Nightlife (Cal Leandros #1)(30)
I thought "natural causes" was covering a pretty broad range, but since the FBI had yet to register sex as a deadly weapon there wasn't much I could say. Watching carefully, I saw Promise's mouth firm and her chin lift. "I don't drink human blood. Not all vampires do. Not the younger ones. There are better ways now."
"Really?" I snorted. "And what are those better ways? Pigs' blood? I'll bet you drink it from a crystal goblet, right?" There was no way I could picture that, her aristocratic lips swilling the blood of livestock as if it were wine.
"Hardly," she said with withering scorn. Her disdainful eyes returned to Niko and softened. "My purse, Niko. Look in my purse if you would." When he didn't move she added simply, "Please."
He considered for a moment with unblinking icy cool, then held out a hand for the tiny purse that dangled from her arm. His other hand didn't move a millimeter from its position on the stake. Promise stood as unmoving as a statue as her purse was deftly rifled through one-handed. It was barely a second before Niko fished out a pill bottle large enough that it must have filled the purse entirely, and held it up to squint at it in the low light. "Iron. Quite a high dose, I would say." Of course Niko would know the daily recommended dosage of any vitamin or mineral. He took that entire theory of your body being a temple seriously enough to quote it ad nauseam every time I even thought about having a cheeseburger.
"Yes, iron. So simple, and yet it was the answer to a disease that has plagued my kind for centuries beyond the telling." Placing her hand on the stake, she gently pushed it away and Niko, unbelievably, allowed it. "Every day for the duration of my life. It, along with certain other supplements, allows me to live without drinking blood."
Niko tapped his chin with the point of the stake thoughtfully. "So you are trying to tell us that basically vampirism is nothing more than an iron-deficiency anemia? I find that rather difficult to believe, Ms. Nottinger."
A shadow of a smile curved her lips. "It is slightly more complex than that. The pills don't fulfill the same need, the same desire, as blood does. They don't allow me to retain the strength and the powers of a truly fed vampire, but it does keep my blood cells from devouring one another in a cannibalistic frenzy. And it lets me maintain my existence without blind, voracious killing."
"Always a good thing," I commented sarcastically. "I'm sure butchering innocent people would play absolute hell with your social schedule." Still, whether or not I swallowed her story, Niko and I had never been superheroes, never defenders of the blissfully ignorant public. We were trying to survive, that's all. Keeping our own asses intact was more than job enough, and as long as Promise wasn't tearing out the throat of some golden-haired cherub right in front of us, I wasn't going to be losing any sleep over it.
"Yes, I suppose it would, but I could always make a onetime exception." From her pointed gaze I had no problem guessing just who that exception might be.
"Now, children," Niko said reprovingly. "Play nice. Ms. Nottinger, I am curious. How did this rather fanatical gentleman discover the truth about you?"
As it turned out Promise had been telling the truth there. He was the great-nephew and only living relative of her last husband. Whether or not he'd been disinherited in favor of his uncle's new wife was a point of contention. Regardless, in his mind it was true. He had done his level best to get something on Promise, anything at all. Yes, she had multiple late husbands, but among the wealthy, that wasn't necessarily that unusual a lifestyle choice. In the end all he could determine was that Promise had some peculiar habits, one of which was not going out in the daylight. Ever. That was still a big jump for your average person to make to creature of the darkness, but from what Promise's late husband had said disparagingly about his nephew, it seemed he'd already had bats in his belfry. It wouldn't be that much harder to turn them into vampire bats.
"He may turn into something of a problem for you, then." Niko tucked his stake away and handed Promise her pill bottle. "How will you handle him?"
"I really only see two choices in the matter." She replaced the pills in her purse and clicked it shut decisively. "The first would be to pay him off. I worked quite hard for that money and am loath to give up even part of it, but…" She shrugged philosophically.
"And if that doesn't work?" I asked.
Delicately pointed teeth peeked out from a pouty upper lip. "Diamonds aren't always a girl's best friend."
Well, the guy had a chance anyway. That was more than most people got in this life. I dropped the cross beside him and we left him in the alley, not too much worse for the wear. Forty minutes later we'd ushered Promise back to her building and watched her get into the elevator. But not before she'd put a finger on Niko's mouth as he'd called her Ms. Nottinger one last time. "I think after all we've been through, Niko, that I would like it if you called me Promise."
As the elevator doors closed, I shook my head despairingly at the bemused expression on Niko's face. "Are you certifiable? She's buried five husbands, not to mention she's the undead. A bloodsucking…" Okay, that wasn't strictly true. I amended, "An iron-pill-popping fiend from hell. She'd eat you alive."
"She would, would she?" Niko said dryly.