I believe that was the part that pissed her off the most. Apparently, she enjoyed the sex. The underwhelming perception came from me and me alone. Oops. The point to all this is that Olga knocked me out, and I awoke five hundred years later to the day.
“So what does any of that mean?” Neli asks after I relay the exact wording of the curse. “Why do you think I’m wrong about Stella?”
I lift my chin with confidence. “It is far more likely that Olga’s magic simply expired rather than Stella being the woman who was born to wreck me.”
“Go on.” Neli swirls her index finger through the air. “I’m listening.”
“Stella grew up in that house right across the road from us. Why did I only just wake a few days ago?” I realize through conversations with Neli that Stella had been away studying for several years, but I am certain there were many occasions where she was here with her family and I was slumbering in my basement.
“Easy. Because she wasn’t a woman then. And clearly she hadn’t yet become the gal meant to break you. Now she is. Have you forgotten all about how witches and curses work? They’re very cryptic, yet incredibly precise in their meanings.” Neli shrugs.
Could Neli be right? Could Stella be the woman who was born to best me, subdue me, break me? “Then…if she is the one who lifted the curse, what should I do? She means to destroy me.”
“No, Boz. She doesn’t. The witch just said the woman would break your heart. She would teach you humility and kindness.”
“Exactly. Are those not the ingredients to an epic vampire destruction?”
“Look. All I know is that since you’ve met her, you’ve embraced change, albeit in baby steps, and not nearly enough to change my mind about wanting death, but you have attempted to adapt. Overnight, you’ve decided to put the well-being of another person—Stella—above your own. All of this means you are learning humility and kindness, just as the curse prescribed. Change is upon you.”
“It is true, I do enjoy my new tan as well as the new cologne in a big blue spray can in the bathroom.”
Neli gives me a look. “You’ve been wearing Glade?”
I nod.
“I thought it smelled familiar.”
“The scent is very woodsy and fresh.” I wave my hand through the air to disperse more of the scent clinging to my skin.
She nods. “Yes. Yes it is.”
“But my acceptance of a few minor gadgets, such as the Summoner and a new cologne, does not signify I should take Stella to France. I do not trust myself not to lose control and kill her.”
“Then…” Neli groans, “you should turn her.”
I blink rapidly. “Why would I do that?”
“If she is who I think, then you’re right. You won’t be able to resist her. And, eventually, you’ll make her a vampire anyway. You’ll have to if you want to spend eternity with her.”
I groan with dread. Turning Stella is not as simple as shoving ice down one’s trousers. There is a dance to be had. There is a process of introduction to our world. Well, unless your parents gift you to a vampire, in which case, it is pretty much a go-with-the-flow sort of thing. Nevertheless, I cannot wrap my ancient mind around one simple fact: I do not wish to harm my beautiful human. I wish to protect her. Even if that means shielding her from myself.
“No. I will not do it,” I say firmly. “You will need to tell her that France cannot happen and—”
A blaring noise sounds, and I cup my hands over my ears.
“Fuck.” Neli’s green eyes go wide. “I think they’re here.”
“They? They who?”
“Those pesky asshole vampire hunters,” she replies.
“What do you speak of, girl?” I say loudly over the noise.
“Remember that lame cult of vampire hunters? They’re still around.”
“The Van Helsings? But how did they find me so soon?” I frown.
Neli rolls her eyes. “Luck. They’ve been lurking around for a few months. They set up an observation post across the road.”
“Where across the road?”
“In the attic over at Stella’s house.”
Jesus. Stella mentioned hearing strange noises in her house, but it is not due to a ghost. It is due to a very large cockroach infestation. And her old dog is too deaf to have noticed. Some watchdog. Stella needs a team of young hellhounds. In the meantime, I will draw first blood.
“Neli,” I growl through my teeth, “why did you not mention this before?”
“You forget, I’ve been on my own for five centuries. They’re not the first hunters to come sniffing around, and in my experience, the best defense is to just carry on like regular humans.”
This is no excuse. “Neli!”
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything. Okay? But they usually get bored and leave on their own. I’ve only had to kill, like—” she holds out her hands and counts on her fingers “—eighty.”
Oh gods.
The alarm continues blaring through the house. “Shut that thing off,” I command. “I will deal with the intruders.”
“Are you sure?”
I give her a look that indicates I am about to kill her too along with the hunters.
“Okeydokey. Shutting it off.” She disappears into the parlor, and I go out the back door so I can sneak up on them from the outside. But after ten minutes of levitating from window to window, there is no sign of these Van Bastard vampire hunters. I go back inside and do a sweep of the rooms just to be sure. No one.
Standing in the foyer, I exhale slowly. Who knows what these hunters have seen? If they have proof that I have risen, they will never leave us alone. Not until they’ve put a stake through my heart.
“Anything?” Neli comes up behind me, panting.
“No. They have fled.” I would chase after them, but it may be a trap. “I will have to survey the situation tomorrow—find out how many there are.”
“No need.” Neli waves her hand through the air as if dispelling a foul smell. “I have a private security company on retainer.”
I cock a brow.
“What? We’re rich. And, honestly, I got super tired of killing all those hunters.”
“So a company does it for you?”
“Pretty much.” Neli taps the side of her head. “The modern supernatural world has its perks.”
“I am not so sure I want to pay others to do my dirty work. Also, I rather enjoy capturing vampire hunters and torturing them. It is especially fun when you pluck out an eyeball and make them eat it.” Or send them to the hags for pedicures.
“Sorry, Boz, but we are running a very legitimate, very successful business. The last thing we need is to play torture with our enemies. Better to let the pros deal with them. I hired otherworldly mercenaries. They’ll make sure none of it traces back to us. Especially since there are eyes and ears everywhere.”
Ah yes. The technologenie. “How long will it take these mercenaries to catch the intruders?”
“Not sure. But I suggest we vacate the castle until they do.”
Oh hell. It dawns on me that the infestation actually lies across the road. Of course, the hunters are of no threat to Stella and her family, but we must get them out of the house if we wish to clean up the menace.