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“Don’t even think about it.Thatwe definitely don’t have time for.”
Those eyes, so soft and troubled a minute ago, flashed hard, dark anger at him. A justified reaction, Jackson reminded himself. Their last encounter had been anything but cordial.
Dominique snatched up the phone, stopped the recording, and tapped to play. The video began with vampire Dominique speaking in French, his expression grim. This produced the expected scoff. “Another digital fabrication?” But he listened and soon grew quiet. Jackson heard his name, and Dominique cut him another kind of look. Uncertain but curious. The narrative continued to the administration of the shot, the silence that followed, the sudden, shocked awakening, and right on to the moment he had picked up the phone. When the video ended, Dominique dropped his hands into his lap and stared out the window at the misty forest in the wan morning light. His voice was just as vague. “What am I?”
“He didn’t tell you that? On the video?”
“He said you would explain it only when I was ready to hear it.” Dominique turned to face Jackson. “He said that you are…an intimate friend?”
“You could say that,” he conceded with a touch of reluctance. Leave it to the bloodsucking bastard to call it an “intimate” friendship, whatever the hell that meant to him, but given the thoughtful calm that settled over Dominique, maybe that was the key to getting through to him. Intimacy was his language, after all, night or day. “So, are you ready? To hear it?”
Dominique gave the smallest of nods.
The truth fell off Jackson’s tongue in all its dark, bloody, horrifying glory. “You, my friend, are a vampire.”
For a full half minute, maybe more, there was no reaction. Dominique held his gaze, studied his face. “Absurde.”
“It’s true. You are immortal, have incredible strength, along with some really terrifying powers, and, yes, you drink blood.”
“You are mad.” A vehement hiss of denial. But he wasn’t running. Jackson considered that promising.
“Then explain what you just saw on your phone. You’re the one who stopped the recording. It’s unedited. So what was that?”
“I don’t—”
“Your vampire self is as stubborn as you are. He wants to see the sun again, wants to be human again. I think he’s nuts, but, yes, he—you—are my friend.” Jackson took a deep breath. “We didn’t start out that way, you and I, but you’ve earned my respect as a decent guy in a tough spot. I think I’ve earned yours as well or you wouldn’t be trusting me with your life right now. Plus, I know you well enough to know that when you say you want something, I better not stand in your way.”
He unzipped the black case and showed him the vials and syringes, one of them used. “I got this suppressant made for you, because that’s what you wanted, but using it didn’t go as you expected. You can’t remember your other reality. Why? Because you don’t want to. We’ve respected your wishes and kept you in the dark, so to speak, but we don’t have time for that anymore. You need to be who and what you are when the sun’s up, and you need to be that right now.”
For long seconds, there was no reaction. “Why?” the vampire finally asked, sounding like he wasn’t sure about wanting to know the answer.
Jackson sympathized, but took a breath and plunged in. “Because you’re not just any vampire. You are the lord of them all. And there are about two hundred here who don’t agree with your policies. We have to surprise them during the day. You got us some backup earlier.” He glanced at the far end of the otherwise deserted lot. Two RCMP vehicles waited there—a huge 4x4 pickup and a slightly smaller SUV. The occupants had made the mistake of answering Jackson’s request for help and now acted as their very compelled, very well-armed security detail. “But what we really need is your strength and speed.”
A slow sneer spread over Dominique’s face, the limits of his skepticism finally breached. “You must think I am soft in the head.”
“No, actually, your head is unusually hard.”
He leaned closer, pinning Jackson with his eyes. No hint of the supernatural in that look. Just a mind spinning the truth. “Vampires,” he made air quotes with both hands, “are not awake during the day,non? So why do you need one to surprise them when they are asleep?”
“They’re underground. It’s possible they’re deep enough where the sun won’t have them as out of it as you would be up here. Also, you’re much easier to travel with when you’re not in a body bag,” Jackson added, deadpan.
The derisive glower turned sour.
“Next question?”
Whatever Dominique was going to say was interrupted by his phone ringing in his hands. Cassidy’s smiling face popped up on the screen. He answered with a hesitant “Hello?”
Her tiny voice stuttered. She must have hoped to catch the other version of him. A brief discussion in French ensued in which the word “vampire” featured prominently. Dominique’s free hand alternated between wild gesticulation, shoving back his hair, and rubbing a spot over the bridge of his nose. Finally, he handed the phone to Jackson. “She wants to speak with you.”
“Cass,” he greeted, pressing the phone to his ear, hoping to keep her words from carrying. Dominique went back to staring out the window.
“You’ve got your hands full, I see,” she said.
“It’s been an interesting discussion.”
“I did what I could, but I don’t think he’s fully ready yet. You’ll need to push him, but be careful. There’s a chance that when he remembers, he’ll pass out. The sun can get to him then.”
“Nice.” Like he wasn’t juggling enough shit storms already.
