Andre’s mouth quirked as his irritation turned into wry humor. “You haven’t heard? I’m a vampire.”
***
“The man who wrote this textbook was a classicist. He ranked beings on a spectrum from good to evil.”
I was still reeling. A vampire? Either Andre was crazy, or he was telling the truth and he ate his dates. There was no good way to look at it.
“Hmmm …” He was preoccupied flipping through the pages. “‘Vampires: nocturnal, blood-drinking beings who, in exchange for their mortal life and immortal souls, are granted theoretically eternal lives, as they can only die from suicide or murder. Vampires are unequivocally the most evil creatures who once began life human.’ Well I’d say that’s a bit harsh.”
“I think it’s appropriate considering you’ve kidnapped me and will probably eat me and throw my remains into the water.”
“I do not ‘eat’ people,” Andre said. “And if I wanted you dead, I have far more practical ways of accomplishing that.”
Great. He just admitted he offed people.
He began paging through my textbook once more. “Oh, here’s your entry. ‘Sirens: grumpy birdlike creatures who badger men to their deaths with their incessant squawking.’”
“Give me back my book!” I tried to make a grab for it, but he moved it out of my reach.
“Ah,” he said, focusing his sharp eyes on me, all playfulness gone, “so you were fine ignoring our date, but now you’re not fine when your wishes are ignored?”
“I never agreed to the date. And how would you know whether I’m a siren?”
He gave me a once over. “I guessed. Sirens always were so annoying.”
I was a siren? Something else about his sentence caught my attention. “Sirens were annoying? Why the past tense?”
There was a moment of silence before he spoke. “They tend to live very short lives.”
I swallowed. That was a bad omen, especially now that I was trapped in a car with a vampire.
“And of course you agreed to the date,” Andre added.
“I did not! And while we’re on the subject, why don’t you apologize for carrying me against my will to your car—and for blackmailing me.”
“I will do no such thing. I would do it again if circumstances were similar.”
I wanted to scream. This man was unbelievably frustrating.
“Look,” I said, exasperated, “I’m assuming people kiss your ass for a living. And I’m assuming you come from a time when it might’ve been perfectly okay to throw an uncooperative woman over your shoulder. But, if you want to have any chance with me, then you have to give me some reason to respect you.”
I wasn’t planning on any future dates with Andre, but I could scrape up my pride with an apology.
Andre looked like he bit into something sour.
“Sorry,” he said flatly. It wasn’t an apology. Not even close.
I felt the car slow down before coming to a complete stop.
The driver opened my door—which I noticed was unlocked from the outside—and let me out.
I shivered as I stepped into the cold night air. The chilly wind brought goosebumps to my skin. I looked around. We were amongst rows and rows of docked boats.
Suddenly, Andre was there next to me, putting his coat around my shoulders.
I stepped away from him and let the coat slide off. It crumpled into a pile on the damp dock.
I looked down at it. “Sorry. I hope your coat wasn’t too expensive,” I said as I read the Armani label on the inside.
He laughed. Laughed. What was it going to take for this guy to drive me home?
He picked up the crumpled coat. “Fine Gabrielle. You don’t want the coat? We’ll see how cold you get before you ask for it back.”
***
How cold was it? Really effing cold. I sat shivering on one of the damp vinyl seats as Andre steered the boat. Of course, my being on the boat was the result of a series of events that culminated with me sitting on the dock, refusing to step onto the boat. Surprise, surprise, Andre dealt with the situation by picking me up—again—and carrying me onboard.
Now we were giving each other the silent treatment. And under no circumstances would I break that silence to beg for the coat. Even though I couldn’t feel my nose. Or my hands.
In spite of the frigid evening, I was able to enjoy the view. The castle was luminous. Strategically placed lights made the old stone walls glow a yellow orange. The city of Peel was no more than a cluster of lights along the dark landscape, becoming more infrequent as we moved away from the town.
As I stared out at the lights, I felt the heavy weight of a blanket placed on me. I looked up at Andre and, through chattering teeth, said, “Thanks.”
I wrapped the thick blanket around me, beyond caring that I was ever so briefly nice to him.