Page 32 of Love Bites
Option one, vampires couldn't digest food and this was why Talon didn't have any... and he just had the jerky because he really liked the smell of it? That didn't seem plausible, but maybe it had been a favorite snack back when hecouldeat food?
Option two, vampires could eat food but jerky was the only food Talon liked.
A disturbing image formed in my mind of Talon stuffing himself with jerky all day and night, like a toddler who refused to try out new foods.
No, that couldn't be it.
In the end, I decided that I would solve this mystery another time. For now, I was hungry and the jerky was the only edible thing I had found, so I ate it. If Talon wanted to complain later he'd have to explain why he'd left me in an apartment with only jerky for food in the first place.
Chewing on the meat, I explored the rest of the loft. Honestly, there wasn't a lot to see. Aside from the TV corner with all the Halloween decoration, Talon hadn't bothered giving his apartment a personal touch, and I was mildly disappointed that he seemed to sleep in a regular bed rather than a coffin or something.
What didnotdisappoint was the view from the windows. I stared in awe at the lights of the city down below. I hadn't even realized how high up this place was when I took the elevator with Talon. Being a vampire must pay well if Talon could afford to live in a place like this.
Then again, it also seemed like he wasn't spending much on groceries.
After a minute, I stepped away from the window and settled on the couch. How long was I going to have to wait for Talon to get back? Absent-mindedly I stole another piece of jerky from the pack and shoved it in my mouth while scanning the vampire's movie collection. It was mostly horror movies.Figures,I thought, until my gaze landed on a title that didn't fit in with the rest.The Princess Bride.A smile tugged on my lips. Really? I'd never have expected to find that movie here.
I stood from the couch, gingerly took the DVD out of its casing and fed it to the player. The remote controls for Talon's home cinema were all neatly lined up on the coffee table.
Of course. No rooting around for them like I did back home.
I sat back on the couch, letting myself sink into the leather next to Eddie and turned the TV on.
What better than a cheesy movie to distract me from the fact that I wasn't really human?
Chapter Eleven
Imust have fallen asleep at some point, because when I opened my eyes again, the room was nearly completely dark. Talon's shape was silhouetted against the large windows as he stood in the moonlight spilling in through the glass, taking in the city below.
When had he come home?
I rubbed my eyes and stretched my neck, slowly realizing that in my sleep, I'd laid an arm around Eddie the skeleton. God, was I really that desperate? "Sorry, Eddie," I murmured, remembering that he didn't like to be touched.
Still a bit sleepy, I got up from the couch. Talon either didn't notice me or didn't care that I was moving about because his eyes never left the window as I approached. "You can go back to sleep," he said without looking at me when I was only two steps behind him. "Take the bed if you'd like. If you're hungry, there's food on the kitchen counter."
I swiveled to look at the counter. "Are you going to eat?" I asked, approaching the kitchen and trying to locate the food, which wasn't easy in the dark, but I wasn't sure where the light switches were either. Besides, turning on the lights now would have felt wrong somehow.
"There's not much I can eat," Talon said. Finally, he turned to me. "Someone ate my jerky."
"You left me no choice," I defended myself. "Not like there was anything else here I could have eaten instead. Why jerky, anyway?" By this point, I had reached the counter and located something box-shaped in the dark. I couldn't tell what it was or where it opened, though. Giving up, I pulled my phone out of my pocket and shined its light on the mysterious object—which turned out to be a twelve box of donuts. And beside it sat a pack of gummy bears.
Seriously?
"I think you're a little out of touch with what qualifies as a meal," I said. Good thing I wasn't hungry anyway.
"You don't like donuts or gummy bears?"
"Of course I like them. They just don't make for a very satisfying dinner."
"My apologies." He didn't sound very apologetic.
"Forget about it." Shaking my head, I left the kitchen area and joined Talon by the window. The view of the city was just as breathtaking as it had been before. Idly, I wondered how many nights the vampire spent watching the city from his spot up here. "How did your job go?" I asked.
"It was an uneventful night," Talon said, and I figured that was probably all the information he was going to volunteer, but I wasn't ready to let the topic rest just like that.
"I don't care, you know? If you've... killed someone, I mean. You're a vampire. I'm not deluding myself into thinking you're an innocent lamb or whatever. The truth isn't gonna send me running."
"Maybe it should."
