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She’s so enthusiastic that I wonder, would seeing the world through her eyes give me new life? I’ve been so set on my fate, but I am beginning to glimpse another possibility now.
“Would it be all right if I walked you home?”
She nods. “I really should be getting back. Page is probably starving.”
I offer her my arm, and to my surprise, she takes it.
Janet
I can’t stop sneaking glances at Archie as we walk along the side of the road. It’s sweet of him to offer to escort me home… even if he is a vampire who doesn’t own a car because he never learned to drive. Apparently, he never saw the need.
“Are there other kinds of creatures?” I ask. I can’t believe I’ve just accepted that he’s a vampire, but there’s no other way to explain the fangs, red eyes, and super-speed.
“Creatures?” Archie raises an eyebrow, but my gaze drops down to his lips. I've never been kissed like that—like I’m the center of a man’s universe. I’ve never felt the magic that was kissing Archie, and I can’t help craving more.
I know I should be upset that he only kissed me to shut me up, but I can't stop thinking about the feel of his lips on mine—hard, demanding, making me forget that I had somehow magically teleported from the library to his house.
“Werewolves? Mermaids? Fairies? Are they real?”
“Yes,” he says simply. “Though many of them have retired from the human world. The fae, for example, haven’t interacted with humans in centuries.”
I blink, unsure of how to process that information. Still, the world seems a lot more exciting knowing there were so many other kinds of creatures in it. I push on to safer subjects, if there is such a thing.
“So you’re about four hundred?”
He nods. He walks close to me, and our hands are nearly brushing. Despite my brain whirling at a million miles a minute, my body is definitely reacting to his. I want to reach out and take his hand, but that seems too forward. We just met, and he’s a freaking vampire. I’m not even sure he’s interested—or available.
“Are you married?” I ask.
“I wouldn’t have kissed you if I were.” Archie lifts his gaze and focuses on the horizon, where the barest slivers of the sunrise are peeking through. “But I was, a long time ago. When I was human. But I’ve been alone for many years now.”
His voice is so sad that I find myself reaching out and taking his hand, then squeezing it in sympathy.
“I’m sorry,” I say. “You don't have to talk about it.”
“It's okay. I don’t mind.” He pauses, and for a second, I don't think he's going to say anything, but then he adds, “Those were different times. The marriage was arranged, and I hardly knew her before she fell ill. The plague,” he adds. “We'd been married less than a year. If I had stayed human, I’d likely have remarried. Had children. But I was turned before any of that could happen.”
“Vampires can’t have children?” I ask, wondering if that bit of lore is true.
“We cannot. But I’ve sired many vampires. Turned them,” he adds, even though I already know what he means. He looks down at our interlocked fingers, then back at the horizon. “The sun is rising.”
“Oh,” I say, following his gaze. “Can you be out in the sun?”
He shakes his head, then pulls me closer. “Do you trust me?”
I shouldn’t. I just met him, and he's an actual vampire, but I say, “Yes.”
He scoops me into his arms and runs at full speed to the library. My breath whooshes out of me, and I close my eyes at the blur of landscape. The slightest bit of smoke rises off him as he sets me on the porch. It takes me a second to get my bearings, and I lean against him unsteadily.
“Do I need to invite you in?” I ask.
“No. But I’d appreciate it if you could unlock the front door.” More smoke rises from his skin.
“It’s unlocked. The library opens—”
Archie pulls the door open and zooms inside.
“—at five,” I mutter under my breath. “Maybe I need to get a large, neon ‘open’ sign.”
