Authors: John Conroe
“Lydia, introduce me to your friend,” he commanded. “I have so wanted to meet Tanya's human pet.”
“Quickly then, Anton. She really needs to see him now.” Lydia replied.
“Oh, we wouldn't want to hold up my darling daughter now, would we?” he said, his pale blue eyes never leaving mine.
“Christian, this is Anton, Tanya's father.” Lydia said.
Of course, my life being wh
at it is,
my first time meeting a girlfriend's father and he had to be a two hundred-and-seventy-five-year-old vampire.
“Sir,” I said. He said nothing, but continued to stare directly into my eyes. I sensed small flutters of movement around us, as the others moved a little closer. Finally he spoke.
“So much emotion over so little of value,” he said.
A redheaded female, gowned in white, moved closer, speaking as she came, her voice sultry and teasing. “Oh, I don't know, Anton. He looks and smells rather delicious. Quite a 'treat', don't you think?”
He laughed. “And what would be the trick, my dear?”
“Why, getting up the stairs, my Lord,” she said.
“So, no trick at all then, huh
Akilina
?
” said a cold, familiar voice from the top of the stairs.
Wearing torn jeans and my gray sweatshirt, looking tired and worn, with dark bruised circles under her eyes, she still outshone every vampire present. The redhead, Akilina, looked scared. Anton smoothly covered his own small start, which I had only seen because our eyes had remained locked throughout the whole discussion. “Ah my darling daughter, you have decided to honor us with your presence.”
“Actually, Anton, I am honoring you by letting you stand so close to my
sputnik jizni.
And, of course, only my sister, Lydia, is allowed to touch him.” Her voice carried the chill of death.
The creeping vampires that had frozen at her first words, were suddenly as far from me as possible, and Akilina fled in a swirl of white ruffles, leaving only Anton standing very still.
“Chris, would you please come up?” she asked in much warmer tones. I didn't need a second invitation.
Once upstairs, we traveled back down the hall I had run through two nights previous, giving me a chance to notice detail. A series of portraits lined the hall, each of Galina clothed in the fashions of a different period of time. Several had a Russian feel to them and the last four were more American. The final portrait was of Senka, Galina and a young Tatiana. I paused a moment to study it, my companions stopping instantly as well. “What is a
sputnik jizni
?” I asked as I looked at the detail of the painting. Lydia answered. “It translates as 'satellite life' and would mean something like the western concept of Soul Mate, although it is more serious, especially among vampires.”
“Oh.” was all I could think to say. We continued to the door to Tatiana's suite and Lydia turned off to
a
separate room, with a parting comment, “Play nice, you two.”
Tatiana led me to her room and stood with her back to me while I closed the large double doors. She turned slowly, clenching both hands together, her posture much less certain than the girl who had just dominated a room full of deadly older vampires.
“Christian....I have made a grave mistake. When ..when I spoke to you here the other night, I was telling you falsehoods. My mother and Anton convinced me that you were better off without me around you, telling me that the assassin that attacked you was sent by the weres of the city. Our coven has not always had a smooth relationship with the weres.” She paused, her eyes bright with tears. “I believed them and so I told you those things; things I never, ever meant. Things I could never mean. I know you believed me then and I don't expect you to forgive me, but I had to tell you, face to face, here where it...happened.” Tears were streaming down her face and a small part of me was startled that she could cry real tears. The rest of me was a real mess. On the drive to her house, I had given myself a stern pep talk. I would be solid, I would not cave. Whata load of crap! Faced with her tears, I was helpless. I took two fast steps forward and wrapped her in my arms, not able to speak. She went rigid for a moment, then relaxed into my chest. After a moment, I found my voice.
“Tanya, when was the last time you ate?” She shrugged and looked down at the floor. I lifted her chin till her brilliant blues were looking me in the eye. “We need to feed you. Like right now, my love.” She had started to shake her head, but froze when I called her my love. Taking her by the hand, I led her over to an ornate dressing table chair. I sat down and pulled her onto my lap, making her straddle me. Then I leaned my head back and turned it, exposing my jugular. “Are you certain?” she asked in a very small voice.
“Yes Tanya, I'm certain.”
When she bit down, the feeling that overwhelmed me was many times more powerful than any of the previous feedings. My body's reaction was even stronger than before and given her seating arrangement, there was no way to hide it from her. Not that I cared. I was too caught up in the waves of pleasure to notice anything else. But her reaction was anything but offended. She moaned around a mouthful of my blood and her hands, which were knotted into my tee shirt, flexed briefly and then I was shirtless. Not long after that we were both naked. The amount of blood she took was small and didn't require much time, but the rest of our responses took much, much longer. Our first time was amazing, but over too fast. Our second was longer and slower, building to a spectacular finish. This was what I had been missing my entire adult life? No wonder Scott Henderson was such a sex addict. Near instant healing and supernatural endurance, mixed with youth and an almost insane mutual attraction combined to make our first night
together
a true marathon.
It took my stomach growling to finally stop us. Tanya laughed as we lay entangled in her sheets, her left hand pressed on my chest, feeling my heart's rhythm.
A soft knock came from the door and Tanya called out. “Come in, Lydia.” The door snicked open and a pair of emerald green eyes peeked at us through the opening. I should have been embarrassed or bothered but couldn't seem to work up to either emotion, as the little vampire spun into the room.
“About time!” she said.
“Hey, we've got a lot of lost time to make up for,” I said.
“No, you moron, it's about time you two had sex. I thought I'd have to dose you both with Spanish Fly and lock you in a bank vault!”
Tanya slipped out of bed and stretched lithely, still gloriously naked. She padded to her closet, emerging after a moment in light blue short shorts and a tight stretchy tee that left her midriff bare.
The bruises under her eyes were gone and her alabaster skin glowed against her shiny raven black hair. Her blue eyes sparking, she tossed my jeans onto the bed and said, “Come on lover. Let's find you a shirt and get you something to eat before you starve away to nothing.”
As I pulled on my pants, I commented, “I could just go shirtless, or will I offend the other vampires?”
Tanya growled instantly. “No! I won't have them seeing you shirtless. They don't need
any more
reason to want you!”
Lydia smirked as she tossed me the NYPD hoodie that Tanya had flung across the room. “Remember, North boy, my girl here is very territorial, even for a Darkkin.”
“A what?” I asked.
“Darkkin is a name we use for ourselves. Vampire is way-over used,” Lydia said.
The mansion's kitchen was a surprise. I had zero expectations of finding food there, but the walk
-
in fridge was packed with all manner of goodies, both prepared and raw. Tanya saw my puzzled expression and laughed. “Did you forget that Mr. Deckert and his men are all human?”
“And big!” Lydia threw in.
“Actually, I did. I've been meaning to ask how it is that a whole group of humans knows that you're vampires?” I asked.
Tanya answered. “We have always employed humans as daytime guardians and agents of business. We hire ex-military with high clearance levels so that we know they can keep a secret. We pay them
extremely
well, with excellent benefits. That's why we have a stocked kitchen and a vampire who was a chef in his human life. Keep the troops happy.” She smiled and then added, “And of course we explain in great detail what will happen if they betray us.”
I shuddered a little at the blithe manner in which she mentioned a death threat. Occasionally, I seemed to forget that my two favorite vampires were by nature highly efficient killers.
The monstrous fridge yielded cold chicken sandwiches, with German potato salad and a huge glass of ice cold milk. Lydia looked slightly disgusted, but intrigued as she watched me eat. “Human food is so smelly and bulky.” she commented.
“But oh so flavorful, my little Pita.” I said.
Tanya whirled around from her curious examination of the kitchen's massive commercial range.
“What did you call her?” Her voice carried a slight tone of jealousy.
“Pita, P.I.T.A.” I smiled at her. “It stands for Pain In the Ass.”
They both burst out laughing.
I ended up spending the night, as Tanya was unwilling to let me leave, and I was easily convinced. I
did
end up getting a few hours of sleep, then drove home as the sun came up, after kissing my sleepy Darkkin good day. Halloween had dawned crisp and clear and the weatherman said it would last through the evening, perfect trick or treat weather for all the young monsters, eagerly awaiting the evening's candy storm. Tanya had made me swear to show up at Plasma for the club's major night of the year. Because of her
awakening
, an enormous birthday bash was scheduled and the club would almost have more vampires in attendance than humans. But the only th
ing she wanted for her birthday
was me. Although, when I had told her I was picking up her gift after breakfast, she freaked. “You got me a gift? Really? What is it? Tell me!” she demanded, but I just laughed and refused to be bullied into revealing the surprise. I honestly didn't know if she would even like them, but it was too late now. She threatened to call Nika, but I still refused. “You just have to wait. You might not even like my gift, plus you have some of the richest people in the world bringing you gifts. Mine will be modest by comparison.” She tried a new weapon on me...she pouted. It was devastatingly powerful, but I still managed to keep my secret and when I picked her gift up from the specialty jeweler, my expectations were exceeded. Whether or not she would agree, I didn't have a clue.
The funeral for the slain officer was scheduled for ten AM and I shined my shoes before putting on my dress uniform. My plainclothes went into a small duffel for after
the somber morning
.
Smiling stupidly, I headed into work.
Chapter 17
I arrived at the Special Situations offices a few minutes after nine, all of my extra time being eaten up by the drive and parking. I was gonna have to figure out the best subway schedule, but I wanted my own ride to get to Plasma after work. I didn't know what you wore to a Halloween/Vampire Princess birthday bash, but Lydia had told me she would have something appropriate sent to my office.
My tardiness was ignored as everyone was busy getting ready for the funeral. We all
drove to the church in two big Chevy S
uburbans that the squad regularly appropriated. It was a full Mass funeral and open casket to boot. Officer Sanchez had bled out from a claw slash that severed the femoral artery in his right thigh. It had been his only wound and it was pure bad luck that his artery had been nicked. All of which convinced me that the Damnedthing had not been interested in killing humans. Not that he cared one way or the other about humans, but I got the sense that Okwari had been a very difficult and rebellious slave. As I sat through the Mass, I wondered at the Damnedthing's nature and his place in the metaphysical scheme of things. Religion and theology are not my usual cup of tea, but it's hard to avoid those thoughts when you're at a funeral for a fallen comrade. It was a long sad ceremony; Sanchez had left behind a young wife and ten month old baby.
When it was over, Inspector Roma decided we should all go to lunch at his expense, picking a family owned Italian restaurant where he was known. The pretty hostess greeted him by name, calling out behind her, “Papa, it's Inspector Roma! He brought the whole police force
!
”
This statement pretty much cleared the kitchen as the whole family bustled out to greet the squad. From the familiarity they displayed toward the rest of the Special Situati
ons group
this was not the first time the squad had been to Tony's Place. My guess was confirmed when Roma introduced me to Tony, his wife Carlotta, his daughter – the hostess – Adriana , and his son, Benito. Also Benito's wife, Jacobella, who looked very pregnant. They all looked at me a little strangely, probably due to the dark sunglasses I had worn into the restaurant. Gina elbowed me, “Take off
the glasses, Chris, it's rude,”
she said, as we were led to the big table in the back