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“No. I am not. But perhaps someday, I will be a good vampire.” He bowed and then disappeared.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
One year later
“Two Flaming Rooster-itas and a Vampire Slinger, Daddy,” I said.
“Coming right up, sweetheart.” My dad went to work with superhuman efficiency as usual. It almost felt normal to me now, seeing him here at the bar. Joe had moved over to the distillery and worked nine-to-five hours so he could spend more time with his girlfriend. Good for him.
I was now managing the Flaming Rooster full-time, but still had to fill in and wait tables when we were shorthanded like tonight.
I placed my tray on the bar and started grabbing garnishes for my drinks: plastic vampire teeth, lollipops in the shape of Barney, and a marshmallow soaked in Bacardi 151 to be lit on fire tableside. It was our most popular drink here at the Flaming Rooster, located in Leiper’s Fork, now known as the “Vampire Smithsonian” town.
Humans from all over the world came to stay at our five-star golf resort, to mix and mingle with the undead who once rubbed elbows with the likes of Shakespeare, Michelangelo, or Caesar. Some came to visit our vampire health spa, one of two thousand locations around the world. If you were sick, all a person had to do was donate a pint of blood in order to enjoy the incredible healing properties. For an extra fee, you could make a week of it, drinking champagne, getting full-body massages, and a full medical workup to ensure you were cured after drinking vampire blood. And there was vampire night golf, of course.
It was a new world, more divided than ever between the people who would never trust vampires and the people who embraced them as another one of God’s incredible creations.
As for the vampires, some were loud and proud advocates of their belief in coexistence, but the vast majority, some one and a half million vampires, chose to remain in the shadows. I figured over time, they might join the half million who live openly. God knew they had time on their sides to get comfortable with this.
I ultimately turned down the nomination for president but took on an advisory role, but only because Charlie asked, and I wanted him to succeed.
Honestly, there was no one more suited to the position. He was human but had worked for vampires for years and understood their rules, history, and customs better than anyone. He knew what was at stake (no pun intended) for humankind if the laws weren’t set up correctly.
First things first, though.
His administration was focused on helping change the public’s perception of vampires and to ensure lawbreakers on both sides were made an example of. It was a tumultuous time in history where things could go south quickly if one side felt under attack.
Me? I guessed I got my wish. The town was safe, especially given our new vampire deputies, and the community was prospering. Things almost felt normal. I even helped the city council put together the business plan to make Leiper’s Fork the hot destination it was today. Everyone was happy.
Except that I missed him.
More than I should.
But not enough to go chasing after the man. I guessed I feared rocking the boat because everything was so perfect. Mamma and Daddy were living together again, trying to navigate extremely difficult waters as different species. Maybell was still as clueless as ever but dating. Uncle Jimmie finally got to have his retirement party but still came by every night to check on things. Mostly, he liked playing the jukebox and mingling with the customers while showing off Barney.
Everyone was happy in this strange new world. Everyone except me, who worried about the risks of involving myself with an ancient, deadly vampire.
The irony was that I finally believed he truly loved me.
Why else would Stark stay away this long? He’d put me first and left Leiper’s Fork, just like he’d promised.
I just wished…I wished we could start over. Things were so different now. I was different now. I no longer feared vampires.
Honestly, it was the humans I worried about most now. Some people were simply born with hate in their hearts. They’d never accept the fact that they weren’t in control or rulers of the galaxy. It literally pained them to see people living happily, free, and making their own choices about vampires. Every other day, there were protests where these so-called “liberation” groups demanded our government crack down on vampires or on humans who chose to mingle with them.
The way I saw it, there was risk in everything in life, even stepping out your door. It wasn’t up to me to tell anyone how to live, and I certainly wouldn’t tell others what to do. As long as they let me do me, I was good. They could scream all they liked.
I went into the kitchen to grab an order of vampire fingers for table ten. They were really just extra-long chicken nuggets rolled in chopped pistachios with catsup. People loved them.
“Masie, there’s someone out back to see you,” called out our line cook, Bobby.
“Thanks. Be right there.”
Thomas had finally left Lizzy and kept coming around to see me. I felt sorry for the man, but he’d always be Sheriff Idiot to me. Something about blaming my big breasts for his cheating ways stuck with me. Also, he gave bad legal advice.
I walked outside, pushing past the screen door. “Thomas, I told you to stop…”
My voice faded as my eyes drank in a face I’d never dreamed of seeing again. My stomach flipped, and I felt like I was about to be sick. “Lazlo?”
