Chapter 2 #2
Arthur didn’t blame it. The word snackies was altogether repulsive.
He stepped outside, opening his umbrella to keep the sun off.
Vampires didn’t crumble into dust at the merest exposure to sunlight the way popular media proposed.
It was more likely to put them to sleep, if anything.
Daylight could sap a vampire of energy and weaken their powers, but as Arthur had yet to exhibit any of these effects himself, he was more concerned with the threat of skin cancer.
It couldn’t kill him, but melanoma removal procedures were terribly painful.
It was decidedly best to avoid the sun altogether if he could.
“Aw, it seems nice,” Nora said. “Maybe you can take it to the vet, get it checked out. There’s a good no-kill shelter a couple towns over.”
“I know,” Salvatore said wistfully. “I’ve been to visit a few times, but I’m not allowed to bring one home.” Salvatore frowned at Arthur.
“Well, that’s downright prejudicial,” Nora said, setting her jaw. “Just because you’re vampires doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have pets.”
Salvatore chuckled, an unsettling sound to the unaccustomed. “Don’t get me wrong, there were certain allegations thrown around about treating them like juice boxes, but we don’t drink animal blood. Only ethically sourced, free-range, one hundred percent human for us!”
Arthur shot him an incinerating glare. Blood was absolutely off-limits as far as conversation topics were concerned. Especially with breakfast sitting on the counter. Salvatore really ought to know better.
“Really, it’s up to this one.” Salvatore jabbed his thumb at Arthur. “This monster doesn’t like animals.”
“Cats! I don’t like cats. I like dogs just fine, you know. And fish. Fish are delightful.” Arthur took a breath and pulled his shoulders back. “Besides, it’s not about me. It’s about our guests. What if one of them is allergic? We need to be hospitable to anyone who might visit—”
“That’s very thoughtful of you,” Nora said.
“I have a mild allergy myself, but…” She trailed off as the cat doubled back to loop around her legs.
“You heard that, did you?” She laughed. “I swear, if I wasn’t allergic, cats wouldn’t be remotely interested in me.
It’s like they’re drawn to it.” She booped the cat’s nose. “The feeling’s mutual.”
“It’s true, we are drawn to the things most likely to kill us.” Salvatore sighed dramatically.
“If you try to make this about garlic…” Arthur whispered.
Salvatore loved the stuff, but he was allergic.
The legends about vampires and garlic were poppycock, as most myths tended to be.
Garlic wouldn’t kill a vampire. At worst—and in Salvatore’s case—it would simply give him a spot of tummy trouble.
It was the vampire Carlotta who had started the rumors that garlic would fend off vampires in the first place.
She was a bit of a gourmand, to hear Salvatore tell the tale, and she preferred her victims seasoned properly, though Arthur suspected it had more to do with the fact that garlic was a natural blood thinner.
Somehow, rumor became legend, and in Salvatore, legend became something of a fact.
Salvatore straightened and said, “So, Nora, what brings you to Trident Falls?”
“I grew up here, actually,” Nora said, following his change of subject and his path toward the garden with ease.
Arthur had done a fair bit of landscaping when they’d first moved in.
The lawn had been overgrown with weeds, and everything else had been near a crispy death.
He’d managed to save the camellia bushes, their brilliant white flowers a lovely complement to the light purple shade they’d chosen to paint the inn, and over the last few weeks, Arthur had dedicated himself to creating a colorful garden space.
Now, enormous purple sage bushes flanked the back door, and marigolds, begonias, and borage lined the path.
It was an explosion of color, a celebration of impending summer, and something for local bees to enjoy, he hoped.
He’d even set aside a small plot in the back for herbs and vegetables.
Pride burst in his chest as he saw the colorful tops of radishes and curly red lettuce ready to harvest.
The sun winked at them from behind the trees, casting copious shadows across the garden. The cat stayed ahead of them, doing a strange dance of running forward, then looking back as if waiting for them to follow.
“So, you’re a local?” Arthur asked.
“I suppose, though some might not agree. I left for college as soon as I was able, but…living in a big city wasn’t what I thought it would be.
I’ve always loved this town, even if it didn’t always love me back.
Still, I have all these memories I can’t quite let go of.
All those summers as a kid, hiking and fishing with my parents… ”
“Just like Arthur!” Sal elbowed Arthur rather sharply, an eager smile on his face. “Look at that, something you have in common—an incomprehensible appreciation for the outdoors.”
Arthur covered a grimace with a cough, unwilling to reveal how badly Salvatore had mischaracterized his relationship to nature.
“It’s not so incomprehensible once you’ve seen Trident Falls in the summer—give it another month or so and you’ll understand.” Nora gazed out at the tree line, where tall evergreens reached for the lavender sky, lightening with every minute. “Any chance we might’ve crossed paths back then?”
Arthur sighed and shook his head. “Alas, I suspect our childhoods didn’t have much overlap.
” He hated to remind her of his unusual lifespan, but thus far Nora had shown no signs of sharing the mayor’s opinions on paranormals.
Perhaps it was all right to be a bit more himself around her, but putting it into practice still wound the coil of anxiety in his chest tighter.
Nora nodded and said, “Of course. Well, the point is that I have a soft spot for Trident Falls, so when I saw the position of city manager was open, I jumped to apply. It felt like time to come back home.”
“Really?” Salvatore asked incredulously. Arthur glared at him until he continued. “I mean, it’s such a charming…quiet…little place.”
“It’s struggling,” Nora conceded. “But I think with some new management, it can really become a tourist attraction again. The falls used to be a huge draw. Hiking, camping, fishing. I also have a whole plan to promote paranormal tourism and residency—well, I won’t bore you with the details.
At least not before coffee.” She chuckled and skipped ahead to run her fingers along the cat’s spine.
The cat arched its back at the touch, then sprang forward again, skirting the garden beds as they rounded the corner toward the back of the house.
Arthur held back out of earshot. “This could be our chance!” he whispered.
“What, to make out in the begonias? Not very professional, and we’ll damage that umbrella I gave you for your last birthday, but if you insist…”
“No, to impress Nora.” Arthur swatted Salvatore’s shoulder, fighting a smile.
“If she likes her stay here, she could really help the business.” Arthur glanced at her retreating back.
She disappeared around a large rhododendron bush.
“This could mean much more than getting into the chamber of commerce’s brochure.
She has a plan. We can be part of it, if we don’t mess up. ”
“You worry too much. She seems to be enjoying herself so far.” Salvatore looked up at Arthur, his hazel eyes sparkling in the early-morning sunlight. “We’ll feed her a magnificent breakfast, then she’ll be off to city hall or wherever, and we’ll be the talk of the town by Friday.”
“Today is Friday.” Arthur sighed, but Salvatore was right.
Nora was about to experience the very best hospitality.
A charming tour of the garden. Then the greatest breakfast anyone had ever eaten in the history of the world.
She would see all the hard work Arthur had poured into this place and all the hard watching-him-work Salvatore had contributed. There was no point worrying.
He let the tension bleed out of his shoulders—not that he could bleed literally—and smiled down at his husband.
That’s when the screaming began.