But as a cab took Lisa and him home—Leo followed them on his motorcycle—Brett couldn’t see the world the same way. All he could see was how different everything seemed.
Despite the late hour, every street or dark alley they crossed seemed clear as day to his new, improved vision, but his gaze kept climbing upward. The storm that had raged earlier had left clear skies above the city, and when Brett looked up through the car window, he could see more stars than he ever had before. He was even pretty sure that larger dot in the west was a planet. Unless his mind was playing tricks on him, he thought he could see rings around it.
Ever since he, Leo, and Lisa had talked about it, Brett had imagined what it’d be like after. It had never occurred to him that one consequence would be the return of his little-boy infatuation with the stars.
With a jolt, he wondered if Emma would be as fascinated with the stars as he had been. Maybe he’d teach her the names of the constellations like his father had taught them to him. That was years in the future, though. How strange that, of the two things that had happened to him that day, meeting his daughter was the less extraordinary.
“Are you all right?”
He forced his eyes away from what he was fairly certain was Saturn and turned to Lisa instead. Her hand had been tight over his since they’d left the hospital, and as she squeezed gently, he realized something: they were the exact same temperature now. She’d always felt cool, and he’d enjoyed how she warmed up at his contact. No more; would he miss it?
She smiled indulgently.
“Brett? Did you hear me?”
“Yes,” he replied automatically. “I’m all right. I’m fine. This is just… a lot to take in, still.”
It had been a lot at the hospital, with all the sounds of machines buzzing and beeping; the heartbeats, some too fast and others too slow; the smells of disinfectant, sweat, blood…
Oh God, the smell of blood… He was salivating again just remembering it, and he wasn’t even hungry, having had his fill already.
He could hear the cab driver’s heartbeat, regular as a metronome, and of their own accord, his eyes found the man’s pulse point on his neck. Blood lay there, a bite away. His fangs started to extend in his mouth, and he had to make a conscious effort to tuck them back in.
It wasn’t the world that had changed. It was Brett himself.
As much as he’d wanted this, he still couldn’t wrap his mind around how much more everything was. How much sharper, louder, brighter, stronger.
“You’ll get used to it,” Lisa said softly, as though reading his mind. “It’s overwhelming at first, but you’ll adapt, and eventually you won’t even notice anymore.”
He looked at her and gave her a half-smile.
“Liar,” he said, and she laughed.
“All right, you’ll still notice,” she conceded. “But it’ll feel normal, I promise.”
He stroked his thumb over the back of her hand rather than answering, and returned to looking out the window.
The car was getting close to the club—to home—and with a rumble of his motorcycle’s engine, Leo accelerated, passing them. By the time Brett helped Lisa out of the cab, Leo had already parked his motorcycle in the garage and was waiting for them by the club’s front entrance.
As they crossed the street to join him, Brett was stunned at how loud the music was.
“Is it always like this?” he asked Lisa, gesturing at the club. “How the hell do we pass inspections when it’s so loud?”
Lisa laughed.
“Noise levels are factored for human ears. You’ll get used to that, too.”
When they reached Leo, he took Brett’s other hand, smiling, and easily fell into step with them. They entered the club together, and had his lovers not been urging him forward, Brett would have stopped to take it all in.
The club was his pride and joy, and had been so for over ten years. He and Lisa had worked hard to make it the success it had become. Brett knew every inch of it, from the gleaming wooden floors to the stone counter of the bar. He knew how many tables and chairs were spread out on this level, and how many LED lights were embedded in the ceiling. He knew how many steps it took to get to the dancing level down below, and he could tell with no more than a glance that the revenue would be excellent tonight.
So how could it feel like he’d never stepped in there before? The music was louder as he’d noticed on the street, but it was more than that. The air seemed to vibrate against his skin, raising the small hairs at the back of his neck and making his fangs itch. The light felt different, and the usual intimate atmosphere was lost to him. The smell, though, gave him pause.