The Accidental Vampire (11 page)

"I need to go to the grocery store," she decided, slamming the fridge door closed.

"What?" Mabel asked with surprise. "The grocery store is closed at this hour."

"Not A&P," she said, pushing through the trio to hurry around the counter. "It's open twenty-four hours." Stopping at the door to the garage, she whirled around and asked, "Where are the car keys?"

"Just a minute, I'll go with you," Mabel said abruptly. "I just have to find my shoes and purse and—"

"What about the fire?" Elvi asked. She really didn't want to have to wait while Mabel got ready. The woman would insist on changing, and freshening her lipstick, then she wouldn't remember where she'd left her purse and so on, and by the time she was ready to go, Elvi could have been and returned and eaten half a cheesecake.

"Oh, damn. I forgot about the fire," Mabel muttered. "I can't leave it unattended."

"That's okay," Elvi assured her. "I can drive myself. I won't be long."

"You won't be driving your car. The garage door is blocked by my car," Victor announced, moving toward her. "I'll take you. DJ can stay here and help Mabel with the fire."

"I don't need any damned help with the fire," Mabel said with irritation.

"I'm sure you don't," DJ said soothingly, then grinned and added, "but I bet between the two of us, we can make it burn hotter."

Silence fell briefly in the room. Mabel appeared too stunned by the suggestive comment to respond. Victor appeared a bit surprised himself. As for Elvi, while she was a little startled by it as well, the thought of food was on her mind and crowding out every thing else. She wasn't going to get into whatever was going on between DJ and Mabel, and she wasn't going to argue about Victor driving her to the store either.

"Let's go," Elvi said abruptly and charged out of the house. She felt absolutely no guilt at abandoning Mabel to DJ's tender mercies. It was Mabel who five years ago had pointed out that vampires don't eat and insisted Elvi not even try because she didn't want to "
hold her head when she vomited it back up
." At that moment, she was blaming Mabel for five years of missed cheesecake, ice cream, and chocolate.

"Cheesecake, ice cream, chocolate," she muttered, charging through the garage and to the side door.

"Is that your grocery list?" Victor asked, sounding amused as he followed her out onto the sidewalk that ran around the garage to the driveway.

"Part of it," Elvi acknowledged, scurrying around to the driveway, only to come to an abrupt halt. The car she supposed must be his was there, a big, silver BMW. But two more cars were presently pulling into the driveway. The Italian and the German were back and blocking in his car.

Victor took one look at Elvi's face and moved past her to the driver's door of the car behind his.

"Harper, don't turn off the engine," he said, pulling the driver's door open. "This is an emergency. We need to get this lady to A&P, but you're blocking my car and I don't think she can wait for you to move it. Will you drive us?"

"Of course." Harper smiled at Elvi through the window and redid the seat belt he'd just undone.

"Thanks." Slamming the door closed, Victor waved Elvi forward and moved to open the back door.

"I'm coming too," the Italian announced as he got out of his own car. She didn't care. They could all come if they wished… so long as they didn't slow her down. The very idea of something sweet and silky filling her mouth, coating her taste buds and sliding down her throat to her barren stomach, was threatening to make her drool like a baby.

"What kind of emergency is it?" the Italian asked, slipping into the back seat on the passenger's side even as Elvi climbed in through the opposite door.

"Cheesecake," she answered abruptly, squeezing up against the man to make room as Victor followed her into the back seat.

"Comfy?" Harper asked dryly, peering at them in the rearview mirror from where he sat alone in the front.

Elvi grimaced, but didn't complain or suggest anyone move to the front so Harper wasn't left alone like a chauffeur. She just wanted to get moving.

Harper shrugged and shifted the car into gear, started to reverse, then stopped abruptly as another car pulled in behind them, cutting them off.

"Edward," Victor muttered craning his neck to peer out the back window. He gestured to the man through the window and yelled, "Get out of the way!"

Rather than do as instructed, the man got out of his car.

"Where is everyone going?" he asked politely, eyes sharpening as he peered into the backseat and saw Elvi there.

"We have to get to the A&P," Harper told him. "Move your car so we can get out."

Edward hesitated, and then said. "Wouldn't it be easier just to take my car? It's got larger seats."

"Fine!" Elvi said with exasperation. It would probably be just as quick as waiting for him to get back in the car and back out anyway, she thought. Elvi would have crawled right over Victor to get out of the claustrophobic vehicle if he weren't already heaving a sigh and opening the door. She waited impatiently for him to get out, scrambled out behind him and hurried after him to the vehicle blocking Harper's.

It was a BMW like Victor's but black. It was also huge and definitely had more seating room. Elvi crawled in, meeting the Italian again as he too climbed into the backseat. Larger though it was, it was still cramped once Vincent climbed in and pulled the door closed. These men were big. She still felt a little like a sardine in a can.

Sensing that Alessandro was peering at her, she turned a questioning gaze his way.

"Déjà vu, eh?" he said with a grin, pulling his door closed.

Despite her impatience to get to the grocery store, Elvi found herself grinning in response.

"I am Alessandro Cipriano," he introduced himself, holding out his hand. Once she'd shook it, he gestured to the blond now climbing into the front passenger seat, "And this is Harpernus Stoyan."

"Call me Harper." The man turned to offer his hand as well, in a quick shake, then reached for his seat belt.

"And I am Edward Kenric," their driver announced as he finished with his own seat belt and shifted into reverse.

"I suppose Victor introduced himself properly while you were tending his injury," Harper said, shifting to sit sideways in his seat so he could see her.

"No." Elvi glanced sideways at the man whose lap she was nearly seated on. Dear Lord, all of these men were big. She'd think it was a result of being vampires, but she hadn't suddenly shot up to six feet tall, and gained bigger boobs, so supposed it was purely the result of their gene pool.

"Victor Argeneau," Harper introduced him properly.

Elvi and Victor exchanged a nod.

"And you are, I hope, Elvi Black?" Harper said.

"Yes." She blushed, suddenly recalling that all these men were here to court her. She wanted to blurt that she hadn't posted the ad, but feared they might not believe her.

"Where are we going?" Edward asked.

"Turn left," Elvi instructed, realizing that he'd backed up and turned around and was now paused at the mouth of the driveway unsure which way to go. "We're going to A&P."

"A&P," Edward murmured as he came to a halt at the red light on the corner. "What is the emergency exactly?"

"Cheesecake," Alessandro answered, then shrugged when the British man turned sharp eyes on him. "It's what she said when I asked."

"Turn right here," Elvi muttered with embarrassment. The light was still red, but there was no traffic coming from the sides.

Edward shifted back to face the road and turned as instructed.

"It's straight up this road several blocks," she said. "It's on the left side. I'll warn you when we get close."

Elvi then sat back and tried not to tap her fingers on her knee as Edward Kenric drove up the street at a ridiculously slow speed.

"The speed limit here is fifty kilometers an hour," she informed him when she couldn't stand it any longer.

Kenric cut his eyes to hers in the rearview mirror. He didn't spit out the sharp words she sensed he wanted to, but did pick up speed… a little. Elvi could have wept with frustration. She was sure he was only going thirty. She could have run there faster than this… carrying one of the men.

Aware that the silence in the car wasn't only her own, Elvi glanced curiously around at the men. All of them but Edward seemed to be staring at her, though even Edward kept glancing at her in the rearview mirror.

She shifted uncomfortably, then sighed and said, "I didn't put the ad in the paper. Mabel did. I didn't even know what she was up to until tonight."

"We know," Harper informed her gently. "We found that out tonight at the restaurant."

"Oh." She shifted. They were still staring at her, but she hadn't a clue what to say to make them stop… short of telling them to, and that seemed rude when they were all rushing to get her to the A&P and cheesecake. Well, all but Edward. He seemed to be a Sunday driver. Why the damned man hadn't just moved his stupid car and let Harper drive, she didn't know. Obviously a control freak, she decided. Good-looking, but he had issues. And he wasn't too bright either. A smart man wouldn't stand between a woman and cheesecake.

A choking sound drew her eyes to the back of Edward's head with alarm. If he had some sort of seizure and delayed her getting to the grocery store…
Honestly
!

A chuckle from the Italian made her glance his way and she frowned slightly. "What?"

"Nothing," he said quickly, and then asked, "What do you think of me so far?"

"I don't know you," Elvi said, bewildered by the question.

"No, of course not," he murmured, but watched her almost expectantly.

Shaking her head, Elvi glanced out the front window again to see how far away they were, but now that the man had asked the question, she couldn't seem to help but think about it. What did she think of him?

He seemed all right so far from what she could tell. He was certainly good-looking, and those eyes of his! She'd never seen golden brown eyes before. They were almost as beautiful as Victor's.

Her gaze slid to Harper. He was a handsome man too with his golden hair and silver-green eyes. All four of the men in the car were attractive, but of the four of them she would have said Victor appealed to her the most. She couldn't say why and didn't care to ponder the matter. Besides, they'd reached the grocery store… finally.

And Edward was driving past, she realized with horror. Sitting forward, she shrieked, "Here!" Then cried out in surprise as Edward stomped on the brakes and sent everyone slamming backward in their seats.

There was a moment of startled silence in the car, and then Edward turned slowly in his seat and cast a cold glare her way. "Ms. Black. In the future, you might try to avoid screeching in the driver's ear whilst giving directions. It can be quite alarming."

"Sorry," she said meekly. The man could be quite scary when he chose to be.

"She gets the point, Edward. Just pull in here." Victor's voice was harsh and commanding and Edward responded to it, though not before she saw annoyance flicker across his face.

Releasing the breath she'd been holding once he'd stopped glaring at her, Elvi took a cautious breath and offered Victor a grateful smile, then turned to glance questioningly at Alessandro when he tapped her arm.

"You like me, no?" he asked with a grin when she met his gaze.

Elvi stared at him in confusion, and then followed his gaze when he glanced down, realizing only then that when Edward had slammed on the brakes, she'd grabbed the man's knee and was still clutching it for dear life.

A surprised squeak slipped from her lips, and she immediately released his knee, only to realize she was clutching Victor's with her other hand as well. Reclaiming that straying hand too, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared straight ahead at the A&P sign like it was a beacon in the dark.

"Cheesecake, chocolate, ice cream," she muttered under her breath. Nothing else would matter once she had those.

Chapter Eight

"She was serious. The emergency is cheesecake?"

Edward sounded incredulous as he watched Elvi hover indecisively over the cake counter.

"She hasn't eaten in five years," Victor muttered distractedly as he stood at her side, eyeing the cakes with interest.

"Why not?" Harper asked.

"She didn't know she could," he answered absently.

"What?" Alessandro sounded horrified. "Who is your sire, bella? I would talk to him about this. To leave you in such ignorance…"

Elvi ignored him. She had no idea what Alessandro was nattering on about with such outrage. She had no idea what a sire was and couldn't be bothered to sort it out at this point. Didn't he know she needed food?

Elvi had nearly fallen flat on her face in her rush to get out of the car. Only a steadying hand from Victor had kept her upright. Gasping a "
thank you"
she'd charged for the store, rushing ahead and leaving the men to trail her or not as they liked. It was late enough that the store was nearly empty, which meant lots of carts were all lined up at the front waiting for her.

Elvi had tugged one free and pushed it to the back of the store at a near run, drawing the eye of the few people stacking shelves. They'd glanced her way, and then done a double take when they saw who it was. Elvi had managed a smile for each in passing, knowing that what was startling them was that she was shopping… like a real person.

Elvi had arrived at the counter well ahead of the men, but now as they reached her, she still stood hemming and hawing over her choices. This was a serious issue. Her first food in five years. She hoped it tasted the same.

That thought drew her up short. Blood tasted different to her now. What if food did? While she'd lived, blood had been a tinny, nasty thing, but now it was yummy. What if foods that had seemed so yummy when she was alive, now seemed flat and tasteless in death?

A test was necessary, she decided. She wasn't going to drag home food she couldn't even enjoy, but would be left to stare at in mournful depression. She needed to try something and see what it tasted like, but what?