Chapter 8
CHAPTER EIGHT
Beckett
Afew days after Abi’s bout with seasickness, I found myself searching my house for her. I’d stopped by her small office to let her know I was awake for the day, but she wasn’t there, leaving me to trail around after her like a dolt.
I finally found her prowling the hallway of the third floor, armed with a notebook and pen.
“Ah! Beckett!” She beamed when she saw me. “You have impeccable timing! I was thinking I might need to ask you for help, as I’m looking for the fifth fireplace. I can’t find it anywhere.”
I blinked, confused. “Fireplace?”
“Yes, fireplace.” Abi tapped her pen on her notebook.
“I went outside and circled the house no less than four times to count up all the house’s chimneys.
There were five of them. But I can’t find the final fifth fireplace.
Is there a secret room somewhere?” Her steely hazel eyes glowed with excitement.
“No, there aren’t any secret rooms,” I said. “They’d be a pain to have cleaned.”
“Oh.” Her shoulders slumped and she frowned. “Then where is that fifth fireplace?”
“Did you get the one in my study?”
“Oh, no! I was staying out of there since I didn’t know if you were up or not. That must be it. Thank you!” Abi bustled off, heading down the stairs to the second floor where my study was.
Amused, I followed after her.
“Sorry, I should have asked before running off, but did you need something?” she asked.
“Not particularly. Although now I’m curious why you need to know where the fireplaces are?”
Abi busted into my study without hesitation. Ever since we’d chatted in the library while she sniffed alcohol wipes like a bloodhound, she’d been much less reserved. “I’m having a service out to clean them.”
“Clean the fireplaces?”
“Yes, and the chimneys.” Abi strode over to the empty fireplace and stuck her head in it, craning her neck to look up.
“I couldn’t find anything in the previous house managers’ notes about getting the chimneys and fireplaces serviced.
Given that you’re a vampire, I figure it’s a necessary maintenance. ”
“What does my being a vampire have to do with fireplaces and chimneys?” I asked, bewildered.
“I assume that’s how you leave the house in your bat form.
Or do you have a mist form? Both appear in Dracula, so maybe you can do either?
” Abi leaned away from the fireplace and scribbled something in her notebook.
“And am I correct that this is both a gas fireplace and can be switched to a woodburning fireplace? The service guy said he needs to know before coming.”
“I can’t turn into a bat, nor mist,” I said, highly amused by my employee—she was the best entertainment I’d had in decades.
“Really?” Abi looked up from her notebook with a furrowed brow. “That’s a bummer. Well, you should really still get the fireplaces and chimneys cleaned and serviced anyway, as they can be fire hazards. So, gas and wood burning?”
“Yes, it is capable of both.” I leaned against a bookshelf. “Considering you’ve never been a house manager before, I am impressed with your meticulous work.”
Abi scratched at the neckline of her shirt. She was wearing a navy colored, short sleeved turtleneck that covered her throat. I’d noticed she seemed to have a lot of those despite not appearing to like the constriction on her neck. “Thank you! I do take pride in my work.”
“Yes, I have noticed that.”
I watched Abi crouch down so she could make more notes in her notebook, then whip out her phone to take a picture of the fireplace.
“You know,” I started. “As your employer, I consider your attire entirely up to you.”
Abi shot me a look of confusion. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“Meaning you don’t have to wear business casual,” I said. “So you can stop wearing the turtlenecks if you dislike them as much as you appear to.”
“Oh, I don’t wear those for the clothing aesthetic. It’s just that the only turtlenecks I have are all business attire.” She briefly drooped. “Although, now that you mention it, the bulk of my wardrobe is all business clothes…”
A dull pang cut into my chest. In all my life I hadn’t revealed my vampiric nature to many humans, but I’d experienced plenty of fear from supernaturals to know what was coming.
She straightened her shoulders as if shrugging off bad memories. “Anyway. I wear turtlenecks because I’m trying to be thoughtful.”
The dread building in my gut froze. “Thoughtful?” I asked.
“Yes.” Abi peered up at me. “I’m covering up my throat so it won’t tempt you and make you hungry all the time.”
I stared at the young woman in shock. “What?”
She adjusted her glasses. “I thought about it and I figured it must be hard to see me walking around, throat bare and enticing. It would be like if a cake was constantly following me around the house. Honestly, I don’t know how you haven’t snapped because I certainly would have. Your will is highly commendable.”
“You… are being thoughtful?” I repeated.
“Yes. Aren’t I an amazing employee?” Abi chirped. “And to think Helen from HR said I wasn’t great at emotionally connecting with others. Just goes to show her!”
I almost started laughing.
Abi wasn’t scared of me. Well, perhaps she was still scared I would fire her, but she wasn’t afraid because I was a vampire.
Was it bravado? Did she simply not know better than to recognize that vampires were top predators?
“Abi, you do know that vampires are dangerous, right?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’ve been reading up about vampires, and reading through all the propaganda lines the supernatural community puts out—you know, all the stories about sad vampires mourning their lost loves for decades and all that, just like their articles about werewolves being misunderstood—it seems like vampires are the top of the food chain,” Abi said, carelessly.
“Then why are you concerned for me?”
Abi stood up and dusted her khaki pants off. “Because you’re a generous employer, and clearly a good vampire.”
“And why would you think that?”
“I mean, the night I found out you were a vampire was enough of an example for me to know that,” Abi said, steadily meeting my gaze with no hesitation.
“You could have eaten me then if you were twisted, but you clearly had a plan in place for what to do if a human found out about you without harming the human.”
She has a point.
“My group text often accused me of being soft for the pains I went through to make sure I stayed hidden and harmed no humans in the process,” I muttered.
“Group text?” Abi asked, surprising me with her hearing abilities.
“It is a text group compiled of several other vampires I am… friends with.”
“Oh.” Abi said. “Well, your vampire-ness aside, you are an all-around good guy. I mean, you helped me with my seasickness—that’s not something employers typically do.”
I narrowed my eyes and studied her. “Perhaps we need to notify the business bureau or the state government about your previous company. Your comments about them are rather concerning.”
Abi waved me off. “You’re missing the point. I trust you and like you, so I want to do my part not to burden you. Hence, turtlenecks!”
I watched as she tucked a lock of her wavy brown hair behind her ear.
She was being genuine.
She really meant everything she was saying.
I shoved my hands in my pockets, feeling oddly self-conscious. “Well, you needn’t be so thoughtful.”
“Really? But isn’t blood alluring?” Abi theatrically wiggled her eyebrows, then froze—there must have been something on my expression that gave me away. “Wait! Don’t you dare say—”
“Your severe vitamin D deficiency and lack of iron makes you a subpar blood donor,” I said, my playful side surfacing despite myself.
Abi shrieked like a banshee. “I’m being thoughtful and you throw it back in my face, rambling about vitamin levels!”
“Any half intelligent vampire wouldn’t feed from you,” I dryly said. “You would possibly croak from lack of blood due to being anemic.”
“Hmp! See if I care if you choke on chimney soot in your bat form!” Abi stalked off, exiting my study.
I sauntered after her. “I already told you I don’t have a bat form.”
“Then I hope your next batch of blood is a blood type you don’t like!”