Into the Darkness (Darkness #1)(23)

My brain stuttered on magic, but couldn’t process until the issue of my, once believed, craziness was put to rest. “But why can I see you?”

“Anyone who looks hard enough, or opens themselves to it, can see us. Like a magic show, if you pay attention, you can find the strings and hidden doors. I assume you’re open to it. What I don’t understand is why our pheromones don’t work with you.”

I shrugged. I had no idea, but I was intensely relieved.

He nodded, guessing as much.

I didn’t know whose question it was, so I snuck another one in. “Why do people classify you as vampires?”

The Boss smiled. “That’s not how they classify us, it’s the myth they created on our behalf. Faster, stronger—“

“Beautiful,” I blurted.

A smile ghosted his lips as he nodded. I got the impression he was thanking me for the compliment. “My species is not always beautiful, but some are, yes. We also drink blood.”

I choked on my spit. “You drink blood?”

He smiled, his eyes sparking with hunger. My body cultivated a similar spark in response.

“There is much power in blood,” he explained, his eyes on me steadily, as if I were prey. “Some people have more than others, making them taste sweeter. Like chocolate, or candy. It’s better with arousal. Better still if we don’t pollute them with pheromones during the extraction. Though that’s much more work. Too much, usually, as I have previously explained.”

“That’s a lovely way of saying it—extraction.”

His smile got bigger.

“So you only, uh, drink the blood of humans?”

He closed his eyes and said, “Hmmm. It’s amazing that your smell constantly changes. Is it based on your level of arousal, I wonder?” His dark eyes flashed open, analyzing me.

I flushed within that stare, the tug becoming ten times more pronounced. It felt like my body woke up—all the tired and achiness from earlier evaporating, leaving me clearheaded and exuberant. My skin started to tingle and I broke out in goose bumps, wanting to touch him so badly my fingers trembled.

“I have a boyfriend!” I proclaimed abstractly, struggling to regain control.

His eyes never wavered. “Humans are peculiar when it comes to mating. Although, that’s probably necessary with a species that procreates so excessively that diseases have bloomed into existence to hinder the ability.”

“Right, yes. Uh…” I nearly banged on my head to get it back in gear. His gaze was doing strange things to my stomach. “So you don’t take each other’s blood? Your own, uh, kind I mean?”

“As I said, within blood is power. Humans have determined magic does not exist, deciding instead to explain everything they can with science. When that fails, they turn to God. In today’s age, very few can harness the magic around us even though they have the potential, and those who can, limit it to reading palms, balls, or cards. You did a good job of killing off the magic users throughout history—men and women.

“My kind, and a few other species, do know how to access that power, harnessing it to our own ends. If we take blood from someone stronger, our power will grow. For that reason, since I work within a high level of power, I am extremely careful who I let take my blood. It’s a dangerous weapon to lend out.”

“So…you can give each other blood, but it would give people unfair advantages. Like a car that can go a lot faster after a shot of NOS, but slows as the NOS runs out?”

“Yes.”

“How long does it take to run out?”

“Depends on the power—or magic—level of the drinker, and that of the…donator.”

”So, what about the other myths? Does your skin burn when the sun hits it?”

“No more than yours. Or maybe less—you are fairer than I. Irish decent?” He smiled at my furrowed brow. “As I said, we’re nocturnal, mostly. We prefer the night. Our eyes are sensitive to light, for that reason. But some of my race has to blend in with humans. We have to do business and act like members of the community to maintain our assets. Protective lenses help that, but it’s like one of your kind working a night job. It plays hell on the system.”

I shook my head. “I’m not quite following.”

“Humans have a chemical in their brains that reacts with light. Daylight means wake up. As night falls, their brain signals sleep time. That’s a common issue with newborn babies—their brains are confused, thus having them waking and sleeping on—what humans deem—the incorrect schedule.”

“And so…yours is backwards to ours, then?”

“You can be taught.” His dark eyes sparkled. Seeing my glower, he changed the subject. “Were you taunting me earlier?”

“With the whole…secret room, thing?”

He nodded.

No sense beating around the bush. “Yes. Kind of.”

His head quirked. “That’s a dangerous game to play.”

“I fought a giant with a whistle and a letter opener. I’m a slow learner.”

“Yes, about that…” He shook his head and shifted in his seat. “How were you able to…fight Jonas off for so long?”

I shrugged. “I could…kinda…sense him coming; so I got out of the way.”