Vampires of Eden (Alexander #2)

18. Daniel

CHAPTER 18

Daniel

T his is absolutely ridiculous.

As I step out and onto the patio, Alexander looks at me like he’s an abused animal and I’m about to hit him. I can’t believe he just up and ran away from me like that—then ignored my phone calls. What the hell?

“Hey,” I say. And that’s it. He lifts a palm in what looks like defense, then launches into what I mostly perceive as a paranoid rant of an apology.

“Look, I’m sorry about what happened the other day, alright? I don’t know what that was or why—but it was gross and uncalled for, I know, and… I’m definitely not some purebred who’s trying to control or influence you—or anyone . It was a weird fluke and I… If we could forget about it, that would be great because I promise it will never, ever happen again.”

Astonished, motionless, I take in his pleading and anxious expression.

His eyes alighted for me.

If ever there was a sign that he harbors some undeniable attraction toward me, this is it. My nature is weak, but deep inside myself, I can feel it stirring and thawing when I’m around him. Because of him. If I were physically capable, I have no doubt that my eyes would have responded to him in that moment.

They would have alighted for him, too.

Taking a step forward, I ignore his strange speech and cut to the chase. “Alexander, do you like me?”

He draws back, blinking. “N- no .”

His answer comes like a swift slap across my face. Taken aback, I stand straighter. “Right… Okay.”

“ No , I mean—not like that! I, well, you…” Closing his eyes, he turns to the side and lifts both of his hands to plunge his fingers into his thick mane. “Just give me a second? One second.”

“Sure.”

He inhales and his square shoulders rise, then fall. “Yes, I like you, because I enjoy talking to you. But I know how you feel about purebreds and you’d just told me about what happened with Josefina—which I really appreciated, by the way. You sharing that with me.”

“Yes, you said that already.”

“Right. So, it felt wrong to do that to you. I’m so sorry.” He drops his hands from his hair and sits on the edge of the deck’s railing. Cautiously, he meets my eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Do you think I’m angry with you?” I ask. “Because your eyes alighted?”

“Aren’t you?”

“No, I’m not,” I say plainly. “But I am annoyed that you ran away. And further, that you refused to answer my phone calls for two days and skipped your usual day here at the safe house in an obvious attempt to avoid me. I don’t like that you ignored me—as if I didn’t matter.”

“Nooo no no no,” he says, pleading yet again. “It wasn’t like that, I was… I was just so humiliated and it was gross and?—”

“Yes, you’ve said,” I cut in, not wanting to hear it a third time. “You say that you enjoy talking to me, so then talk to me. Don’t ignore me or run away—because that solves nothing. Haven’t we confided in each other? Have we not established a mutual trust within our private conversations?”

“We have,” he says, quietly.

“And I… I like you, too,” I tell him and myself honestly, registering the blatant rush of heat in my belly. God help me. “How I feel about purebreds is irrelevant. I’m learning to change and grow—just like you. Will you give me the grace to do that? Please stop calling me mean and evil.”

Alexander nods. “I’m sorry?—”

“No more apologizing.”

“I—okay…” He smiles and his face is thoroughly flushed in a warm rosy red. He runs his fingers through the top of his hair again and it’s the most endearing shit that I have ever seen.

“I apologize for pinching you and making you uncomfortable,” I say.

“Ah, that’s not such a big deal. Raph and Leoni pinch me all the time, but I don’t usually… Normally it’s… It won’t happen again.”

A vampire’s eyes alighting is an almost universal symbol for their deeper, inner affection toward someone. Especially a purebred. There are exceptions depending on the situation, but in our circumstance, the gist is pretty damn clear.

How can he call it a fluke? What’s happened to him that he would react this way when his eyes alight? These words he’s throwing around—gross, wrong and weird. It doesn’t feel right to me. It’s too extreme.

“If it does happen again,” I tell him, moving to sit on the top step of the deck so I can feel the sunlight directly. “Don’t run away, please? It’s alright. Just talk to me about it.”

“It won’t happen again,” he says, coming to sit beside me. “Don’t worry.”

It definitely will, but I don’t say as much. A purebred’s nature is a complex and passionate entity—at times, more intuitive and powerful than its vessel.

Josefina was well aware of her nature and what it wanted. Older purebreds are like this. Perfectly attuned to their auras, to the point where some can exhibit extensive control. Wielding it or restricting it as needed, like a warrior fiercely skilled in using their sword.

These purebreds are guided by their natures and distinctly choose whether to listen to the supernatural pull inside of them or not.

Alexander is young. I know that, but… this spiel about him being humiliated and not understanding why his eyes alighted for me? It shows his lack of inner awareness. Or some undeniable trauma.

“God,” he says, exhaling as he makes himself comfortable. “I thought you’d be livid. I was preparing for you to rake me over the coals.”

“All you had to do was answer the phone. I would have set your mind at ease.”

“Yeah…” Alexander brings his knees up and folds his arms on top. He rests his head to the side so that he can see my face. He smiles. “That was dumb.”

I stretch my legs out and fold them at the ankles, then lean back on my palms. “Not dumb. A little immature, though?”

He chuckles. “Raph told me to grow up and text you.”

Thank you, Raphael. I might like this manservant-best-friend-brother figure. “And when have I ever ‘raked you over the coals’?” I ask. “I know that I can be rude sometimes, but I don’t think I’ve ever outright yelled at you.”

“You haven’t. Maybe it’s me? Maybe I’m still… I don’t know. Right near the end with Oliver, something happened that scared me. Something that I did. He was angry—and rightfully so. But I might be paranoid about my nature doing funny things. It’s like I don’t trust myself anymore.”

I want to know what happened and how serious it was—to the point where he doesn’t trust himself. That’s a heavy confession. However, I don’t want to ask him to relive the ordeal by telling me the story. Especially if it’s still impacting him this meaningfully.

“I’m not Oliver,” I say.

He frowns. “I know that.”

“Then don’t assume I’ll respond the same way as him.”

“I hear you,” he says. “I have a long way to go, growth-wise. Hopefully, by the time I’m a hundred, I’ll be like other vamps around that age—all suave and unbothered like Aries was. Confident and cool, you know?” He lifts his head and chin a little, wearing a smug expression on his face. “Like this.”

A hefty laugh bursts from my chest. “You look like a jerk.”

Alexander chuckles as well, laying his head back down on his arms. His hair is like a mirror reflecting the golden sunlight. “That’s not good. Christ, I sincerely hope that I don’t turn into an old and lecherous purebred, like Lord Cherrington.”

“Lord Cherrington?”

He had closed his eyes, but he lazily opens them. “The conceited and awful vampire that my parents are going to sell me off to.”

I sit up straighter, alarmed. “What do you mean by, ‘sell you off to’?”

“He’ll be my new bonding arrangement now that the situation with Oliver has fallen through. It’s… nearly decided. It’ll be announced before summer, I guess.”

“Do you want this arrangement? With Lord Cherrington?”

“Fuck no,” he exclaims, his voice pitching.

“Have you expressed as much?”

Alexander shrugs in his hunched position. “My parents know damn well that I don’t want this. Hell—Lord Cherrington knows I don’t want him. I told him plainly yesterday after I’d been avoiding him for weeks. He’s way older than me and thinks that my disgust with him is a challenge. Like I’m playing hard to get. But with my dowry gone, I don’t have a say anymore. The loss of that money means the loss of choice and autonomy.”

Repulsed, I shake my head. “Is money really so important to you upper-crust vamps? That you’d force these kinds of distasteful arrangements?”

“The money doesn’t matter to me,” Alexander says, sincerely. “If I cared about the money, I wouldn’t have given it away in the first place.”

I pause, absorbing this statement. Leoni guessed that this was probably the case. She told me that stuffy purebred fathers like Oliver’s don’t simply let things slide. She assumed that there must have been something substantial given in exchange for Oliver’s passport to freedom.

It sounds like she was right. “This is how Oliver was able to leave Eden, isn’t it? You gave up your dowry for him. To his father in exchange for his travel documents.”

Alexander sits straighter. “Yes. Technically, the dowry money was always meant for him. In my eyes, anyway. It wasn’t used for the outcome we all imagined, but still… I don’t have any regrets about that. I’d just rather not be forced to bond with someone I hate.”

Biting the inside of my cheek, I breathe. It feels as if I’ve been kicked in the chest with a combat boot and I’m winded. Angry and affronted. I want retaliation for this sickening circumstance that Alexander has to deal with, but I’m also mad at myself.

Not even five minutes after I finally admit that I like him, I’m hit with this news.

I knew better. From the first glint of embers igniting my nature, in my head, I knew this would end badly for me. But what have I done? Embraced these irrational feelings. Trusted in them and my garbage instincts.

Like a true dumbass.

“Danny?”

“Yes?”

“Do you ever think that… despite everything that happened with Josefina, you might be capable of falling in love again? Or at least, finding something real? Not something just ma de up in your own mind. A vampire who values you as much as you value them.”

The ache in my chest from the combat boot softens. “I didn’t think it was possible immediately after it happened, because the pain was too overwhelming. I couldn’t see past it. But now, I… Maybe I have hope.” Even though I’m a dumbass.

Alexander nods as he looks out into the forest. The sun shifts in the sky and creates all sorts of interesting shadow play between the trees and branches. I’m expecting him to go on, but he doesn’t.

“What about you?” I ask. “Do you think it’s possible for you to love someone that’s not Oliver?”

He huffs, smiling. “I didn’t think so at first—same as you. My head and my heart were filled with him for so long. When he left and everything came crashing down, I felt… empty inside. Broken. Kind of like a glass incapable of holding water.”

“That’s poetic.”

“It’s the best way I can describe it. But lately, I don’t feel so empty. And I don’t burst into tears at the smallest poke. It’s nice… until Lord Cherrington comes around.”

I sigh. “You know, you should really figure a way out of that situation. In this day and age, there’s no way a vampire should be purchased against their will—under any circumstances.”

“When you say it like that, it makes the situation sound really dirty.”

“It is dirty, Alexander. It’s atrocious and despicable.”

“It’s the way we’ve always done things.”

“Well, then, it’s time to fucking change, isn’t it? That doesn’t make it right.” We stare at each other in a tense moment before I relax my shoulders. I smooth my hair back and take a breath. “But it’s your life. You do you.”

“That was a shift.”

“It’s not my business.” I throw my palms up. “What do I know? I’m a half-dead first-gen vampire. I have no power or say in these things.”

“Not half-dead.” He frowns. “You have power. What you say matters to me. A lot. I just… I don’t know if I can successfully fight the system. I want to, but it might be beyond my capability.”

A thought sweeps through my head. I turn toward him, folding my leg against the deck. “What happens if you refuse your arrangement? Leoni refused all of hers. She’s doing alright for herself.”

“Hm…” Alexander glances off. “I don’t know. Leoni’s mother is much nicer than mine, first of all. The thought of openly disobeying my mother sends an icy chill down my spine. Leoni also has a lot of sisters, so one heir fucking off doesn’t seem like too much of a loss for her parents. I’m an only child.”

Alexander sits silently for a long moment and I let him ponder. I don’t interrupt because I think it’s important for him to seriously contemplate this.

“Maybe they banish me?” he finally goes on. “I won’t get an allowance like Leoni does. I’m already semi-cut off after what happened with Oliver. So, I’d truly be on my own with no money, no housing and no skills to take care of myself… or Buffy. I have to consider her well-being, too. Litter and food cost money.”

I rub my temples with my fingertips. This vampire and his damn cat.

“And obviously, I’d forfeit my seat on the Royal Governing Board,” Alexander says. “My father is retiring soon and expects me to fill his position. If I don’t, that would be a tough pill to swallow for him and our family legacy.”

This gives me pause as I fold my arms. The Royal Governing Board dictates all the important matters across Eden’s aristocracy. Traditionally, it’s been filled with stuffy and older vamps from a generation whose values and perspectives are long outdated.

Having someone from our generation on the board like Alexander is paramount. A potential game-changer for Eden as we know it.

“You have to marry Lord Cherrington in order to take your father’s seat on the board?” I ask, wanting to understand this insane circumstance.

“Not necessarily him, but he’s offering the most capital for my engagement. Or, if I had my own money again, I could take the seat and stay autonomous. It’s just how the archaic rules work.”

“How much money do you need?”

Alexander scoffs. “A lot. Or at least a steady income? Vaguely, I’ve been thinking about how I could generate my own revenue. Maybe if I do that and present a solid case, the members of the board will make an exception? But I have no idea what to do.”

I’m lost in thought. None of this is my business, but unexpectedly, I feel heavily invested. Alexander needs to be on the board. Eden as a society would benefit from it without question.

But not at the expense of his freedom and well-being. Not as a sacrificial lamb to some lecherous vampire that makes him miserable.

“Hello?” Alexander prompts, grinning.

“I’m here. Thinking. Let me talk to Leoni about this and see what she has to say. It’s good to put multiple heads together on complex issues.”

“It’s nice that you care,” he says, tilting his head. “Especially after my disgusting behavior earlier this week. Thank you.”

Our eyes lock in a still moment. Like a semibreve rest that tells the musician to pause.

He is… charming. Sensitive and fragile beneath his sharp and glossy purebred prince fa?ade. Just like Leoni said.

It captivates me. It makes me hungry in a way I’m not at all comfortable with.

Breaking his gaze, I push up from the step to stand. “Not disgusting. And of course I care. Shall we finish staining the table together? After that, there’s some furniture that we can assemble upstairs.”

Alexander stands as well, brushing off his jeans and following me toward the door. “Yeah, sure. That sounds good.”

As I grab the handle, I glance over my shoulder. “Just… a word of caution?”

“Yes?”

“Don’t make promises that you can’t keep.”

His brow furrows, perplexed. “What do you mean? What promise can’t I keep?”

A chilly wind swishes between us as our eyes lock once more. The dense woods creak as birds twitter and sing. Branches bend and sway.

The urge to reach out and pinch his waist again is unbearable. I want to prove my point, but I don’t do it. Instead, I hold back because intentionally making his eyes alight would be a jackass move and I’m supposed to be in recovery. I’m back on the wagon.

“Nothing,” I say, turning and pulling the door open. “Just be careful.”

When I return to the cottage later in the evening, the lights are on. I head to the kitchen and Leoni is there, sitting at our homey and eclectic table with her laptop open. The screen glows against her warm skin and hazel eyes. Only the low lights above the stove are on, creating a hushed and calming ambiance.

I walk over to meet her. “Hey, you.”

She glances up from her computer and offers a smile. “Hola—how was the safe house?”

“Good,” I say, pulling a chair out and sitting across from her. “Alexander was there, like I predicted.”

She snickers, typing on her keyboard. “Did you give him a good talking to?”

“I did. You were right about him. He is a puercoespín.”

“Without question.”

I fold my arms and exhale a deep sigh. “Do you know who Lord Cherrington is?”

“Unfortunately. Why? ”

“Did you know that Alexander’s parents are pushing a bonding arrangement with him?”

Leoni stops typing and draws back in horror. “?Qué? Es broma, ?verdad? Me estás chingando, ?verdad? No waaaay.”

“He’s as bad as he sounds, then?”

“Ugh, he’s an old snake,” Leoni explains, her nose upturned in distaste. “His parents died a long time ago in a mysterious house fire and left him a huge inheritance, so he’s never been forced to choose a bonding arrangement. He’s arrogant, shady and known for treating other vampires like shit—purebred and ranked alike. Que se vaya a la chingada.”

He can go to hell.

Her response validates my assessment that this is all wrong. I’m not biased just because I have some absurd feelings bubbling inside my nature. “Alexander said that he can’t sit on the board unless he’s married or he has steady income.”

Leoni nods. “It’s probably because Alexander is still young. Those stipulations are applied when a vampire is under a hundred. If Ansv?d had waited to retire, this wouldn’t be an issue. But I guess the papers have already been submitted?”

“Sounds like it…” What I’m about to suggest is ludicrous, even to me. Still, I let the words fall from my mouth because I want to know what she’ll say. “Should I lend him the money?”

“Dios mío.” Leoni sits back and uses a palm to brush her bangs from her forehead. They flop back down. “You would do that for him?”

I shrug, trying to be casual but failing. “I might.”

She blows out a breath. “I don’t think that would fly, cari?o. First, he’d have to accept your offer, which I highly doubt he would. Second, his parents and the board would want to know where the money came from. I’m sorry to say this, but?—”

“Money gifted from a ‘lowly first-gen’ would be invalid?”

She clenches her teeth. “I wasn’t gonna say it like that but, it’s how the oldies operate. You know it better than anyone.”

Unfortunately, I do. The way Josefina treated me toward the end of our relationship was only half of my trauma. The rest was the constant derision and hostility from all the other vampires in the estate. Purebreds who looked down on me for reaching above my station. Other ranked vampires mocking me in shame. Saying that I deserved what I got.

It was a multifaceted hell.

“Loaning him the money is no bueno,” she goes on. “But I was thinking… wine sales increase considerably when he comes to the market with us. My pride is a little bruised, but I’m running the numbers and they don’t lie. He’s got that sparkly and charming energy that other vamps are drawn to.”

“He’s the Golden Prince,” I say flatly. The memory of his alighted and fiery eyes manifests in my mind. Something like a streak of lightning shoots down my belly and makes my groin hot. I shift in my seat to fold one knee over the other and clear my throat. “Or whatever.”

“What if we ask Puercoespín to go into business with us?” Leoni ponders. “He could come to the cottage more consistently and help work the land first to see if he likes it—get his hands dirty and learn about the winery. Then, if we all agree, we could sign him on? It could benefit us and him, potentially. We need the help.”

With my belly and groin nearing normalcy, I take a breath. “I like this idea. He seems to enjoy the work we do at the safe house. I think he’d be into this as well. The drive is long, though, to do multiple times a week.”

“Should he stay here? Maybe for a week or two? A trial-run.”

My brain short-circuits. Alexander living with us would be… ridiculous. Bewildering.

At the same time, though, definitely preferred if the other option is his being married off to some predator vampire almost ten-times his age.

“Would you be comfortable with that?” Leoni asks, prompting me out of my silent contemplation .

“Comfortable isn’t really the word, but I… Yes. I’m okay with having him here for a trial-run.”

“Good,” Leoni says. “Plus, it’ll be easier for you to seduce him if he’s in the house with us.”

“Whoa—What the hell? Where did that come from?”

She laughs. “I don’t know cari?o, it’s just a feeling I get. I was trying to be careful and push the ‘just friends’ agenda, but you weren’t having it. Maybe you really want something more?”

“Your sensors are malfunctioning. In what world would I have the gall to seduce the most sought-after prince in Eden? I’d have to be out of my fucking mind.”

Leoni meets my eyes, dead serious. “In the new world that we’re helping to create, Danny. Can’t you feel it?” A poignant silence follows as I blink, letting her words sink in.

She’s right.

Something is changing in Eden. Not just within the scope of my little universe, but across society at large. No one talks about it openly, but I can feel it.

For as long as any of us can remember, purebreds have held the wealth and power. First- and second-generation vampires typically exist in servitude to purebreds, while third-generation vampires live in the villages outside of the major cities.

“Lower” vampires are assigned to the intensive manual labor, like farming and industry. Waste management and the production of goods and services that purebreds benefit from and enjoy.

Everyone has their role and their place.

Alexander being at the safe house and working with us? Casually spending time with me and watching old TV shows on my couch? It shatters the mold. A deviation from our society’s rigid and long-standing expectations.

Oliver, Santiago and other young purebreds fleeing Eden in search of a more liberated life? Unheard of. Until now.

Sighing, I push myself upright. “You should call him and tell him this. Invite him to stay with us. He may not accept the offer, but it’s better if it comes from you.”

“Oh, he’ll definitely accept, because you’re here.”

I pause, glancing down at her with one eyebrow raised. “Funny. I was thinking he might refuse for that very same reason.” The man practically had a meltdown because his eyes alighted for me. I don’t even know how to interpret this situation.

“Naaah.” She waves a hand, dismissive. “Puercoespín is sweet but he can be a bit dense—which, unfortunately, is what made him an easy target for Josefina.”

I fold my arms, remembering him saying that I was mean like Josefina. Evil. How dare he? I can be snarky, but I would never make fun of someone’s naivety like that.

Not to their face.

“He wants you to seduce him,” Leoni says. “He just hasn’t realized it yet.”