Seth nodded slowly. “I appreciate it.”
“If I’d had a choice in the matter, I’d likely have continued on my mission and left you to live or die on your own.”
Hell, this guy was one cold son of a bitch, Seth thought.
“Careful. I can hear your thoughts, you know.”
Seth’s brows rose high. “You…?”
“But you aren’t wrong. I am a cold son of a bitch.”
“Damn.”
Again the vampire smiled, just slightly this time. “I’ll teach you to block your thoughts. It’s just further evidence I made the right decision in bringing you along with me. Initially I intended to transform you and leave you behind. I only realized after the deed was done that a fledgling vampire as clueless as you wouldn’t last a week on his own.”
“Hey, ease up there, pal. I think I could have managed just fine on my own.”
The vampire looked at him briefly, brows raised, a look of skepticism in his dark eyes.
“I’m not kidding,” Seth told him; then he turned to gaze out the window, amazed that he could see for miles, and that everything was as clear as day to him, despite the fact that it was dark outside. “I’ve been waiting my whole life for this. I mean, I didn’t know it was this, but it has to be. I always knew I was meant for something big, something important.”
“The girl,” the vampire said. And Seth shot him a look. The man shrugged. “You mentioned her, earlier.”
He nodded. “She’s part of it. But there’s more. Maybe this mission of yours. What is it, exactly?”
“I’ve got to kill someone.”
Seth shivered and looked down at his hands in his lap. “Hell.”
“Don’t worry. He’s in dire need of killing. And I have no intention of letting you become involved. I work alone.”
“Well, you did. But, uh, I’m kind of here now, so—”
“I work alone.”
Seth nodded. The vamp was a cranky bastard. He realized, as the man shot him a look, that he’d heard that thought, too. Seth attempted a sheepish grin. “Sorry. This is gonna take some getting used to.”
“Mmm.”
“You know, I don’t even know your name.”
“Reaper,” the vampire said. And that was it, nothing more.
“Reaper. Huh. Well, hell, I guess it fits.” Seth was quiet for a moment; then he sent the guy a smirk. “So can I call you Grim?”
“No.”
Not even a smile. Seth sat back in the seat, realizing that joking wasn’t going to go over real big with this guy. He flipped on the radio and began looking for a decent station. “Reaper, you saved my butt back there. I owe you, you know. So if you decide you do need some help with this mission of yours, you just say the word, okay?”
Reaper looked at him with one brow higher than the other.
“Don’t look like that. You don’t know me, pal. There’s not a lot I can’t do.”
“I don’t doubt it. And I’d lay odds your friend J.J. will never forget what you did for him last night.”
Seth looked at him, because that statement had almost sounded…approving. But there was no sign of it in Reaper’s face. So Seth looked away, saying nothing.
“If there wasn’t much you couldn’t do before, Seth,” Reaper told him, “then believe me, there is considerably less you can’t do now. There are a few things you should know immediately, however.”
“Shoot,” Seth told him.
“You’re extremely flammable. Stay away from fire. Sunlight will kill you, slowly and painfully. That part of the mythology is true.”
“How about a stake through the heart?” Seth asked.
“A stake through any part of you could kill you, but not because of the stake. We tend to bleed excessively, and bleeding out is one of the ways we can die. However, if you get cut and can stanch the bleeding until the day sleep, you’ll heal with the sunrise. Always remember that. If you can stay alive until daylight, you’ll survive.”
“Okay. How about a crucifix? Will that hurt me?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. We’re not devils.”
“Sorry.” He’d offended the guy. Hell, who knew vampires had pet peeves?
“You need blood to survive,” Reaper went on. “You can get it from blood banks. You don’t need to take victims. You’re going to feel pain a hell of a lot more than you did before. It’s one of the things that can lay you out. It can be that debilitating. But the balance to that is you’ll feel pleasure more intensely, as well. The older you get, the more intense your senses become, and your other powers, as well.”
“What other powers?”
“Running with great speed, leaping incredibly high, telepathy, mind control, sheer strength.”
Seth smiled. He thought of his latest and most impressive feat to date. Besides saving J.J.’s life and becoming a vampire, that was. “I wonder if I could leap off the top of a crypt, somersault three times and land on my feet on a roof a dozen yards away.”
“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Reaper said.
“Could you do it?”
“Of course.”
Seth smiled a little. “Yeah, but could you do it over a toxic swamp full of zombies?”
Reaper frowned at him briefly, then shook his head as if puzzled and returned his attention to the road. Seth found a radio station he liked and cranked the volume. He was surprised that Reaper didn’t reach out and snap it off again, and even more surprised to see the cranky bastard’s foot tapping in time every now and then.
They rode that way for three excellent songs in a row; then the station launched into a block of commercials, so Seth turned it down. “So where in North Carolina are we going?” he asked.
“Emerald Isle. Rather near Wilmington.”
“Uh-huh. Is that where the guy you have to kill is?”
“I don’t know.”
Seth waited. Reaper didn’t say more, though. “Hey, come on, fill me in. You seem like a decent guy. You wouldn’t be after this dude if there wasn’t a reason.”
“I’m a killer, Seth. An assassin. It’s what I did as a mortal, and it’s what I still do. I’m very good at it, but there are…there are things about me that make me as dangerous as hell. You’re not safe with me. No one is. Keep that in mind, and keep your guard up. Don’t trust me. Don’t trust anyone.”
Seth frowned, studying Reaper’s profile. “Is that my first lesson on being a vampire?”
“That’s your first lesson on being alive. It should be everyone’s.”
“You’re intense, you know that? Are you always this serious? This freaking…dark?”
“Yes.” Reaper glanced sideways at Seth, and then sighed. “There is a gang of rogue vampires, led by a man called Gregor, who’ve been murdering humans at will. Young, old, innocent, it doesn’t matter. They leave bloodless bodies, with fang marks in their throats, lying around