Gaslight (Crossbreed #4)(25)
Gem chortled. “I gave her the full demonstration early this morning. You should have seen her expression when she saw what a blender could do. I couldn’t turn around for one minute. When I came back from the bathroom, she was trying to light firewood in the oven.”
Viktor smiled warmly and got that distant look of nostalgia in his eyes. “Wood stoves were once commonplace. It adds a smoky flavor to the food that I miss with all these electric stoves. So much has changed over the years.”
Gem elbowed Shepherd. “If it were up to the new girl, she’d probably have Viktor convert the entire kitchen back to ancient times. The poor woman would be cooking all day. There’s something to be said about modern conveniences,” Gem said matter-of-factly. “A food chopper can add minutes to your life.”
“Microwaves changed my life,” Wyatt added, his green eyes swinging up as he disappeared into the past. “I still remember the summer of 1981 when I picked up my first—”
“Woman?” Shepherd finished.
Everyone laughed at Wyatt, who scowled.
Christian’s hand suddenly brushed against mine beneath the table. Without Blue beside him, no one could see as he locked his pinky finger around mine for a good minute before resting his elbows on the table.
Steepling his fingers, Christian eyed the kitchen entrance. “Should we send in a search party?”
My knee bounced with nervous energy as thoughts about my Vampire assignment rattled around in my head. Though I didn’t have an appetite and wanted to head out to the club, I decided to sit with the team long enough to satisfy Viktor.
In the open doorway behind Wyatt, Kira appeared. She held a foil-covered pan between two red oven mitts. Her red locks were tied up in a messy bun, and I guessed Blue must have lent her the long dress that she wore beneath her white apron. Shepherd and Gem branched apart so Kira could set the pan on a trivet. When she snapped away the foil, Claude growled, his eyes widening.
There were so many omelets on the tray I couldn’t begin to count. They were beautifully garnished with tomatoes and some type of green sprig. Omelets were something I could take or leave, and eggs were the last thing I wanted after a night of drinking.
“Holy Toledo, pass that down!” Wyatt exclaimed, drool wetting his lips.
Kira used a wide spatula to fill Viktor’s plate before she returned to serve Shepherd and Gem.
Claude wasn’t having it. He stood up and took the utensil from her hand. “Never serve me, female.”
“Yeah, well, serve me,” Wyatt demanded. He hooked his finger over the corner of the pan to pull it toward him and hissed, snapping his arm back.
Kira thumped him on the head with her oven glove before returning to the kitchen. It didn’t take long for Wyatt to get over his boo-boo and fill up his plate with not one but three omelets.
Gem’s eyes widened after one bite. “This is divine. Was she a professional chef?”
Viktor sliced into his omelet and folded it into his mouth. “People from the old country know how to cook real food. They raise their own animals and farm the land. Mmm.”
When Kira returned, she set down a bowl of mixed fruit and a deep pan. Inside were large pieces of steak and roasted cherry tomatoes. Shepherd practically knocked over his glass when he went for the steak, putting a whole piece on his plate.
Gem tapped her fork on the pan. “Uh, I think you’re supposed to slice off pieces of that. Not the whole thing.”
The moment the meat touched his lips, his eyes closed. “Speak for yourself.”
Christian found a green lollipop in his pocket and popped it into his mouth. “Always loved the smell of fresh carcass.”
“You’re hardly a vegetarian,” I pointed out. “I bet you’d love to try some of that.”
“Aye, but then where does it end? You indulge in one piece, then another. Next thing you know, you’re going to the toilet on a regular basis.”
I began to wonder if that was the only reason Christian avoided eating. Not using the bathroom must have been a real time-saver for someone who used to be on guard duty twenty-four hours a day. Vampires didn’t need food to sustain them, nor did they require blood. They were immortal by means of their maker’s blood, and that magic threaded its way into their DNA. But Christian’s refusal had me speculating that it was a form of self-control, the same way he was compelled to collect litter from the ground.
Or maybe I’m wrong and he just wants to punish himself for all the wickedness that lives inside him.
I stared at my empty plate, feeling a smidge of guilt for psychoanalyzing Christian. I wasn’t a shrink. In any case, his peculiarities piqued my interest more than they had before.
I stood up and pushed my chair in. “No offense, Blue, but I can’t eat with you watching me like a hawk.”
Her falcon twisted her head, blue eyes wide and watchful. Usually birds had yellow eyes, but both Viktor and Blue retained their natural eye color in both human and animal form.
Viktor dropped his knife onto his plate. “What have I said about skipping meals?”
“Look, I’m not going to starve myself and lose all this muscle tone. But my body doesn’t need to eat as often, and sometimes I just can’t. That’s the way it is. I’ve got too much on my mind this morning, and I’m still hungover.”
I wanted to remind him I was half-Vampire and to just accept it, but I hadn’t accepted it myself. Not really. So the words caught in my throat, and I swallowed them down.