Wake Me When the Sun Goes Down (18 page)

“Anja…”

“No, I don’t want to hear
again
how this isn’t your problem.  I get it.  I don’t even know why I came here.”  Swiping at my wet cheeks, I looked around for my shoes, not having a clue where they were.  What kind of a person tucked a girl into his bed, took off her shoes to make sure she was more comfortable, gave her his own blood to drink and then kicked her to the curb?  I looked under the couch, by the door, in his bedroom…

“Anja, just stop for a minute.”

“No, you want me out, I’m out.  Where the hell are my shoes
!
”  I was losing it.

Bishop blocked my path, shoes in hand.  “Looking for these?”

“Thank you,” I murmured, snatching them from his hands.  “I hate being like this,” I sniffed.   

“Your emotions are heightened
,
it’s a side effect of turning.  It’ll even out after a while.”

“Great, so what
-
twenty, thirty years and I’ll stop acting like a basketcase?  Cool
b
eans.”  Thanks to my improved balance, I didn’t have to lean on anything to get my shoes on.  “I’ll be going now.  I’m sorry to have disturbed you,” I managed to get out with as much dignity as possible.

“I
f I promise to help you will you leave me alone?
” 

I wasn’t sure I’d heard him correctly and I’m sure it showed on my stunned face.  “I beg your pardon?”

“
But this is it, after tonight I’m done, deal?
”

Whatever lunacy took hold of him, I intended to ride the swing of the pendulum as far as it’d take me.  “
No, I get it, you didn’t sign up to have a vampire step-child, I promise, I’ll leave you alone after tonight.
Deal.
”
I held my hand out to him.
He looked at it for a moment and then shook it, his fingers wrapping around mine.

“
Alright, lesson one…
”

I
didn’t know
if it was going to be a long lecture or a list of tips
,
and I happened to glance at the clock on
the wall
.
“
Oh God
,
is that the time?
” I gasped.  I’d slept through all of my classes and hadn’t given it a single thought.  There was only one thing that could possibly lure me away from the offer of help by a h
ot
vampire; my music.  “I have to get to rehearsal.”

“
I thought you wanted my help
.”

“
I did, I do!
But if I don’t show up I’m going to lose my
spot on the madrigal
.  I’ll come back tonight after rehearsal
, i
t’ll only take a couple of hours. That way you can get your work done and then you can help me.  It’s a win/win scenario, right?”  I gave him what I hoped was a winsome smile, because if he didn’t go for it, I was going to have to miss practice, just when I’d started to catch Professor
Matt
hew
s
’ eye. 

“Alright, fine.”

“Oh, thank you so much!”  I couldn’t help it
,
I threw my arms around his neck in an impulsive hug.  From the depths of despair to giddy happiness in sixty seconds flat
.  H
e wasn’t kidding about heightened emotions.  “I’ll see you later
,
Bishop, thanks!”  Letting go of him, I got out of there before he could change his mind, catching sight of his
bemused
expression seconds before the door slid shut.  I couldn’t tell if he was more bewildered by my behavior or his. 

*
*
*

As excited as I was to get to the campus on time, choir rehearsal
dragged
once I
got
there.  Without the orchestra practicing with us, we met in the smaller choir room.  Instead of being caught up in the music th
at
time, I could only spot the flaws in the performance.  Every missed beat, every note that fell flat drew a wince from me.  My body still amped with energy from Bishop’s blood, the last thing I wanted to do was stand in one place for an hour and a half. 

Maybe I was eager to get back to Bishop and his lessons, or maybe I was worried he might pull another one-
eighty on me and shut the door i
n my face, but I couldn’t wait to get out of there.  I found myself inching closer to the door as Professor
Matt
hews gave us his closing
remarks
,
slipping out the first instant he released us. 

“Hey.”

Bishop stood beside the door, leaning casually against the building.
He’d cleaned up a bit since I
left him
.  T
he scruff was gone from his cheeks,
his
goatee neatly trimmed.  He wore his usual dark jeans and motorcycle jacket, the form fitting gray t-shirt stretched across his chest. 

“Hey,” I stepped away from the door and out of the path of students filing out.  “Did we have a change in plans?”

“I decided to take care of some things later.  You’re still up for going out tonight, right?”

“Of course, I can’t wait!”  It was hard not to sound desperate, but I wanted it in the worst way.  I couldn’t help but feel drawn to Bishop.  Maybe it was part of what we’d shared earlier that night, but I was at least as eager to spend time with him as I was to learn how to hunt.  I fell into step beside him with a huge smile on my face.  I was
horrible
at playing hard to get. 

“Your accompanist is terrible.”

“He’s at the top of his class,” I protested on Alan’s behalf.

“Then his class sucks.”

“Hey, not everyone can be a vampire prodigy.  I bet he’d sound amazing too if he was hundreds of years old.” I nudged him with my elbow, enjoying the light topic.  It was nice to see he had a sense of humor
after all
. 

“Alright, alright, point taken,” he grinned.  “You were the best one in there though.”

You could have knocked me over with a feather at the compliment, no
m
att
er how outrageous it was.  “You could pick me out of the whole choir, huh?  That’s pretty good.”

“Actually
,
I could.  You’re better than that, Anja, they’re dragging you down,” he shook his head, hands shoved deep into his pockets.

“To be fair it is a kind of a depressing song, it’s not all that surprising we were dragging tonight.”  The German piece
Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren
wasn’t one of my favorites, it put me in mind of a funeral dirge.

“Depressing?  How do you mean?”

“It’s so slow and then all the Amens, who can get excited about singing a bunch of Amens?”

“It’s a song about faith and hope.  It’s the exact opposite of depressing,” he protested
,
to my surprise.

“We must be talking about a different song.”

“
Lass dich nur nichts nicht dauren
.  L
et
nothing ever grieve thee, what’s depressing about that?”  He acted as if his was the only right opinion in the world.  “Be true in all endeavor and ever ply bravely; what God decrees brings joy and peace.”

“Boy, you really do know the song,” I blinked, impressed
,
and he gave a careless half shrug. 

“I’ve heard it sung a time or two.”

“Big Brahms fan, huh?”  Another shrug was all I got.  There seemed to be a limit on the questions he would answer about himself, so I changed the subject, eager to keep the conversation going.  “I don’t know what I’m going to do about school.  I can’t keep missing classes like today.  How long did it take you to be able to stay up during the day without lapsing into a coma?”

“I didn’t even try for the first hundred and fifty years.”

“You’re kidding me.”

“No, it was a different time.  People didn’t keep the same hours we do now unless you were a servant.  Especially for someone in my line of work, it was expected that I’d keep late hours.  I just stayed up later than most.”

“What line of work was that?”

Bishop stepped off the curb
, directly
in front of a black and
green
motorcycle
that looked more expensive than my mom’s car.
  “Get on,” he ordered, straddling the sleek instrument of death.  It bears mentioning that I’d never ridden on a motorcycle before.   

I let out a long breath.  “You don’t like to talk too much about yourself, do you?”

“You want my help, right?”

“You know I do.”

“Then hop on before I change my mind.” 

I scrambled on behind him, conscious of the fact that I flashed a lot of leg as my skirt inched higher in the process.  Bishop noticed it too
,
I caught him looking at my legs. 

“
Is that what you’re going to wear?
”

“
What’s wrong with the way I’m dressed?
”  True, it was a little risqué for me, but I hadn’t felt out of place in the bar.

“
Nothing. It’s just… I thought you
would have stopped
at home
to change before your rehearsal.”

“I didn’t want to be late. 
I do want to take a shower, wash the smell of smoke from my hair, woul
d that be alright
?
”

“
We’re going to a bar, it’ll get smoky again
.”

“S
o?
”  I was prepared to give up the argument for fear of his changing his mind again, but he capitulated. 

“
Fine
, just don’t take too long.  Hold on tight.”

Chapter
Fifteen

I hadn’t been to many bars in that point of my life
,
and that
one didn’t particularly make me want to start.  Not that there was anything wrong with the place, it wasn’t a sleazy dive, it just wasn’t my thing.  I would much rather be holed up in a little café, drinking
cocoa
and eating too many coconut macaroons. 

The bar patrons were mostly young and attractive
.  N
o bikers
,
it was more of an upscale place.  That bothered me a little.  I would almost rather
he picked
a tougher crowd
,
then I might not have felt so bad knowing I
’d
be attacking one of them very soon. 

N
obody gave us a second glance as we took seats at the end of the bar. 
Bishop
’s eyes
scanned
the place and I followed his lead, seeing what there was to offer.  It was early still and there were only a dozen or so
people
sprinkled throughout the room. 

“How do we start?” I asked, sliding off my jacket.  I knew he wouldn’t remove his
,
he was armed
as usual
. 

“Let’s start slow, order a drink
.
”

“But I don’t want a drink
,
” I protested, figuring it’d be best if I stayed sharp and focused.

“Yes
,
you do, it’ll help relax you.  Besides, you need to practice compulsion before you need it in a hurry or there’s blood involved.”
 
I could see the wisdom in that, but had no clue how to go about doing it.  Before I could open my mouth to ask,
Bishop
seemed to clue in
to my distress and leaned closer to me, his voice low an
d reassuring at my ear.  “F
ocus on what you want.  Catch his eyes and project
it
, it’s as simple as that.  Don’t overthink it.”

“Right
,
”
wa
s all I had time for
,
before the bartender came to stand before us.  “Hi
,
” I smiled brightly, leaning forward, my eyes on his.  “
Please
bring us a couple of beers.”

“I’ll have to see your ID
,
m
iss
,
”
h
e asked politely.

“Oh right, of course,” I nodded, reaching for my pocket, but Bishop laid his hand on my arm with a shake of the head.  I was supposed to be compelling him, not doing what
he
asked. 
What was I doing wrong?  Maybe I wasn’t focusing on the right thing?  I really didn’t want a beer to be honest.  Deciding to change tacks, I tried something else.  Leaving aside the question of drinks, I focused on getting him to look at me.  “You don’t need to see my ID
,
I’m alright to be here.”  This time I could feel my will catch a hold of him.

“You’re alright to be here
,
”
h
e repeated, his face blank.

“You’ll give me whatever I want.”  A smile curved my lips at that.

“I’ll give you whatever you want.”  An answering smile lit the bartender’s face and he leaned a little closer, perhaps keying into my pleasure at having successfully tried
it
.  “What do you want?”

I grinned from ear to ear, turning to Bishop for approval.  “I have Jedi mind powers!” I giggled triumphantly. 

Bishop shook his head, but there was a smile on his lips when he looked up.  “You’d better tell him what you want, don’t lose him now.”

“We’ll have a couple of beers
,
” I smiled sweetly.

“Comin
g
right up
,
”
t
he bartender grinned, happy to be of use
,
I expect.  He
quickly filled our drink orders, hovering
like a puppy, eager to do something else for me.

“Thanks.”  I dismissed him with a wave and he
retre
a
ted
farther down the bar,
continuing
to look over at me every now and again in case I might want something else.

“Be careful, he’
ll
end up following you home if you keep him on the hook like that
,
”
Bishop
sighed,
taking a sip of his drink.

“What do you mean, on the hook?”

“
B
e careful what you ask for when you’re compelling them, they will absolutely
have
to obey you, or what they think you want whethe
r you said it out loud or not.
”

“I didn’t think of it like that
,
” I blinked, darting another look at the bartender who gave me a hopeful smile until I looked away.  “I did pretty good
though
, right?”

“Don’t get cocky
, kid.  I
t’s easier to bum a drink than it is to erase someone’s memory of having been brutally attacked.
”

“Well
,
since I don’t plan on brutally attacking anyone, I guess I won’t have to worry about that
,
” I said loftily
, cradling my unwanted beer like it was the finest trophy in the world
. 
Bishop
chuckled and I got the distinct impression he thought he knew better than that.  “So…
what’s the next lesson
?” 

“Next, you need to scout your target.  There are many variables to consider.”

“Y
ou mean take into account if someone will notice if they slip away and come
back with a bite on the neck?  Or if they look drugged out or something?
”  I took the opportunity to look at the bar denizens,
trying not to think of it as
picking over items in a buffet.

“Yes, exactly. 
You can pick up a contact high if they’re on hard drugs, or so drunk they can’t walk straight. 
You should also consider if they’re alone or with a group of friends that can describe you to the authorities if things get out of hand.  You’ll be focusing on compelling the person you’re feeding from, not everyone else in the bar.  In time you’ll come to decide if you prefer a crowded club, or even a chance encounter with someone on the street.”

“Do you talk to them first?  Find out if they’ve got a family waiting at home?”  That felt like a pretty important distinction to me if I was likely to have control issues to start with. 

“Why would I do that?” he asked, brows drawing together in puzzlement.

“
B
ecause
you wouldn’t want to accidentally kill someone with a
wife
or kids, right?”

“What difference would that make?  Accidents happen every day, people adapt,” Bishop shrugged, completely unconcerned with my point. 

“But this isn’t an accident.  This is me choosing in a premeditated way, deciding who I might potentially kill if I can’t control myself.  Doesn’t it bother you to think that you might accidentally kill someone that people depend on?”

Bishop laughed, his head falling back like that was the funniest thing he’d ever heard, only sobering once he saw my expression.  “Oh, you’re serious.  Anja, that’s part of our nature
.
W
e’re killers
,
it’s what we’re built for.  Chances are
,
if someone gets tangled up in my path they’re not a blameless victim
given the places I spend time in
.  Besides, it’s been a long time since I killed anyone accidentally while feeding.” 

“But you kill them as part of your Order?”  I started to understand that human life meant very little to most vampires.  Would it be that way for me too in time? 

“Do you want to do this or not?” he muttered irritably, taking a swig of his beer. 

“Fine
, who would you pick
then
?” I asked, though it was obvious by watching
Bishop
that he’d already made his selection.  His attention seemed wholly focused on a woman sitting in a booth by herself. 
P
retty, if a little older,
she nursed
a white wine.

“Watch and learn.” 
Bishop slid
off the barstool before pausing to lean in close to my ear.  “After I leave with her, give us a couple of minutes and then
come to join us in the alley
to the side of the bar.”  Without waiting for a response, he moved on and I had to admire his natural grace as he slid into the seat opposite her, his charming smile smoothing over any objections she might have.  But then aga
in… who would object to Bishop
joining them in a bar? 
What I wouldn’t have given to have him smile at
me
like that. 

I watched them together, easily able to hear the thread of their conversation, the woman’s laughter trilling back to me. 
Oh yeah… she was a goner
.  In a few minutes he rose and stretched out his hand, not even having to
use his influence
to get her to leave the bar with him.  Waiting on my stool, I downed the rest of
my beer
to steady my nerves before following them outside, slipping around the corner of the building. 

My eyes adjusted instantly to the dim lighting in the alley, the soft murmur of conversation reaching me as I drew nearer.  I spotted them on the other side of the dumpster,
Bishop
had her pressed up against the wall,
whispering endearments at her ear
.  For a long moment I watched them, feeling like I was intruding
,
until
his
eyes fixed on mine.  Holding my
gaze, he
brushed his lips
along the side of her neck.  “Join us
,
”
he smiled invitingly.
“You don’t mind do you
,
sweetheart
?” 

“I don’t mind.”  The b
runette
smiled back dutifully, her
focu
s on
Bishop
.
  I
approached them slowly, still a little uncomfortable with it all
, but he looked completely in control. 
“
Anja
this is
Holly
.  S
ay hello
,
Holly
.”

“Hello
,
”
s
he smiled obligingly. 

“Hello
,
” I replied softly, wondering if
he
intended to drink fr
om her right there in the alley
way
.
  Somehow I thought we would go somewhere more private
,
but in theory he knew what he was doing
.

“
Holly
is very healthy
,
aren’t you?”
Bishop smiled,
his fingers tracing along her jaw and down the side of her neck to follow the deep scoop of her neckline. 
Is it bad that in that moment I wished I could trade places with her?

“Yes
,
I am
,
”
s
he said proudly.

“
Good girl.” 
Bishop kissed her temple lightly before fixing those green eyes on me. 
“Bite her.”
 
The girl tilted her head away obligingly
, almost inviting me to do as he said
.

I watched them with dismay, not sure why I found the idea so distasteful.
I hadn’t had any problems with the idea of eating Bridget, as sick as that sounded in my head.
“I don’t… I’m not sure I can…”

“Survival, remember?  Is it because I picked a woman?  Now is not the time to be prudish,” he chastised gently
.

“I am not a prude! 
I was going to bite Bridget, remember? 
Somehow I think this is a little outside the realm of normal experience, okay?”

“I don’t think she’s a prude
,
”
Holly
interjected
and Bishop shot her a withering look
.