“He’s not that bad,” I mutter, defending my father, but Anna doesn’t even acknowledge it.
“Did your mom give you the talk?”
Clearly, she’s not going to let this drop. “There’s a thing called the internet.”
Her cheeks redden. “Really? They have that on there? Anyway, for me it’s been around for about five seconds. I’m not Bill Bates.” Despite everything else, she’s deathly afraid of computers. For whatever reason, she thinks they are going to steal her soul.
“It’s Gates,” I correct grumpily.
“Huh.” She draws her perfectly arched eyebrows together, squinting one eye at me. “Then who’s Bill Bates?”
I try to hold back my laugh but lose and snort instead. “I have no idea. I think you just made him up.” I sigh. “I’m not sure I found out much about the reality about sex from the internet anyway. But yes, my mother gave me the ‘proper Southern lady’ talk. It was very basic; tab A goes into slot B…and I could hardly come to you, could I? You’re a five-thousand-year-old virgin.”
“Oh, come on, I’m four and a half at most. And I’m saving myself.” She retorts on a giggle, but she’s told me the truth before: she’s never had a desire to mate or felt that flicker of attraction with anyone. She’s content to seek out the worst evil in the human race, then toy with them before sucking them dry and burning their bodies with the snap of her fingers. “Humans are so obsessed with sex and love, love and sex. Last night I was in Aruba, and this woman was about to marry a guy who really just wanted to get close to her ten-year-old son. Can you believe that shit?” She shudders a little. “I made sure that didn’t happen, obviously. But still, from what I see, love is bullshit. And sex is just weird.”
I think it’s funny she doesn’t know how old she is. She might look like she’s in her twenties, but that means absolutely nothing. The oldest born vampires don’t age after about twenty or so. Younger ones like my father just age very slowly, probably due to human blood affecting the bloodline somewhere.
Anna has been around longer, and knows more about our history, than any other vampire, and I guess after so much time you just lose track. She says there were others, older than her, but she has no idea if they’re still around or where they might be hiding if they are.
“Prophecy or no prophecy, I worry about you, Seleme.”
“Well, I worry, too. I worry what’s going to happen to me in five day—far more than I worry about having sex with Alberto Messina.” I drum my fingers against the arm of the sofa. “I mean, now that it’s so close, I’m scared. Will I even remember who I was before? Or will I just go from a vulnerable half-mortal to an all-powerful killing machine overnight? Do I get to keep any of my humanity, Anna? Will I recognize you as a friend or try to wipe you out as a rival?”
“I wish I could tell you more.” She puts the miniature clock back and comes to sit beside me on the red velvet sofa, crossing her legs as she waves her hand at the fireplace and the flames come to life. We are a contrast next to one another. My long blonde hair, thin frame dressed in a crimson ball gown next to her dark hair, thick curves and edgy, Tom-boyish style.
“I know you do. It’s okay.”
“It isn’t okay. This shouldn’t be all on you. But there’s simply nothing I know that isn’t in the books we’ve all read. You’re the moon child or whatever. As far as I know, you’re the only one there’s ever been. Conceived when your mother was human but born after she became a vampire; coming of age under a full moon on a Halloween that coincides with Friday the thirteenth.” She raises her hands in mock exasperation. “The chances of that would be infinitesimal even without our notorious difficulty conceiving children. Your twenty-first birthday is going to be special. I just wish any of us knew exactly how special.”
We’re silent for a long moment, and I pick up that scent again, pulling at my heart like a leash. Like all born half-human vampires, I come of age at twenty-one, and that first night is more than likely my one chance to conceive a child. There are exceptions to every rule, but we found none in all the historical records we scoured.
The weird thing is ever since the new neighbor moved in, I feel like I’m in heat or something. I’m thinking it’s just a coincidence that my human hormones are launching an all-out attack on me before I leave my humanity behind.
“For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re going to turn into some monster. The Seleme I know is too sweet for that. And far too prissy to ruin her dress with the blood of her best friend.”