How to Elude a Vampire (VRC Vampire Related Crimes #2) - Alice Winters Page 0,18
“Hela.”
Finn’s beam falters and flickers out. “You’re going to name this sweet puppy after the goddess of death who ruled over Hel?” he asks.
“Hmmm… yeah. That’s exactly what she looks like to me.”
He seems suspicious but smiles. “Well… if that’s really, really what you want to name this sweet doggy, then okay!”
“It is.”
“Aw, sweet little… Hela.”
“Music to my ears,” I say.
He sighs. Clearly, he’s not convinced, but that’s all right.
Chapter Six
FINN
“Why are you handing me that leash?” Marcus asks as I give him the leash to Hela.
“Because I want to walk Artie,” I say, which I thought was clear when I held out Hela’s leash to him.
He scrutinizes the leash for a moment. “Hold on… you want me… me to walk this thing you insisted on having?” Marcus seems perplexed by this.
“Marcus, I don’t want Artie to think I’ve replaced him. I sat with Hela this morning and now it’s time for me to walk Artie. See? When you have a new child, you can’t just only shower the new one with love.”
Marcus waves at himself. He’s brooding, holding a thin leash connected to a tiny dog, and honestly, it might be the funniest thing I’ve ever seen but only because of the stupid look he has on his face.
“I didn’t agree with this child.”
“Oh, suck it up. The baby’s yours,” I say as I head out the door with Artie.
When Marcus joins me on the sidewalk, Hela is nowhere to be seen.
“Did you leave Hela in the house?” I ask.
“No, I have her,” he says as he starts power walking off without me. He knows I can’t match his power walk.
“Where is she?”
He stops and waits until I get close enough to crowd in. “Now keep quiet,” he whispers as he unzips his coat enough that Hela’s head pops out, bat ears first. “Don’t let anyone see.”
I start laughing as I pull Hela out and put her on the ground. “She wants to walk!”
“Dammit. The neighbors are looking!”
“The neighbors aren’t looking at shit. And if they’re looking, they’re looking at what you’re wearing.”
Even though Marcus is old enough that the sun couldn’t severely hurt him, he still wears full sleeves, a hat, and thick sunglasses. I also wear sunglasses since my eyes are sensitive to the sunlight, something that resulted from my accident. Maybe from my sister’s blood or maybe from something else that happened. I’m honestly not sure, but it’s allowed me to see a little farther and track the speed of vampires easier.
“I am a big scary vampire. I can eat people. I can crush skulls with just a look. I am strong,” Marcus chants to himself.
“It’s just a dog!” I can’t help but laugh. I’ve never seen such a dramatic person in my life, even though he swears he’s not. “I’m glad it’s nice enough out to finally go for a walk. I was tired of it being too cold to even leave the house.”
“That’s because you’re so used to being covered in an electric blanket that your body is incapable of maintaining its own heat.”
I elbow him. “Says the fangyfucker who is always right there next to me under the blanket.”
He’s turned silent.
“No comeback?” I ask as we cross the road.
“My, what a lovely day! Look at all that green! Beautiful green leaves!”
I grin at him. “You look mighty cute walking your dog.”
“Thanks. It looks like you could ride yours.”
“I’ve thought about it,” I say as I turn onto the bike trail bridge. It instantly makes me think of the dead woman since it’s the same river, only about seven miles upstream. Marcus must think the same thing because his smile falls a little. I decide to distract us by bugging Marcus. “Before the blood banks, how did you get blood? Just walk up and bite someone?”
“I did many different things in my three hundred years. When I was young, I’d feed off animals, but once I got my first taste of human blood, I never wanted to go back. After a while, I found some people who enjoyed the bite and would let me bite them whenever I wanted.”
I don’t like the idea of others enjoying his bite even though I’m aware this all happened before the laws against biting humans fell into place almost a century ago. “Hmmm…”
“Oh, don’t give me that look. You’re the one who asked. And, in case you forgot, you’re the only human I’ve ever been in a relationship with. Honestly… I never really did a whole lot of