“My dad would kill for this car.” She said it without thinking. Why had she brought up her dad?
His voice was a low growl. “How do you know I didn’t?”
Her stomach dropped.
“Kidding, Natalie. I bought it new.”
She breathed again. “You can’t joke about that kind of stuff.”
“Why?” His face was invisible in the darkness. “Too soon?”
“Because you can’t. And we need to talk about this whole judge, jury, executioner thing you think needs to happen. Whoever is killing these women, they’re still a—”
“Human being? No, they’re not. If it’s a vampire who is doing this, he is a monster and deserves to die.”
She bit her lip to stop the angry retort. If she was going to have any chance, she had to reason with him. “You’re a vampire. Are you a monster?”
“I am a vampire who controls ^h alison himself. Who feeds in small, non-harmful amounts from donors—most of whom are willing—”
“Most?”
He ignored her and continued. “I work very hard to keep my baser instincts in check, not only for my own self-interest, but for the safety of the humans and vampires around me. You would not want to see me unfed. That said, even if I was ravenously hungry, I would not be so far gone that I killed indiscriminately in large numbers like this vampire is doing. This is not hunger. This is something else. He is not a person, Natalie. Killing this vampire would be like putting down a rabid animal.”
Silence fell as both of them stopped talking and the song switched. A ballad came on then, something beautiful and achingly sad.
“Natalie.”
“What?”
She heard him shift and wondered why. Did vampires get cramped? Did they ache after sitting in the car for two hours? And where the hell were they going anyway?
“When the vampire bared his teeth at you in the bar—do you remember?”
Her pulse picked up and she flashed to the grotesque grin of the monster they called Tio. “Of course I remember,” she whispered.
“What were you thinking in that moment?”
She blinked. Why was he asking this? “I… I wanted to run, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to escape. I wanted… I just wanted someone…”
“Wanted what, Natalie?”
She shrank in her seat. “I wanted someone to get it away from me.”
“And you didn’t care how. If I had killed it, you wouldn’t have felt remorse or guilt. Not in that moment. You would have been relieved. Those were your instincts talking. The same instincts you’re going to have to learn to listen to if you want to survive in this world.”
“I’m not sure I want to.”
Natalie could feel his eyes glaring at her. She wasn’t sure how, but she did.
“That’s a stupid thing to say.”
“Wha—?”
“Don’t say you don’t want to survive. Don’t ever say that.”
“That’s not what I meant.” She sighed. “I meant I’m not sure I want to be in this world. Your world.”
“Too bad.” His voice was harsh. “It’s your world now. You don’t have a choice.”
You should always have a choice. She blinked back tears that threatened to spill from the corners of her eyes and stared straight ahead at the cracked road. Finally, she said, “Where are we going?”
“A casino.”
“Oh yeah, ’cause there’s only one of those in the state.”
“It’s the one out by the Salton Sea. My father owns it.”
“I thought that was an Indian casino.”
“It is.” He added, “They might have needed a very private backer to get started.”
“Ah. And your father is… you said something about Don Ernesto.”
“Don Ernesto Alvarez is the immortal leader of Los Angeles and much of the Southwest. He used to control most of Northern Mexico, too, but he ceded control of that territory to the new cartel some time ago.”
“Why?”
“He says economic interests had waned for him.” Baojia shrugged. “I did not question him.”
“And he’s your father?”
“In the immortal sense, y crta
“How?” She wondered when he would get tired of her questions. He had way more patience than most people she met.
“He found me, drained my blood to the point of death, then fed me his own.”
He said it so matter-of-factly. “So, he killed you.”
“No. He sired me. I was not unwilling.”
“Why?” She turned toward him. “Why would you do that? You’ll never see the sun again. You’ll never have a family. You’ll have to drink human blood for the rest of your life.” Luis had filled her in on the particulars. Immortality definitely had its downsides.
He glanced at her. “He offered me something, and it was worth the trade.”
What had been the trade? Power, surely. And she could tell Baojia liked the power. He would never age or grow weak like a human man. But she didn’t get the sense he was vain, despite his handsome face. Fastidious, maybe. He did seem to like things in their proper place. His house had been immaculate. And he’d changed from the rather delicious practice pants he’d been wearing earlier into an immaculate black suit with a white button-down shirt. He’d left off the tie so it hung open at the throat. His shoes were expensive. His neatly cut black hair didn’t have a strand out of place.