He pulled the edge of my shirt over a shoulder and rose to kiss the exposed flesh. I grabbed the bottom of the black shirt he wore and tugged. He helped me, and together we removed it.
I sat, staring at his tan, sculpted torso. Both me and the creature inside me were mesmerized by nothing more than beautiful male anatomy. I wasn’t sure how long I sat there, staring at his chest before the magic receded, and I was left to pick up the pieces.
For a second time this evening I blinked away my confusion. At least now Andre shook it off as well.
“What … did I do?” I asked, mortified to find myself straddling Andre, my top askew and his missing. In an instant I was off the bed, pacing.
Andre, for his part, managed to look troubled and satisfied at the same time. He lounged on the bed, arms behind his head, not bothering to put his shirt back on. “Well, you managed to seduce me, for one.”
“What was that!” I cried. I felt icky, as though someone else had possessed my body.
“I think we’ve discovered the siren inside you.”
“That thing that possessed me was a siren?”
“Nothing possessed you. That was all you; it’s just another power that you need to learn to control.”
“I never want to learn to control that,” I said vehemently. “That thing was destructive.”
Andre put his shirt back on. “Well, you won’t need to learn how to captivate your prey since you can use glamour.”
“What does this mean for me?” I asked fearfully. Would I try to seduce everyone I wanted to munch on?
Andre frowned. “I don’t know.”
There was one thing I did know: the king of vampires was not immune to it.
***
Shortly after sunset Friday evening, Andre and I boarded his jet and headed to Italy. It was time to talk with the last missing piece of the puzzle that was my childhood.
A little after midnight we landed at a small airport in Cinque Terre. A sports car waited for us a short distance away.
“This is the way to live,” I commented. “No lines, no waiting.” There was even a man ready to open the passenger door for me.
“You mean to tell me there’s another way to live?” Andre grinned as we got into the car. Behind us Andre’s minions—excuse me, his entourage—got into two black Mercedes.
I rolled my eyes, even as I smiled. Cocky bastard. “You know, arrogance is not an attractive quality in a man.”
“That’s not what the ladies tell me.” He winked as he gunned the engine, and we took off.
The town sat along the edge of a cliff, lit by twinkling city lights. The warm evening breeze washed over me as we drove along the coast’s edge. I’d almost forgotten that it technically was still summer. The chilly climate of the Isle of Man made it difficult to wear a T-shirt and jeans even in early September.
We pulled up to a grandiose house that Andre had rented. I went inside, tugging along my suitcase. “Choose whichever room you desire,” Andre called out behind me.
Lavish was an understatement. Diamond cut crystal vases were scattered throughout the entrance hall and living room, each overflowing with flowers. Oil paintings hung along the walls.
I chose a room with a balcony overlooking the water—I’d be damned if a phantom scared me out of the best room in the house.
I sensed Andre behind me without hearing him enter. “Are you sure you want to stay in this room?” he asked, nodding towards the balcony.
“Yeah.” I faced Andre, my breath catching as I took him in. I realized now it wasn’t just his raw attractiveness that drew me to him. There was also something mysterious and sorrowful about him. He’d seen over a half millennia of history unfold, and at times like this I could see it in his eyes.
Oblivious to my thoughts, he came over and gazed out at the ocean. “Strange to think that the last time I was in this city with your father was during World War One.” My skin prickled at the thought.
With a shake of his head, he looked at me, and the old, wise Andre was gone, replaced by the fun-loving man I knew so well. “So, what do you want to do? I’m free for the rest of the night.”
I groaned. “I was thinking of going to bed.”
“Nonsense.” He looked at me, his expression amused. “You are such a strange creature. You’re supposed to be changing into a vampire, yet you want to go to bed at midnight.” Andre said the word mockingly. He took my hand. “I have another lesson to teach you.”
“Ugh. Can’t it wait?”
“For what, you to die?”
I fell silent. I had no good comeback.
“There’s an additional incentive: afterwards we’ll do something fun.”
We ended up on the beach. With my night vision, the beach and ocean were a deep and brilliant blue.
“So what’s the lesson?” I asked.
I sat down next to Andre on a blanket we had brought along, our shoulders touching.
“This,” he said, staring out at the ocean. “Civilizations rise and fall, people live and die, times change, but not the ocean. It’s the one thing that remains constant.”