The sun was again high in the sky, and light was streaming between the slats of the blinds on the windows when Anne-Marie woke up. She sat up, dangling her legs off the side of the bed, and listened for any sign of Neko close by. Like yesterday, the house was silent. Her communer was still on the nightstand next to the bed, and she snatched at it as if it might run away. She hit the button to connect to Andrej. Even though it was daylight, she had to risk disturbing him again. She had to get out of this place, clearly Neko couldn’t be trusted no matter what Andrej thought. The connection was made, and she saw Andrej’s face on the screen.
“Oh thank god!” she said.
“Ok, wait, wait. I already know what happened. I talked to Neko last night.”
“Andrej you have to get me out of here,” she said, not letting him finish. “He’s already tried to kill me!”
He looked at her sympathetically. “No, he wasn’t going to kill you,” he assured her. “But you are more of a temptation to him than I counted on.”
“If you knew he was after me why did you send me with him? Let me come back to Prague. I’ll stay at the apartment, out of the way where those guys can’t get at me and you can do whatever you need to do. Please don’t make me stay here with him.”
“Anne-Marie, calm down. If he’d wanted to hurt you he could have done so last night, but he didn’t. You’re fine, you’ll be fine. He swore to me he won’t lay a finger on you without your permission.”
“He said that before and look what he tried.”
She was so agitated he was beginning to think he wasn’t going to be able to reason with her.
“It’s only going to be another day or so before you can come back. Things are almost finished here,” he said. “Neko can control himself that long.”
For the first time, she saw impatience on his face. He took a breath, looking down at the floor where he was, then looked up at her with a resolute air. She swallowed hard, and thoughts of becoming the next one to be ‘dealt with’ started to cross her mind.
“No, you’re not in any danger from me, or Neko. Believe me when I tell you this. I’m as frustrated about the situation as you are.” Even at this distance, with all the tension floating back and forth between them, he was able to read her thoughts. “You have to understand, with us, with vampires,” he started to say, then paused. “I wish we could have this conversation in person, this doesn’t feel right,” he added. “But the upshot is, when we are attracted to a human, really attracted, it’s nearly impossible to not at least try to share their blood.”
“I’ve never heard you say it that way before.”
“Neko is finding himself very much drawn to you. It’s like being head over heels in love with someone. He’s a little obsessed right now, which is what happens to us. He can smell your blood, just being in the same room with you. It’s like being a little bit intoxicated. He may not always use the best judgment, but I guarantee the way he’s feeling the last thing he wants to do is hurt you.”
She was horrified. “How could you let him take me away, knowing that?”
“Because of all people, besides myself that is, he would fight to the death to protect you.”
“You should have told me, you should have warned me.”
“I’m sorry. Perhaps I should have, but you never would have agreed to go with him if I had, would you?”
“No, I wouldn’t.” She didn’t know what she would have done. Left on her own? Left Andrej? She looked into the communer again, angry, hurt. “Of all people, I would have let you take my blood, as often as you wanted. I know you promised you never would, but if you asked me I would have let you.”
He fumbled for a cigarette, giving himself an excuse to look away. “I made that promise because I wanted you to feel safe with me.”
“I do feel safe with you, I always have,” she said. “I’m not afraid of letting you drink my blood.”
He waited a moment, then said, “Let’s talk about that more when you get back, ok? For now, things are under control.”
“Wait, where is he anyway?” As she said that she noticed the recorded message indicator blinking at her from her communer. She activated the recording and they both listened to Neko’s voice explaining he was going out to find what he needed to get his mind off Anne-Marie for a bit. Anne-Marie gave a triumphant “Aha!”
“I know how strange this will sound,” Andrej said, “but please try to have a little compassion for what he’s going through right now. I need to emphasize how difficult it can be for us to control ourselves when we’re strongly drawn to someone. We don’t always have the same self-control we might have had as humans. But he won’t try anything stupid like yesterday again. The fact that he has fought his urge to drink your blood, in spite of how he’s feeling, speaks volumes. He is trying, hard, to keep his word.”
Still angry, she wasn’t ready to be pacified. She tried to remind herself that Andrej had never lied to her, or misled her about any other aspect of what it meant to be a vampire. Suddenly she remembered Daisy. “Hey, who is this Daisy person?” she demanded.
“Oh good, you met her.”
“So she’s legit? She said you go way back.”
“Yes, she’s a very old friend.”
“And you didn’t think to mention her to me before because…?”
“Jesus, what is this, the Spanish Inquisition? I got in touch with her after you called yesterday. I thought you might like her, and having another woman around.”
Neither spoke for a moment. Anne-Marie broke the silence by changing the subject. “How are things working out?”
Knowing what she was asking, and knowing the links were never entirely secure, he kept his answer vague.
“Things are going well. It was a small project, it should be finished tonight.”
“I’ll catch a flight out tomorrow then.” she said. “Are the tickets already booked?”
“Neko has the details.”
She groaned. “What about Daisy? Why can’t she go with me instead?”
“She’s got some business in that area she needs to take care of right now. She could spare some time to look in on you, but she can’t get away right now.”
This struck Anne-Marie as odd. Vampires came and went as they pleased, and as Stoker had noted, the dead travel fast. Whatever was preventing Daisy from leaving Greece had to be something extraordinary. But, it looked like there was no getting around traveling with Neko. Somehow she would have to reach an understanding with him. She didn’t answer right away, not looking forward to having to spend yet more time with him.
“Hey, come on,” he said, “You’ll back here before you know it. We’ll be back to normal, everything will be fine. You’ll see. When you talk to Neko later, give him a chance. He can be reasonable. Listen, I have to go, but you are not to try coming back on your own. I don't want you alone and unguarded, clear?"
"Fine, I promise."
"You don't know what these guys are capable of. I've seen what they're willing to do."
That sent a chill down Anne-Marie's spine. "I still think it would have been better if I had just stayed in Prague, closer to you."
"Maybe you're right," Andrej said, rubbing his forehead, "but what's done can't be undone."
When she opened the door to head downstairs, she found a rose on the floor in front of the door. One perfect blood red rose. Her own blood froze for a minute. An apology? Or perhaps he had decided to change tack and try to court her instead. She took a deep breath and, rose in hand, decided to go in search of him and find out.
As she came down the stairs she heard music drifting from the back of the house, someone playing a piano. She knew there was more to the house that she hadn’t seen; that there was a piano and perfect acoustics was no great surprise. She followed the music down the hall and found Neko in a large room seated at a grand piano. She pulled up short in surprise. As soon as he saw her in the doorway he stopped playing and stood up. She was still holding the rose which she now regretted. She d
idn’t want him to think this excused his drugging her the day before. He didn’t say anything, giving her a chance to start the conversation. He swallowed, silently waiting.
“That was pretty. What was it?”
“It’s a Chopin nocturne. Always kicked my butt when I was a kid and had to take piano lessons.”
He was full of surprises today. A classically trained pianist vampire biker underworld thug. Her head was starting to hurt again. She tried to picture him as a child. Somehow she hadn’t ever considered that vampires had once been children. Human children, with homework, and chores, friends and pets. The few times she had tried to ask Andrej about his past had taught her to quit asking. Neko, on the other hand, had no such hesitation regarding talking about his own history.
She shifted awkwardly, not sure what to say next. Remembering the rose in her hand, she said, “Thank you for the rose,” then waited, not wanting to put words in his mouth or let him off the hook too easily.
“You’re welcome,” he said, brightening a little. “It’s just my attempt to say I’m sorry about yesterday, and it won’t happen again.”
Perhaps Andrej was right, and it had been a momentary lapse of judgment, which had however given her the single worst headache of her life and made her consider death a dear, overdue friend.
“I appreciate that,” she said. Show no fear, she kept thinking, as if he were an animal. In a way he was, and humans were his prey. He remained standing at the piano, making no move to get closer to her. She cleared her throat, trying to find the words to start a conversation she didn’t want to have.
“So, I spoke to Andrej a little while ago,” she said.
Neko nodded, looking down at the keys. “I talked to him after I took you up to bed last night. He already knew something was up. I’ve never seen a bond like you two have. I get now why it was so hard for you to leave him.”
“He’s extraordinary, and he’s been a lifesaver to me.”
He came around the piano. She held her ground, even though her flight response was nearly overwhelming her.
“You don’t have to be afraid of me anymore than you are of him,” Neko said. He stopped a few feet away from her. She looked around the room, and saw a set of chairs and loveseat arranged as if a small audience was expected for a performance. She walked over and sat on one of the chairs.
“Neko, I want to believe that, I really do, but you’re not making it easy.”
“I completely understand that, but I’d like the chance to make it up to you.”
Oh god, she thought, now what? “What do you mean?”
“Let me take you out for dinner tonight. We’ll be heading back to Prague tomorrow and this will all be behind us. I’d like to end it with some good memories for you, make up for the last couple days.”
It was easy to forget how old he was, how much time he’d had to polish his performance. The rose, the apology, the piano, and now a dinner invitation. He knew how to pour on the charm when he wanted to, she thought. She ached to be back with Andrej. Maybe it was time to let him mark her, go through whatever she had to in order to keep other vampires at bay. “You’d have to drink my blood,” he’d said. The idea nearly made her ill. It would also bind her to him forever, there would be no changing her mind about leaving after that.
She realized she’d been letting her thoughts drift, while Neko was waiting for an answer about dinner. It would be a public place, if they were going out. It might be safer, she reasoned.
“I thought we needed to stay here at the house, to be on the safe side?” she asked.
“I think we can risk going out for a few hours, see a little of Athens. I don’t know when you’ll get another chance to visit.”
“All right,” she said at last, trying to put on a brave face. She forced a smile, for what it was worth, but since he could read her thoughts he knew she still didn’t completely trust him and likely never would.
That evening, after showering and dressing, she went downstairs to find Neko. As she walked into the living room she was startled to see a man in a tailored, expensive dark gray suit standing at the windows on the other side of the room with his back to her. She stopped at the entrance to the room, unsure whether she should turn and run back upstairs or walk in and announce herself. If this was a member of the crime syndicate that owned the house, she had no wish to meet or see any of them. Before she could make a move either way the man seemed to become aware of her and turned around. She couldn’t have been more surprised. It was Neko.
“Wow,” she said before she could catch herself.
He grinned wide, getting a chuckle out of her astonishment. “Yeah, I’ve been told I clean up pretty good,” he said.
“I’d say so.” She’d never seen him in anything but his biker leather, or tee-shirts that showed off his full sleeve tattoos. This was like meeting his twin from another universe. Still flustered, she stammered, “You look wonderful.”
He beamed, crossing the room to where she stood, and extended his arm to her. As she took his arm he led her out the front door where a sleek silver convertible was parked, waiting for them.
She looked at him, her mouth slightly open in surprise. “You’re just pulling out all the stops,” she said and tried to laugh. “You sure they won’t mind if you use the car?”
He waved one hand dismissively as he opened her door with his other hand. “Like I said, these guys owe me. One night’s use of a car doesn’t even begin to cover it.”
He took her to the restaurant of a very expensive, exclusive hotel. Even with Andrej she had never been wined and dined in this fashion. Neko made sure to keep the conversation light, telling her tales of his childhood in the city, stories of his extensive family. Even though he couldn’t actually eat the meal, he ordered some food. It was disconcerting to hear him speak so openly about his past, while in contrast Andrej guarded his own history like the crown jewels.
“You must have been quite a handful for your parents,” she said after he finished telling her about some event that landed him in prison for the third or fourth time. She was losing count.
“I think my mother gave up on me by the time I was twelve,” he said with a laugh.
“Have you always been this biker, tough guy?”
“Oh lord no,” he said. “You can’t keep the same thing going all this time without getting completely bored with it. Besides, it helps to keep your cover if you reinvent yourself now and then.”
“Makes sense.” It helped explain his dramatic shifts from badass biker to classical pianist, and urbane, witty host for the evening.
On the drive back to the house she watched him out of the corner of her eye. In spite of his playful attitude and comic stories she had to think some part of him was not the affable, devil-may-care person he tried to portray himself as.
“It doesn’t bother you to talk about your past?” she asked.
“Well, I don’t like to bore people with ancient history,” he said, “but no, it’s nice to think about it sometimes.”
“Andrej won’t tell me anything,” she commented.
“He’s like that. He prefers not to dwell on the past.”
“Has he ever told you anything about his human life?”
“Sure, now and then. He’s told me bits and pieces over the years.”
“Like what?”
“Well, that would be walking on sacred ground to get into that. I can’t tell you anything he wouldn’t tell you himself,” he said turning to look at her for a second.
“I was just wondering if he ever talked to anyone about it.”
“Maybe in time he’ll tell you some of it. You know you haven’t been with him all that long, on our timescale.”
“I suppose that’s true.”
As they arrived at the house he pulled up at the front door to let her out before taking the car to the garage. He gave her the house key: a light stick that emitted a special harmonic that unlocked the door.
Once inside, she went to the
kitchen for a glass of water. Neko came in after parking the car, startling her into nearly dropping the glass.
“Whoa, whoa, easy there,” he said, catching the glass as it slid from her hand. “I thought we were doing good tonight. Maybe not as good as I thought.” He stood looking at her, glass in his hand.
Embarrassed again, she took a step back. “No, no it’s fine. I just didn’t hear you come in. You’re so quiet when you walk.”
“All part of the package.” He reached around behind her and took two wine glasses from where they stood on the counter, then grabbed a fresh bottle of wine and poured some into each glass. “No funny business, I promise,” he said as he handed her a glass, then took a sip of his own as if to prove the point.
“Here, come with me.” He took her hand and guided her down the hall, back to the music room, and seated her in the chair nearest to the piano. He went to the piano and sat down, and began playing a quiet, soothing piece.
After listening for a minute, Anne-Marie said, “More Chopin?”
“Very good, you have a good ear. The nocturnes were always my favorites.” He continued playing, losing himself in the music.
Anne-Marie thought it was like watching a butterfly emerge from a cocoon, although she knew what he was trying to do. Her conversation with Andrej had put her on her guard with Neko, knowing he was trying to court her, gain her trust. She still didn’t like the idea of allowing him to drink her blood. If she was going to let anyone, as long as it was her choice, the only vampire she wanted to touch her was Andrej. As he finished playing she applauded for a moment. He took a mock bow, then walked over to sit in the chair next to her. She avoided making eye contact with him, not wanting to give him an opportunity to try anything. She wanted to deflect any attempts on his part to prolong the romantic tone he was trying to set.
“These crusaders—how long have they been following Andrej? Do they follow you, too?”
Neko shrugged. “Eh, they come around every so often when they think they’ve got a better idea about how to get rid of us. They make an attempt, we put them in their place, and they go back underground for awhile.”
“Put them in their place?”
“Well, we’ve had to rough them up a bit in the past,” he admitted.
“It’s like a gang war that’s been going on for centuries. Have they killed many vampires?”
“Not many, we’re usually quick enough to minimize the damage.”
Damage. A sterile way to view it, as if treating their dead friends like inanimate objects made the losses easier to bear. Neko showed no emotion as he talked. Anne-Marie wondered if any of the other vampires who had been killed had been friends of his, or particularly close to him, but neither he nor Andrej socialized much with humans or vampires.
“So, when you talked with Andrej, I guess you talked about what happened yesterday,” Neko said.
She had hoped to avoid this conversation entirely, hoping Neko would just let it go, but apparently that wasn’t going to happen. She sipped her wine, trying to steady her nerves. “Yes, we did.”
He screwed up his mouth, seeming embarrassed.
“Look, Neko, I can’t pretend to know how you feel, but I’m hoping some part of you remembers what it feels like from my end.”
His fist clenched and unclenched. “I do, I do.”
As she watched, something in him shifted, almost as if he had physically diminished in size. “I’m sorry, I know this is just how it is for you, but I’m still kind of new to this way of life.”
“You’re tough, I like that about you. Not too many people in your position would stand up to me.”
“Yeah, well, I guess that’s how I got into this whole mess to begin with.”
He laughed a little, then became more somber. “I want you to know I consider you one of us, part of our little tribe, if you will. Even though you’re still mortal, you’ve adapted to life with vampires better than any assistant or servitor I’ve seen. You live among us, and accept us. It’s refreshing, comforting even, to be able to be completely honest with someone. Living a lie is so much a part of what I am, especially in the line of work I’m in now. Meeting someone I don’t have to lie to is like, well, kind of like coming home.”
Anne-Marie was completely caught off-guard by this. She hadn’t thought him capable of this depth of thought or feeling, or making heartfelt speeches, and for once her cynical instincts slid back out of sight.
“Thank you. I never thought of that, how hard it must be never being able to trust anyone.” For a moment she thought she saw a tear in his eye, but that couldn’t be. Hadn’t Andrej told her vampires couldn’t cry?
“So,” he began slowly, “would it be asking so much to have a little of your blood? I need to feed, and I don’t want to leave you alone here if I can help it. I know I’m not your first choice, but I can be every bit as gentle as Andrej. You’ll never feel a thing, I promise.”
She sipped her wine. Maybe she was being ridiculous. To live among vampires and expect they’d never drink her blood was not realistic.
“Well, I guess so,” she said and took another sip of wine. She knew Andrej preferred his victims to be clean and sober, but she needed the wine, and had given it to her, after all.
He held out his hand to her. “Thank you for your trust. Let me walk you up to your room, and you can lie down and be comfortable.”
She looked at him uncertainly.
“It’s just a little easier, for both of us. I can do it right here if you’d rather?”
She stood up and looked him square in the eye. “I think I’d rather.”
“Whatever you say, you’re the boss.” He took her hand, and gently pulled her to him. “I can hear your heart racing. Do you want me to put you completely under, or do you want to be aware? Either way I can block the pain, you won’t feel anything.”
She chewed her lip. “I… I’m not sure.”
He held her, stroking her hair and running his finger down the side of her neck. “It can be a little unsettling, I think you’d be better off not being aware.”
Anne-Marie thought about that for a minute. As much as she wanted to stay in control of the situation, she was afraid it might be like being awake during an operation, but she was willing to take a chance. “Just block the pain.”
Neko raised one eyebrow almost imperceptibly. “You’re sure?”
“I am.”
Before she could say anything else, she realized he’d already begun to manipulate her mind. She felt pleasantly dreamy, relaxed, even happy.
“Can you hear me?” Neko’s eyes had the blue glow that she’d seen on Andrej when he was ready to feed.
“Yes.” She could hear and see just fine, but even seeing his eyes like that didn’t scare her. It crossed her mind he must be very powerful, but she was too far under his control to feel scared at that point.
That was the last thing she remembered until the next morning. She woke up to find herself alone in her bed. For a minute she couldn’t think why that should seem odd. Then she remembered. She grabbed her neck where she knew Neko had bitten in, but she felt nothing. She ran to the mirror that hung over the dresser and looked, but there was no mark, no tell-tale spots where he’d broken her flesh to get her blood.
Just then her communer buzzed and she grabbed it. It was Andrej.
“Jesus, about time!” she said when she clicked it on.
“All right, all right, hang on,” he said. “I’ve been a little busy.”
“Oh right, sorry.”
“So?”
“What?”
“What do you mean, ‘what’? How did it go with Neko?”
“Fine, I guess. It’s just…strange. He sure knows how to turn on the charm when it suits him.”
“Oh come now,” Andrej said. “Don’t be so hard on him. You’ve never had a problem with what I do.”
“That’s different.”
“Why?”
“Because…” she began, “Well, because
I know you.”
“You know the circles he runs in. He doesn’t often have the chance to display that side of himself. You should be flattered that he’d go to so much trouble for you. He tried very hard to impress you.”
She frowned a little. “Did he really? Or was he just trying to keep in practice?”
Andrej’s rolled his eyes.
“No, I mean it. Are you sure there’s nothing else going on here?”
“What do you mean?”
“I don’t know, maybe I’m just cynical…”
“You are,” he interrupted.
“Ok, fine, but even if I am, could it be he’s after something else?”
“Like what? He’s got everything he could want, except an assistant like you.”
“Oh god,” she said, as the thought dawned on her. “You don’t think he’s going to try to get me away from you, do you?”
Andrej shook his head. “Anne-Marie, you need to relax. Neko can be duplicitous when he needs to, or wants to, but he would never try to put one over on me. Trust me, he knows nothing good could come of that.”
“All right, if you say so. So how is everything there? Are you ready for us to come back?”
“Yes, it’s all in hand. Your plane lands at midnight, so I’ll see you when you get here.”
All in hand. She didn’t like it, but even he had a right to defend himself. She had seen the crusaders first-hand, up close, following them. Their little ruse of playing sightseers in Prague had done no good. She wondered if it had backfired and done harm by giving their enemies more insight into Andrej’s abilities, demonstrating that even though he didn’t like it he was able to be outdoors in daylight. It could possibly embolden them to try new tactics.
“Hey sorry, I have to go,” he said, “Šťastnou cestu!”
The screen went black as Andrej disconnected abruptly. He had acted like everything was fine, but it was odd for him to hang up so abruptly. In a little over twelve hours she’d be back in Prague and able to talk to him privately. She sighed, and resigned herself to spending another day with Neko. After she dressed and went downstairs, she found Neko in the kitchen. He had darkened the room, trying to keep the bright noonday sun out, but the light still seemed to be more than he could stand.
“You dislike the light more than Andrej does,” she commented.
He was sitting at the table with his dark glasses on again. He rose as she came in, in an archaic, if charming gesture, and gave her a strained smile.
“Are you ok?” Anne-Marie asked with some alarm, seeing his expression.
“Sure, I’m fine,” he said.
“No you’re not. Is it the light? It’s too much for you, isn’t it?”
He nodded his head gingerly.
“Neko what happened? Does it always affect you like this?”
“Not this bad. It’s why I don’t come back to Greece very often anymore. Seems to be getting worse, though.”
“Go upstairs, lie down. I’ll call you when we have to leave for the airport.” He started to walk out of the kitchen, but as he came up next to Anne-Marie, he slipped an arm around her waist, and with his free hand cupped her chin and tilted her face up to his, then kissed her squarely on the mouth. Before she could react he walked off in search of darkness and sanctuary.
Chapter 21