Zen and the Art of Vampires

"At least he left the car this time," I muttered sourly, shoving my bag into the backseat. "But I'm beginning to be a little distressed about this recent trend of men disappearing rather than sticking around to face the morning after."

There was a movement at the end of the barn. Kristoff stood in the shade cast by the building, frowning at me. "Who are you talking to?"

I had a momentary pang of embarrassment. How do you face a man who you know doesn't like you, but who a few hours ago was moaning his pleasure into your mouth as you writhed around together?

I eyed him. He stared stonily at me, no emotion visible whatsoever on his face. Well, if that's the way he wanted it, that was fine with me. Two could pretend nothing had happened between us.

Besides, I wasn't entirely sure anything had. Oh, we'd engaged in some pretty intense sex—my still-shaky legs reminded me of that fact. But emotionally, had anything changed?

I shook my head at that question, not wanting to try to evaluate the tangled mess that was my emotions. I lifted my chin and gave him an equally cool look. "Oh, there you are. I was talking to myself. Is there an outhouse or something around here?"

He shrugged and remained where he was.

"What, you don't have to ever pee?" I asked, marching toward him, looking for a spot I could use to relieve my bladder.

"Not unless I eat food."

I paused as I was about to pass by, glancing at him in surprise. "You're kidding. You don't really ever have to… go?"

"We can, if that's what you're asking," he said with an unreadable look. "But it usually isn't necessary unless we've ingested food."

"Oh." I thought about that for a moment, then continued behind the barn. "That must be awfully darned handy. I'll be back in a few minutes."

He was in the car when I returned, the driver's overhead flap pulled down and to the side, so it blocked the sunlight filtering in.

"I never thought about it, but you must really hate the midnight sun," I said, getting in the car while avoiding looking at him. Try as I might to ignore him, I was very aware of his nearness in the close confines of the vehicle, aware of the way his leg moved as he started up the car and backed out onto the road, aware of the unique scent he seemed to possess that still lingered in my nose just as the almost indescribable taste of him lingered on my tongue. A little zing of electricity shimmered up my arm when his hand brushed it while shifting. Oh, yes, I was aware of him… but he seemed just as remote and threatening as he had the day before.

Nothing had changed, not really. We might have sought comfort from each other for a bit, but that was all it was. I could stop beating myself up for betraying Alec's memory, since clearly our little interlude meant nothing to Kristoff.

Alec was who I should be thinking of. But as we drove back to town, I realized with a sick feeling that whatever I might have had with Alec was now over. I wasn't the sort of woman who hopped from bed to bed without a care, despite my actions of the last few days.

"Did you get ahold of Alec?" My voice seemed somewhat hoarse. I cleared my throat and tried again. "Did he get away from the police?"

"Yes to both questions. We're going to meet him in Reykjavik."

"Why Reykjavik?" I asked as he got onto the highway that would take us into the capital.

"That is where the airport is."

"Alec is leaving?" I asked, my heart dropping despite the fact that I'd only just decided we had no future together. Still, it left me feeling oddly deflated to know I was being abandoned so thoroughly.

"We all are."

I glanced over at him, ignoring the little flutter in my stomach. "By 'we air you mean you and him, not me, correct?"

"You're coming with us. The council will want to talk to you."

I stared at him in blank incomprehension. "You do realize that the police are after me, don't you? They are bound to be watching the airport. There's no way I can get out of Iceland, even if I wanted to, and quite frankly, I don't intend to go anywhere else with you. In fact, I'd appreciate it if you could drop me at the north end of Dalkafjordhur. I'll take it from there."

"Alec told me to take you to the airport," he answered without bothering to even glance toward me.

"And you always do what Alec says?" I asked waspishly, feeling some horrible need to be snarky to him. I beat it down as being a symptom of hurt feelings.

What did I care that a night spent (literally) rolling in the hay meant nothing to him? So he drank my blood and gave me the most incredible orgasm of my entire life, and then proceeded to act as if I was a complete stranger—no, not a stranger, a slight acquaintance who was barely tolerated. So what? It didn't mean I had to feel rejected. Again.

Damn Kristoff. Damn Alec. Damn, damn, damn.

"Hardly. But about this, we agree—the council wants to see you. He can't take you all the way to them, so I've been elected babysitter."

"Babysitter!" I gasped, outraged.