Night's Honor (Elder Races #7)(49)

Once the thoughts had wormed their way into her head, they wouldn’t leave. Tucking them away to consider at another time, she said, “Realistically, I’m not going to come up against any fighting trolls, am I?”

“You never know, but probably not.” He shrugged. “Usually they’re pretty peaceful. I’m just using them as an example. For the most part, we’re going to concentrate on creatures that you’ll see most often, because those are the ones you would be most likely to engage.”

She cocked her head. “Like Vampyres?”

He smiled. “Like Vampyres. They are famously dangerous, but they also have quite a few vulnerabilities, such as they can’t enter your house without your permission. That doesn’t apply to public places, like hotels or hotel rooms. It also doesn’t apply to any rooms you may occupy when you’re a guest in someone else’s home, so you need to know what your boundaries are and what’s safe.”

“So if I’m a guest in a Vampyre’s house, they can get to me wherever I am,” she said.

“Yes, or if you’re a guest in someone’s home, and they’ve already given permission to a Vampyre to enter, you can’t revoke it. The older, more Powerful ones can mesmerize with their eyes or their voice, but that’s one of the things a blood offering will help to protect you from. When you develop that connection with Xavier, another Vampyre won’t be able to mesmerize you. Of course, you can kill a Vampyre with direct sunlight, but a total SPF sunblock or a well-made cloak will usually buy them enough time to find shelter. Any Vampyre with a grain of sense buys clothes made of UPF 50+ material that will block up to 98 percent of UV rays.”

“What about UV lamps?”

“Don’t bother, unless you want to piss one off. They cause burns and pain, but they’re not strong enough to incapacitate.” He made a slicing motion across his throat with one finger. “Decapitation works, and a penetrating blow to the heart, like a sword thrust. Brain damage also works, but it’s got to be severe enough to be lethal. In other words, like the troll, you can shoot a Vampyre in the eye, and as long as the shot goes directly through the brain, it will kill them.”

She rubbed the back of her neck. “I feel funny talking about this, you know.”

His lean face creased as he laughed. “None of this is privileged information. It’s not as though I’m imparting state secrets.”

The phrase caused her mind to wing back to earlier that morning, when she had discovered Eathan’s death, and she winced. But now was not the time to focus on that either, so she forced herself to concentrate on the subject at hand. “When Xavier interviewed me at the Vampyre’s Ball, he asked if I used drugs.”

“That’s a whole other subject,” he told her.

She shrugged. “It sounded like it could do some damage.”

“Yes, but it tends to happen over a period of time. Luckily, most often, the problem can be caught before any damage gets too severe. When it doesn’t get stopped in time . . .” He shook his head. “The results are ugly.”

As she listened, she tucked her fingers into the pockets of her pants and hunched her shoulders. “How do you mean?”

“If Vampyres feed regularly on blood that has been tainted with hard drugs, it warps them and turns them bestial. Given enough exposure, the damage becomes permanent.” He turned to the door. “I can see we’re not going to get to any physical training today. Come on, let’s walk outside while we talk.”

She followed him out into the sunshine. “But like you said, most of the time the damage can be stopped before it turns permanent, so it isn’t really a danger, is it?”

“That’s true, but the trick is, the Vampyre has to want to stop it.” He led her to the path that went down to the beach. While a steady breeze blew off the water, the day was sunny and warm, and he turned his tanned face up with evident enjoyment to the sun’s strong, bright rays. “People persist in believing that becoming a Vampyre will solve all their problems, and it simply isn’t true. Vampyrism isn’t a panacea. Who you are as a person is who you will be as a Vampyre.”

“I don’t understand,” she said as she fell into step beside him.

They walked along the beach, while the wild cry of seagulls sounded from overhead. “If you’re an alcoholic when you’re a human, you’ll still be an alcoholic when you’re a Vampyre,” Raoul told her. “You still have the issues that drove you to drink in the first place, only drinking alcohol itself won’t have any effect on you.”

“I’ve heard of that.” She squinted against the bright sunlight. “Vampyres can’t get drunk from alcohol they consume directly, right?”

“Correct. Just as they can’t get nutrition from consuming food. They need blood to carry the nutrients, or the alcohol, in such a way that their systems will absorb it.”

“So they can get drunk if they feed from inebriated humans?”

“Yes, they can, and the same principle applies to drug addiction. If you’re an addict as a human, you’ll be an addict as a Vampyre. Getting turned doesn’t erase personality problems. It only wipes out physical diseases. But once a drug addict become a Vampyre, he can’t feel the effect from taking drugs directly.”

“Oh, wow.” She thought of the possible consequences and shuddered.