“Anastazia,” Robertson said, interrupting her thoughts. “We are not crazy, and we do not need to be Baker Acted.”
She’d only thought that. How did he know?
“You can’t be vampires,” she said, lamely, “because I’ve seen you all eat and drink and go outside and drive cars!”
Matthias laughed at that one. “Vampires don’t drive cars?”
“They don’t in the movies. I think.”
He laughed again. Tim sent him a warning look. “The movies are just that, Taz, movies,” Tim explained. “Most of what popular culture knows about vampires is a myth created by Hollywood, not real life.”
“Because vampires are so misunderstood. Yeah, I get that. Just like the Tooth Fairy gets screwed while Santa Claus gets all the glory.”
“Anastazia!”
“That was actually pretty funny,” Matthias said.
Robertson turned on him. “You are not helping, Matthias.”
“I killed the demon. I say that counts as helping.”
Taz laughed despite herself. “I would say that counts. If it really happened.”
Tim threw his hands in the air and motioned for Matthias to take over. “Fine. You try to help her through this. I’ve only known her all her life and you…haven’t.” Telling her now of Matthias’ ten-year crush might not be the wisest choice.
Matthias hesitated, then sat in Tim’s vacated chair.
Then he looked her in the eye and smiled.
Oh, Jesus, that smile! It took her breath away and started a deep, longing ache inside her. No one ever made her feel like that. What were they talking about again?
Matthias waited for her eyes to settle and focus on him, his voice so soft she had to carefully tune her full attention.
“Anastazia,” he whispered. A delicious shiver ran up her spine and spread through her very core. “Are you all right?”
She slowly nodded, unable to pull her gaze from him.
She didn’t want to.
“I know this is difficult to believe. We understand you’re upset. We never wanted you to find out like this. This wasn’t the plan. But I have to protect you.”
“I can protect myself.”
“Of course you can.”
“Don’t patronize me, Matthias.”
He paused. She didn’t miss the satisfied smirk Robertson shot Matthias. “I’m not patronizing you, Anastazia. There is a lot for you to learn. You must get past this initial shock, and then we can get started.”
Taz fought the urge to lean over and kiss him. He wasn’t wearing cologne. He never did, but he smelled like bath soap and laundry detergent, his deodorant, and something else that made her want to reach over and…
She blinked. Holy crap, what is wrong with me? “You can’t convince me you all aren’t seriously whacked.”
Matthias nodded. “I know.”
She looked at them again. “You’re all crazy.”
He shook his head. “We’re not crazy. This situation, yes, is crazy.”
Robertson used a handkerchief to pick up the knife and carefully handed it to Matthias. She noticed they kept the cloth between their flesh and the weapon. Matthias showed it to her, and when she reached out to touch it, he pulled it back. “No. Never touch a demon’s knife with your bare hands.”
She looked. Made of metal, it resembled stainless steel, but darker. Several large, maroon stones were embedded in the rough handle, which was wrapped with a strange leather cord. It radiated a horrible feeling, a sick heat.
She turned away, unable to look at it. “No.”
Albert took it away. Even though he hadn’t actually touched the metal, Matthias wiped his hands on his pants. “There are a lot of things we must teach you. I can’t begin to explain it all.”
“What about his other…stuff?” She motioned to the briefcase and papers on the table.
“I’ll get them,” Robertson said, clearing the table.
“It won’t hurt him to touch that?”
“It’s just their tools,” Matthias explained. “The forged items you cannot ever touch. Or the demon itself, until you’re strong enough to fight.”
She still had trouble processing all of this. But she felt a little calmer.
“Vampire?” she asked him.
He nodded.
“Let me see your teeth.”
He suppressed a laugh and opened his mouth.
“You don’t have fangs.”
“Hollywood myth.”
She looked at Albert and Robertson. “Vampire?”
Matthias nodded.
She fell quiet for a long moment. “I don’t feel so good.”
“That’s understandable,” Matthias said. “This has been quite a shock for you.”
She watched them, and they didn’t interrupt her thoughts. Finally, in a soft voice that didn’t sound like her, she said, “Why are you doing this to me? Why are you putting me through this?”
* * * *
Matthias wanted to reach out and hold her. He also knew if he did, it would send her running. Just to be this close to her and have the secret out, despite the circumstances, was a relief.
Tim, sensing her mood, stepped forward again. “Taz, we never wanted this to happen,” he said from behind Matthias. “This isn’t how we wanted you to find out. We were going to ease you into it, reveal things slowly, and once we had shown you many things, put a name to it.”
“You go out in the daytime. I spent three fucking days in a car with you,” she said to Matthias.
He nodded. “Hollywood lied. Imagine that.”
He sensed her choke back a reluctant laugh.
He smiled. “Anastazia,” he said, “just let us explain—”
“So, I’m going to be some sort of sick blood feast for you?”
“No!” all three men yelled in unison, making her jump.
“It’s not like that,” Matthias said. “If I called it something else, a shared genetic mutation, would that make it easier to understand?”
“No. And a ‘shared genetic mutation’ doesn’t explain you murdering that guy.” Taz stood, circling the room and avoiding Tim and Albert. Matthias remained seated.
“I didn’t murder him. You saw him. He had a knife. He was attacking you. Thank God—” He stopped before getting into further details about Murry. She had enough on her plate to deal with. The issue of their talking cat could wait. “Thank God we came back when we did. I would never forgive myself if anyone hurt you.”
* * * *
Taz wanted to go to Matthias, hug him, but she felt too pissed. Why couldn’t he be a sweet, cute guy without the crazy bullshit? “I’m having a hard time understanding this. Am I losing my mind? Am I dreaming? I must be dreaming, right? I’m asleep in my office right now, and I’ve dozed off at my desk…”
All three men shook their heads.
Matthias stood. “Please hear me out. Let me tell you some things, and we can go from there.”
Chapter Twelve
“We don’t need blood to feed,” Matthias explained to Taz. “That’s a myth.”
“What about sunlight?” she asked. “You don’t blow up?”
He turned to the conference-room window and opened the blinds. The late afternoon sun streamed in, making her blink. “Another myth,” he said. “Our eyes are sometimes extremely sensitive to it. And yes, we can get sunburned like anyone else. You’ve seen me outside.”
“Break out the SPF 5,000,” she quipped.
His lips curled in a smile, but he didn’t reply.
“So, you aren’t a bloodsucker?” she asked.
He looked like he wanted to weigh his words. “There are,” he answered, “some old traditions, old rituals. I’m not sure I can adequately explain the full workings of them to you right now.”
“Because, what, I’m not worthy?”
“No, because I don’t know how to explain them without you understanding everything first.” He turned to the city beyond the glass. “Centuries ago, yo
u couldn’t drive down to GNC for the latest vitamins and iron supplements. Animals, plants, and people were it. Less refined people, people with more advanced forms of the condition, frequently felt a craving sort of like some pregnant women get.”
“This is way more than pickles and ice cream,” she snarked.
“I’m not trying to justify it. I’m trying to explain it.” He turned from the window. “Do you know what it’s like outliving everyone you love? Having to move every few decades and give up your life to create a new one because you don’t want to answer uncomfortable questions? Having to watch the world embrace those horrible books, movies and”— he shuddered—“role-playing games romanticizing all these myths?”
“So why aren’t there more of you?”
He walked around the table and took his seat. “We cannot all breed and produce someone with the genes to pass it on.”
“Such a romantic. I’m surprised you’re still single.”
“Do you want answers or not?”
She held her hand out for him to continue.
“It’s like trying to breed a horse and a donkey. You get a hybrid. Not all hybrids are able to reproduce. Or look at it like a recessive gene. You have to find someone who carries the right combination of DNA to have a baby that has the traits to carry the line. It’s not uncommon for those of our kind to have children, but the vast majority of them are all human without the genetic mutations, or weak hybrids without enough of the DNA to pass on. We cannot interbreed the most powerful vampires if they are related. Imagine Deliverance with fangs.”
Yergh. “I thought you said you didn’t need blood to feed?”
“We don’t. But there was a tendency toward poor impulse control among the extremely inbred when that was still a common occurrence. A thirst for the adrenaline rush of the hunt and kill. Most Clans no longer have that problem. Rogues are few and far between and weeded out by us if they become dangerous.”
“So, no herds of human sheep? No dirt-filled coffins?”
He looked sick again. “The only truths are extreme longevity, mental powers, and the ability to heal quickly. In some of us.”
“What about the incredible flaming boy?”
“That’s different. That wasn’t a vampire. That was a demon.”
She held her head. This was too much. Then it hit her. “Where’s the hidden camera? I’m being Punk’d, right? This is a joke, or a test? Some sort of weird, twisted, sick kind of hazing?”
Matthias leaned back in his chair. “No.”
She paced in front of the window. “Why are you doing this to me?”
“I’ve watched your family for years. Your mother was descended from the Eastern European Clan.”
She wheeled around. “You what?”
He nodded. “You are of the line. That’s why Robertson has taken care of you since you were a baby.”
She tried to think of the implications. She’d yell at Robertson later. “So, what, you’re trying to bring me in to breed with you?”
Matthias jumped to his feet so fast she missed the movement. “That’s not why I hired you. I hired you because you’re good at what you do, and we need that now more than ever.” His voice softened. “I would never force myself on you.”
She stared at him. “But, you were hoping I would throw myself at you?”
“If you wish to get to know me better, that’s fine with me. I won’t lie to you. I find you extremely attractive. If nothing ever happens between us personally, at least you are now aware of your background and under our full protection.”
She sat, suddenly feeling tired and drained. Under other circumstances, his revelation about finding her attractive would have had her doing summersaults. Unfortunately, the whole crazy vampire bullshit put a damper on her enthusiasm. “I don’t know any more now than I did a few minutes ago. Demons? Vampires?”
“Demons are not exactly what you think they are. And like Tim said, that…thing wasn’t technically a demon.”
“Let me guess. They’re not the spawn of Satan, they’re just misunderstood?”
“No. What that thing was, it’s a creature more dust and energy than anything. That’s why he disappeared the way he did. When you strike them with that sword it breaks the surface tension. They dissolve. Its ‘body’ does anyway. Its spirit—I’m not sure if you can call it that—disappears, but it doesn’t get destroyed. They can regroup. However, it takes a while to rebuild a form. They are dark. They are real. As for Satan, I can’t answer that. I always had the impression those creatures were free agents. True demons are nothing like the myths. I would hope if Satan was real that he would have better organization among his minions.”
She was quiet. “So how old are you?”
“Do you really want to know?”
She nodded.
“I was nearly one hundred when Columbus discovered America.”
She dropped her head to the table and laughed. “This isn’t happening.”
Albert placed a folder on the table next to her. “The lab work.”
“What?” She looked up at him. “What lab work?”
“You gave blood for the hiring process, the drug screening.”
“Let me guess. You didn’t screen for drugs?”
“Only for the DNA markers. We wanted to be sure. There have been a lot of advances in testing the past few years, and we needed a fresh sample from you.”
She snatched up the folder and opened it, reading, not sure what she was looking for. Inside she found a report, a letter addressed to Matthias, summing it up.
Preliminary testing shows the sample provided contains the DNA markers we are actively tracking for the EE, WE, and NA Clans, with less than ten percent dilution factor, genetic traits sufficient enough…
“Well, at least my cholesterol is good.” She closed the folder and pushed it away, feeling ill. “I’m related to vampires?”
Albert shook his head. “You’re not related to vampires. You are a vampire.”
“I need air.” She bolted out the door to the terrace. Closing her eyes, the cool breeze washed over her.
This isn’t happening.
“Taz, I’m so sorry.”
Robertson’s voice startled her. She wasn’t sure she wanted to talk to him.
She wanted to throw him off the roof.
“The feelings I’ve had for you are real. You are like a daughter to me, but I had a job to do.”
Her voice bore a granite edge. “You did it very well.”
“I do love you, Taz. Please believe me. I had to protect and prepare you—”
“You never mentioned anything about exploding demons or crazy vampire bosses!” She turned on him. “So what really happened to my parents?”
He shook his head. “We don’t know. When their plane went down, Matthias sent in a fleet of search and rescue teams to try to find them. He had nothing to do with their disappearance. How do you think they managed to stay alive and out of trouble for so many years?”
“You helped them. They couldn’t have found their asses with both hands and a flashlight if it wasn’t for you. You ran their lives.”
He snorted, the first time she ever heard him make that sound. “Not by myself, I didn’t. If it wasn’t for Matthias’ resources, I never could have handled them. He did his best to protect them, as he does others in your situation. There are so few, he tries to take all reasonable measures when he identifies someone of the line who is very strong.”
She grabbed the back of a chair and held on, suddenly feeling very dizzy. Her head buzzed as her vision swam. When she collapsed, Robertson yelled for help, and she felt him catch her…
* * * *
Taz dreamed about her parents. Eric’s green eyes and rakish smile fit well with his Irish brogue. Her mother, Bianca, met him while filming in Dublin, and they were a match made in heaven. Except when they fought, which was often. He drank and chased women during his off-seasons, but Bianca always took him back, as if she couldn’t resist his ch
arms. And she was no angel either. People jumped to fulfill her every whim—except Robertson. He was the one stable force in the Proctor household, not just for her but for her parents, too.
Taz dreamed about driving lessons with her father, times spent in the garage with him learning about cars. Robertson always hovered in the background watching over her, protecting her. Feeling more like a dad than her own father.
Her high school graduation, one of the few times her parents were together and smiling and there for her, and how they flew out that evening from LAX leaving her alone with Robertson to take her out to dinner in celebration…
Watching the TV reports, seeing publicity shots of her mom, her ice-blue eyes flashing on the screen while rescuers combed the wilds outside Rio looking for their small plane. Less famous than her mother, her father got second mention every time. It was always, “Actress Bianca Proctor and husband, race-car driver Eric Proctor, are missing…”
And Robertson there, holding her, helping her, taking over for her, providing a shield from the public, ensuring her the privacy to grieve…
* * * *
Taz awoke in a dim room and lying on a soft couch. There was a cool, damp cloth on her forehead and a light blanket covering her. She started to sit up, remembered what happened, and opted to stay where she was until the dizziness abated.
“You’re okay.” Matthias was at her side. He snapped on a lamp. “You fainted. It was shock.” Concern lined his face.
She regretted taking this job. She should have followed her instincts to run. How much of her life was a sham, with Matthias Hawthorne pulling the strings?
“How long have you been watching me?”
“I wanted to make sure you were okay.”
“Huh? No, I mean how long, how many years?”
“Oh. We’ve tracked your family line for decades, ever since I untangled the genealogy after World War II. A lot of Clan members were scattered, many killed, during the wars in Europe. When your mother and father married and had you, I realized there was a potential danger to you because of their irresponsible behavior. That’s when I stepped in and made sure you had Tim to care for you. Once he realized you were much more powerful than just a hybrid, he stayed to keep you safe until you were old enough to bring in.”