The Vampire (THE VAMPIRE Book 1) (58 page)

“I guess I have to.” He shrugged. “But it’s not like he has any fangs or anything—”

“He does have them. They retract.”

Jason stared openly at Genier. “You’ve seen them?”

Genier shook his head. “I asked him about that once. He said it was a good thing I don’t ever see them. When he gets–aroused, I guess might be the correct word—to that point, when the canines are engaged, for him there is no going back. He said by the time I saw them, it would already be too late. It would be the last thing I ever saw.”

Jason could only stare silently for several moments. He experienced a slight involuntary shudder. Then he lifted his glass and drained the last of his wine.

I cannot believe we are having this conversation. Or that I am still trying to convince myself it is all real
.

“He is out in daylight. He has never asked for a coffin suite at any of the hotels…” Jason commented, only somewhat facetiously; his facial expression remained serious.

Genier laughed. “Well, he is claustrophobic. But I don’t think that’s the only reason.”

“He just doesn’t fit any of the mythology I know of,” Jason began, “but then, all I have to go by are books and movies; old folklore legends…how does he happen to be what he is? He certainly wasn’t born that way, was he? Someone—another vampire”—Jason’s eyes widened at the thought—“must have changed him, right?” He was brimming with questions now. “And what about”—he lowered his voice, even though no one was around to hear—“the bodies? I cannot believe he actually kills people every day, to take their—”

Genier was shaking his head. “There was a time, a distant time, when he would have done so regularly.” He sighed. “We have had to tell him that with modern forensics and cameras everywhere, he just can’t do that kind of thing anymore. These days he has to subsist mainly on animals in the wild. It is not ideal for him. Sometimes he has no choice. And he has chosen to mainly live in urban areas, which complicates things.”

“Animals in the wild? In Boston?” Jason asked.

Genier shrugged. “He told me he could deal with it. I guess we will see when the New England winter fully settles in.”

That gave Jason pause.
We? Doesn’t he mean I?
Winter was coming up quickly. Had he just set himself up to be in a house in an urban area with a hungry vampire? During the harsh New England winter? What was he thinking? But then—hadn’t Augere been managing there all along?

“Wait—he has been living in Boston for some time though. So he must be used to dealing with it by now.”

James gave him a dubious look. “His main residence has always been New Orleans, no matter what homes he has owned and lived in. The house in Boston is newly acquired.”

Jason was surprised. “New? Since when?”

“I believe he began searching for a suitable place after he made you the offer. I hope that is not a secret I should not tell. As I recall, it took a rather intense week to find something suitable.” James paused, his brow furrowed. “But somehow, he managed to find exactly what he needed, rather suddenly. It was expensive to begin with but then the renovations were staggeringly expensive too, and quite extensive as well. He personally pushed the workmen’s schedule to be able to complete it to his satisfaction on his time schedule.”

Jason was stunned. He could use some more wine suddenly but his glass was empty.

“So—are you saying—that when he made me the offer, he didn’t even live there? In Boston?”

Genier had a bemused expression. “You will come to understand Mr. Augere has a way of phrasing things not exactly the way we interpret them to be. He chooses his words most carefully. Most likely what he said to you was: ‘I am looking for an assistant to work for me in Boston,’ while not actually stating ‘I live in Boston.’”

Jason released a short nervous laugh.

“Prior to this he had mentioned to me he had the intention to live in Boston for a while. He had spent some time there in the past, intermittently. He likes quaint historic areas. And then there is the ocean and mountains and forests nearby. Boston is close to Montreal. And he told me he ‘needed a little winter.’ So, he made the decision. Mr. Augere will do what he wants, when he wants.”

This brought Jason back to the concern about Augere’s food source.

“Will I be—in any danger?”

James frowned. “I will be quite honest with you: with Mr. Augere, there is always the potential for danger. He doesn’t display it too often, but he has a very bad temper. He doesn’t usually take it out on any of us…” his voice trailed off then. “But he does have a nasty side. A very dark side actually.”

Was it time to back out of this? Before he got in too much deeper? The lure of Augere already held him; now the potential for danger had an adverse effect, acting like an accelerant that lured him closer to the flame instead of raising his caution.

Jason regarded him with a serious expression for several moments. He hadn’t expected Genier to speak so frankly. “Are you ever afraid of him?”

“Again I will be very honest with you. It is always in the back of my mind. Some level of fear is always there. He is very unpredictable. But I have known him for twenty-five years. I believe I know how far I can push him. I know him fairly well.” He gazed at Jason with a solemn expression. “Don’t ever do as you see me do, however. I know what he is capable of. You do not. It took me a long time just to adapt to his energy field. I hardly notice it much anymore, and I can tolerate it better now. But that alone can be dangerous.”

“Energy field…? Yes. He mentioned something…that night…about his energy drawing…those portal things. I have only just come to realize maybe he was causing some of the strange physical responses I had been having.”

“He told me you seem more susceptible to his energy than most people,” James said with a nod. “He has to be very careful and mindful around you. That is why he often keeps such physical distance— with travel etc. It will get better though.”

“So the dizziness—the lightheadedness—he causes that?”

James nodded. “He has a very strong energy field all around him. He can drop someone to the ground with it even from a distance. I believe he could kill someone that way if he intended to. He can manipulate and control the force of that energy to become stronger, or minimize it if he has to go undetected. Most of that energy comes from within himself but he is able to draw it from the environment and from other beings as well.”

Jason nodded in wonder. “A general weakness seemed to occur when I was near him. I didn’t understand what was happening to me. It was kind of embarrassing. I always tried to rationalize it somehow. And he causes this on purpose?”

“Not usually intentionally. Everyone has some level of energy field around them, I believe. But his is infinitely more powerful, and though he has control over how he uses it he cannot fully diminish the effects it has on us. That is just a part of what he is. He can drain energy from sources around him without even trying. That causes us to experience what we do. His energy could be toxic to us, in prolonged doses.”

“So—he needs to acquire energy? Does he exist on that? But then what about the blood?”

“He requires both. He has to have the blood of living beings. Once he begins to take the blood, he is unable to stop until he drains the victim to their death. The blood and energy work together…he also requires water, but he can go a very long time without any of these things. He is quite remarkable in many respects actually.”

Jason was looking at him in mild shock. It was one thing to try to imagine it all of it being real, but quite something else to have it all confirmed for him.

James noted Jason’s shocked expression.

“It is not as if you will actually witness him taking the blood. It is something that is very private to him.”

Jason nodded slowly. Once again, he could not believe they were having this discussion.

“So are there others like him? I guess there would have to be—” Jason found the thought both intriguing and frightening.

“He has told us there is one other like himself that he knows of for certain. And he has the belief he has encountered one other besides that.”

Jason didn’t quite know what to make of that.
Three? That’s it?

“But how…did he come into existence? When and how did all this occur? When did it begin? And where?”

“I’m not trying to be evasive here, but it really is his story to tell. And he would tell you, in time, if you asked him. There is a lot more to learn.”

“You—your family—have known all about the Augeres though, about him and his family…?”

“He has no one else. There has always been just him, just one Augere. And yes my family has known him for a very long time. We are the closest he has to having a family.”

Jason still had trouble getting his mind around that. But now he recalled the conversation with Allen on the plane. “No member of the Genier family has ever met any of his family.” Jason was lost in thought for several moments.

“A lot of what most of us have been led to believe about such creatures turns out not to be true, “James began. “Most of it is just myth and superstition. But then some of it is true.”

A waiter came to refill their wine glasses. Jason asked if he would leave the bottle.

“I’m curious—when did you first suspect him, Jason, and how?”

Jason thought back to his beginnings with Augere. It was only months ago and yet so much seemed to have happened.

“I think it must have been the stillness, at first. The fact that I could be in the same room and not even see or notice him. Even a ghost has more presence.”

James nodded. “There’s that. He can be almost invisible in a sense, if he wants to be. He can control how we perceive his presence. Initially, he is careful not to say or do anything to reveal himself with new people. That is why he limits contact the way he does. It is always very difficult for him, for all of us really, until the truth is known.”

Jason thought of all the times Augere kept himself secluded, distant, the limited contact. Now it all made more sense. Augere was probably doing it for his benefit.

“It is tedious for him to have to hide his true nature all the time; to not be able to be himself,” James went on.

Jason nodded. He wouldn’t have realized that.

“It really took me a very long time to figure it all out,” Jason responded. “A number of small things and random details, I think, little occurrences that individually did not mean much. Collectively, all of it added up to a lot of suspicion. But—vampire?—no. Not that. Not from the few things I might have noticed. Even if I did think that, such things are not supposed to be real, so I would have pushed that idea away and looked for alternative explanation.”

James nodded. “So, then you had no real clue until the portal incident? That is kind of what we suspected. Although he thought you had figured it out earlier, and that you were struggling with it.”

It made Jason feel uncomfortable to think Augere and the others were monitoring his lack of awareness about Augere’s true nature. Again, he felt the unwanted sense of anger.

“No, not really until the Europe trip. There were things—almost one thing after another that seemed to occur then—but it still took an avalanche of all of the small details to crash down on me to make me start to believe it. If it hadn’t been for the portal thing…well, no, because by then, I already had too many suspicions. Still, I must have been one of the slowest people ever to realize what was really going on.”

“Actually, no. The average seems to be about six to eight months or so. So, you were pretty much on target in that respect.”

“So—he’s had—several—other assistants? That you know of?”

James nodded.

“And—they all just figured it out, eventually?”

James shrugged. “All but one actually.”

That intrigued Jason. How had the others fared, he wondered. He tried to recall what Allen had told him about the previous assistants—he hadn’t quite been able to grasp that information then. And he was very glad now, that he had gotten to Augere before he had been able to find a new assistant to replace him. A perverse bit of luck, he supposed.

Their entrees arrived and Jason had to slow himself down as he ate one of the best meals he had ever tasted. He poured more wine and savored every morsel of the Creole specialty he had ordered. Food had never tasted so good as it did in that moment.

“It is hard to imagine there could have been other assistants because…he just looks so young to me. I guess I will have to get over thinking of him that way… Maybe…does he change assistants frequently? I guess I am trying to gauge my longevity now.”

“Let’s see—there are three of them, no, four actually, who are still around.”

“You mean they survived and lived to…not…tell about it?” Again he vaguely recalled some of the discussion on the plane with Allen, but the details were hazy.

“Yes.” Genier laughed.

“It is always males? His assistants I mean?”

Genier frowned. “There have been a few females. Only one of them lasted any length of time.”

“Why is that?” Jason spooned some of the Creole pasta into his mouth, as hungry for the food as for the information.

“Women tend to see him as a tragic romantic figure I think, and they want to…to save him…I guess. And that is even
before
they know his true nature. We prefer that he doesn’t hire females. It just causes complications.”

Jason nodded. “It is not making me feel more comfortable that he might change assistants so quickly though.”

“The most recent one, just before you, worked with him for twenty-five years. And the one before that…has known him more than forty years.”

Jason dropped his fork onto his plate with a loud clatter.

“Just how old is he, really?” Jason asked then.

Genier cleared his throat and glanced away. When he looked at Jason again he said, “I think it would be best if he told you himself. Don’t ask him how old he is though—he will tell you he is twenty-three. Ask him what year he was born.”

Jason nodded. This really was so much to take in. And his mind kept jumping back to other details. “I still cannot believe he bought that house in Boston before I even accepted the job. He could have just waited and recruited someone in Boston. Well, I mean, I’m glad he didn’t, of course. But he probably would have had to have that person fly to New Orleans, for the screening etc., so maybe I was just more convenient since I was already there.”