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“Put on what?” he asked, puzzled.
I looked at him, and he just stared back. I reached over my shoulder and pulled on the belt, bringing it over my chest and clicking it into place at my hips.
He looked over his shoulder and then yanked on the belt so hard I heard shirking, but I wasn’t sure if it was the belt or me.
“Oh my God. Stop!” I gasped, quickly reaching over him and grabbing the belt, taking it from his hand. Slowly, I let it go and brought it back down, clicking it in myself.
“My apologies,” he whispered by my face.
Glaring at him, I sat a bit straighter, shifting the gear and driving out of the spot. He was conformable and quiet when we were in the woods. But when we got onto the highway and toward the city, the bright lights and cars made him tense. He scanned everything in slight wonder and amazement. I couldn’t imagine what was going through his mind.
“I worried that mortal social norms would draw attention to us, but it seems humans have evolved over the last century.” His head was nearly out the window.
“What?” It felt like I was saying that a lot, but I wasn’t sure what he was referring to.
He glanced back at me and pointed a finger out the window. “Not only do those of the black skin live freely now, but so do homosexuals. I thought it would be at least another two hundred years before the humans got over such trivial things.”
I thought of the early 1900s, the world Theseus last remembered. I had only been thinking about how technology had advanced and had forgotten how society had as well.
“Oh,” I whispered and nodded, turning onto K Street. “Yeah, a lot has changed, but it’s not perfect by a long shot.”
“Well, they are humans; it is best not to expect too much,” he said as if that were more than enough explanation.
“We were humans once,” I reminded him.
“You truly know nothing of our kind, do you?” He frowned, his grey eyes shifting over me. “I guess it is to be expected as you are an orphan. Do you know nothing of your maker?”
“Shouldn’t you be more worried about yourself? How is possible you don’t remember the last hundred years? Did you bump your head or something?”
“It would take a mighty hard bump.” He snickered, and it bothered me.
I didn’t know anything about this man other than his ridiculous name, and he was from Greece over a thousand years ago, but still, he should take this more seriously. “You are very calm about all of this. Have you ever lost your memory before?”
“Never.” He stuck his head out the window to read the billboard as we passed. “Though once in Spain, I had my head ripped off and my body burned and scattered to the winds. It took my body a year to heal from that. But in my last memories of 1920, I was not injured.”
My mouth dropped open, and I snapped my neck to look over at him. “You’ve had your head ripped off? And been burned? Jesus Christ, I thought fire killed vampires?”
“You may wish to watch the road, Ms. Monroe.” He pointed ahead as a jeep honked at me for entering his lane.
“I got it, Mr. Thorbørn.” I entered my lane again and luckily the street toward my apartment.
“Of course,” he replied.
“We’re here.” I pulled into the underground parking garage, driving to my parking spot, and the moment I put the car in park, he was out of his seat beat and around to my side, opening my doo
r.
“You can’t do that!”
He called me the young one, but he was the one acting like a brand-new vampire. Grabbing my jacket and bag, I got out at a human pace and pointed to the cameras. “There are security cameras. People are watching.”
His grey eyes followed mine to the black orbs on the garage’s ceiling corners. He frowned. “Crafty mortals, is it to expose us?”
“No, it’s to prevent other humans from stealing or harming one another.” I closed the door behind me. I exhaled and hung my head. “Though you have just used it to expose us. Actually, just you, because I will pretend like I don’t know you.”
His gaze shifted back to me, a frown still on his lips. “How very American of you.” Aka how rude of me.
My nostrils flared, and his eyebrow raised, something I noticed he did when he was amused. The frown disappeared.
