Page 59 of Santa's Wish
"You ran from your fate. I wanted to make you my general in the First World War, but you fled back to the states with your tail tucked between your legs."
"He made me fight for him. I refuse to fight for anyone but me."
"I saw you on Earth Day," she whispered. "You and I fight the same battles, it seems."
We'd ended a Nazi vampire uprising on the first Earth Day. Any vampire with a brain knew we needed to protect the planet and humanity at all costs. "I still prefer autonomy," I said.
She nodded. "I understand. Are you worried about your lover's free will?"
"No. You're not his sire."
"I sired Cassius. You're right, though. My dear Flavius is your grandsire, but he holds no control over you, and I have none over Boz. You are both free to live however you wish, as long as you don't kill another vampire without my express consent."
"Thank you for giving me permission to destroy Cassius."
"It was the least I could do. I would have given you permission to kill Lethos, too, if you'd but asked."
I saw his face in my head. Lethos, my sire, had been exactly as horrible as she said, but I'd carried the guilt of killing him for over a century. As I watched, his sharp features floated away like dust, taking with it my shame.
She kissed both of my cheeks. "You are forgiven. Take care of my accountant. He'll need you in the days ahead."
I blinked, and I was seated on the couch at the back of the club once more. Key's phone showed our call had ended five minutes ago.
CHAPTER 17
BOZ
I was a vampire.A freaking vampire.
Yes, I'd been planning it, expecting it, but to have my choice ripped away from me by a vampire who wanted to murder me and send the empress a message …
I hadn't wrapped my head around it yet. I was nobody, the newest hire at Imperial Accounting. Why me?
For the first few days, I wondered if Rocky's fate would be mine. The cravings hit me like a bus. I'd be fine, and then I wasn't. Thankfully, Santa anticipated the crashes and handed me blood each time. When I asked him how he knew, he said I always tried to push my missing glasses up my nose right before I got hangry. Now, I could recognize the symptom, too. Myvision went a little hazy, and then the hunger pangs started.
After a week at home, Harley and Colette called me to a meeting at Imperial Accounting. They pulled me into the same conference room where we'd held Memphis's birthday party. It was the first time I'd left Santa's basement apartment since I'd turned.
Everyone was stunned by my ability to hold intelligent conversations. I'd been working at home on my laptop, sipping on the never-ending blood supply Santa ordered for me, but this was my first return to the office.
The hardest part of leaving the apartment was leaving Santa behind. He'd been back to Fanglory a few times to meet with his boss, but he always left me with a thermos of blood and returned before I finished drinking it. I'd barely noticed his absence.
Tonight, the center of my chest ached, as though my heart was tethered to his by an unbreakable bond, and this was the first time I had tested its limits. I stretched my shoulders, trying to alleviate the pain.
An image of Santa popped into my head. He had driven me to work, and now he was waiting at the drive-thru window for the folks at Blood Drive to fill our metal carafe.
Santa had kept me on a strict diet of human blood infused with cinnamon and ginger. Both flavors had been favorites when I was a child, but other flavors likelemon-lime soda and fruit punch had overtaken my palate at MIT. Now, my tastes had completely changed. Fruit-flavored blood tasted terrible. Cinnamon and ginger, especially when blended, were so delicious, it barely registered that I was drinking blood.
Lots and lots of blood. Santa had sent a thermos with me, so I took a sip, letting the ginger and cinnamon sting my tastebuds before swallowing.
Harley and Colette continued to talk about mutual friends and old times as though Kristin and I weren't there, and Kristen smelled annoyed …
I could scent her emotions. I wondered if my new skill pertained to shifters only, or if I could sense human feelings, too. Once Santa decided it was safe for me to visit my parents, I would try it out. Until then, I would avoid them and any possibility of accidentally attacking them.
I tried to read Harley and Colette. After a minute of listening to them talk, I couldn't get a read on either of them. Either vampire powers didn't work on other vampires, or they were better at hiding their emotions from me.
Finally, Harley turned the conversation toward Imperial Accounting's financial planners.
"I think there's more to the picture than what you've uncovered," Harley said. "Nothing here says a rational vampire should have tried to kill a human accountant."
