Chapter 8: Party of Two

The woman standing at the bottom of the stairs is polished from head to toe. She’s short and petite, despite the stilettoed over-the-knee boots she wears. Perfectly straight, shiny black hair falls in three columns, one over each shoulder and one down her back.

An alluring two-inch strip of bare thigh peeks out from under her black mini-dress, over which she’s wearing a lightweight camel-colored jacket. In the shade of her wide-brimmed hat, she smiles a red-lipped grin, motioning with a tilt of her head to come down to her level.

I immediately feel like I’m in trouble.

I come down the stairs, cautiously, “You’re not about to serve me papers, are you?”

Selena tilts her head back and laughs, displaying her large, white teeth. “No papers. I’m a friend of Amun’s. I just wanted to stop by, introduce myself, and see if I can help you process a few things.”

I couldn’t see her eyes behind her glasses but the lady seemed genuine enough. A gust of wind rattles the leaves in the trees and lifts the bottom of Selena’s coat. With her hands full of coffee she can do nothing but let out an undignified, “Eep!”.

Taking pity on her, I take the coffee she’s handing me. Explaining that I was just about to see where the day was going to take me, I show my entire hand. I begin to walk alongside Selena, not even asking where we’re heading.

After the attack in the park the night before, I figure I need to learn as much as I can. Burying my head in the sand and ignoring the strange reality of my situation isn’t going to work anymore.

Selena chats about the research she’s helped fund for Amun. She doesn’t skirt around the bush. We haven’t walked a full block before I learn that she’s an independently wealthy business owner with a habit of funding her friend’s pet projects.

We don’t walk more than two blocks in the sun before she grabs my coffee from my hands and deposits it in a waste paper bin.

“I’m ready for something stronger, aren’t you?” Without waiting for my reply, she walks into a large limestone building, one I’ve never noticed before, disappearing behind the smoked glass of the double doors.

I follow as soon as I get my bearings, just in time to see the heels of her boots ascending the stairs to the second floor. Scanning the lobby for any signs of where we are, I follow.

Luckily our destination is obvious once I get to the landing. Any more twists and turns and Selena would’ve lost me for sure. I walk along the landing and enter the dark, smoky bar through a heavy oak door. Squinting in the dim light, I see her, back straight, legs crossed on a bar stool, smiling her big white smile and laughing with the bartender.

“Isn’t it just a little early?” I ask, sliding onto the bar stool.

“Order an orange juice, if the time of day concerns you. I do what I like when I like,” she almost sighs as she says this. I look at her out of the corner of my eye, realizing that she’s smoking a cigar alongside her cocktail. After splitting the difference and ordering a mimosa, I turn on my barstool to face her.

“You obviously didn’t meet me at my door to tell me how rich you are and take me out for mid-morning drinks.” I try and look her in the eyes but she’s still wearing her glasses, though her wide-brimmed hat is on the bar stool next to her.

“I didn’t?” she replies in mock surprise “Okay, Petra. To be perfectly honest, I’m concerned for you,” she pauses for a moment to signal for a refill from the bartender.

“It’s safe to be overheard in this bar about these sorts of things so I’m not going to parse words. You’re new to the vampire world. And yes, I know you know at this point. An old boy like Amun can’t hide his cards for very long.”

“Amun and I have been lovers for the last three years, just having fun, mind you. Oh, don’t worry. We’re cosmopolitan! We’re evolved! No need for petty emotions on either of our parts. That being said, I’ve gained an intimate perspective on Amun’s passions.”

Selena pauses to turn in her stool, and take my hand into her lap, resting my wrist between her smooth thighs. She strokes my bracelet with one perfectly manicured nail and I tear my hand away, cupping the bracelet away from her sight.

“A beautiful piece,” she says, an unreadable expression on her face. I can’t help but wish she would take her sunglasses off. “Amun has been trying to get you and this bracelet together since long before he and I met.”

“Actually, since long before either one of us was born. He’s spent hundreds of years tracking down this little piece of jewelry. And the thing is, the bracelet is a simple antique without you. Its value only lies in the gold and the unique craftsmanship. But with you, it’s a tool.”

Selena swirls her cocktail, looking into the thick liquid deeply as she continues, “With the bracelet, you’re one of the only mortals in the whole world to hold any sort of sway over the vampire race. And once you get the rest of them? Well, you’ll be unstoppable.”

“It’s your blood. I’m sure you’ve guessed. I’m sure there have been signs since you’re wearing the bracelet as we speak. You can’t hold that kind of power and not receive a message or two.” Selena is looking at me intently now. I can see myself in the dark reflection of her glasses. I look small-town and messy in the dim, opulent bar.

“Selena, I appreciate the sentiment. I just feel like Amun should be the one explaining this to me,” I reply in a weak little voice that I hate.

Why am I acting so small in front of this woman? All she has is money and according to her, I’ve got power. I clear my throat and start again, “Even if you’ve helped Amun, this business is really between him and me.”

“Oh, my God. Oh, I feel awful. I really didn’t mean to overstep. That’s so embarrassing.” Selena motions for the bartender to refill my glass as well. “I get it, I get it. This is between you and Amun. I’ve just been so wrapped up in the research of the project that I’ve started to feel like it’s mine as well, you know? But I get it. Boy. I’m sorry, really.”

Her red, wide smile is gone. Her cigar, forgotten in the ashtray. Her hands are clasped in a state of contrition on her lap. I sigh.

“Okay, I hear you. Honestly, this has been a wild, stressful week and I could use a vent with someone who will understand or even believe my crazy story.”

For the next few hours, we sip drinks as I vent about Amun’s strange introduction and our first fight, about the room and the fact that the runes were there all along. I tell her about my attack and the night on the roof, watching her closely for jealousy.

Selena seems genuinely unbothered by my romantic connection with Amun. She just shrugs, giggling a little into her drink saying, “To be expected when it comes to vamps.”

We order a dozen empanadas at the bar, all different flavors and we trade bites like old friends. It’s about two o’clock in the afternoon and I’m pleasantly buzzed before I insist that we leave, craving the sun after so long in the dark bar.

“You’re right,” Selena sighs. “It’s time. Listen, I’m going to take a car home. My feet can’t take walking in these heels with this many drinks in me. Ugh, you’re just too much fun.” We both slide off our stools and head for the door.

I’m about to head for the stairs when Selena grabs my bare wrist, her fingers cold against my flushed skin. She takes a felt pen out of her inner pocket and writes her number down.

“Old school,” I comment with a smile.

“I’m going to tell you something,” Selena’s voice is husky and slightly slurred. “Don’t be mad, promise?” I nod, up and down, exaggerated in my tipsy state.

“Amun is a vampire.” She looks at me for a beat and I drop into a state of giggles.

“I think we covered that, Selena.”

“No, no. You don’t understand. He’s like, super old. He was changed in the 1600s. Your getting into a relationship with an old, powerful man. Not only that, he knows that you have the potential for power that you know nothing about. He could use you, Petra.

“You need to know that even if he’s giving you access to it, it’s still yours. In the end, having control over you would make him one of the most powerful beings in our whole f*cking world. Really, I mean it.

“What I’m saying is, you need to consider his motivations. Don’t let good sex and his suave vampire ways distract you from seeing when you’re being manipulated. I just want you to know that I’m in your court.”

I feel a wave of anger and disappointment come over me but I take a breath. Nothing that she said was wrong. I needed to put my crush aside and listen. After waiting a beat and slowly taking my wrist out of her manicured grasp, I respond simply,

“I get it. I hardly know Amun. And yeah, I guess he’s the ultimate old guy. I don’t like to hear you, but I do. Thanks for everything, Selena.”

She gives me one more giant smile and grabs me by the shoulders, kissing me once on each cheek and once, a little longer than expected, on the lips. I laugh and wave, heading down the stairs, out the door, and into the sun.

After walking a block, I was on top of the world once more. The whole day lay before me. I was riding high on that new relationship energy. I was full of free champagne and empanadas. And to top it all off, I was the beneficiary of an ancestral power.

Was there any better feeling in the world?