Vampire Chronicles: Crimson Blood

Chapter 37: Homeland ~ Part Two

Lestat

Homeland ~ Part Two

As I walked toward the darkened public garden, it felt almost odd to be on the hunt. I was past the point of needing blood to survive, but it was no secret that I still enjoyed a binge from time to time. Still, I had been indulging exclusively on one particularly delicious mortal for several months and that sort of intimacy is nothing like the seduction and game of finding your prey. In my own mortal years when I had gone into the forests, I had found quiet delight in circling the tracks in the snow without stealth. I didn't care if the animals sensed my presence, for like hunters before and since I knew that in the end, they would come back blindly to the traps I had set.

That memory brought forth a small laugh. Perhaps all that time I had been in training for the life of a vampire without even knowing it... but someone knew it, didn't they. Eyes had been watching me and settling on a decision. There are those who will wonder if I watched Tristan with the same appraisal. I will confess that on the first night we met in person, I had a split-second flashing thought that he would be a stunning immortal but beyond that the answer is no. In all the nights we were intimate, for the countless times I shared sweet blood-tinged kisses with him, there was never any true intent to bring about the circumstances that now existed. My profession of innocence will be overruled of course. I hear it in my own mind, 'how could you not have known, Lestat?', but I can offer no other excuses in the matter. Simply, there are facets of myself that even after all this time I do not know or understand. Those facets, like cuts upon the rarest of gems, are extremely costly.

"Are you lost Monsieur? I'm afraid the garden is closed at this hour." I heard the sweet melody of a young French voice behind me.

"I am not lost, simply enjoying the night." I replied to her in the old language.

"Companionship ..." she said. "If you mean female companionship, you would do better to walk to the taverns."

"But what if I prefer the sort of woman who would seek out the beauty of a place such as this over the dingy noise of a tavern where fools and drunkards have but one thing on their minds?"

"Your language... how strange the words you choose. The old ones, they speak in such a way but you certainly aren't from their time. You must live or work with the aged? Men in this time hardly phrase things so politely."

"I find that politeness produces a much more desirable result all around. Wouldn't you agree?" I stepped out of the shadow and more into the amber lamplight where I tentatively reached for her hand.

She lowered her gaze and then once more met my eyes. We said nothing as we faced one another, but she wouldn't have had the ability to flee if the thought had even crossed her mind - which it didn't. In fact, quite a few other, very suggestive thoughts caused her to smile and come closer.

"Forgive me," she said softly. "You are quite unlike others I have met." A tender little laugh spilled from her lips. "You tempt me to forget what is proper,

Monsieur."

"Propriety can be so boring." I teased. "What if just for a minute, you pretend no one has ever made a rule about anything. Can you imagine?" My expression grew more intense, for as close as she was, I could smell the heat of desire in her blood. She came into my arms and reached one hand to touch my face. Ah no darling, I thought... you don't want to feel the beautiful horror of it, let me spare you. I caught her hand and brought it to my lips, kissing it properly as our waltz began.

"We could go to my rooms..." she offered.

"Still attempting to be proper, Cherie?" I laughed softly as I backed her into the darkness of the garden and against a giant tree. "I think the night is warm enough I might wish to taste you here and now. I told you to imagine there have never been any rules. What would you allow yourself, ma belle?"