I didn't ask Gladrielle why she was responsible for the Count becoming a vampire and she didn't volunteer, not until we were in my car heading to the city.
“You can ask me if you want,” she said, breaking the silence. “I don't mind talking about it.”
I glanced at her and smiled. “I am a mermaid, and we do have a reputation for being, how shall I put this, curious.”
Gladrielle returned my smile, although it was a sad smile. “He fell in love with me, not an uncommon occurrence, humans falling in love with elves. They do seem to find us physically appealing. But I suspect you have some experience with that.”
“Some,” I admitted. “But I'm not sure how his falling in love with you turned him into a vampire.”
“When he told me that he loved me, I rejected him, told him that it would never work out.”
“Because . . . .” I said, when she looked out the side window, lost in her memories.
“Because he was mortal and I'm immortal.”
“So he figured if he became immortal, the two of you could be together.”
Gladrielle nodded. “That's pretty much it.”
“But it didn't work out that way.”
Gladrielle smiled, another sad smile. “I forgot to tell him how my people viewed the Nephilim and their descendants.”
“Did you love him?”
Supernaturals, myself included, might not be capable of love, but elves had no such problem. One of the things that separated the Nephilim and their descendants from angels, and elves, and humans. One of the reasons they viewed us as polluted. They were capable of loving someone else, from what I had seen, we weren't.
“I liked him,” Gladrielle said. “He was, kind. At least when he was human.”
“But you didn't love him.”
“How I felt was irrelevant.”
“So you did love him.”
“Didn’t matter. He had been corrupted. We could never be together.”
Did you tell him that?”
“Eventually, when he refused to give up.”
“How did he take it?”
“He turned and walked out of the room.”
“And?”
“And I haven't seen him since.”
We rode in silence for awhile. Mostly because I didn't know what to say. Her version of the story certainly made it sound like she was responsible for the Count becoming a vampire. I say her version of the story because one thing being a cop had taught me was that no two versions of a story are the same. Everybody has a slightly different version of the same story. For all I knew, she was nothing more than a footnote in the Count's life. He might not even remember her.
“So what kind of powers do you have?” I asked Gladrielle. “Aside from the ability to hide your true appearance and make humans fall in love with you.”
“I can take away pain.”
“Which is why you were the one that tried to help the Count's sister.”
She nodded. “Yes.”
“And?”
“I can control energy.”
She held out a hand, palm up. A few seconds later, a ball of fire appeared floating above her palm, looking just like a miniature sun.
“Can all elves do that or just you?”
“We all excel at different things, the same way all humans are unique. It's how the Creator designs his creations.”
Which according to track suit and some of the other elves, didn't include me or my kind. Although in truth, I didn't really think of vampires, and werewolves, and gnomes, and bogeymen, as my kind. We didn't have a whole lot in common with each other than the fact we weren't human.
“Does the Count know you live around here?” I asked Gladrielle.
“That's a good question. My guess is no.”
“How do you think he'll react when he sees you?”
“Another good question.”
“Which you don't have an answer to.”
“You've seen him more recently than I have. How do you think he'll react?”
“He claimed that he barely remembered his life before he became a vampire. That being said, other vamps have told me that they never forget when they were turned. They say it's the most vivid memory in their minds.”
“I wonder why that is.”
“When they're turned, their senses change, which changes how they see, hear, and smell the world around them.”
“Then I suspect he'll remember me. One of the first things he did after being turned was to come to my village. When he got there, he told me what he did, told me that now we could be together, forever.”
“At which point you told him how your people viewed the Nephilim and their offspring.”
“And when I did, he walked out the door without looking back.”
“I'm guessing he'll remember you. Although he might pretend that he doesn't.”
“How do you think he'll react to seeing me?”
“Now that's the million dollar question, isn't it.” I glanced at Gladrielle. “Either way, I think your showing up will fulfill my end of our deal.”
“What exactly was your deal?”
“He gave me forty-eight hours to find someone who's been around as long as him, someone who could amuse him.”
“Otherwise he would kill your friends?”
“Yes.”
Gladrielle leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes. “This should be interesting.”