By Elizabeth J. Kolodziej
As we moved deeper into the dwelling, we found a table in a corner and started looking around for good prey. Maybe find a snack and then find a human to take to the Master. With Collin it is always work and no fun this time of the year, but I needed to have fun.
I felt eyes staring at me and turned to find a woman looking at me from across the room. I gave her a smile and walked over. I gazed into her emerald eyes and offered her my hand to take; she did, and I led her to the dance floor. As we danced, I ran my hands up and down her back. Brown hair fell over her eyes and she abruptly pulled it back. She had a strong mind. Something about this human was different; I couldn’t get her to completely become mine. I turned her around and put her back against my chest and my hands around her waist. I smelled her hair to get her scent, trying to figure out if she was different or not. She smelled different, but she was human… I assumed.
A man interrupted us, whom I believed was a friend of hers. He was tall and had the dirty blonde hair of so many men these days. I always wished I could try a new look, but it never seemed to work for me.
Why, when I am working, do I always get interference from everyone? She came back a minute later, and we decided to catch our breath. After getting some drinks at the bar, we found a table. Why do I even bother getting human liquor since I cannot be affected by it? I thought, laughing in my head.
She sat on the other side of the round table, her legs crossed. “What’s your name?” she asked, giving me a slight smile—the kind of smile whose beauty can’t hide her interest in dissecting me.
“Trent,” I replied. “And you?”
“Faith. You’re Irish?” She was not as smart as I gave her credit for—or maybe she didn’t know what to say. Humans.
“Yes. You look to have a little Irish in you yourself,” I said, humoring her.
“My father’s side,” she said, taking a sip of her margarita. I stared into her eyes, trying to get inside her mind. It seemed as if there was a block of some kind, a protection. I knew now there was definitely something unusual about her; whether she knew it or not, I was not certain.
The conversation was dying so I had to pick it up. “Why Faith?”
She raised her eyebrows. “What?”
I leaned in closer. “Your name, it’s unusual. Why did your parents name you Faith?”
She smiled and nodded to signal that she understood. “My father named me. I had asked him the same question once, but all he would say was, ‘I have faith in you to make a change, and you will bring faith to others to help make that change.’ I never understood it.” Her voice held the high frequency sweetness of innocence. I loved it. I watched as she took another sip, slowly licking the liquid from her plump lips after taking the glass away from her mouth.
This woman was starting to raise my curiosity. “That is a very odd thing to say.”
Taking my attention away was Collin, tapping me on the shoulder and intruding on my mind as he told me he needed to speak. I could never get used to the whole mind-to-mind thing. I looked at her and said, “One moment.” As I got up, I straightened out my shirt and followed Collin.
“Not her.” Two simple words, but I didn’t understand them.
I became very interested. “Why?” I truly didn’t know, but I wanted to know.
“Just trust me, Trent. You do not want to take her to the Master.” He glanced at Faith, and then his brown eyes locked back on mine.
I still did not get it. What did he see that I didn’t? “Tell me what it is about her. I feel something, but I do not know what it is.” I could see Collin was getting nervous, which was unusual for him.
“Look, when you are as old as me you will understand.” Collin was my sire and mentor, along with being several hundred years older than me. “Just let her go and find another, got it?”
I felt my face harden. “No.”
Collin’s eyes squinted, and his lips pinched. “We are leaving. Now,” he said in the strong, commanding voice he used when pissed about something. Since I had traveled with him so long, it did not affect me much anymore.
I closed my eyes and let out a sigh. “Fine.” It was not worth the hassle to fight with Collin. I turned and went back to the table. “I have to go,” I told Faith.
“Can I have your number?” she asked, flashing one of those flirty smiles at me. Perfect white teeth gleamed in the light. Impressive.
Vampires never put their names on paper, including bills. “I don’t have a phone right now. Do not worry. I will see you again.” I knew that would keep her up all night, pondering how I would find her, but I did not care. Even if Collin said I could not see her, I would; I just had to find out what exactly was so forbidden about her.
This is an excerpt from a published novel. For more about Vampyre Kisses and Elizabeth J. Kolodziej, go to http://www.vampyrekisses.com/
Waxings 