Page 76 of Starved Until Sunset

“Tell us everything you can about it, as well as Aldrik. Especially what they hate and how we kill them.” He looked around at everyone else. “And we need to figure out the identity of their Renfield.” He saw their confused expressions and explained, “Someone here in town who guards them while the sun is up.”

“That’s going to be difficult with all these strangers in town now,” Eileen said.

“It won’t be a tourist,” Clarabell said. “The vampires have been here a while, right, Doc?”

“Yes, they’ve been here for a long time. And, please, call me Michael.”

“Who’s your Renfield?” Eileen asked.

Michael gave her a long look.

“What?” Eileen looked at the rest of them, then back at Michael. “Is that some kind of deeply personal question?”

“Dr. Baldwin did errands and other things I wasn’t able to accomplish during the day.”

“She’s been pale and tired a lot lately,” Demetrius said. “She’s been working a lot of late shifts at the hospital, plus these things during the day that you’re unable to do.”

“Yes. She’s become quite dear to me.”

If Demetrius hadn’t been so focused on finding the others, he could have commented about how sweet the endearment sounded. But he also realized Zenona had been providing Michael with her own blood from time to time.

A shiver went through him, and he forced himself to tamp down all the questions spinning inside him. Better not to share that with everyone right now. Had she simply drained enough blood into a bag, like a gruesome juice box? Or had he bitten her somewhere out of sight, where the marks wouldn’t show?

The others were talking quietly, giving Demetrius the opportunity to approach Michael, being careful to avoid the slick and noxious mess left by the eliminated vampire.

“Were you…” he started, then stopped and lowered his voice even more, trying to figure out the best way to word his question. “Did Zenona… help you, when you weren’t able to hunt in the woods?”

Michael looked away. There was no blush in his cheeks, but that was probably due to the lack of a heartbeat. And if Demetrius really let himself think about all the physical implications of Michael being a vampire, he’d never run out of questions. So he muted that part of his brain and tried to focus on the moment as it played out.

“Very rarely. There were some nights I had been unable to leave the hospital, and she… I declined the first time she offered, but she could tell I was weak. Too weak to make it out to the woods and track down a deer. That time it was more procedural. She performed a blood donation on herself here in the morgue. It was awkward and uncomfortable for us both, and I took the bag into the bathroom to… eat.” He cleared his throat and crossed his arms. “After that, it became almost a regular thing. A weekly event. We began to jokingly refer to it as our date night.” He smiled, but it looked sad. “She grew tired of the long process of drawing the blood into a bag, and it was becoming more difficult to quietly collect the supplies we needed. So I started biting her on the wrist.” He held up a hand and fixed Demetrius with a steady look. “And I was always careful to never take too much. I never put her at risk of death or being turned.”

“I believe you,” Demetrius said. “Did that form any kind of connection between you two? Are you able to track her or sense where she might be?”

“Unfortunately, no, it doesn’t work like that. Consuming blood is like having a good meal. Sometimes you can’t find your way back to the restaurant.”

Demetrius felt a little sick. “That makes it pretty clear.”

“My apologies,” Michael said. “Zenona always said I needed to work on softening my delivery.”

“Yeah, keep working on it.” Demetrius gestured to the mess on the floor. “Will this be a problem for you?”

“No, I can clean it up. This one was most likely sent by my brother to torment me.”

The others had approached and stood several steps back from the dark puddle.

“What’s the plan?” Clarabell asked.

“We listen to what Michael has to say about Aldrik and their father,” Demetrius said. “Then we go out and patrol the streets. If we find a vampire or see an attack, we call Michael and he’ll come help. If you think of anyone in town who’s been acting off or secretive, let’s talk about it.”

“Have you met half the people in this town?” Dave said.

“I know,” Demetrius said. “But take that as a level of normal, and anyone acting above it could be our Renfield.” He turned to Michael. “Now, it’s your turn. Tell us everything that hurts you or makes you uncomfortable.”

“More than this conversation?” Michael said, and Demetrius simply stared back until he nodded. “Right. Okay.”

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Cody started awake with a full body shiver. His neck and shoulders ached, and a sting in his upper arms made him frown. Sleep had crusted in his eyes, but when he tried to rub it away, he discovered his hands were tied behind his back.