Page 33 of Bite Me
“How old is he?”
“Old enough to make his own decisions.” Her smirk told me everything I didn’t need to know.
“You’re incorrigible.”
She looked satisfied with herself as she drank her wine. “Your grandmother lived to be one hundred and twenty-seven, remember? I have plenty of time to date old men when I’m closer to the grave. And what about you? Still feeding at clubs?”
“At least I don’t have to break up with someone ten times a year.”
“I didn’t mean to judge you, Russel. You did that yourself. There is nothing wrong with finding meals and sexual partners at dinner clubs.”
I sighed. “I’m sorry, Mother. You’re right. I haven’t been myself lately.”
“It’s the season. You’ve always been sensitive to prolonged daylight.”
I suppressed a groan. Did she talk to Levi? They barely knew each other. “I’m fine.”
“You should eat more often, Russel. You look ghastly. I swear, you look older than me! Why a handsome man like yourself would voluntarily starve himself, I’ll never understand. You need reliable partners who’ll be at your disposal, who’ll come to you and take care of your needs with enthusiasm. Trolling clubs for strangers is exhausting, and some of those people taste vile.”
“Do you remember how my last attempt at a relationship with a human ended?”
My mother threw her hands in the air theatrically. “Because he expected monogamy.”
Actually,Iexpected him to be loyal. But mistakes were made on both sides.
“If you’re clear about your wishes, nobody gets hurt,” my mother said. “And I’m telling you, some of those young men out there areveryaccommodating. Gino wanted me to feed from him daily. I took only a few mouthfuls, of course, but he had amazing stamina and was so responsive! And Marc tastes even better. Do you think this is all skincare and makeup? Pfft. Young blood will rejuvenate you.” She grinned as she finished her glass. My mother was proud of her lifestyle and flaunted it whenever she could.
Before I could change the subject, she dropped another bomb. “I also saw your employer, Anthony Fowles, at the fundraiser. He seems very reserved. Does he treat you well?”
“He’s good. I like working for him.”
“Hm. When I said who I was, he told me about this thing you’re having on Friday in two weeks.”
Shit. “It’s just a small mingle.”
“I’d love to see where you work, and I’m already invited. I don’t need your approval.” She winked playfully, but I knew she’d be hurt if I told her not to come.
“I’d love for you to be there,” I lied.
Her face lit up. She was like a fish in the sea at any social gathering. Or more like a shark in a tank.
Then it hit me. She might meet Eddie. I hadn’t thought that through.
* * *
I didn’t mind working late. I didn’t need to sleep for more than a few hours a day, and once the night fell, I usually got more alert—when I was well-fed.
It had been twenty-eight days. Five more hungry nights since last Sunday when my own mother told me I looked like shit.
Why did I do this to myself, indeed? I didn’t think I’d ever gone without blood that long. Rationally, I knew I was far from real danger. Vampires had made it months without feeding and survived. I wondered, though, if they made it with their sanity intact.
I should be staying away from Eddie. Instead, I kept finding excuses to be close to him.
After another podcast interview our clients had done earlier today, we set up a workstation in one of the meeting rooms to monitor the media. The bot examined the feed for us and reacted to predefined terms, but the results still had to be categorized and evaluated manually. If we left it until Monday, we could have a shitstorm on our hands.
Eddie sat a mere three feet away from me. In the dim light coming from the screens, his face looked surrounded by a halo in all the colors of the rainbow. I could clearly see his pulse fluttering on the side of his throat.
“The keywords aren’t giving us anything weird. None of the usual suspects have picked it up yet, aside from Dan Gennaro, but today’s episode had low stats compared to his podcast’s average reach, so my guess is he won’t return to the topic. I think we’re good until tomorrow.”
