asked.
He nodded. “I have to. But never from a living person. I brown bag it.” His dark joke made him chuckle.
“And what about the sun ?”
“The coffee I drin k is an elixir a sorceress created for me. Vampires are allergic to the sun. She made a sort of…magical antihistamine, I guess you would call it. The sun doesn’t affect me like it does others of my kind. That’s not to say that I can spend the day at the beach though. And I need to keep drinking the elixir for it to work.”
“How does someone kill a vampire? Holy water? Stake to the heart? Silver? Any of it true?”
“Silver can be deadly if there’s enough in our body. Otherwise our head would need to be severed.”
She cringed.
“It’s hard to do considering our strength and speed. You would need a very strong weapon. Or else poison us with silver first to weaken –” He stopped and studied her face. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to kill you, James. Well, not unless you throw me into a batting cage again. Maybe I should kill you for that. I think I promised to.”
“Now I’ll be on the look-out.”
A thought popped in her head. An evil one, but she couldn’t ignore it. She had promised payback after all. And wasn’t one of James’ precious sorcery lessons about the importance of keeping promises? “So you’re immortal?”
“Yes.”
“And you heal quickly?” Discreetly, she reached into her boot, eyeing his hand resting on the dirt floor.
“Very.”
“So…does this hurt?” She thrust her switchblade into the middle of his hand, pressing all the way through until she felt the hard floor underneath its tip.
H e roared, pulling the knife out of his hand with a sickening sound. “Yes, it hurts! What the hell was that?”
“ That’s for the batting cage,” she told him, lighting her palms in case there was retribution.
His glar e was cutting. “Do that again and you won’t like the consequence.”
A free pass? She couldn’t hold back a smirk as he clutched his hand tenderly. But it took only minutes to heal.
“Are you dead?” she asked once the fury left James’ eyes.
He laughed out loud, a strange contrast to the growling only moments before. “No. I breathe, I bleed, I feel pain. I’m just…altered. My body composition is different from a human.”
Maybe there was a biology class on vampires. Now that would be a science course she’d sign up for.
He arched a brow. “Now, are we done with the twenty questions?”
“Not hardly.” She shifted on the uncomfortable cave f loor. At least the fire kept her warm. “Who else knows?”
“Not many. And you can ’t say a word about this to any –”
“Who would I tell, James?” God, she was pathetic – a juicy secret and not a soul to tell it to. She could tell Erin, but she’d been vague with her sister about the past couple of weeks. It was uncomfortable to keep secrets from her, but she had to be sure this wouldn’t put Erin in any danger. The two of them had always fiercely protected each other.
“You’re right. Sorry. It’s just…” he took a deep breath, “the only people who know are Maddox and Ruby. If anyone from Caerwyn ever found out, my life would be over.”
A twinge of sympathy made her yearn to reach out and touch him. She refrained. Comfort and encouragement didn’t come naturally to her. But to hate such a big part of oneself…how sad. It didn’t make any difference to her that James was a vampire, as long as he kept his fangs to himself. But what about his family? Would they disown him if they found out?
She decided to change the topic, for now. “What about werewolves? Tell me about them.”
“T here are three forms of werewolf. In human form, they are larger, stronger, and faster than regular humans. But their most deadly form is called crinos. It’s a sort of half wolf, half human shape. They can walk on two legs or run on four. Their teeth get longer and
He nodded. “I have to. But never from a living person. I brown bag it.” His dark joke made him chuckle.
“And what about the sun ?”
“The coffee I drin k is an elixir a sorceress created for me. Vampires are allergic to the sun. She made a sort of…magical antihistamine, I guess you would call it. The sun doesn’t affect me like it does others of my kind. That’s not to say that I can spend the day at the beach though. And I need to keep drinking the elixir for it to work.”
“How does someone kill a vampire? Holy water? Stake to the heart? Silver? Any of it true?”
“Silver can be deadly if there’s enough in our body. Otherwise our head would need to be severed.”
She cringed.
“It’s hard to do considering our strength and speed. You would need a very strong weapon. Or else poison us with silver first to weaken –” He stopped and studied her face. “I can’t believe I’m telling you this.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not going to kill you, James. Well, not unless you throw me into a batting cage again. Maybe I should kill you for that. I think I promised to.”
“Now I’ll be on the look-out.”
A thought popped in her head. An evil one, but she couldn’t ignore it. She had promised payback after all. And wasn’t one of James’ precious sorcery lessons about the importance of keeping promises? “So you’re immortal?”
“Yes.”
“And you heal quickly?” Discreetly, she reached into her boot, eyeing his hand resting on the dirt floor.
“Very.”
“So…does this hurt?” She thrust her switchblade into the middle of his hand, pressing all the way through until she felt the hard floor underneath its tip.
H e roared, pulling the knife out of his hand with a sickening sound. “Yes, it hurts! What the hell was that?”
“ That’s for the batting cage,” she told him, lighting her palms in case there was retribution.
His glar e was cutting. “Do that again and you won’t like the consequence.”
A free pass? She couldn’t hold back a smirk as he clutched his hand tenderly. But it took only minutes to heal.
“Are you dead?” she asked once the fury left James’ eyes.
He laughed out loud, a strange contrast to the growling only moments before. “No. I breathe, I bleed, I feel pain. I’m just…altered. My body composition is different from a human.”
Maybe there was a biology class on vampires. Now that would be a science course she’d sign up for.
He arched a brow. “Now, are we done with the twenty questions?”
“Not hardly.” She shifted on the uncomfortable cave f loor. At least the fire kept her warm. “Who else knows?”
“Not many. And you can ’t say a word about this to any –”
“Who would I tell, James?” God, she was pathetic – a juicy secret and not a soul to tell it to. She could tell Erin, but she’d been vague with her sister about the past couple of weeks. It was uncomfortable to keep secrets from her, but she had to be sure this wouldn’t put Erin in any danger. The two of them had always fiercely protected each other.
“You’re right. Sorry. It’s just…” he took a deep breath, “the only people who know are Maddox and Ruby. If anyone from Caerwyn ever found out, my life would be over.”
A twinge of sympathy made her yearn to reach out and touch him. She refrained. Comfort and encouragement didn’t come naturally to her. But to hate such a big part of oneself…how sad. It didn’t make any difference to her that James was a vampire, as long as he kept his fangs to himself. But what about his family? Would they disown him if they found out?
She decided to change the topic, for now. “What about werewolves? Tell me about them.”
“T here are three forms of werewolf. In human form, they are larger, stronger, and faster than regular humans. But their most deadly form is called crinos. It’s a sort of half wolf, half human shape. They can walk on two legs or run on four. Their teeth get longer and