When Irene woke again, it was daylight outside. The shades were closed to block the sun from coming into the bedroom, but she could see the shine around the edges.
“Go to sleep, pet,” said Will groggily from the other side of the bed. “There’s at least four more hours until the sun goes down.”
“So, I really can’t go in it?” she asked curiously, rolling over to snuggle against his back.
“Oh, it doesn’t mean instant death like in the movies, but ten or fifteen minutes could give you a pretty bad burn, and an hour would definitely be a bad idea,” he explained.
“Good thing I’m already a night owl, huh?” she chuckled dryly. “So, what’s on the agenda for tonight?”
“Tonight, I’m going to teach you a bit of history and tell you a few things that you will need to know,” he said sleepily. “But—as I have already pointed out—that isn’t for several more hours.”
“Do you have anything to read, Will?” she asked with a sigh. “I’m not used to the new schedule just yet. It may take me a little time.”
“The library is two doors down on the right,” he grumbled sleepily, then rolled back onto his side. He was snoring again in no time.
Irene rolled her eyes. It looked like she was on her own for a time. But, with a whole library at her disposal, she really didn’t mind. In her former life, her aspirations to find time to write had only been a dream, but in this big, quiet house she could easily see it becoming a thing. She longed to see her name on the cover of a book or a magazine.
Lucky for her, the library contained a computer which didn’t want a password to get inside. She easily found a word processor, started a story, and created her own folder to save it in. She was still busily typing away when a pair of warm hands set down on her shoulders.
“For a moment, I was worried that you’d run away from me again,” Will admitted. “I never dreamed you’d be feeling well enough for this.”
“Are you kidding?” Irene scoffed. “I’ve had that damned story bottled up for six months, hoping for a chance to write it down. You have literally saved my life, William Knight.”
“But I’ve made you into a vampire,” he pointed out. “That can’t be something you wanted.”
“I’ll admit, it’s going to take some getting used to,” she agreed, but then she reached up and cupped his cheek. “But if you keep making my pussy sing your praises, I think I’ll be all right.”
He laughed as he bent down to give her a kiss.
“I never heard it do that,” he told her wickedly. “Maybe we’ll need to do it again so I could listen for it properly.”
Irene giggled. “Okay. Go ahead.”
“Right now? Here? In the library?” he chuckled.
“There’s a pretty comfy-looking couch right over there.”
“Much as your invitation intrigues me, pet, it isn’t time to play,” Will said as he let her go and headed for one of the books on a shelf. “We must begin your training. I cannot be remiss in my duty to you, or to the clan. Every one of its members must be well aware of certain things. You’ll understand soon enough, I think.”
Irene held out her hands, and Will set the book he had retrieved into them. She examined it carefully, running her fingers over the rough leather and gilt lettering. All it said was ‘the Arimathean’. She remembered him saying something about that name once before. A disciple of Yeshua the Mage, wasn’t it? The whole notion was not as surprising to her as it probably should have been.
She cracked the book open. There were numerous colored plates at the center. She thumbed through them, picking up a bit of history just from seeing them. But not nearly enough to satisfy her growing curiosity.
“What’s this here?” she asked, pointing to one of the plates with interest. It showed a man being crowned.
“When the spell that backfired caused the Lamb’s curse, five men were immediately transformed by it,” Will explained. “However, as the wielder of the spell, Arimathea took the brunt, making him more powerful than the rest. In those days, the guy with the most power was also considered to be the guy in charge.
So, eventually, most of the clans swore fealty to Joseph as their king. The Arimathean believed—and still does—that because of the spell that transformed our people, we owed the Church our protection as penance for our sins. We are its unseen protectors, and as such, he sat upon a hidden throne, deep beneath the Vatican itself.”
“And this?”
“That is a picture of the usurper, Hugh the Carpathian,” said Will with a look of distaste. “Almost two hundred years ago, he killed a great many Arimatheans in order to steal the throne for himself. It is mostly because of him that all the clans have become divided, half taking up our cause and the other half siding with Hugh. But there are also a few who never chose to follow either -- most notably, the clan of the Iscariots.”
“So that guy was a vampire too?”
“There are some who believe the true Iscariot was never a part of our world, but that a pretender took his name in antiquity,” said Will. “However, it hardly matters who the original leader really was, since he is lost in obscurity.”
“So, if you are all supposed to be protecting the church, then where did the idea come from that you couldn’t go inside of one?
“Peasants wishing to believe they were safe,” he scoffed. “I could easily walk into a church in broad daylight if I didn’t mind a little sunburn from crossing the parking lot. Not that I would, of course. It’s pointless to listen to sermons when I don’t believe what they are saying, don’t you think?”
“Yes, I suppose you’re right,” she agreed. “I’m a spiritualist, myself. And I don’t really think anything you’ve just told me changes my opinions either. All you’ve done is confirm that, at least in the old days, magic was a real, tangible thing. Tangible enough to create the vampires who exist in our world today.”
“Don’t get me wrong,” said Will with a shake of his head. “Not every vampire today stems from that one mistake. There were others, both before and after, who have come into being in various ways.”
“Will, the history is fascinating and everything, but what I really need to know is what it means for me,” Irene told him as she set the book aside.
“An understandable desire,” he agreed. “For the most part, it means you will need to incorporate a few supernatural feedings into your diet, take to doing your errands at night, and learn the proper way to address the leaders so that you will not give any offense. But you’re a clever girl; it shouldn’t be too difficult for you.”
Will got up and pulled down another book titled Proper Vampire Etiquette. Irene’s brows went up. “You must be awfully sure that nobody is going to come into your library that shouldn’t be reading any of this.”
“Yeah, you could say that,” he smirked. “Or if they did, that they wouldn’t be leaving it again. But enough about this, I think. I will leave this book down along with the other one, and you can read both of them at your leisure. But for now, it’s time to take you out for dinner. The normal kind, not the supernatural. We could go to a steak house if you’d like?”
“Oh, sure, I haven’t been out to dinner in a while,” she agreed. “Well, but, I mean, I haven’t even been back to my house in almost two weeks, have I? I suppose everybody’s probably wondering where I’ve been.”
“I think it would be unwise to show your face around there anytime soon,” Will speculated. “I mean, since Cameron’s obviously gone missing, and people are naturally going to assume he’s with you.”
“But if I went there, I could say I’m looking for him,” she pointed out. “Because, obviously, I’d like to at least get a few of my things. Why couldn’t I say we broke up badly, and I have no idea where he went, but now I’m there to get my belongings? Well, most of the stuff in there belongs to me.”
“Irene, is there anything in the place that you truly value? Heirlooms from your family, photo albums, that sort of thing?”
“No, I’ve got most of that stuff in storage,” she admitted. “There’s not really anything in that house I would suffer to do without.”
“Then for now, at least, I think you’re better to just steer clear,” said Will firmly. “We don’t want a police investigation, do we? Since you’ve only just pointed out that I don’t want anyone who shouldn’t be seeing those books coming into my library. Mark my words, if the cops wanted to investigate me, they would be sure to check out the types of books I read, either with my permission or without it.”
“Okay, but one more thing,” said Irene. “What I was thinking of getting was some clothes. I don’t have anything to wear out, since you got rid of the dress I was wearing.”
“I believe that you should consult Hiram on that score,” Will smirked. “I told him you’d need a few items of clothing. He should have gone shopping while we were asleep.”
“What? You’re kidding!” Irene was quick to go looking for the servant.
Soon after this conversation, Will and Irene dressed nicely and headed for the door. He took her to a quiet, family-friendly restaurant just outside of Berkeley, and they shared a great meal and plenty of banter, holding hands and playing footsies and acting very much like one of the lovey-dovey couples that Irene had always purported to despise but secretly envied.
They were totally unprepared to hear a woman’s voice calling her name.
“Irene Marks, where the hell have you been?” called Nancy Tate as she hurried over to their table, hands on her hips. “Charles and I have been worried sick! And wow—who is this gorgeous hunk of man with you?”
“Oh, I like her already,” said Will, making sure his accent was noticeable.
“Nancy, I’m so sorry,” said Irene. “Me and Cameron, that whole thing is done. We went to that swanky singles club you told us about, and that’s where I found Will. Cameron and I were bickering, and I just up and told him that we were through because I’d found somebody a lot hotter, and Will took me out of there with him. Well, one thing led to another, and as you can see, I never looked back. I am so very happy!”
“Yes, you seem to be,” she agreed. “Too bad you didn’t find one of them for me.”
“What? Why?”
“I broke up with Charles last week too,” she sighed. “He said he was tired of things and needed to make a change. Next thing I knew, he showed back up with some little hottie from the beach, said he wanted her to be our permanent third. Can you imagine that? Just brings her on home without even asking, like she was a lost kitten or a puppy or something. And I guess he’s been seeing her for quite some time.”
“And you refused to agree, I take it?”
“No way,” she said. “The kids and I are staying with my sister, May. I didn’t think having that kind of thing going on in plain sight was good for their fragile little minds.”
“Yeah, you probably made the right choice,” Irene agreed. “Well, I’d love to stay and chat, but Will and I were off to take care of—bigger things.”
Smirking, Nancy said, “Oh my, don’t let me hold you back, sweetie. But you still have my number, so give me a call when you find the time, okay?”
“Will do,” Irene agreed as Will slipped an arm around her waist and led her away.