Page 1 (1/2)

I am a very powerful vampire In the recent past several encounters have served to increase my abili?ties My creator, Yaksha, allowed inally er than I was His final transfusion of blood heightened th as well as my senses, both my physical senses and supernatural ones After that h the secret of ancient alchemy, with that of the divine child I am not exactly sure what this child&039;s blood did for me because I am still not sure what this child can do Yet it did er, definitely hter Kalika gave me her blood in order to save s for hter, the irreproachable Kali avatar, and a and disturbing With all this in?crease in power, I have to wonder if I have grown any wiser

I a for kicks, and for love

In a sense, since vas, I killedhim a vampire But I only did this to prevent his certain death I have to wonder if Lord Krishna will forgive me this--the third exception to my vow to hirace Actually, I wonder if Krishna has allowed er intends to look after me It would be just like him, to bestow a boon and a curse in the same act God has a wicked sense of humor I once met Krishna and still think about him

At present I sit in a bar in Santa Monica with Sey Cokes and chatting with a young lady, but Seyhts because, since drinking hter&039;s blood, my mental radar has become incredibly sensitive Before I could only sense eet all the particu?lars And I know that while Seyuy at the end of the bar, with the swan tattoo on his left wrist and the shine on his black wing tips, is thinking of uy since I sat down, quietly reading his ht he wants tofeles the--I am not successful and that puzzlesblond hair and clear blue eyes, ht blue jeans and uy, oh yes, before the night is through He will die as slowly as his victiuilt

"So what do you do when you&039;re not partying?" the girl asks Seymour She is pretty in a lazy sort of ith short red hair that has been cut to lossy lips that need to beShe is currently drunk but I do not judge her Her name is Heidi and I know to Sey in the world Since becoinity and then some But I haven&039;t slept with hioddess in his eyes Seymour leans close to Heidi and sht is a party to hs heartily "I love vampires," she says "Is your sister one as well?"

"No," I interrupt "I have a day job"

"She works undercover for the LAPD," Seyood, too Last week she caught this thief in the act and blew off the back of his head"

Heidi frowns, her lower lips twitching "Do you carry a gun?" she asks me

I sip my Coke "No My hands are lethal weapons" I know Seyirl, and I don&039;t mind But I don&039;t want him to use his eyes to iven him, that his vampiric will cannot be used to doain sex To me, that is just another form of rape, and so far Seymour has obeyed my rule Also, I have forbidden him to drink from his conquests He lacks the skill and control to stop feeding before he kills a person For that reason, when he has to drink blood, he does so with me beside him But unlike Ray, Sey a vampire so much so that he should have been born one

"Do you know karate?" Heidi asks ushes

I stand and cast Seyuy at the end of the bar I&039;ll meet up with you later OK?"

Seyuy He is not squeamish about blood, but death still disturbs him We have never actually killed any of his lass

"Let me knohat you&039;re up to," he says

"Good luck," Heidi exclaiuy at the bar noticesonto the chair beside hi lashes and smile innocently I am sweet, the type I hope he enjoys

"Hello," I say

"Good evening," he replies He is terribly good looking, and young, twenty-two at most, with a Rolex on his wrist to cover his tattoo and a seductive sish, brown and curly "What&039;s your na too secretive because I knoon&039;t live long enough to repeat it "You?"

"Dan What&039;re you drinking?"

"Coke I&039;m on a diet"

He snorts "What kind of diet is that?"

I laugh softly "An all-sugar diet Do you come here often?"

He sips his scotch "No To tell you the truth, this place bugsconversation I just want to kill hi Kalika&039;s psychic abilities, I have gone out of my way to kill a few bad apples Of course, I have no intention ofit my life&039;s work

"Do you want to leave?" I ask

He acts surprised "Who are you?" he asks, with an edge to his voice

I catch his eyes I have a very strong stare Just by looking at metal, I can make it turn to liquid I pitch my voice so there is no way he can refuse irl, aren&039;t you?"

He finishes his drink and stands "Let&039;s go," he barks

Out on the street, he walks fast toward a car he never seems to find I have to adopt a brisk pace to keep up with him People move past us in the dark, the nameless faces of a humanity I have known forever The summer air is warm

"I have a car if you can&039;t find yours," I finally offer

He shrugs "I just thought we&039;d take a walk first, get to know each other"

"Fine What do you do for a living?"

"I&039;m a plumber What do you do?"

"I&039;m an artist"

He is aives a wolfish grin "Nudes?"

"Soet to know each other

Yet there&039;s so, more than the obvi?ous He&039;s not at ease withto ht blue eyes will dirip Yet I am more than just another victim to hi about me

But who that someone is, I don&039;t know My concen?tration is divided between Seymour and my situation Yet I don&039;t knohy I should worry about Sey to harirl&039;sin there but thoughts of drink and sex No, I tell myself, Dan is all thatme, e&039;ll meet on the other end He makes a sharp left into a dark alleyway Naturally, toin the alley is perfectly clear

"Where are we going?" I ask

"My place," he says

"Can you walk to your place from here?"

"Yeah" He pauses and studiesto act cool, his breathing is rapid, his heart pounds He definitely knows I aun But he doesn&039;t know I&039; his blood But the farther alk, the hts are to penetrate--another mystery Yet I know he is worried ill happen with o This other, I sense, is also dangerous, in the sa

Are we going to meet another vampire?

There should be no other vampires, other than Seymour and myself

I smile "Do you live alone?"

"Yeah," he says, and his hands brush against his coat pocket I realize he has a weapon there, and wonder why I didn&039;t spot it before The gun must be unusually small, I think But when I sniff with unpowder in the air, and I can smell a bullet from a quarter of a mile away My questions pile one on top of the other, but I am far from ready to walk away from the encounter There is a puzzle here--I uy back at the bar?"

"Yeah"

"He doesn&039;t look like your brother" There is a bite to his reuy&039;s mind Why?

"We had different fathers," I say, and ainst the knife I wear in my belt beneath my black leather coat Nowadays, I can kill a ood old Eddie Fender, a psychopath if ever there was one, would be useless against my new and improved reflexes

Dan snorts "I never knewof lies

There is a warehouse at the end of the block, a shabby affair built to house dirty equip a key, he opens the door and we go inside The warehouse is chock full of shelves of er pieces of machinery There is a pronounced srime, are few and far away The shadows seem to shift as Dan turns toward me If he reaches for his weapon, I will put a foot in his heart Already, I think, I should kill hiht h I reach out withHe studies ht

"Are you really an artist?" he asks His curiosity is genuine, as is his continuing fear He wants the other to arrive soon, so he can return to the streets

"No," I say, "I lied"

My remark unsettles hi in his coat pocket He shifts uneasily

"What are you then?" he asks

"A vampire," I say

He smiles, a lopsided affair "No shit"

"Yeah It&039;s true" Still staring at hiin to move around him He feels my eyes--I let the fire enter them, sparks of pressure Sweat appears on his forehead and I continue "I am a five-thousand-year-old vampire And you are aabout?"

"You, Dan, your private occupation Because I&039;irls you killed, how you strangled the ry--that&039;s one of the reasons you do it That&039;s opposite of er the sleeve of his shirt "I&039; you"

He brushes un Someone has warned hirily

I laugh softly "You don&039;t mean that, Dan Someone told you I was different so you&039;re not completely surprised by what I say I want to know about that soht let you live" Once more I reach out This time I touch his left ear, but before he can swat my hand away, I pinch it Rather hard, I think He is in pain "Talk," I say softly

"Stop," he pleads, as I force hi of my hand," I say, "and your ear will separate fro So talk to me, while you still can Who is to meet me here?"

"I don&039;t know" He squeals as I twist his ear "I don&039;t know!"

"Tell asps for air "She is just soirl She said I could work for her She gave o!"

I shake him hard "What is so special about her? Why didn&039;t you just kill her and take her money?"

Red appears on the left side of his head His ear is cohten up and I force hie eyes"

I pause, and then let hie about her eyes?" I ask quietly

He holds his hand to his ear, panting "They&039;re like yours," he says bitterly

"Is she a va head "I don&039;t knohat she is" He takes his hand away; it is soaked in blood "Oh God"

I frown "Does she have exceptional strength?"

The blood continues to drip from his ear onto his blue shirt "I don&039;t know She never hurthere?" I demand

"She should be here now"