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"Ow!" we screamed in unison as he clutched his nose and I shook my poor, poor hand. Why didn't anyone ever tell me punching faceshurts?
"You hit me!"
"You were trying to bite me!"
We glared at each other, his intensity somewhat diminished by the hand he still held to his nose. "So what now?" he asked, smooth voice muffled.
"I haven't thought that far ahead yet. " I wasn't going to let him go, but I had neither the weapons nor the inclination to kill him. After another tense minute, he crouched down on the porch stoop. With a heavy sigh I sat down next to him, wrapping my arms around my knees in a pathetic attempt to ward off the chill. It felt like the blisters on my feet had coupled off and started forming little blister families. Tonight sucked.
I turned to the vampire. "You don't bite humans, huh?"
He leaned back, staring into the night. "Not for a long time now. "
"Why?" I knew a lot of vamps like Arianna who didn't drink human blood-but they didn't drink trolls' blood, either. This was the first time I'd ever heard of paranormals being targeted by a bloodsucker.
"Because, Liebchen, I remember what it felt like to have a heartbeat, a pulse. I remember what it was like not to be a monster. I am content to watch humanity swirl around me, growing and aging and changing in ways that I never will. "
"Fair enough, but if you're such a pacifist, why murder troll kiddos?"
He turned to me, the weariness he'd displayed while talking about humanity replaced by an almost palpable anger. "Because I am eternal, and blood calls to me. It calls to me everywhere I go, begging for me to take it, crippling me with thirst. What made me this way? What else in the world is untouched by time? These creatures, and others like them. If I am a monster, I will play my part. But I will prey on my fellow monsters, and someday I will find out how they corrupted human life to make vampires, and I will kill all of them. "
I shivered, and it had nothing to do with my wet clothes. When Viv was on her spree, at least she thought she was helping paranormals by setting them free. This vampire-he simply hated. I resisted the urge to scoot farther from him. "Why do you get to decide? It wasn't like the troll kids chose to be here. It's outside their control, like your, uh, change was. You're punishing them for being what they are. How does that make sense?"
A smile colder than the dark night spread across his features. "I have had four hundred years to think this through. You're very sweet, but when you've been a monster as long as I, 'sense' stops having any influence. "
I squirmed, my butt going to sleep against the concrete steps. What had I gotten myself into here? My communicator was still in my wet coat, which I'd stupidly abandoned on the riverbank. Maybe I could knock him senseless and find Hulking Teeth Gnasher and the other trolls. But they'd probably kill him. Didn't he kind of deserve it, though? And did thinking that make me just as bad as him?
"I should have stayed home and studied," I muttered.
He let out a low chuckle. "Indeed. It would appear we're at an impasse. I will not stop, and you're committed to stopping me, no?"
I shrugged. "It's my job. Sort of. "
"I ought to let you in on a secret, then. "
"What's that?"
He leaned toward me. "You don't smell entirely human. "
That did it. Vamp guy was going down. How hard could it be to beat a corpse senseless? I stood up, balling my hands into fists. "Tell me something I don't know. "
He stood, too, a cruel smile twisting the rotting, desiccated remains of his real face. "Something you don't know? Very well. I've found that paranormal blood has added benefits over human blood. "
Before I could move, he reached out and grabbed my wrist. I tried to jerk it back, but couldn't break his far-too-strong grasp.
Oh, bleep.
Chapter Twenty-One
I Like the Night Life
I pulled against the vampire's grip again; he didn't budge. This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. Vampires weren't strong!
Seeing my growing panic, he smiled. I wanted to kick his rotting teeth in, I was so sick of that smile.
"Not what you expected? I did warn you. "
I threw a wild punch with my left hand, only grazing his head. He pushed forward and tripped me on the porch stairs. I fell back hard, cracking my tailbone against the blunt corner of a step, and let out a sharp cry of pain. He put his hand over my mouth. His hand that close to my eyes made me dizzy, unable to focus on his glamour or his real body. Smooth skin, dead skin, smooth skin, dead skin-I swallowed against the nausea.
