I cleared my throat, trying not to think about it anymore, especially as Lucian was looking at me like he was now.
I straightened my neck, feeling stupid. “Do your teeth get bigger when you are thinking about drinking blood?”
“Yes.”
“Like an erection of the mouth. That must get awkward.”
Lucian’s canines were protruding just below his upper lip. He lifted the menu, covering his mouth. “Would you like me to order some food for you?”
“I’ll pass. Virgin’s blood isn’t really my style. Besides, I thought the whole point of getting dressed in this getup was to convince people I was a vampire. Won’t eating food tip them off?”
“No. Newly turned vampires still need to eat regular food for a few weeks while they transition.”
I shook my head. “It’s okay, I’m fine.”
“I’ll order you something.” Lucian got up and went to talk to a woman who was circulating the room. I still couldn’t tell at a glance who was a vampire and who was a human. But it seemed strange that some vampires appeared to operate like medieval kings and queens while others worked menial jobs like being bodyguards, bouncers, and bartenders. I assumed his world was organized into social classes based on age. Except I didn’t quite understand why someone apparently as old as Vlad was lurking around like a drunken college student in Lucian’s house. Maybe there were exceptions.
Even with Lucian only traveling a short distance away, I could tell that little by little, the bond seemed to have loosened its strangle-hold on us. At first, going to the bathroom had been like torture, even with Lucian waiting just outside. Now I could be in a different room than him and mostly handle the never-ending tug of magnetism that drew me toward him.
Watching him stand even a little farther away still dredged up a pathetic kind of sadness in me. It reminded me that this strange, mostly terrifying adventure had an expiration date. Someone like Lucian wouldn’t keep putting up with the hassle of being in my life any longer than he had to. Maybe he was a bit of a flirt now, but it was probably the bond doing the talking, not the real man beneath the fangs.
I wasn’t sure I actually believed that. The truth was, my heart told me the real Lucian did care about me and he did like me. All the grumpy moments and stiff words were just him trying to keep me at arm’s length to protect us both. But I didn’t want to be protected. I just wanted him to let me in. The more I got to know him, the more I felt heartbroken to see how alone he made himself. Being his someone felt good, and I wished he would just let me be that for him.
I looked around the room, endlessly fascinated to be glimpsing the hidden world of vampires that I’d apparently been living on top of without knowing. I thought I recognized many of the same faces from the bar the other night, which led me to believe there weren’t hundreds of vampires in the city. Lucian had declined to answer any questions on the topic, like most of the things I asked about.
But if there weren’t even a hundred vampires in Savannah, there must be thousands across the country. Maybe tens of thousands.
I guessed it didn’t exactly matter. But if I could find some way to extract the healing properties from vampire blood and turn it into some sort of miracle drug, there was no end to the number of lives that could be saved. It was strange to be thinking about academics as rarely as I seemed to lately. Even in class or at Anya’s, I felt like I was just going through the motions. My mind was racing with this world and all the impossible things I was learning.
Still, I knew this would all end, and when it did, I’d be holding a tantalizing piece of knowledge. The question was whether I’d have the ability or the resources to do anything with it.
Before Lucian returned, I spotted a familiar, curly haired, mustached, five-o-clock shadowed face. Vlad.
He saw me from the other side of the room and took a celebratory sip of the beer in his hand. Of course, he immediately turned his head to the side and spit it all over the floor. I still needed to remember to ask Lucian what the hell that was all about.
“Human!” Vlad shouted for the entire room to hear.
I made a shush face, pressing my finger to my lips.
He was still approaching from halfway across the room, but he widened his eyes, then gave me a knowing wink and tip-toed the rest of his way to me.
“Bonded human with no vampire?” Vlad said, sitting across from me and spreading his arms wide. His pose had the unfortunate effect of popping a button on his vest, which released the lower half of his round, hairy belly. “How’d you do it?”