Boys That Bite by Mari Mancusi Page B

mercenary aspects of their agreement. But Charity ignores her. "I mean, for a young mom like myself, there's no better way to earn a few extra bucks on the side. Definitely beats waitressing for a living. Now I can take care of my baby, rent a kick-ass apartment, and have enough money to go to college. All without food stamps. It's a total win-win, you know? Maggy here gets his bloody-wuddy," she says, clucking a frowning Magnus under the chin, "and me and my baby get a big fat bank account." Okay, then. There you have it. I mean, what can I possibly say to properly respond to that little spiel? "Well, um, I'm glad it's all working out for you," I respond lamely. "Wouldn't be my first career choice, but hey, neither is astrophysics and plenty of people do that for a living and make out real well." "Girls, could you get Sunny a drink?" Magnus says, speaking up for the first time. "She must be very thirsty." Without even a pause to question why I can't get up and get my own damn drink, or why both of them have to go for that matter, the Donor Chicks jump up and head for the coffee bar. "They're, um, cute," I remark, watching them across the room. Charity is giggling about something and Rachel is rolling her eyes at her. Magnus shrugs. "They're dinner," he says simply. As if he's talking about a pork chop or something. "They're also human," I protest, not knowing why I feel the need to defend them. After all, they certainly aren't unwilling victims. If they're stupid enough to think that the concept of a vampire downing their blood like some vintage red wine is cool, then who am I to say they're being exploited and used? "I mean, I knew you had donors, but it's just completely weird to meet them in person." "I can imagine," Magnus says, twirling his wineglass in his hands. "I debated bringing them with me. I don't usually dine out." Dine out. Hardy har har. "Is that supposed to be a lame attempt at a vampire joke?" He smiles. "Pun was intended, yes." He takes a sip of his wine. "I usually swing by their houses early in the evening, then go on with my night." "Ah. A bloody booty call." See, I can make vampire jokes too. "So no fraternizing with dinner allowed, then?" "It's not against the rules," Magnus says with a shrug. "We are allowed to associate with our donors if we choose to. In fact, I've heard of many donor-vamp relationships developing and lasting for years. But my particular donors are, how do I put this?" he asks, glancing over at the giggling girls. "A bit overwhelming at times." "I see." Well, I guess that means he's not attracted to them. That's a relief ... or not. Actually not. In fact, for the record, I think it'd be totally fine if he were attracted to them. If he had a relationship with them, even. Because after all, I couldn't care less who he's dating. No, really. "So why did you bring them here tonight?" I ask. He grins. "For you. I thought you might like a bite to eat." "Ha, ha. Very funny." "I wasn't making a joke this time." I screw up my face. "Ew! I'm not drinking anyone's blood." Then I blush as I remember the incident with the raw meat in the kitchen this morning. I really hope he can't read my mind, 'cause that was way embarrassing. "You have to drink blood. You're a vampire." "No. I don't have to and I won't. I'll just order a burger if I get hungry." "A burger won't—" "An extra-rare burger with lots of blood." Magnus shakes his head. "A burger is all empty calories," he says. "You need to be nourished with human blood." "I am not drinking blood. End of story." "You should just try it. You'd probably like it." "I won't like it. I know I won't." "You probably didn't think you'd like brussels sprouts the first time you tried them either," he reasons. "I still don't like brussels sprouts, just FYI. And I certainly will never, ever, in a million years like the taste of human blood." Before Magnus can respond with some other idiotic reason why I should partake in this cannibalistic behavior, the Donor