Adopt a Vampire
: Chapter 11

Ross, Dunham, Glenn, and at least six dogs arrived three days later. I’d taken off about two hours early from work in order to be at the house when they arrived. It was a bit chaotic at first, greeting everyone, turning the dogs loose in the yard, and all. Still, I was relieved to see them. I really, truly needed more guidance.

Dunham was clearly an old friend of the pack because after he said hello to me, he basically disappeared with his dogs. I heard a lot of barking, howling, and play noises from the other yards, so presumably people were having a ball with their new friends.

Once people were more settled in, I ended up at the dining room table with Ross and Glenn, not exactly by plan, but damn, what a view. They were truly a beautiful couple to look at. Glenn very much had that Irish charm, with freckled skin and beautiful burnished terra-cotta hair he’d styled over to one side. Ross was his opposite in looks, with taupe skin and amazing apple-green eyes. I felt like I sat opposite of a power couple, and they likely were if they managed a whole clan of various supernats.

Glenn’s words had a slight, charming burr to them as he spoke. “Jesse, I do not mean offense at all, but you don’t look well fed to me. I know feeding was hit and miss before you came to the pack, but this much?”

I sighed, kinda slumping in on myself for a second. “Prior to meeting the Walker Pack, I kinda just made it up as I went along. I didn’t know how to get access to blood without assaulting people, which I wasn’t okay with doing. I made do with coconut water—”

Both of them winced.

“—which, as you know, does and doesn’t work.”

“Vegan vampires,” Ross muttered with something like despair. “Gah.”

“When Barrett and his pack met me, the first thing they offered was blood. Believe it or not, this is an improvement. I’ve gained thirty pounds since coming into the pack.”

Glenn winced again. “I can see why they are so worried for you. All right, how much are you eating now?”

“More or less three meals a day.” I sensed my boyfriend coming into the room and gave him a slight smirk. “Plus snacks.”

Barrett smirked back at me as he dropped into the chair next to mine, slinging an arm to rest over the back of my chair. “We are feeding him, Glenn, I swear. He was just in an emaciated state when we first met him.”

Ross did a full-body shudder. “I hesitate to think of how bad you were before you met them, then. All right, once you’re in a healthy state, you won’t need to feed on a daily basis. It’s more like monthly.”

“We sometimes eat more often than that because of”—Glenn’s eyebrows waggled mischievously—“snacks, but generally speaking, a month is fine and will keep you in a healthy state. The longer you live, the longer you can go without eating. Something about vampiric chemistry ages well. My mother, for instance, generally eats every three months or so. But she’s nearly five hundred years old.”

I had my phone with me and whipped it out so I could take notes. “So once a month is my goal, then. How much do I need to regain, weight wise, before I can slow it down to once a month?”

Glenn shook his head. “No, don’t use weight to measure by. I know American culture is obsessed with weight, but it’s not a good standard. Every body type is different. I’ve adopted vampires before who were in dire straits, and it took time for their full health to return. Let your appetite guide you. If you feel like only eating once that day, then eat once. If you’re hungrier, eat twice. Use your body’s signals to judge by.”

This seemed like good advice. That said… “Those other vampires, how long did it take for them to regain their health?”

“I think the worst of the lot was Helen, but even she wasn’t as bad as you. It took nearly a year, if memory serves.”

Ouch, I was the worst he’d seen? Well, that was disheartening.

Barrett stirred, also looking really unhappy hearing this. “But he’s not in danger, right?”

“No, no, he should recover fine,” Glenn hastily reassured him. Then looked back at me. “The wonderful thing about vampires is the ability to bounce back from anything short of a beheading. Our nature is very hardy. You’ll recover fine from this without any ill effects. Just don’t rush your healing. Let your body have the nutrients it needs.”

I nodded along, relieved at finally receiving some solid advice from another vamp. “I mean, I’ve basically been eating nothing but blood since the Walkers found me, so I think I’m okay there. But that’s really good to know, thank you.”

Ross kept giving me this suspicious look I hadn’t done anything to deserve. I don’t think?

“Jesse,” he spoke slowly, suspicions weighing at every word, “something you said over the phone before we left bothers me. You said the sun is ouchy. Are you actually going out and about during the day?”

“Um…am I not supposed to?”

He let his head flop into one hand. “So glad we came. No, you’re not supposed to.”

“But he can handle being in the sunlight,” Barrett objected. “I’ve seen him do it.”

“He can, yes, but handling it is all he’s doing.” Ross rubbed his jaw before looking back up at us, clearly unnerved. “A lot of the myths surrounding vampires are just that, myths. But there’s some elements of truth to them. Sunlight, for instance. You need to treat yourself like you’re anemic, if that makes sense. Your body can’t process direct sunlight well, and it’s taxing upon your system.”

“It’s why we sleep until mid to late afternoon,” Glenn threw in, also giving me an unnerved look. “We just can’t handle sunlight well, and it’s draining to us. Especially when you’re in this state of recovery, I would highly suggest avoiding sunlight completely. It’ll slow your recovery a great deal.”

“Oh.” I hadn’t realized this at all, but come to think of it, a lot of the outdoor activities I used to do, I’d stopped doing. I’d chalked it up to not having any energy for them because of my poor diet, but this made sense too. “I have a full-time job, though?”

“Office?” Ross checked.

“Yeah, I’m a real estate and tax lawyer.”

“Ohhh.” Ross gave me an approving nod. “That’s a good skill set for your pack. That said, if you’re in an office setting, it’s not as bad. Still, once you quit—and at some point you’ll need to—I would suggest doing something like a work-from-home situation. And work nights. Mornings are forever going to be a challenge and sunlight’s a no.”

“Got it.” Well, that was a worry for future me. Current me was happy to keep my job. I didn’t want to let go of a well-paying job just yet.

“That’s the basics of what you need to know. We’ll cover things more in-depth tomorrow, as it’s a long conversation, and there’s something else I need clarified right now.” Glenn folded his hands together and looked at me seriously. “I heard the short version of how you were turned and why. I have two questions for you. First, this black coven, were they dealt with?”

“I, uh, don’t know? Honestly, I wasn’t interested in going back and replaceing out what happened to them. I escaped and called it good.”

“This perturbs me. I want to verify what happened to them. I’ll give the clans in that area a heads-up of what happened and when, let them deal with their own matters. I’m not interested in being involved, but a courtesy call is not amiss. We clan heads try to look out for each other when it comes to mutual threats, at least. But keep in mind, not all clans are good,” Glenn said wryly. “Much like all men are not good.”

“Yeah…you got me there. What’s your second question?”

“The vampire who turned you, what was his name? We try to hunt down the rogues, or invite them into a clan if we can.”

Made sense to me. “I wouldn’t hunt him down, he was a good guy in a really awful situation. He got me out, after all. His name’s Huxley.”

Both Ross and Glenn went stock-still. The kind of still only a vampire could pull off. Then their eyes darted to each other, and I could tell the name rang a bell.

“Do you know him?” Barrett blurted out in surprise.

“I…might? Huxley’s not a common name.” Glenn lifted a hand to show a height that was a bit shorter than mine. “About this tall, inky black hair, high brow?”

“My god,” I breathed, feeling like I was having a Twilight Zone moment. “Yeah, that’s him exactly. Said he’s originally from England, but, like, southern England. Although, he sounds like he’s from Virginia?”

“That’s him precisely.” Ross sat back with a huff, astonishment written all over his face. “Jesse, he’s not a rogue. He’s very much a member of a clan. He’s from a vampire clan in Salem, in fact. I’ve met this man several times.”

Ever feel like someone yanked the rug out from under you, then kicked the back of your knee for good measure? My chest felt tight as I processed Ross’s words because, well, if Huxley was part of a clan, then…then all the assumptions I’d made about him were defunct.

“Can you call him?” I blurted out. I had no idea where those words came from, as I hadn’t meant to say them, but frankly, a large part of me yearned to speak to Huxley. I wanted answers, if nothing else.

“Oh, we’re calling him,” Barrett rumbled. My boyfriend was pissed. “For leaving you as he did, he has much to answer for, and he might not stay breathing if he gives me the wrong answers.”

I, uh, shit. I didn’t even know how to feel about this. A man who I’d thought completely abandoned me six years ago was suddenly within reach. I felt like I needed a lie down and maybe a stiff drink for this knowledge to really settle.

Did they make Bloody Marys with actual blood? Not asking for a friend.