The Accidental Vampire (16 page)

The men all shook their heads, but Elvi wasn't paying much attention, her mind had fixed on the part about not sleeping in coffins.

"
We don't sleep in coffins filled with dirt."
His words sang in her ears. No coffin. She could sleep in a bed. A big, soft, comfortable bed without sides and a lid on it. With lots of pillows and a huge down-filled comforter and—

Elvi stood up abruptly. "I have to go."

"What?" Victor asked. He and the others stared at her with amazement.

"I have to go," Elvi repeated, her head swinging around, eyes finding the clock. She had thirty minutes before the furniture store closed for the night and she wasn't waiting until tomorrow to buy a bed.

Spinning on her heel, she hurried for the stairs, hardly aware of the screech of wood on ceramic tile as the men all got up from the table. She needed her purse. It had her car keys and wallet. There was a small furniture store just up the block from the restaurant, but it closed early, however there was another on the outskirts of town that was much larger and still open. It was a fifteen-minute drive away, which left her fifteen minutes to shop. She had to move!

"What is happening?" Elvi heard Alessandro ask as she raced up the stairs. No one answered. Instead, there was the pounding of footsteps on the staircase behind her as the men hurried to catch up.

"Elvi," Victor called.

Elvi ignored him and hurried to her room. She charged inside and raced to her dresser to grab the purse that sat on top, then turned back just as Victor burst into the room, the others hard on his heels.

"What—?" Victor's question died a quick death as his gaze landed on the coffin in the center of the room. He blanched.

Following his gaze, the others stared in horror. There was a moment of silence, then Edward moved forward to examine the casket, saying, "I haven't heard of one of our kind sleeping in one of these since… well, for a good hundred years anyway."

Elvi glanced at him with surprise. "You mean vampires really did sleep in these things at one time?" She'd briefly thought that had been completely wrong.

Harper nodded and moved to run a hand over the shiny wood. "Houses used to be large and drafty and not as well put together at times. Some slept in coffins or tombs to ensure they were protected from any sunlight creeping in."

"Why?" she asked with a frown, and then glanced accusingly at Victor. "You said we could go out in sunlight."

"Yes, but I also said it means consuming more blood. Before blood banks that was a risky proposition. The more we had to feed, the more likely the chance of discovery," he explained patiently. "We avoided sunlight at all times and anything else that used more blood."

"Oh," she murmured.

"You have been sleeping in this?" Victor asked, now moving to the coffin as well.

Elvi flushed and nodded.

"For five years?" he asked, lifting the lid to peer inside.

She nodded again.

"This is another cheesecake emergency," Alessandro murmured with a shake of the head.

"Yes," Victor agreed, mouth grim as he gently lowered the lid back down. "And it's growing late. The stores will soon close."

"My car is the last one in the driveway," Edward announced, turning for the door. "I'll get my keys."

Recalling how slow he drove, Elvi glanced worriedly toward the digital clock on the dresser. It was only then she remembered that the clock downstairs ran ten minutes slow. And they'd wasted five minutes up here staring at her coffin.

"The store closes in fifteen minutes. We'll never make it in time," she said with despair.

"We will make it," Victor assured her, taking her arm to hurry her out of the room.

"Not if Edward is driving," she moaned.

The British man stopped and turned back indignantly. "I beg your pardon?"

"I'm sorry," she said apologetically. "But you drive like an old man."

"I
am
an old man," Edward said dryly. "We all are."

Elvi bit her lip, at a loss as to what to say now. It was Victor who broke the silence saying, "Alessandro can drive. His car is at the back of the second lane."

"57. I drive fast, and I have my keys," Alessandro announced triumphantly. He started for the stairs and the rest of them followed, but paused again when Harper pointed out, "Alessandro's car only rides two."

"No," the Italian assured them, leading them forward once more. "Is more comfortable for two, but four can fit."

"There are five of us," Edward reminded him and everyone screeched to a halt.

Elvi closed her eyes, feeling the seconds tick away. They weren't going to make it. They may as well—

"Elvi can sit on my lap," Victor announced and the group immediately started forward again, including Elvi, but she was only moving because Victor had her by the arm. Her feet were definitely dragging. Sit on his lap? No way. She hardly knew him. Besides, that was illegal she was sure. And what about seat belts? She was
not
sitting on his lap.

Chapter Ten

Elvi heard the muttered question from Victor. She even felt his breath brush against her lobe as he asked, but she didn't stop clutching him and lean back to answer. She stayed where she was, plastered against his chest, head burrowed near his neck, face turned toward the driver's side of the front seat as she stared with a horrified fascination at the car's speedometer.

Glancing sideways, Alessandro caught her eye and beamed. "I drive fast, no?"

Elvi heard what might have been a whimper issue from her lips and returned her eyes to the control panel. The man didn't drive fast, he drove at light speed. She could see the speedometer from where she sat hunched on Victor's lap in the front passenger seat. It was in miles per hour, not the kilometers she was used to. The speedometer went as high as 155 mph and could actually go that fast. She knew this because this was what Alessandro was doing. She'd never before seen telephone poles go by so fast they became a blur.

Elvi turned her face into Victor's shoulder, her hands clutching a little more frantically as they hit a curve in the road and Alessandro took it without slowing. With her mouth pressed into Victor's shoulder, she could now see the two men crammed into the backseat. The car had a backseat of sorts, obviously not intended and certainly not by two such large men. Edward and Harper didn't look very comfortable back there, but Harper did manage a weak smile as he grabbed for anything he could get his hands on to keep from being thrown into Edward's lap by the centrifugal force.

As for Edward, he sat, expression grim, furious eyes burning holes into the back of Alessandro's head.

A flashing light drew her attention to the back window, and Elvi's eyes widened in alarm. "Police!"

She glanced toward Alessandro to see him glancing with unconcern in the rearview mirror. He eased up on the gas, allowing the car to slow and the police car to catch up, then smiled her way.

"No worry. I handle him quick," he assured her, then turned his attention back to the rearview mirror, his gaze becoming concentrated.

Confusion clouding her mind, Elvi glanced back to the road in time to see the police lights suddenly go out and the car turn and head back the way it had come. Alessandro immediately sped up again.

"What did you do?" she asked, turning on him with amazement.

"I just put suggestion in his head, he maybe wanna go find doughnuts," Alessandro said with a shrug. "Police, they like doughnuts here, no?"

"You—!" Elvi began with dismay, but the berating she would have given him for controlling a member of the police department died in her throat, replaced by a whimper as they hit another curve and she was thrown backward. She would have slammed into the passenger door if Victor hadn't caught her and pulled her swiftly back to his chest.

"Just hang on," he murmured by her ear. "The ride will be over soon."

Elvi swallowed the reprimand she'd wanted to give Alessandro and held on. She inhaled a shaky breath and closed her eyes, then opened them and inhaled again, eyes widening slightly at Victor's tantalizing scent. She didn't know what it was, but it was spicy and really delightful and she found herself pressing closer and inhaling again. It was Harper's raised eyebrows right behind her that made her realize what she was doing and that it had been witnessed.

Flushing, Elvi forced herself to sit up a little, only to be thrown against Victor's chest, then slide down his lap to land tangled in his legs as Alessandro suddenly swerved off the road and slammed on the breaks.

"We are here, no?" the Italian asked, peering down at her cheerfully.

Elvi stared up at him with disbelief, then grasped the dashboard with one hand and Victor's knee with the other and managed to drag herself back up to peer around, relieved to see the big yellow furniture store sign.

"Yes," she breathed, grateful the ride from hell was over.

Victor opened the door, grasped her by the waist, and lifted her out, handing her to Harper who had hopped out of the back and was waiting to help.

The second vampire set her on her feet beside the car and then held her long enough to be sure she had her feet beneath her before letting go and stepping away as Victor unfolded himself from the car to join them. Elvi muttered a "
thank you"
to both men, then turned and scurried for the store, doing her best to forget that she had to get back into that vehicle later.

Thanks to Alessandro's speeding, they slid through the doors just as the manager approached, no doubt intending to close shop. Elvi offered him an apologetic glance.

"We'll be quick," she promised, making a beeline for the beds. The men followed in her wake.

"Is there something I can help you with?" the manager asked, hustling to catch up to her.

Elvi was about to answer when she felt a hand on her arm and glanced to Victor with surprise at the proprietary move.

"We need a bed," he announced.

"Yes, of course," the manager said. She supposed that was obvious, since they had hurried through the whole store to the beds at the back. "We have some lovely beds. What size are you interested in?"

"King," Elvi answered promptly. She could hardly wait to sprawl on one of those huge surfaces again, unrestrained by side panels or a lid, surrounded only by a big soft comforter and luxurious pillows… God, her toes tingled at the very idea.

"This is a popular model," the manager said, pointing at the first of the beds.

Elvi stared, taking in the sheer size. To her it was like an ocean of bed after five years in her cramped coffin.

"Try it," Alessandro suggested. "You must to try before you buy."

"He's right," the manager offered when Elvi hesitated.

Nodding, she handed her purse to Victor, paused to take a breath, and threw herself on the bed. If the men hadn't been standing their watching, she would have rolled and flopped about in her excitement. She could throw out her coffin. She could sleep in an ocean of sheets… ohhhhh.
Silk
, she thought, imagining sliding around in a silk sea… or satin.

Blinking her eyes open, she found herself staring at five men all watching her expectantly.

"It's all right," Elvi murmured, forcing herself to get up and straighten her clothes. "I'll take it."

"Don't you think you should try the others as well?" Victor suggested mildly, killing the glee on the manager's face before it had fully formed.

"Yes, definitely you must try them all," Harper said.

"Yes," the manager said on a regretful sigh. "It's better to try at least a couple before picking one."

Elvi turned to peer over the number of beds, her eyes wide.

"We will help," Victor assured her.

"How is that bed?" Harper asked several moments later. "This one seems comfortable."

Elvi sat up on the bed she was presently trying out and which seemed ridiculously hard to her, and glanced over to where Harper sat, bouncing lightly on another model.

"Perhaps I can save you some trouble," the manager said, wincing as Alessandro dove onto yet another bed.

"Do you and your wife prefer a hard or soft bed, sir?"

Elvi glanced over with surprise when he addressed Victor with the question. She had no idea why he would assume they were a couple. Unless it was because she and Victor seemed to keep gravitating toward the same beds, each laying down on opposite sides, Elvi taking the right and Victor the left.

Sitting up beside her on the bed, Victor didn't correct the man's misconception; he merely turned a raised eyebrow her way.

"Soft," she said decisively and stood to move to the bed Harper was now lying on. Elvi sat on the side opposite him, swung her feet up and lay down.

"This is better than the last one," she announced, then added, "I'm not sure though. I might want something softer."

"Let me see." Victor patted her leg to urge her over.

Elvi shifted closer to the center of the bed, making room for him. She watched him lie down, and then turned to peer up at the ceiling overhead; contemplating if this was as comfortable as the bed she'd given up five years ago. In her memories, it had been like lying on a cloud.

"It might be too firm," Victor said.

"We do have softer beds," the manager announced. "The ones you've been trying are at the firmer end of the scale."

"Show us." Elvi skated to the end of the bed on her bottom to get up. She was extremely grateful that she'd thrown on jeans this morning. One of her ridiculous gowns would have been impossible to maneuver in.

"Here we are," the manager announced, leading them to a bed set off by itself. "This is the best bed we sell. There's no turning necessary and it has a twenty-year warranty."

Elvi climbed on and settled on her back almost in the middle of the bed.

"Oh," she sighed as the bed embraced her. "This is lovely."

Victor and Harper immediately moved up on either side to try it as well, but this time Alessandro also got in, crawling up the middle to squeeze himself between her and Harper.

"'Oh yes," Harper murmured.

"Si," Alessandro sighed. "This is nice. I will get one too. Do you ship to Toronto?"