Back then, the only way to do it was to kill them. We didn’t know any other way to survive.”

Gertie shuddered.

“My sister and I joined the first cult of Dionysus. Our cult built the temple on the acropolis in Athens. Over time, the gods created rules for us to abide by—rules to protect both humans and vampires. They send their demigods to enforce the rules.”

Gertie thought of Hector.

Jeno shifted on the sand, stretching his legs out in front of him. “Yes, he is one of the enforcers, but the rules are more beneficial to mortals than they are to vampires. Lord Dionysus has hinted at reform, but it’s never come to pass.”

“What are the rules?”

“We aren’t allowed to kill humans, or to take their blood without their consent.”

She recalled the women in Omonoia Square.

“You can’t blame us for using every technique at our disposal,” he said. “We must sometimes be very persuasive. Not many humans are willing.”

I am
, she thought.

Jeno’s eyes widened. “This isn’t something to rush into.”

I’ve given it a lot of thought
, she said in her mind.

Jeno shook his head. “I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Just once, to see what it’s like.”

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

“What’s wrong?” she asked.

“I’m afraid you won’t want to visit with me after,” he said. “I really enjoy your company, and I don’t want to risk not having it anymore.”

“I promise that won’t happen.”

“I don’t want you to think of me as a vampire. I want you to like me as a boy—a boy who is falling in love with a girl.”

She felt the blood rush to her cheeks, and this made Jeno gasp. “Oh, me. You are so lovely in the moonlight.”

“I do think of you that way, Jeno,” she said, moving her face closer to his, her heart pumping wildly.

He looked at her mouth. Then he closed his eyes and kissed her.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and enjoyed the sensation of his sweet kisses. Her fingers twisted into the curls of his thick, brown hair. He moaned and kissed her harder. She pressed her body against his, and he picked her up and set her on his lap. Her hands explored his back, his shoulders, his biceps, his neck, his face. She pinched his earlobes between her fingers, and he moaned and laid her on the sand.

“You are magnificent,” he whispered.

In her mind, she said,
Drink from me
.

“Are you sure, Gertie? This is what you want?” he asked.

“Yes,” she breathed. “Oh, please, yes.”

He kissed her lips once again, and then he slid his mouth down her throat. A sharp pain penetrated her flesh, but was numb in an instant. The star-filled sky spun in circles. In a few moments, Jeno looked down at her.

“Are you okay?” he asked gently.

She continued to gaze at the spinning stars. “Oh, my,” she said, breathless.