strolled in and bandaged my wrists up, then disappeared. I ran my hand up my arm from an imaginary chill. "Why are you doing this?"
"We need you to be our 'flesh bait,' as Aoleon used to call it. We need you to live so you can find the vampires and kill them. Until we have exterminated them all. Patrick is a zombie or something like a zombie and so is Johnny Kent. But Patrick is in possession of supernatural powers that we have yet to understand and so far, Johnny is not. You changed John Kent with intent to kill, something he will never remember. Or at least we believe he won't. The zombies control the workforce in Las Vegas, and without the workforce, the financial empire there will crumble. I promise that all of your needs will be taken care of and you will be given access to Aoleon's blood when you need it. I cannot fully change you into a vampire with her venom as it is against our regulations, and I don't believe it will work without her physically injecting you with it anyway."
"So...without her blood I will turn into an old woman and stay that way for hundreds of years before I die."
"Yes." The agent's soft, kind eyes did not blink as she returned my gaze.
"I have no choice."
"You do, Eden. We all have choices in life. More than we'll ever admit to ourselves."
"I need to talk about it with Patrick."
"Of course. Take all the time you need. He's in the cryo room where Aoleon has been stored."
The guards walked me down several halls, buzzing large steel doors open by placing their thumbs on a pad. They gestured into a huge room filled with creatures encased in glass. The reflecting eyes of an extraterrestrial stared at me through one of the tall cylinders. Its claws lit up on the glass and part of its enormous winding body resembled an umbilical cord as it curled around and around the alien's legs. I passed by man-sized creatures that resembled lizards, insects, even primates with mouths wider than their own faces and feet that looked like hooves or long toes with talons. A giant bear with the face of a man, covered from head to toe in white fur, snarled at me from a case as icicles dangled from his chin and teeth. Aberrations of nature surrounded me as I wove through the capsules in search of Patrick.
Then...Aoleon. Her lovely hair frozen in place and her lush lips pulled back into a surprised scowl. Her delicate white hands were splayed out wide, as if in the last moment before they froze her she made a desperate gesture of supplication. Even her gown remained in a flowing position, bringing to mind a vision of her floating up toward the suite at the Paradise Bayou Hotel and Casino before she and the vampires had burst through the window. Patrick stared up at her through the glass.
"Patrick," I called. He remained still in front of the glass, his eyes fixated on her face. As his fingers rested on the capsule, it seemed as if he were trying to touch her hands. "Patrick?" He remained staring at her, unhearing and unseeing of everything in the world except her face.
My heart sank into my stomach. I knew that look in his eyes now. A gaze that I had basked in and felt the light of life emanating from, that in a perfect world would never be cast upon another. A facade that promised life from a place of death. My mouth curled into a grimace as my head shook in denial. The whispering voices in the air began, their bearers invisible as they whispered to me. Finally, a complete sentence. One I had no choice but to understand. "Eden, do you see? That is the look of love."
"They lie," I said to the voices. No response.
Patrick's head whirled in my direction. Slowly, he removed his hands from the surface of Aoleon's glass casing. He took me into his arms and buried his face in my hair. "I'm so glad you're all right."
I blinked back tears as I bared my teeth, holding his head in the crook between my neck and shoulders. "Do you?"
"Do I what?"
Do you love us both? I wanted to say. Instead, I placed my lips upon his neck
"We need you to be our 'flesh bait,' as Aoleon used to call it. We need you to live so you can find the vampires and kill them. Until we have exterminated them all. Patrick is a zombie or something like a zombie and so is Johnny Kent. But Patrick is in possession of supernatural powers that we have yet to understand and so far, Johnny is not. You changed John Kent with intent to kill, something he will never remember. Or at least we believe he won't. The zombies control the workforce in Las Vegas, and without the workforce, the financial empire there will crumble. I promise that all of your needs will be taken care of and you will be given access to Aoleon's blood when you need it. I cannot fully change you into a vampire with her venom as it is against our regulations, and I don't believe it will work without her physically injecting you with it anyway."
"So...without her blood I will turn into an old woman and stay that way for hundreds of years before I die."
"Yes." The agent's soft, kind eyes did not blink as she returned my gaze.
"I have no choice."
"You do, Eden. We all have choices in life. More than we'll ever admit to ourselves."
"I need to talk about it with Patrick."
"Of course. Take all the time you need. He's in the cryo room where Aoleon has been stored."
The guards walked me down several halls, buzzing large steel doors open by placing their thumbs on a pad. They gestured into a huge room filled with creatures encased in glass. The reflecting eyes of an extraterrestrial stared at me through one of the tall cylinders. Its claws lit up on the glass and part of its enormous winding body resembled an umbilical cord as it curled around and around the alien's legs. I passed by man-sized creatures that resembled lizards, insects, even primates with mouths wider than their own faces and feet that looked like hooves or long toes with talons. A giant bear with the face of a man, covered from head to toe in white fur, snarled at me from a case as icicles dangled from his chin and teeth. Aberrations of nature surrounded me as I wove through the capsules in search of Patrick.
Then...Aoleon. Her lovely hair frozen in place and her lush lips pulled back into a surprised scowl. Her delicate white hands were splayed out wide, as if in the last moment before they froze her she made a desperate gesture of supplication. Even her gown remained in a flowing position, bringing to mind a vision of her floating up toward the suite at the Paradise Bayou Hotel and Casino before she and the vampires had burst through the window. Patrick stared up at her through the glass.
"Patrick," I called. He remained still in front of the glass, his eyes fixated on her face. As his fingers rested on the capsule, it seemed as if he were trying to touch her hands. "Patrick?" He remained staring at her, unhearing and unseeing of everything in the world except her face.
My heart sank into my stomach. I knew that look in his eyes now. A gaze that I had basked in and felt the light of life emanating from, that in a perfect world would never be cast upon another. A facade that promised life from a place of death. My mouth curled into a grimace as my head shook in denial. The whispering voices in the air began, their bearers invisible as they whispered to me. Finally, a complete sentence. One I had no choice but to understand. "Eden, do you see? That is the look of love."
"They lie," I said to the voices. No response.
Patrick's head whirled in my direction. Slowly, he removed his hands from the surface of Aoleon's glass casing. He took me into his arms and buried his face in my hair. "I'm so glad you're all right."
I blinked back tears as I bared my teeth, holding his head in the crook between my neck and shoulders. "Do you?"
"Do I what?"
Do you love us both? I wanted to say. Instead, I placed my lips upon his neck
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