Page 13 of Santa's Wish
My gaze fell to the two tiny dark marks on the blanket, and I pointed.
"I spilled a couple drops from my to-go cup," Santa said.
Right. We'd stopped at Blood Drive.
"Do you know what happens when a vampire bites a drunk human?" He laughed at my expression. "No, you don't want to know. Let's just say I would have been even sicker than you."
"That's interesting," I said. "You work at a bar."
"You've never wondered why there are so many vampire bars?"
I hadn't ever thought about it. I started to shake myhead and winced. Instead, I raised my shoulders in a half-hearted shrug.
"Humans can feel safe around us after they've had a few drinks."
"So I should worry when I'm sober?" I wasn't the best at jokes, but his grin made my insides feel warm, and not in that icky, bloated, had-too-much-to-drink way.
"No need to worry. I won't do anything you don't beg me to do."
"But don't you have mind control or something?"
He scoffed. "We’ve talked about this. Not all vampires, sweetness."
There was that nickname again. Beyond Boz, I'd never had a nickname before. I wanted to kiss him even more now, but the inside of my mouth still tasted like death. Instead, I leaned forward to eat the soup he brought me.
"Thank you for this," I said after the first sip of broth.
"You're welcome."
"Do you bring food to all your tenants?"
He laughed. "Are you saying you're a tenant?"
I glanced around the apartment again. Other than the couch and coffee table, the living room was bare. The kitchen had working appliances but was otherwise empty. The two bedrooms were furnished withnew-smelling king-sized beds and matching nightstands and dressers, but that was it.
"How did you know I needed furniture?" I asked, remembering the movie craze a few years back with a vampire that sneaked into a girl's room to watch her sleep. Had Santa sneaked into my dorm room without me knowing?
"I didn't," he said. "This was for staging. You're welcome to keep the furniture or replace it with your own."
"It's time to throw most of mine out." The futon I'd been using as both spare bed and couch for the last six years could finally go to the trash bin behind my dorm where it belonged.
"Does that mean you're moving in?"
I laughed at his tenacity. "Of course I'm moving in. Colette said she'd turn me into a vampire if I was even one minute late for work next week. You know how unreliable public transit is, and trying to hop from train to bus to ride share around here …" I trailed off. "She was serious. She said this job has a six-month probation period, but then it becomes permanent, as in, for life."
"Vampire life." Santa nodded. "Do you want to be a vampire, Boz?"
I hadn't thought about it before. Yes, I knew vampires existed, but I hadn't actively searched forthem until my worthless friends dragged me to Fanglory to get laid.
"I don't know," I said. "Do you like being a vampire?"
"I miss the sun sometimes," he said. "It's like the worst allergic reaction you've ever had if you accidentally touch sunlight. And the dying every morning thing is a little unsettling at first."
"Dying every morning?"
"Scientists say it's more like our bodies go dormant. The virus that keeps us alive is only active at night. When the sun comes up, it pulls back into our deepest recesses, leaving our hearts and brains functionally dead until the next night, when it becomes active and our blood starts pumping again. Some older vampires have tricked the virus into staying active longer, but I've never tried."
"It's a virus with a renewing life cycle, like bacteria." I ate a few spoons of soup while I thought through the research I'd done back when I wanted to be a biochemist. I hated the idea of getting sick, but this virus gave you eternal life instead, if you stayed out of the sun and avoided sharp silver objects.
