Survivor - By Kaye Draper Page 0,36

a vampire is only allowed to turn someone every hundred years, right?”

He nodded. “Generally, yes. We are expected to contribute at least that often, but no more than that. We have to be very careful of our population levels.” If there were too many vampires…I really didn’t want to think about it.

“She got away with it?”

He nodded. “She was a master vampire by then, and a new coven leader. “As long as it was only the two, the elders looked the other way.” He chuckled. “It didn’t hurt that our previous master was loved by many of the elders, and that she favored him so much.” I reached into the popcorn bowl and he gave me a look, watching for any sneaky moves. “Leah didn’t just give them life; she gave them life together, for a very long time to come. They are fiercely loyal to her.”

I nodded. “Uh… are we going to watch that?” I pointed at the TV. If we didn’t stop talking family ties and start watching the movie, I wouldn’t be able to make it through the whole thing. Neurofatigue would kick in half way through and I would lose the whole plot.

Peter wasn’t offended, used to my quirks by now. He ruffled my hair and pressed play. He didn’t resist very much when I slid the popcorn back over to my lap, instead using the excuse to snuggle close. I sighed. We might as well have kept talking. I wasn’t going to get anything from the movie now, no matter how hard I concentrated. All I could think of was how nice it felt to be pressed up against him. He laughed softly to himself and I shot him a look. He knew exactly what he was doing to me, and had not an ounce of regret.

Chapter 10

I was surprised when Peter offered to come swimming with me. I hadn’t been entirely sure vampires could swim. After all, in some stories water was right up there with garlic and crosses…. though neither of those things had any effect on real vampires. Sunlight did have some effect, though it wasn’t devastating. It mostly affected young vampires. For Peter it was simply annoying, hence the sunglasses perched on his face as he drove into the Saturday afternoon sun.

We pulled up to the aquatic center just after noon. I preferred this time of day. I didn’t have to get up early, the morning lap swimmers would be gone, and the afternoon crowd of parents with children wouldn’t descend on the place for a couple of hours yet. Peter helped me into my chair and handed me my swim bag. After he paid his fee and I got my card punched, we went to our respective locker rooms to change.

You’d think a vampire would look terrible in a swimsuit. Wrong. He looked amazing- broad shoulders, muscular chest, and narrow waist tapering down to his shorts. I will admit that with his skin tone, he wouldn’t really pass for a swimsuit model, but I wasn’t about to complain. The soft sound of water lapping at the sides of pool and echoing off the tall ceiling was a calming balm to my soul. I had come here to swim once a week ever since I left rehab. It felt wonderful to be in the water, where my body was weightless and easier to move. I wheeled over to the ladder and he helped me down into the pool. Usually I needed the lifeguard, the big lift chair, and a swim vest for this; but today I had Peter. I clung to the side of the pool while he climbed in. Once I was in the water, I could stand for longer periods of time, thanks to the buoyancy of the water.

Peter wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me back against him so that we floated backward together. The sensation of his slick skin sliding over mine was distracting. I sighed and relaxed against him, kicking my legs slowly. Peter was so patient with me, always there to support me. He was as graceful in the water as he was on land, and I wondered what it would be like to see him out swimming in a lake where he wasn’t confined like this. Of course then I would have to sit on shore. At least here, I got to take part.

When we were all done I made my way to the showers and got dressed, still glowing with the