I found myself marveling as I watched her drag her short finger down the menu, chewing her lip in thought. She’d occasionally stop on an item, roll her head from side to side as she debated, and then move on. By the time she was done, she had several fingers splayed out as if holding all the items she was considering for one last final review.
Cara was an injection of color. Of life. She was a constant, mostly painful reminder to me of what I’d left behind. Cara was so full of life and energy that I couldn’t help being taken back to those days when I was a young man with no idea what the future held for me.
Letting her go had been like getting turned all over again. Now that I had her back, I couldn’t quite believe I’d done what I did. I left her. I walked away from the most perfect thing I’d ever been given in my miserable life. All I could do was be glad she was so magnificently stubborn and refused to be walked away from.
“What?” she asked, tucking some of her silky black hair behind her ear. They were slightly big ears, which I found I enjoyed. She was showing that half smile of hers as her eyes self-consciously darted from the menu to me and back again.
“I was just thinking how glad I am that you’re obstinate and stubborn.”
She squinted. “That doesn’t sound like a good thing.”
“You’re strong. And we’ll need that strength to make it through what’s coming.”
Cara smiled a little. “You really think they’ll still keep trying?”
“Yes. And we’ll likely have to fight them off again. But I think the time for half-measures is done. This may only end if Bennigan does.”
“I mean, if we’re being technical here… You haven’t really fought at all. It’s more like you valiantly run away with me in your arms while Vlad and Alaric do the dirty work. Not that I’m complaining, of course. You still get macho points for charging in by yourself like an idiot tonight.”
“Bennigan is still alive because I didn’t want to start an all-out war. Killing him might. But I’m not even sure if there’s enough of The Order left to wage war against. The truth may be it’s only us at risk. Bennigan wants us dead if we run, and he’ll want us dead if we fight. So we might as well fight.”
“What if we just left the country? I’m not sure I’m actually ready for that, but I mean… Is there some kind of vampire trick he’d use to find us?”
“He’ll have connections. Bennigan is old, and he has many friends. The only thing working in our favor is that he is the only one with a personal grudge against us. If we removed him from the equation, his allies might not care enough to pursue the grudge.”
Cara let out a long sigh, then looked back at the menu. “Well, all this talk of killing evil vampires is reminding me how hungry I am. Where is that stupid waitress?”
“Do you think you could fix this? Using your knowledge of blood,” I added. “Maybe there would be a way you could find a way to stop the transformation, or even reverse it.”
“You think you can fix making yourself a vampire?”
“I don’t know,” I said. “But you know so much about blood. Maybe you could find a way.”
She looked thoughtful. “There was this one sample of blood that kept reacting strange with the black spikey things in my blood. It was like they didn’t go anywhere, but it kind of made them seem to go dormant.”
“Meaning?”
She shrugged. “Meaning I want to eat some pancakes, and then I’ll think more about it.” Cara gave me an adorable wink, then got up from the table with the menu in her hand.
When the waitress finally brought her food out, Cara started to eat. A few bites in, she started chewing more slowly and got a worried look in her eyes. “Lucian,” she said, mouth full.
“What is it?”
“This doesn’t taste right.”
I glanced at the hairy, sweaty man who was cooking everything. “I’m not surprised. This place is a cesspool.”
“No, like—” She put her fist over her mouth. “Just a sec.” Cara rushed over to the nearest trash can and violently threw up, drawing disgusted looks from nearby tables. “I’m still starving,” she said, sinking back into her seat. She looked pale and sweaty.
“I feared this would happen. Then you’re already craving blood. You won’t be able to keep down human food until you get some fresh blood in your system.”
She shook her head, laughing. “Lucian. I am not going to go bite somebody. I mean, do you guys have like teeth condoms or something? What if I get a disease?”
“We don’t get diseases.”