Page 3 of Grave Throbbing
Harley had to be daft, or maybe he wanted to get backhanded across the face with the woman's purse.
"Of course! I'm wearing a new scent from the fragrance vendor on first avenue. Isn't it grand?"
"If they're wearing perfume, ask to smell it. If they're not, ask them about their scarves, gloves, whatever will clear your way. And then …"
Instead of kissing the woman's offered wrist, Harley bit into it. Astoundingly, the woman let him. Why in eternal damnation did she let him?
When Harley had taken his fill, he and the woman parted ways with a wave. She'd barely acknowledged Key at all. Two steps later, and her thoughts returned to meeting up with a young man two streets over. She'd forgotten all about them!
"How did you do that?" Key asked.
"I made her see what she wanted to see."
"Your gift allows you to do that?"
Harley shook his head. "No. All vampires can do it, but most never learn. Their bite fills the human with euphoria and enough neurotoxin to make them forget, so they become complacent."
"Not you?" Key asked.
"Sadly, yes." Harley removed a spot of blood at the corner of his mouth with his tongue. "I, too, had become lackadaisical when selecting my human targets. Since I refuse to kill humans, my sire sent me to Rome. Queen Marcella insisted I learn how to communicate and enthrall using my mind." Harley's fingers returned to playing with the lace at his neck. "I suspect that's why she asked me to teach you. She granted me permission to communicate with you mind-to-mind as she does, but only for tonight. You must learn well and quickly." Harley grinned. "I have faith in you."
The praise warmed Key from the inside out and made his chest feel light. Still, this was a trick unlike any Key had tried. Harley first taught him to listen in on the humans' minds, and then to convince them they wanted to be bitten. Once it was over, he convinced them to forget. It took him the rest of the night to learn, but he'd completely healed his face and had gorged himself on blood when he felt the dawn approaching.
"It's almost time to return to the hotel," Harley said. "Queen Marcella will want a demonstration of your skill before we sleep for the day."
Key couldn't help it. The thought of trusting his vulnerable sleeping body around centuries-older vampires who stayed awake longer and then woke before he did made his skin crawl with paranoia. It would be better to return to Hell's Kitchen, bed down in the little coal cupboard for the day, and flee with his sister once his soul returned at dusk.
"I've had a lovely time tonight," Harley said as they approached the intersection Key needed to take to return to his sister.
"As did I." Key meant it. He'd expected to die that night. He hadn't planned to live more in twelve hours than he had in the last six months, maybe in his entire life.
Still, he had responsibilities, and Harley worked for Queen Marcella as her liaison in the states. Their disparate duties would clash sooner or later. Key wanted to remember this night for what it was, a sweet promise of what vampire life had to offer. This wasn't goodbye forever, he told himself, only until Margaret was older.
He pulled Harley to a halt at the street corner. He thought they would shake hands and say goodbye, but he was surprised when Harley draped his arms around his shoulders and pulled him in, chest to chest.
Key had forgotten how good it felt to be close to someone. The dance floor was fun, but this seemed more intimate, though they were on a public street.
"Thank you for teaching me to enthrall humans," Key said.
"The pleasure was all mine."
The words drew Key in, and he brushed his lips over Harley's. Then, the older vampire took charge, sweeping his tongue over Key's lips. Key opened and tilted his head to get even closer.
The feel of the sun just below the horizon spiked Key's fear. He had to get back to his sister. With that fear pulsing through his system, he bit down on Harley's bottom lip, giving him more than the simple paralysis he'd given their queen. This bite contained his own fear of the sun, yes, but also his euphoria from the wonderful evening with a gorgeous vampire and the desire to do more than kiss him. If only they had more time.
"Your gaze is so captivating, and your curls … doll-like."
Harley's voice in Key's head startled him to action. He left Harley unblinking and standing on the corner of West 39th and 10th Avenue mere moments before the sun rose. The paralysis would last less than a minute. Harley would have plenty of time to return to the Hotel Chelsea before a single ray of sunlight could touch him.
Chapter 2
Harley
Present Day, Boston, Massachusetts
Above Empress Marcella's generic signature, the email read,"I will arrive at the private airstrip outside Boston at 4 a.m. on October 30. Hire a V.A.M.P. limo to meet me. Tell no one on the council. You may wish to celebrate your life before I arrive."
It seemed innocuous enough, until the final sentences. The last time Harley had received a similar message, a telegraph had sent him to New York City at the turn of the twentieth century. Harley had hired an overnight carriage from Boston, the seat of power for the eastern half of the United States.
