I walked to my dressed and started grabbing the clothing items I wanted to wear to dinner. She might be dressed, but I was still in boxers and we were going to need to make an appearance sooner, rather than later.
“You have to die,” I said.
“Die?”
“If I wanted to sire you, I’d have to kill you, or at least get you very close to death, and then give you my blood to drink.”
“But how could I drink blood if I was dead?” Her jaw dropped. “Even if I was mostly dead, how would I drink it?”
“There are a few ways,” I told her. It was a grim process, and one that most vampires actively avoided. If you found someone you loved enough to sire, most of the time, you couldn’t live with the reality that you might kill them in the process of helping them transition to being a creature of the night. Even if you attempted to get them to ingest your blood, there was a chance that it might not work. Then you’d be alone for all of eternity instead of with the person you loved.
“Like pouring it down my throat?”
“Yes,” I agreed. “Some vamps will kill their partner by drinking too much of their blood. Then they’ll cut themselves and pour that blood down the human’s throat.”
“Interesting.”
“Other people just wait until the human is close to death, and then feed the human directly from their wrists or chests.”
“That sounds kind of intimate.”
“It’s very intimate,” I agreed. There was a reason that most vampires didn’t go around siring people left and right. It was very personal, and very intimate, and a special bond was forged when you sired someone.
“Have you ever sired anyone?”
“No.”
“Not even Elizabeth?”
“We were both already vamps when we met.”
“Why haven’t you sired anyone?” She asked. “I’m sorry if that’s a personal question.”
“Because it’s a very intimate experience,” I told her. “And most of the time, the human isn’t strong enough to survive. A human has to really, really want to be a vampire for that to happen.” I might be immortal, but that didn’t mean I was heartless. The idea of losing someone I was trying to save seemed far too painful even for me.
“So, if I wanted you to turn me...”
“I would tell you no,” I shrugged. It wasn’t even a question for me. There was absolutely no chance of that happening.
“You seem a bit strict,” she smiled at me.
“Only a little.”
I finished getting my suit on, chose the tie I wanted to wear, and then I guided Juliet from the room. We had only just stepped into the hall when Norman’s bedroom door opened. One of his humans came out looking pale and weak. Norman followed close behind. When he saw me, he looked surprised to see me. I wasn’t sure why. We were both going to dinner. Our rooms were across from each other. It seemed obvious that he might run into me.
“Brother,” he said. “It’s nice to see you.” His voice was tight and his tone said that it was very much not nice to see me.
“And you as well.”
He turned his gaze to Juliet before swinging back to me.
“I see that you also had a meeting with a human,” he said, raising an eyebrow. I hated the implication in his tone. Just because Juliet and I spent time together didn’t mean Norman and I were the same. We weren’t. Norman took what he wanted. Juliet had freely given to me.
“Juliet is my advisor.”
“And I’m sure she advised you on many important things in your bedroom,” Norman agreed. Somehow, the way he said that made me want to punch him in the face.
Juliet was silent, and the three of us started to walk down toward the dining room. Norman’s human seemed to have vanished into thin air. I knew exactly what he’d been doing in his room, and it pissed me off. The goal was for us to have a nice dinner together without any external stressors, but I was beginning to wonder if that was going to be possible.