Enchant the Night. Amanda Ashley
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by a warning to avoid the area until further notice.
It was the top story on the news that night, as well.
And none of it seemed real.
* * *
The next two days didn’t seem real, either. The vampire remained on his back in bed, unmoving. It was totally bizarre, knowing he was in her guest room. She wasn’t afraid of him, exactly. After all, he had never hurt her and he didn’t seem particularly menacing while he was just lying there like a . . . a dead man. She couldn’t even tell if he was breathing. What would happen if and when he woke up was something she didn’t even want to think about.
There was a strange aura hovering over her house. She noticed that the birds who usually visited the feeder in the backyard stayed away. Her neighbor’s Siamese cat stopped using her flowerbed as his outhouse. Except for the mailman, everyone who passed by walked on the other side of the street. It was almost as if her house was invisible. Sometimes she felt like Sleeping Beauty, living in limbo while she waited for the prince to free her.
And late each night, her guest drank a little of her blood.
* * *
Thursday morning, Callie woke early. She dressed quickly, wolfed down her breakfast, and left the house, certain that if she didn’t get out and see other people, she would lose her mind. She drove to the mall, thinking there was no other place where she would be surrounded by so many people. After leaving her car in the parking garage, she took the escalator up to the food court, where she ordered a hazelnut latte, then found a vacant table and sat down. It felt good to be in the midst of so many normal people doing ordinary things when her life was anything but normal.
What would happen if she told Vivian that she’d been right, that the man who had bitten her really was a vampire? Would her friend laugh again and tell Callie she was crazy? Insist she call the police? Or demand to see him herself? None of those options sounded appealing.
What if he got better and refused to leave? Who did you call to evict a vampire?
After finishing her latte, Callie strolled through the mall. She paused at a bookstore, then went inside, searching the shelves for books on vampires. Other than what she had seen in movies, she had little knowledge of the creatures. She found a remarkable number of books in the Mythology and Folklore department. Taking one from the shelf, she carried it to a chair in the corner and began to read.
According to the book, vampires were sexually appealing. Callie frowned. She couldn’t argue with that. Scary as he might be, Quill was sexy as hell. They had very sharp fangs. They slept by day. Coffins seemed to be the preferred resting place. Some believed they had to sleep on their native soil.
Callie grunted softly as she remembered the vampire in Dracula shipping containers of his native earth to England when he left Transylvania.
It was believed the reason they couldn’t be seen in mirrors was because they had no soul. They were said to be repelled by holy objects and garlic. They were hard to kill, with a stake through the heart or beheading being the preferred methods of destruction. Fire was also effective. They were virtually immortal. The Undead were also a popular character in horror movies, although they were frequently cast as romantic figures and occasionally appeared in comedies.
Callie snorted as she returned the book to the shelf. She didn’t see anything remotely funny about being a vampire.
Or associating with one.
Leaving the bookstore, she returned to the food court for lunch. Later, she had her nails done, then went shopping at her favorite boutique, where she bought a blue sweater and a pair of overpriced jeans before finally, reluctantly, returning home.
“Please,” she prayed as she pulled into her driveway and killed the VW’s engine. “Please let him be gone.”
But when she peeked into the guest room, he was still there.
* * *
Quill sat up when Callie opened the door. He sensed her distress at seeing him. No doubt she had hoped that he’d died in her absence or at least left the house. But, at the moment, this was the safest place for him. He had warded her home against any and all intruders. His wards, plus the inherent power of the threshold, would repel any unwanted visitors. Although he wasn’t sure if it would repel the Knights of the Dark Wood.
She stared at him from the doorway, her expression wary.
The rapid beat of her heart, the scent of her blood, called to him. He didn’t want to hurt her or frighten her. She had saved his life and for that he would be forever in her debt. He was a little surprised she hadn’t called the police, although he was grateful for her restraint. It would not have ended well for the officers.
Lifting one hand, he beckoned her.
Powerless to resist, she walked slowly toward him, her whole body trembling.
“I’m not going to hurt you, Callie,” he said quietly. “Please don’t be afraid of me.”
She recoiled when he reached for her arm.
“I’m sorry, but I need your blood.”
She nodded, resigned, as he took hold of her arm and bent his head to the vein in her wrist.
As usual, he took only a little. Releasing her arm, he looked up at her. “You have questions?”
She nodded again.
“Ask them.”
“What . . . what are you? Who were those men? Why did they attack you?”
“You know what I am.”
“That’s impossible.”
A faint smile quirked his lips. “How can it be, when I’m here?”
“Maybe I’m dreaming.”
He shook his head. “I come from a long line of beings. . . .”
“Beings?” Maybe he wasn’t a vampire, after all. “What does that mean? Like aliens from another planet?” Even that would be preferable to what he was, she thought.
“We are a type of vampire, but we are different from most.” He patted the bed beside him. “Why don’t you sit down?”
Instead of doing as he suggested, she pulled a small chair from the desk in the corner and perched on the edge. He didn’t miss the fact that she sat far enough away that he couldn’t reach her.
“As I was saying, we are different from other vampires in that we are born this way and they are turned by others of their kind. We both must have blood to survive, but my kind can also consume human food if we wish. We both spend most of our waking hours in the dark. And although my kind can function during the day, we prefer the night.”
“So that’s why those men tried to kill you? Because you’re a vampire?”
He nodded. “They are descendants of an ancient league of mystical knights who have dedicated their lives to destroying my kind.”
“Just your kind?” she asked, frowning. “What about the other ones?”
“There are those who hunt them, as well.”
“Are any of the other kind here?”
“Yes, a few. Most of them tend to stay in the mountains of Transylvania.”
Well, that was a relief. “Are there very many of them?”
“Enough.”
She looked thoughtful a moment. “Are there many like you?”
“No.”
“Oh.” Callie blinked at him as she tried to absorb everything he had told her.
After a moment, he said, “There is another major difference between the two types of vampires. Those who are made are inclined to kill their prey. Mine are not.” Although