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“I was bitten by the same evil bitch who murdered my mother. To be honest, I’m not sure how my family got into the business of vampire hunting. I only know that it started with my great, great, great, grandmother who was half-faerie. My mother inherited all of her spellbooks and journals, but nothing we found ever said why she got into this.” I laughed bitterly. “I suppose that’s a pretty stupid reason to hunt down a species and kill them.”
“I’m not here to judge you.” He pointed to the wine bottle. “May I?”
“Help yourself.” I finished my blood in one big gulp. “It’s all right if you do judge me, I don’t mind. My mother was my hero and I did what she told me to. I wanted to be just like her. As crazy as that might sound, I never questioned the reasons why. All I ever saw of vampires was their monstrous side. Victims whose family members were killed by vamps hired us all the time. I inherited a fortune when my mother passed, all built upon the countless deaths of vampires.”
There was kindness in his eyes and sympathy in his deep voice when he asked, “How did a legend like Marigold Grima get killed by a vampire? She wasn’t exactly human. The stories I’ve heard made her sound like some kind of superhero.”
I smiled. “She was to me. But we were tricked. We followed several leads that finally brought us to the warehouse.” I sighed, wishing I could get drunk. “There were probably thirty vampires waiting for us. Even with the potions and weapons we had on hand, we were unprepared. When I thought it was all over, and the last few vamps ran from the building, I turned and saw her lying there. As my mother breathed her last breath, someone grabbed me from behind. I was held down by three vampires while one of them drained me until the point of death. I never heard them say a name, but I will never forget her face. She’ll likely never forget me either. After she forced me to drink her blood, the vamps holding me down let go. I guess they thought I was too weak to fight back.” I held up the palm of my right hand and showed him the cross-shaped scar I carried there. “With my last bit of strength I grabbed the silver cross from my pocket and pressed it into her face. Her screams gave me some satisfaction at least. They probably would have killed me for what I did, but the sun was rising. They ran and I hid in a dark corner of the building until nightfall. It took me a while to adjust to what had been done to me. During that time, it’s as if they vanished completely. No matter who I ask, or try to beat the information out of, no one has seen a pretty redheaded vampire with a cross-shaped scar on the left side of her face.”
We stood there in silence for a minute or so with Hugh steadily sipping his wine.
“I’m sorry,” he said at last. “That’s really awful. I’m not sure what else to say.”
“That’s all right,” I said, offering him a half-hearted smile. “You don’t have to say anything really.” I paused and looked directly into his piercing blue eyes. “You’re the first person I’ve ever talked to about what happened. I didn’t even get specific with the police. Actually, I didn’t speak to them at all. As soon as I heard the sirens I hid and used a spell to stay hidden. Thanks to the other spells I have in place, they were never able to locate me to inform me of her murder.”
“You don’t have any friends?” His remark wasn’t sarcastic, but sounded genuinely concerned.
“I know a lot of people, some better than others. But I learned a long time ago to keep anything truly personal to myself.”
“That’s a lonely way to live,” he said softly.
“Yes, it is. What I found particularly strange was that no one ever claimed the murder. You’d think a vampire out there somewhere would want bragging rights.”
“I agree, that is strange. You said you were bitten by the same vampire who killed your mother. Did you actually see her do it?”
I shook my head. “No, but I got the strong impression she was in charge, so I blame her. Even if she wasn’t the one who did the deed, looking for someone who obviously played a role in my mother’s death seems like a good place to start.”
“That makes sense.”
“All I know for certain is that someone set us up and organized an attack with the intention to kill us both. Why I was turned, I have no clue. Maybe they thought it was poetic justice, to kill the famous slayer and make her daughter a vampire.”
“Do you see becoming a monster as poetic justice?”
I took another look at Hugh and decided to be completely, brutally honest with him. He already knew a great deal about me and it felt good to finally talk about what happened to my mother and to me.
“No matter what they had done, I killed people for a living. Hell, I still do. I was already a monster. Now, I’m just a different type of monster.”
He moved closer and sat his wine glass on the counter behind me. The heat I felt rising from his body was as welcoming as his scent.
“Let me help you,” he said.
His deep voice seemed to resonate within my soul. Was this magic I was feeling or something else?
“Why would you do that?” I asked.
“Because I am your guardian and it is what I’m bound to do.” I was about to reply when he put his fingertip against my lips. That gentle contact made me shiver with pleasure and I fought the urge to lick that finger. “Besides, I would like to help you. You’ve been through an awful lot and come a long way on your own. I’m a P.I. maybe I can find something you couldn’t.”
“How did you find me tonight?”
I put a lot of effort into making sure I wasn’t an easy person to locate. Besides all kinds of spells blocking me from being magically tracked, I also had a spell on my address. Mail still managed to reach me, but no one remembered my address one minute after reading it. If they tried to write it down, the words and numbers would automatically rearrange themselves.
“I was nearby working on another case when I suddenly started to change. That reminds me, I need to fly back at some point and get my truck. I’ve been able to transform on my own since that first time seven years ago, but it has never been forced on me again until tonight.”
“And you think my blood touching the amulet caused that?”
He nodded. “I do. I’m not sure how to describe it exactly, but I felt you. It was as if an invisible chain was attached to my breastbone, pulling me in your direction.”
Just then I remembered something else. “Earlier you said you might not be real for much longer. What did you mean?”
He ran a hand through his long dark hair and I suppressed the urge to touch him. It had been a while since I’d been with anyone and he had the body of a god. No harm in admiring though, right?
I found myself staring at his throat, not because I was a vampire and could sense his pulse. But because I wanted so badly to press my lips against that smooth expanse of skin. I wanted to run my tongue over his flesh and find out what he tasted like.
“It was something I found in my research,” he said, bringing me out of my reverie. “If a guardian fails to protect two people they are bound to, they will be permanently transformed and turned to stone.”