Certain Dark Things(37)

Atl looked at the bathroom tiles with disgust. There were traces of dark mildew between them. She supposed she shouldn’t complain. The building had running water, after all. Nonetheless, it was one more thing to despise about this damn city.

She stood for a long time under the hot water spray. It reminded her a bit of the sweat lodge, of home, and this made her lips curl into a smile.

Atl toweled her hair, rubbed her palm against the mirror’s surface. Nobody could accuse Mexican vampires of being pale, but there were other common signs identifying them. The redness of the eyes was the most noticeable. It crept up slowly, from lack of nourishment. A redness at first, and then their eyes grew more bloodshot until they were completely red. Mouse eyes. Mickey eyes, as they joked.

It was far from that right now. But the dark circles had returned. She moved her head slowly, trying to figure out if she seemed too thin. But no. It was okay.

She needed to feed more often. Vampires couldn’t live off nibbles. But if she got too greedy she’d drain Domingo dry and then her blood supply would vanish. She wasn’t a f*cking Necros who couldn’t control her appetite. It was just … she was used to overindulgence.

She thought of Domingo’s goofy smile and his dark hair over his eyes, his bony body and long limbs. That silly question about a boyfriend …

It was laughable—almost painful—to see Domingo trip over himself trying to please her. God, the kid was so damn … sappy. If she put a gun in his hand, he’d probably go right ahead and kill someone for her. Which is exactly what she needed. Still, it made Atl shake her head. It made her want to yell at him, demand that he get a clue. He was too na?ve, a trait she did not appreciate, though she must admit there was a certain charm to his lack of guile.

Plus, he’s not bad looking, she thought.

Her sister would have laughed if she’d heard that. Izel said humans were the equivalent of Neanderthals compared to their own kind.

It would be like Miranda bedding Caliban, she mused, and immediately regretted the thought. Some Necros slept with humans, but it was not a polite thing to do. The equivalent of the country bumpkin, who, lacking taste, chews with his mouth open and loudly yells to the server.

Atl fixed herself a cup of tea and sat in the kitchen, sucking on sugar cubes.

She imagined Izel whispering in her ear. Got a crush, have you? It would be one step above f*cking sheep, that’s for sure.

Really, she thought, rolling her eyes. You die and you’re still giving me advice in my head.

’Cause you need it.

What she needed was sleep. A bit more and she was going to start hallucinating that Izel was sitting next to her. Uncomfortable conversations with your deceased relatives should be saved for the Day of the Dead or a night of binge drinking.

Atl felt cold, another side effect of the lack of blood. She headed to the bedroom, put on her jacket, and grabbed the blanket from the floor. She slipped into the closet, curling on the floor and wrapping herself in the blanket. Domingo’s watch lay in a corner. Its soft tick was pleasant. She counted in her head as the little hand went around.

*

The knock on the closet door woke her up. She slid the door open and glanced at Domingo, who gave her a nervous smile in the darkness of the room. His face was half-hidden by his mop of brown hair.

“I’m here.”

“Good,” Atl said, reaching for and grabbing the watch before she stepped out of the closet. She stuffed it into one of her jacket’s pockets.

The room seemed colder. Atl bit her lip, wondering if she’d get the shivers soon. She didn’t want to get them on the street. People might think she was a Croneng, they’d assume she was sick with that stupid disease.

Atl stood by the window, trying to see how much sunlight there was. What if she postponed the visit?

“I’m sorry about what I said.”

“What?”

“You were offended. I only asked if you’d killed anyone because … I dunno. It’s … um … the kind of thing they say about vampires.”

Atl glanced at Domingo. He was nervous. She didn’t want him nervous. She didn’t want him thinking she was dangerous. There was no room for doubt.

“I’ve never killed anyone. I don’t hurt people,” she said.

It was so easy to lie. He wanted to believe her and smiled brightly when she said this.

“We should head out,” she said.

“I was wondering about that. Can we go out? It’s still daytime.”

“I was hoping it would be raining and I could take the umbrella,” Atl said. “I like cloudy days better. I can walk around in the daylight. It’s just harder on me.”

And it takes too much damn energy, which I don’t have, she thought ruefully. She wished she could avoid this trip, but she needed to see Verónica in person. It wasn’t like Bernardino, where it was a good idea to send Domingo. Having an intermediary smoothed things over with vampires. Not the case with the human woman.

Atl took out her sunglasses and put them on. She tried not to wear them, but it might be best that afternoon. She had a feeling her eyes were going to be completely bloodshot by nightfall.

“Let’s take Cualli for a walk.”

*

The subway was giving her a migraine. She could smell the dirt and accumulated sweat rolling off people’s bodies. It was a miasma of disgusting proportions, which was not the least lessened by cheap colognes and perfumes. The stench of cigarette smoke clung to their clothes, wafting through the subway car.