Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
With Cillian leading the way, we wandered away from the crash site, following the jagged ravine. I wished I had Cillian’s level of insouciance. He strolled without a seeming care. I followed behind in tottering heels that didn’t approve of the uneven and rocky terrain.
“What exactly are we looking for?” I asked, hugging my upper body as if that would combat the chill. It didn’t, in case you wondered, and the unrelenting ice pellets also didn’t help the situation.
“Something that will keep us out of direct daylight.”
“You don’t think Gwen and Randy will get back with a new ride in time?”
“It’s a distinct possibility given our remote location.”
“Surely they’ll get signal when they reach the top and be able to call for help.”
“That would be the ideal scenario, but it’s best if we’re prepared in case we have to deal with the worst case.”
Intent on watching my feet, I didn’t register when Cillian stopped moving and slammed into his back. Rather than bounce off and fall, I reflexively grabbed him, plastering myself to his body as I caught my balance.
“I might have found something. Stay here while I check it out.”
“As if I have somewhere else to go,” I muttered as he wandered into a dark cleft.
It didn’t take long before Cillian reappeared. “You can come inside. It’s safe.”
The moment I entered the cave my nose wrinkled at the odor left behind by the last inhabitant.
While I couldn’t have said what animal perfumed the den with its musk, I doubted it belonged to a squirrel or something innocuous.
Didn’t bears like caves? “Do we need to worry whatever lived here will come back and eat us?”
“The scent isn’t fresh. Even if we did get a visitor, we’ll be fine.”
“Gonna wrestle a bear with your bare hands?”
“Yes. Wouldn’t want to wreck its fur. How else would we get a nice rug from it?”
Cillian stated it so seriously, it took me a moment to realize his eyes sparkled with humor.
I punched his arm. “Not funny.”
“Maybe to you, but your expression quite amused.”
“More seriously, how long do you think we’ll have to wait?” I asked as I sat down on a smooth rock that acted as a stool. My knees tucked up high enough I could hug them, not that it helped the shivering cold.
“If we’re lucky, we’re out of here and either home or in a hotel before dawn. If Randy and Gwen can’t wrangle transportation, then after sundown.”
“I might freeze to death before then,” I muttered.
“No, you won’t.” He draped his coat over my shoulders.
“What are you doing? Now you’ll freeze.”
“Hypothermia and other heat-related issues aren’t a thing for vampires, especially not at my age.”
“What about me? I’m still a baby, remember.”
“You’ll also be fine. While uncomfortable, you won’t actually come to harm. The cold will merely slow you down.”
“Says you,” I groused through chattering teeth.
“I do. You still have a human mindset when it comes to certain things. It will take time to adjust to your new reality.”
“I’ll never like the cold,” I grumbled.
“I can help with that. Stay here while I fetch some kindling to burn.” Cillian ordered.
Ooh, a fire? That sounded toasty. I could have offered to help but quite honestly, given my intense shivering, I probably wouldn’t be much use.
It didn’t take Cillian long to return with an armful of wood, which he dumped on the floor that I could barely see.
“Dig into my coat pocket for my lighter,” Cillian ordered as he began arranging branches.
My hand felt around inside the pocket. “Why would you carry around a lighter if you don’t smoke?” Not finding it on the left, I checked the right.
“Never know when something might need to be lit on fire. I also always have a few feet of wire,” which explained the metallic ball of thread my fingers groped, “And a pocketknife. I was born in a time when basic tools could mean the difference between survival or death.”
As my fingers closed around a rectangular shape, I said, “You must have used them a fair bit, seeing as you’re pretty old and still carry them around.”
His teeth flashed bright despite the gloom. “Even once is enough to make sure I don’t leave home without.” He held out his hand and without being asked, I placed the Zippo lighter in it.
“Now for some heat.” He clicked it once and a bright orange flame flickered to life. It took a bit though for the cold and damp kindling to start smoldering.
See the dark flume rising had me blurting, “Won’t we asphyxiate from the smoke?”
“I built the fire close to the opening of the cave so that the smoke would be drawn out, but even if it didn’t, we’d cough and our lungs might be uncomfortable, but we wouldn’t die.”
“Just smell like brisket,” I muttered.
“Mmm. Now there’s something I miss,” he remarked. “Now that the fire is started, I’m going to grab some more wood since I doubt what we have will last until morning.” As Cillian rose to leave, a thought occurred to me.
“How will Randy and Gwen know where to find us?”
“They’ll know.”
“How?” I insisted as he stood framed at the cave’s opening. “The sleet will obliterate our tracks.”
“They’ll smell the smoke or spot the glow of flames, most likely.”
“And if they don’t?” I insisted.
“They’re bound to me, meaning so long as I’m alive, and keep our link open, they can find me.”
An interesting revelation that I couldn’t question because he left.
I crept closer to the fire which began to crackle as the flames jumped from the burning brand to another branch. I held my cold hands out and sighed at the heat already starting to radiate.
Cillian returned to a toasty cave and me sitting on my coat, his spread out beside me. He dropped his armful by the entrance and joined me on our coat carpet.
“Feeling better, I see,” he stated.
“Much.” A glance at his hands showed them mottled from the frigid temperatures. I grabbed them and hissed. “Jesus, you’re freezing.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re a popsicle,” I exclaimed rubbing his chilled flesh.
“The kind good enough to lick and suck, I hope.”
The provocative comment surprised because he didn’t seem the type.
“I see I’ve shocked you,” he stated.
“A little. You’re usually so proper.”
He chuckled, a low sound that sent a shiver through me. “Maybe now, yet I was quite the hoyden in my youth.”
“Who turned into a proper businessman.”
“I’ve come a shockingly far way,” his dry reply.
“How did you become a vampire?” I asked suddenly.
“By being seduced. Back in the day, I was a soldier for hire. I’d go from castle to castle offering my services. At my last employment, the lady of the house took a shine to me. A young and lusty young man at the time, I didn’t say no when the widow invited me to her bed.”
“This sounds like the start of a dirty romance,” I exclaimed with a laugh.
“It was.”
“And did you know she was a vampire?”
“Hard to ignore, seeing how she fed from me every time we trysted. But I didn’t mind. As a young, healthy, and lusty young man, I saw no issue since it left no lasting harm.”
“Let me guess. You fell in love and she decided to make you her prince of darkness.”
He snorted. “Not exactly. One day while protecting the lady’s carriage from brigands, an arrow took me in the chest. When the attack was over, the lady knelt by my side, but rather than tend my wound, she pulled the fletching from my flesh and suckled at the blood gushing.
I felt myself getting weak and begged her to stop.
She said, ‘Your pain will be over soon.’”
“She wanted you to die?”
“More like she didn’t care if I did or not.
That realization led to me acting in a final ditch effort to save myself.
Despite being lightheaded and on the verge of death, I stabbed her with my dagger, right between the shoulder blades.
I must have pierced a lung, because blood spurted from her mouth as she reared over me.
Droplets spattered my face and coated my lips.
While I didn’t mean to taste and swallow, I couldn’t prevent it from happening. ”
“That was all it took to change you?”
“Oh, it wasn’t, but it revived me and awakened a thirst. I lunged and kissed her lips for more.
She pushed me away and tried to get clear of me to give her wound time to heal, but I still had my dagger and slashed at her leg, severing a tendon.
When she crumpled, I latched onto that bloodied limb and sucked. Sucked until I could swallow no more.”
“Damn. You killed her to live.”
“Oh, she’s not dead,” he stated. “Once I finished feeding, she healed from her wounds.”
“Was she mad about what you did?”
“A little. She preferred me as human because she could fuck and suck on me at the same time.”
“And did you forgive her for trying to suck you dry rather than patching your wound?”
“I did, because, you see, once the change hit, I lost consciousness. Had she left me in those woods, I would have died the next dawn. Instead, I woke several days later in the castle, fully healed. After we fought over what happened, her being angry I’d stabbed her, me angry she would have let me die, we chose to forgive and forget and remained lovers for several decades before parting ways. ”
“Decades? Wow. Did you keep in touch?”
“Yes, although we’ve not been intimate in centuries. Sophia has long since moved on, as have I.”
It took me only a second before I blurted, “Are you talking about Christmas party Sophia?” At his nod, I exclaimed, “You seemed like you barely tolerated each other.”
“Like most exes,” he pointed out.
True. I cocked my head. “You said you were with her for decades. Does that mean vampires date and get married and stuff?”
“Some do. Like humans, some enjoy monogamy. Others prefer fleeting affairs.”
“And where do you fall in that group?”
“Casual for the most part, although, I’ve had a few relationships over the years that lasted past a few encounters. And you?”
“Never been married. Only lived with one guy. Dated quite a few. Just never found one that was my soulmate.” I did finger quotes.
“And what do you seek in a male?”
“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “Chemistry, obviously. But I’ve dated a wide range of guys. Smart, dumb, athletic, lazy. My biggest problem is I get bored.” I didn’t mention the one guy who got bored of me first and cheated. Cillian didn’t need to know my shame.
“Do I bore you?” he asked.
“I don’t know yet. This is probably the longest we’ve spent together and talked.”
“Fair point. I’ll be sure to dedicate more time to you. Soon as Christmas is over, I won’t be as busy.”
“What are you doing that’s got you so preoccupied?” I asked.
“Like Santa Claus, I spread goodwill and cheer.”
I snickered. “Sure, you do.”
“You don’t think I’m capable.”
“You’re a vampire.”
“And?”
“Vampires are never the good guys.”
“Judging us all because of our diet.” He shook his head. “I guess you’re also saying you’re now one of the bad guys.”
“I have killed two people,” I reminded.
“Who deserved it,” he stated.
“Doesn’t make it right.”
“Is it right that criminals are allowed to proliferate and cause harm to innocents?”
“No, but it’s up to cops to arrest them and not for me to take matters into my own teeth.” Yeah, I punned. He didn’t laugh.
“Law enforcement has been handcuffed by progressive activism that claims those who commit atrocities are just misunderstood victims.”
“Which is bullshit,” I agreed. “We need to enforce the laws.”
“Agreed. But why does it have to be the men in blue doing it?”
I pursed my lips. “You’re talking about vigilantism.”
“Also known as taking out the trash, permanently, thus costing taxpayers nothing.”
“You speak as if you’ve been doing this.” At his enigmatic smile, I exclaimed. “Holy shit, you’re like a vampire Batman. VampMan!”
He winced. “I prefer to think of myself as a good Samaritan. One who acts for the good of others without seeking or wanting praise. For example, my gift to the city this Christmas was uncovering and dismantling a criminal ring that was hooking teens on drugs.”
“You turned them into cops?”
“I killed those in charge and confiscated their funds, which I donated to a rehab center for young adults battling addiction.”
“Well, damn. I can’t believe you fight crime.”
“Not sure why it’s so hard to believe. It’s actually how I came across you. I had just finished dealing with a mugger who’d knocked down an elderly woman for her purse when I overheard your altercation with Gavin.”
“And came to my rescue.” I glanced at my hands tucked in my lap. “I don’t know if I ever said thanks for that.”
“No need. I’m still not even sure why I did it.”
“I thought we’d determined it was pity.”
He laughed. A low chuckle that vibrated my senses. “Yes, and yet, at the same time, there was something about you that grabbed me. Your fierce spirit. Your beauty.”
I snorted. “Beauty. Ha. I was an old, chunky crone when you found me.”
“The outer casing might have aged, but it wasn’t hard to spot the fiery woman you used to be.”
“But then you proceeded to ignore me after bringing me home.”
“Because I didn’t know what to do with you. Still don’t.”
I could think of a few things.
“Like what?” he murmured in a low sexy voice.
I blinked. “Did you just read my mind like that satyr?”
His lips curved. “You said it aloud.”
“Oh.”
“What would you like me to do to you?”
“Uh.” Yeah. Being put on the spot tied my tongue because I couldn’t exactly say aloud I’d like him to kiss me.
Touch me. Fuck me. Assuming it was allowed.
He was my maker, but not my biological daddy.
Still, did that make us too close? He did mention sleeping with Sophia, which seemed to indicate no taboo.
“You are thinking way too hard.”
My mouth opened to reply, something probably dumb. Luckily, he prevented me from that by kissing me.