“The fearless warrior?” I railed back with a humorless laugh. “Hardly! I just refused to fall under your spell! If I had, you could have done whatever you wanted to me!”
“I see … and just what did you suppose I might have done to you?”
“I have no idea!” I snapped, throwing my hands into the air in frustration. I hadn’t meant to act with such histrionics, but Sinjin just had a way about him that always found me defending myself.
“I am sure you have at least one idea,” he muttered.
“Well, seeing what a lecherous bastard you are, who knows what sort of liberties you could have taken with me!”
“I would never have taken advantage of you,” he spat back, appearing legitimately ticked off. “And as to my being a lecherous bastard,” he took a deep breath, but I knew it was all for show. Then he nailed me with his icy gaze. “Shall I remind you that every kiss, caress, and heated embrace that you and I ever shared was never whilst you were under my … persuasion.”
My stomach felt like it dropped all the way down to my toes. Betta turned her surprised expression toward me, and now it was my turn to blush every hue of red. “What?” I started, but knew better than to even try to pretend he was full of it. There was no way I could ignore all the passion that flowed between us … that had flowed between us. Besides, I was a terrible liar.
“Maybe we should change the subject,” Betta suggested with a small, uncomfortable smile.
“That’s a great idea,” I agreed, but Sinjin was still wearing the same irritated expression. He was now facing forward, and his hands gripped the steering wheel so tightly that his knuckles were white. His normally plump, full lips were pulled into a tight line across his face. When he turned to face me, his eyes seemed to be burning in his face, glowing white behind their sapphire irises.
“I would never bewitch you into doing something you did not desire of your own volition,” he announced stoically. His gaze locked onto me as he added, “And you are more than aware that I speak the truth.”
“Or so you say,” I answered, even though it wasn’t the right thing to say. Call me stubborn or pigheaded, but I hated to be wrong. And I had an especially hard time admitting that to Sinjin. In general, I preferred butting heads.
“You doubt me?” he demanded as I realized I was just digging myself into this even deeper. One thing I could say about Sinjin was that he took pride in being a man of his word. And the other thing I could say about him was that he was stubborn … every bit as stubborn as I was.
Taking a deep breath, I resigned myself to the idea that I had to wave the white flag of surrender. There was no way I could win this conversation. It was time for me to eat a little humble pie. “No, I believe you,” I said in a softer tone. I glanced up at him and found him studying me intently. “I mean it,” I said, “I believe you.”
“Very good,” Sinjin replied as he faced the road again and I wondered how he managed to stay in his lane. For all I knew, this overpriced car could drive itself.
“So getting back to the subject,” Betta started nervously as she faced Sinjin, “you said you needed to … drink?”
“Yes,” Sinjin replied curtly. His tight jaw meant he was still annoyed with me. Oh well, he’d get over it sooner or later. Hopefully, sooner …
“So … is that where we’re headed now?” Betta asked. “Do you have somewhere to go or someone you know who … does that sort of thing for you?”
“No, and no,” Sinjin replied, obviously still put out.
“Oh,” Betta said as she glanced over at me as if awaiting my response; but I had nothing to say.
“So what will you do?” she asked, returning her attention to Sinjin.
He shrugged and did a good job of appearing pitiable. “If there are no volunteers before then, I suppose we must stop at the next outcropping of civilization so I may find a willing donor.”
“You mean, you’ll have to … convince some unknowing, trusting, young woman into becoming a willing donor,” I corrected him. “And I’m sure you don’t do that with pretty words.”
“You bewitch these women into donating their blood?” Betta asked. Her mouth dropped open in what I assumed was indignant shock.
When Sinjin smiled at Betta, I could have sworn his fangs lengthened. “Sometimes, one’s morals must be temporarily suspended in order to survive.”
“If one has any morals to begin with,” I muttered.
Sinjin’s attention fell on me, and this time I was sure his fangs lengthened. “However, when one can find it within herself to endure some suffering while granting another life, perhaps morals would not enter the equation at all.”
“To endure some suffering while granting life?” I repeated with a snide laugh. “Wow, Sinjin, that was a good one! Sometimes I wonder if you missed your calling as a romantic poet.”
“You probably shouldn’t egg him on, Bryn,” Betta semi-whispered to me. “I think he’s getting hangry.”
Sinjin chuckled at Betta and turned his attention back to me. “Perhaps you could find it within yourself to apologize by way of becoming my donor?”
“Forget it,” I announced flatly while shaking my head in case he didn’t understand English. “Fo-r-get ii-tt,” I repeated, enunciating every syllable.
“There would be other advantages for you in this arrangement, my dear,” Sinjin continued in that haughty tone he liked to use.
“Really?” I laughed at him. “And just what sort of advantages might they be? Afterwards will I get a juice box and a cookie?”
“Bryn,” Betta said in a warning tone. “Hangry vampire, remember?”
“Blah,” I responded and waved her concern away.
“The advantages for you, little heathen, would be that first, you would be sparing another … source, or victim, as you affectionately refer to her, from having to share her blood,” Sinjin said, as if completely ignoring Betta’s and my interaction.
I shook my head. “Despite feeling sorry for the poor woman, that reason isn’t motivating enough.”
“Very well,” Sinjin said with a broad grin that suggested he had something else up his sleeve. “Sharing your blood with me would also shorten this trip significantly.”
“Shorten this trip significantly?” I repeated, eyeing him dubiously. “How is that possible?”
Sinjin smiled again, apparently pleased that he’d captured my interest. “Perhaps you do not fully realize the full effect of your blood on me, pet.”
“You said it gave you more energy and made you warm,” I recited with little interest. “And last I checked neither of those had anything to do with speeding up a road trip.”
“Yes, your blood did give me more energy and as you are well aware, it warmed me,” he started with a brief nod. “But what was even more fascinating was that it allowed me to exist in the daylight.”
A sharp pain snapped in my neck because I cranked it so quickly when I looked over at him. “What are you talking about?”
Sinjin shrugged. “Exactly what I just said.”
“My blood allowed you to walk in the sunlight?” I repeated, not intentionally sounding so doubting, but it didn’t make any sense to me.
“I am not certain if I could actually walk in the direct sunlight, because I have yet to test that theory,” Sinjin admitted as he appeared to ponder the thought. “But I could move around freely inside the walls of Kinloch Kirk during the daylight hours, yes.”
“How is that even possible?” I demanded. “I mean, making you feel warm is one thing, but this … this …” It was so incomprehensible that I couldn’t even finish my sentence.
“I do not have an answer for you, Princess,” Sinjin replied with a defeated shrug. “All I know is your blood is unlike any other. Not only did it offer me warmth in my otherwise ice-cold veins, it allowed me to behold the daylight. And that is something I have not had the pleasure of witnessing in, oh … I suppose it must be six hundred years.”
“Why didn’t you tell
me this before?”
“I did not know what to make of it myself,” he answered before falling silent as if he were again contemplating the subject. “It was purely by accident that I even discovered it,” he continued. “A few days or more after our last encounter, I was so intoxicated by your blood that I thought to chance exposing my skin to the early morning sunlight when it crept through my window.”
“Wasn’t that taking a huge chance?” Betta inquired from the backseat.
“No,” Sinjin answered. “I was not in the direct sunlight. The worst that could have happened would have been quite an ugly burn. I would have instantly sought the cover of darkness below the house. Then I could have simply healed myself.”
“Oh,” Betta answered.
“Keep going,” I urged him, genuinely interested in what he had to say.
He smiled at me knowingly as he continued his explanation. “When I held my hand in the streaming sunlight, I was amazed when nothing happened to it. Of course, the window’s glass helped to diminish some of the sun’s intensity, but ordinarily, my skin would have charred immediately.”
“Then you think drinking my blood will allow us to travel during the day?” I asked. I began eyeing him critically to see if he were just putting me on. “That’s the point you’re trying to make?”
“Yes,” Sinjin replied. “I believe I could withstand the heat of the day and the light of the sun if only I am fortified with your blood. I would, of course, also protect myself with layers of clothing as an extra precaution.”
“If we travel in the daytime, it will shorten our trip?” I asked, and he nodded. “Well, that’s all fine and good, but how does that really matter, considering I still have no idea where we’re going?”
Sinjin shrugged. “I trust you will find the solution to your dilemma soon enough. Once you do, I assume you will be eager to take your leave of me.” Then he glanced back at Betta in the rearview mirror. “Though I cannot say the same for the youngest member of our trio.”
I wasn’t sure why, but it seemed like a lot more was more riding on my response to his comment than he dared to let on. His tone of voice and the look in his eyes were hopeful. “Of course I’m eager to be rid of you,” I responded even though I felt a little bad doing so. What was worse, part of me felt deflated at the idea of parting ways with Sinjin. I didn’t know why, but whenever he was with me, I somehow felt … safe.
His expression didn’t change, but I saw something in his eyes that seemed like he was disappointed at my response. Or maybe I was just imagining things.
TWELVE
We arrived at the next “outcropping of civilization” after another thirty minutes or so. I didn’t catch the name of the town, which didn’t really matter since it was basically forgettable. It was tiny—comprised of one main street, aptly titled “Main.” It had a grocery store, a barber shop, a bar, a movie theater and one gas station. There were a few settlements of mobile homes and trailers neatly arranged along the perimeter of the single artery street.
Sinjin eased the Porsche into a parking spot directly in front of the seedy-looking bar. The bar was advertised by a broken sign that hung by a chain from one of its corners. The tattered sign proclaimed the dilapidated building to be “The Bar.” Two rather large men with long beards and huge stomachs leaned against the wall outside the establishment, both of them smoking. They could have been bikers, judging by how they were dressed: black leather jackets with skulls on the backs, huge, shiny, black boots, and bandanas tied around their heads. As soon as we pulled up, they stopped talking to each other and stared at the Porsche, which looked completely out of place in BFE.
“You’re going to feed on someone at a bar?” I asked Sinjin as I turned to face him. I failed to mask the tone of disgust from my voice. “Really?”
“Easy pickin’s, darlin’,” Sinjin responded in a feigned hick accent that sounded surprisingly authentic.
But even if Sinjin managed to see the humor in the situation, I couldn’t. There was no part of this plan that I liked. The idea of Sinjin feeding off some poor, inebriated and very unfortunate woman from a dive bar while Betta and I waited for him outside just didn’t sit well with me. No, it angered me. I wasn’t sure if that was because I felt put off by the idea of him being intimately close with another woman, or because he was basically using her selfishly, albeit for his sustenance, but mostly against her will. I mean, I couldn’t imagine any clear-thinking person willingly allowing a glorified corpse to feed off her body …
“How long will this take?” I asked. No sooner did the words pass my lips than the double entry doors opened and the bouncer “escorted” a seriously drunk man to the parking lot. He gave the guy a healthy push that nearly sent him careening into a long line of Harley Davidsons. Presumably, two of them belonged to Tweedle-Dum and Tweedle-Dee, who were leaning against the wall outside and staring at us. Luckily, the drunk managed to avoid a Harley domino effect and, instead, gathered up what little remaining balance he still possessed. He briefly started sauntering down the road before collapsing into the alley.
“It will take as long as it takes,” Sinjin answered with an unapologetic smile while opening the door. He stood up and grinned more widely at me, ostensibly to make sure I saw his fangs. “I suggest you both wait in here … and keep the doors locked.”
He didn’t give me a chance to respond before he stood up, closed the door and locked it behind him. The two men standing outside the bar immediately stopped their conversation and turned their watchful eyes on him as he approached.
“Evening, gentlemen,” I heard him say as he nodded before turning to walk inside. The larger of the two men eyed the Porsche first, and then me before I averted my eyes, feigning interest in my nails.
“Is he going to be okay in there?” Betta asked, sounding apprehensive. “This doesn’t exactly look like … you know, his sort of place.”
“He’s Sinjin,” I replied. When I looked up again, I found both men had resumed their conversation, which I took as a good thing. The less attention they paid us, the better. “I’m more worried about anyone who might try to get in his way.”
Betta nodded as if she’d temporarily forgotten Sinjin was a master vampire. The truth was he could take care of himself and then some. “So what’s he going to do in there?” she asked.
I shrugged. “My guess is he’ll find the sluttiest-looking woman at the bar, one who also happens to be blackout drunk, and he’ll take a little weight off her, so to speak.”
“And you’re okay with him getting so close to another woman?” Betta asked, eyeing me curiously.
“What do you mean?” I snapped, somewhat perplexed at her question, especially given the parameters of the awkward … friendship I shared with Sinjin. “Of course I’m okay with it. Why wouldn’t I be?”
It was Betta’s turn to shrug. “Well, I don’t know. I mean, I guess that, well, from what Sinjin said about the whole … process, I guess that it’s probably pretty …”
“Pretty what, Betta?” I asked when it appeared she couldn’t spit the words out.
“Well, you know … sexual, right?” she admitted finally. I could hear the embarrassment in her voice and I could only imagine her cheeks were every shade of red.
“I have no idea!” I railed back. I wasn’t comfortable with the fact that my heartbeat had suddenly sped up and my hands were growing clammy. “And even if it is … sexual, what do I care?” I finished. “It’s not like I’m interested in Sinjin AT ALL!”
“Well …” Betta started before clearing her throat, “I just thought that … maybe you were.”
“I’m not,” I insisted.
“Okay.”
“No, seriously, I’m really not.”
“Okay.”
But the truth was, I did care, although I didn’t want to admit it. There was a huge boulder in my stomach that hadn’t been there earlier and a strange, sinking feeling started inside me as soon as I imagined what could be going on behind clos
ed doors. I wasn’t given much time to ponder the sudden bizarre feelings because seconds later, I was assaulted by a horrible shooting pain behind my eyes. I dropped my forehead into my hands and clenched my eyes shut tightly, desperately trying to ward away the pain.
“Are you okay?” Betta asked and I felt her hand on my shoulder.
The pain throbbed behind my eyelids, pulsing in sync with my heartbeat. I recognized the pain—an invasion into my head; no, my thoughts. “It’s Luce,” I said as I tried to focus on the shooting pain behind my eyes. I figured by focusing on it harder, I might be successful in willing it away. But the agony remained, which meant Luce was doing his damnedest to cross my barriers.
“Oh, no!” Betta yelled as she sorted through her backpack. “We forgot to take another dose of the Protectant!” The sounds of shuffling continued as she searched for the vial in question. My head was still throbbing even though I did my best to ward the discomfort as well as the source away. But nothing helped. It soon became pretty obvious that Luce was beefing up his attempts to locate us and throwing all his energy into the attack to bust down my defenses. As to why he didn’t target Betta, I had no idea.
“Hurry, Betta,” I managed to grind out despite the searing pain.
“Here!” she answered, placing the vial into my palm as I forced my eyes open. I didn’t waste any time and dumped the powder into my palm. Bringing it up to my nose, I covered one nostril and snorted it through the other. I immediately felt the urge to sneeze. Once that reaction subsided, I took a few deep breaths and happily discovered the stabbing feeling behind my eyes was diminishing. I took another deep breath and faced Betta with a hesitant smile.
The remnants of white powder stained her upper lip so I figured she’d just taken her dose of the Protectant as well.