Chapter 6 Venom #2
I fiddle with the edge of the bedsheet. "I mean, it sounds like a good thing at first, but you're giving up death itself."
His eyes flash with excitement. "I'll live forever?"
"Unless someone kills you, yes."
"I don't see the problem with that," he says as he absently strokes my calf. "It sounds like I'm a superhero or something. How do we die?"
"The whole garlic thing is a myth. Crosses do nothing. A lot of the folklore about vamps is bullshit designed to make humans feel safer, but unfortunately some of it's true."
"What about stakes?"
"Those work. Through the heart, and you're done.
Decapitation too. Oh, and silver burns like hell, so stay away from that.
It doesn't matter though. Once you fully turn, you'll be harder to catch and tougher to hold down.
" I pause and jab him playfully in the chest. "But that's not the only stuff that hurts.
It's the emotional pain that'll get you.
Silver to the skin is nothing compared to the pain of watching a loved one die. And they all will. One by one."
He's quiet for a moment, processing. "You're talking about family? Friends?"
"Yes." I study the freckles on my knees, and my hair falls forward, obscuring my face like a protective curtain.
"I'm sorry, Angel. That's the price for immortality.
It's the cruelty of it. You'll see incredible things.
Watch the world change and grow around you.
Experience a life you never thought possible.
But eventually you'll outlive every human you've ever loved. "
He reaches out to move my hair from my face. "Is that how it's been for you? How old are you?"
"Sixty-five years total. Forty-three years vampire.
My parents died a few years ago. Eventually my sisters.
..my human ones...their kids... They'll all be gone too, and I'll still be the same old Sophia.
" I square my shoulders. "Anyway, it was my choice.
I chose this life, and I'm so sorry that you didn't."
"Well...you look damn good for sixty," he says with a playful smirk, and I can't help but offer a polite laugh.
"I'm serious, Angel. I'm sorry that you had this done to you. I don't know what kind of person you are outside of all this, besides a pain in the ass obviously, but if it's any consolation, I think something this big should be a choice."
He's quiet for a long moment, staring at nothing.
Then, "Thanks. My old life never quite fit anyway.
I've always just been a vessel for my father.
All he ever wanted was to mold me into his perfect little heir to launder his money and give him grandkids he could indoctrinate.
I was sleepwalking through a life I didn't choose, and I hated every fucking second of it. "
"What did you want instead?"
He laughs bitterly. "I don't know. Something different. Something that was mine, not his. I never really thought about it before. My life was always planned for me. Maybe this is it. Maybe this is my way out."
"Maybe."
He stares at his hands, turning them over like he's seeing them for the first time. "Maybe this is a crazy thing to say, but I think I was always supposed to be a vampire. Being here with you is the most at peace I've ever felt. All this pain, the weakness I feel. It's worth it."
I grip his bicep. "You won't stay weak for long. Soon you'll be stronger, faster, more dangerous than any human alive."
His eyes light up. "What else?"
"Dios mío, the blood. It's incredible. You think tasting a little bit of macadamia nut in that watered-down stuff is good?
Just wait. Soon you'll be able to taste like you've never tasted before.
With a single sip, you'll know what the donor has recently eaten.
What they've been drinking. If they've gotten high, you'll get high too. No hangover. No comedown."
He leans in. "Do different people taste different?"
"Uh-huh, and you'll taste their distinctive flavor. Two humans can eat the same diet and you'll get the same 'notes,' but they'll taste totally unique. It's a person's history and experiences that season the blood with individuality."
He runs his fingers over the place on his neck where I bit him. "What about me? How do I taste?"
The memory causes my tongue to dart out, and I lick my lips on instinct. "You were like nothing I've ever had before. Your blood is complex. Kinda sweet and tangy but also rich and earthy. You're delicious."
"I guess I heal fast too?" he says, his cheeks flushed as he searches for evidence of the wound.
"Yeah, you'll heal fast, but that's not why there's no trace. It's because I healed you with my venom."
"Venom? Was that what you did to your hand before? When you were making the mixture for my fever?"
"May I?" I reach for his arm, and he nods and stretches it toward me.
When my fangs descend and I lean in to sniff his wrist, his eyes widen. He flinches as I drag my teeth along his flesh and leave two bloody train-track marks along his muscle-corded forearm.
Then, without breaking eye contact, I slide my tongue along each scratch and pull away so I can watch his face fill with wonder as the skin knots together and any sign of trauma disappears without a trace.
"Holy shit," he gasps.
"Pretty slick, right?" I lick my index finger and hold it up to the light.
"But healing's just the party trick. The real magic?
It's basically supernatural ecstasy in liquid form.
One kiss, and humans get completely drunk on us—they'll spend hours, sometimes days, replaying that moment in their heads, dreaming about us, craving another hit.
Makes it easy to keep feeding from the same person without too much resistance. "
I pause, watching his reaction. "It won't work forever. Given enough exposure, a human becomes immune. Their body learns to recognize it and fight it off—same principle as a vaccine. Nature's way of maintaining the balance, I guess."
"Is that why I like it so much?"
I shrug. "Maybe? Or maybe you're just a little masochistic. Speaking of which, the sex is another thing you can look forward to." I lean in conspiratorially. "You think what we just did was good? Ha! Wait until you're fully turned. When two vamps do the nasty, it's fucking transcendent."
A slow smile spreads across his face. "Looking forward to it. Anything else?"
"Yeah, and this is a big one. It's going to sound really corny, so don't look at me when I say this, but it's the family you get that really makes the whole thing worth it.
When you're vampire, you just have this feeling like you're part of something ancient.
Something bigger than yourself. The clans, the rival bloodlines, the politics—it's messy and complicated, but it's also. ..belonging. Real belonging."
"Family," he repeats in a whisper. "Like your Malditas?"
"Exactly like that. They're my family in ways my actual family never was. We'd die for each other. We'd kill for each other. That's what blood bonds create—absolute loyalty."
His eyes narrow. "To whoever turned me."
"Yes."
"Do you know who it was?"
"I do."
"Will you tell me?"
I hold his gaze, knowing I can't give him all the answers but wanting to offer something. "His name is Lazaro. He's powerful, dangerous, and runs a dangerous criminal enterprise."
Angel's jaw tightens. "Meet the new boss..."
"Same as the old boss." I finish. When I reach for him, he stiffens, so I let my hand drop. "He turned you for a reason, Angel. He must have seen something in you. In just a few days, you'll meet him, and you'll have an opportunity to ask him why."
He doesn't respond, just stares at his hands for a long moment. The silence stretches between us, heavy with unspoken fears.
"Come on," I say softly, pulling the bedsheet back. "You need to rest. Your body is still going through a lot."
"I'm not tired."
"You're exhausted. I can see it." I grab hold of one of the only pillows he hasn't destroyed and fluff it up. "Lie down. Just for a bit."
He hesitates, that obstinate set to his jaw that I'm starting to recognize. But then his shoulders slump, the fight draining out of him. "Will you lie with me?"
"Of course."
He settles down next to me as I assume the little spoon position. He curls up behind me and shudders as he drapes himself over my icy body. A half-naked dead girl like me is way more effective than a cold compress, and I can almost convince myself that this is purely practical.
But I know myself better than that.
"Sophia, when this is over...when I'm turned..." He swallows hard against my shoulder. "Will I be able to see you?"
"I don't see why not. You'll most likely live with your new clan in a nest and learn how to be a vampire. It'll be wonderful."
"Good." His arm tightens around me. "I don't care where I end up. Or who I end up with. But I can't leave this place and never see you again."
“I know. Me too.” I whisper as I flick the switch on the brass bedside lamp and plunge the windowless room into pitch darkness. "Get some sleep. You need to rest."
His breathing evens out gradually, exhaustion yanking him under despite his protests. He jerks and twitches occasionally, but I lie completely still, listening to his heartbeat, studying that strange off-beat rhythm I can't quite seem to follow.
Something about it bothers me. The pattern is off. Not the good-kind-of-jazz off, but weird and wrong on a primal level. It's too irregular, too unpredictable, too labored. I squeeze my eyes shut and count the beats, willing it to steady, but it only gets more erratic.
But he's sleeping peacefully, and I'm probably just being paranoid.
So I close my eyes and let myself drift.