AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They aren’t human, Anita.”
“No vampire that has died in this last rash of murders has been guilty of any crime, Dad. They’ve all been innocent citizens.”
“They aren’t innocent, Anita.”
“Fredrick, this last arson didn’t just kill the vampire father; his wife and two young children were trapped and died with him. It was all over the news yesterday. It was horrible.”
“I am sorry that the vampire’s family was caught in the fire, but there was no arson involved, Judith.”
I said, “Someone opened the drapes to the parents’ bedroom while the vampire was helpless after dawn. The sunlight fried him, but at least he probably didn’t know what was happening to him. His wife and kids knew what was happening to them.”
“Let us pray that smoke inhalation got to them first,” he said.
“Practical, but vampires burn almost pure, no smoke. They burned to death because the wife tried to save her husband.”
“She should have gotten her children out instead of trying to save the creature.”
“He wasn’t a creature, Dad!”
“Anything that bursts into flame with the touch of sunlight is evil, Anita.”
“Fredrick, that’s a horrible thing to say to Anita.”
“It’s the truth, Judith.”
I turned around to look at Nicky. “This is never going to work, is it?”
“If you mean is your father going to walk you down the aisle to marry Jean-Claude, no. That’s not happening.”
“You can’t answer for me, young man.”
“Your prejudice is answering loud and clear, old man.”
“How dare you…”
“Don’t bother, Dad, you are older than Nicky.” Then I realized that he might not be. Shapeshifters aged a lot slower than normal humans. Rafael the rat king was over fifty and he looked like thirty, at most.
Nicky smiled. “No, I’m not that old. I still match my packaging.”
“You’re not how old?” Dad asked.
“Sorry, Nicky read my mind. Skip it, Dad, just skip it.”
“I have not made up my mind, Anita. I will try and meet this…fiancé of yours with some hope that I will see in him what you see.”
I laughed; I couldn’t help it. Jean-Claude dressed in silk, leather, and lace. He owned more high-heeled boots than I did. He’d taught me how to walk in heels and how to do my curls so they lay just right. He owned several clubs around town, including a strip club, which he occasionally still danced at—he was quietly fabulous, and not so quietly scrumptious. My dad with his khaki pants, polo shirts, and practical shoes would never have liked someone like Jean-Claude: vampire, human, or whatever. I couldn’t have picked anyone less like my father.
“I don’t see the humor,” Dad said.
“I don’t either, Dad, except you’ve seen him on TV and online, Jean-Claude I mean?”
“I have.”
“If he were human, you still wouldn’t like him.”
“He’s not the type of man that I expected you to marry.”
“Who knew you were going to catch the most beautiful man in the world,” Judith said.
