Page 41 of Love Lives
Rolling out of bed, I gave up on the idea of getting back to sleep. A glance at my phone told me that it was nearly time to get up anyway, so I got dressed and stalked down into the kitchen to prepare breakfast.
I was only mildly surprised to find someone already there. This house was small enough that it felt like every room was occupied by one or more people at all times. Jared sat at the kitchen counter and sipped at a glass of orange juice. "Good morning," he greeted me as I walked in. I nodded and returned the greeting, even though I didn't really feel awake enough to be talking to people yet. That would have to wait for after coffee. At least Jared wouldn't pressure me to put up a front.
We spent some time in amiable silence, him drinking his juice and me getting some caffeinated liquid into my system. If only that stupid dream would fade from my memory, but it wasn't happening... Might as well give up and distract myself some other way.
"How have you been doing?" I asked my big brother as I pulled a carton of eggs out of the fridge and readied a bowl to mix some pancake batter.
Jared grunted in response.
"Is the baby growing okay?" That was still a weird question to ask my brother, but life in general had become plenty weird ever since we'd met our first vampire, so... in the grand scheme of things, it was nothing.
"According to the last check-up..."
"Did you have someone from WAFFER look at you?"
"A witch," Jared confirmed. "Don't know that I can trust her, but we don't have many options."
I nodded and turned to face him. "What do you think it's gonna be?"
"Healthy, I hope. Silas thinks it's a girl."
"Yeah? A niece would be nice. I already have a nephew."
"Silas says the baby's energy feels female to him. I don't know about that." Jared downed the rest of his juice. "I only want all this vampire business taken care of before she gets here."
I sighed. My mood hadjustbeen starting to lift. "I don't know how we're going to do that." And I hated to admit that it hadn't been the only thing on my mind. Grabbing the flour from a shelf, I paused mid-motion as something occurred to me. "Do you think Puck would let me have a look at Atlus's journal?"
"Why?"
"Just an idea. Maybe there's something in there that we can use to remind Vlad of his past. Maybe we could deter him from his plan of annihilating every dhampir if he realized we're his progeny." I wasn't sure why I didn't tell Jared about the dreams I'd been having, but somehow, that felt too private. Especially while I couldn't make sense of any of it.
He might have some valuable insight regarding my other conundrum, though. After all, he'd never shown an interest in men before Silas and suddenly he was carrying a vampire's child...
How to approach that topic, though?
"You'd have to ask Puck," Jared said, while I was still thinking. "It might be worth a try." My brother made to get up from his stool, but I stopped him before he could rise.
"Wait, I... um..." Internally, I chastised myself for stumbling over my words. That wasn't like me, but this topic I needed my brother's input on... that wasn't like me either. Jared shot me an expectant look. I forced myself to get it together. "What's it like to get bitten?"
Jared stared at me as if he was wondering if I'd hit my head too hard falling out of bed this morning. "What do you want to know? If it hurts?"
That... was not exactly what I was getting at. What I really wanted to know was if every dhampir 'enjoyed' it the same way I had. I licked my lips, trying to come up with a good way to word that question. "What I mean is... does it feel good?"
"It does," Jared said without hesitation and without even a hint of embarrassment. "I don't know if I would like it if a vampire other than Silas bit me, though."
Would I like it if a vampire other than Aldrich bit me? That was a good question... I didn't exactly feel like experimenting, though.
"Why are you asking me this?" Jared asked. "Do you want Aldrich to bite you?"
How did he know? For a second there, I worried that it was written on my face. That I'd become one of those people who were the last to know about their own crush.
Not that I was having a crush. I didn't do crushes.
Frustrated with myself, I rubbed my face.
"It's clear that he wants to," Jared said.
"He doesn't make a secret of it."
