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  He nodded but continued looking behind us until we reached the street. None of them had bothered to move. They hadn’t even raised their heads to look at us.

  We climbed the steps to the mall and exited toward the upper street. I held my arm out to hail a taxi when a hand shoved me hard on the back. I lost my balance and fell off the curb, rolling onto the street. A car swerved around me, its tires screeched, and the horn blared in anger. I jumped to my feet and in one bound was back on the sidewalk next to Christian, rubbing the shoulder that hit the pavement and wiping my hair from my face. Gravel stuck to my shirt. My fangs were bared and I was ready for a fight.

  The scent of humans was all I encountered as a small crowd gathered to see what had happened but all kept their distance from Christian. He grabbed my arm and pulled me closer, protectively.

  “What the hell happened?” I hissed through my teeth.

  “I don’t know…it happened so fast…I didn’t…” Christian tried to explain but looked as confused as I felt. Still the crowd watched, whispering in rapid Spanish to each other, but did not approach.

  “Did you push me?”

  “I’m not sure.” He pulled me into his arms but my muscles clenched. “I think I might have.”

  “Why would you do that? I don’t understand…” I pulled out of his arms as he lowered his gaze to the sidewalk.

  “I don’t know. I’m not even sure it was really me but there was no one else here. I lost sight of you for a moment and next thing I know, you were in the street, already getting up.” He reached his hand out but I pretended not to notice, my stomach turning into knots.

  “What do you mean you lost sight of me?” I kept my voice down only so the crowd would not hear but it was difficult to restrain myself from screaming at him.

  “You were there one moment, hailing a taxi, and the next…everything went black.”

  A small yellow car with only one headlight pulled to a stop next to us, beeping its horn two times.

  “Taxi?” the driver asked, leaning toward us.

  “Sí,” I answered and pulled the back door open. I gave him the address and slid as far over as the small plastic seat would allow. Christian slid over to me but I turned my face to the window and kept my hands folded on my lap. My mind tried to deny what happened but the knot in my stomach was a constant reminder; a reminder that the man I loved, and married, tried to push me in front of a car, and on our honeymoon!

  “Lily, please look at me,” he whispered.

  I said nothing as I kept my mind from him by concentrating on the blurring scenery as we sped down the street. Couples walked hand in hand, laughing at some joke only they shared. Teenagers sat on the steps of a well-lit mansion, laughing and swatting at each other playfully, passing a bottle of Inca Kola between them, not a care in the world.

  “If I did do it, and I still don’t know if I did, I didn’t do it on purpose. I would never do anything to hurt you.” My lips pressed together and my back stiffened. I refused to look at him while he spoke. “Okay. You won’t talk to me right now. I get it. I love you with everything that I am. I swear it.” He paused to wait for a reaction from me. I gave him nothing.

  He sighed and continued, “At least answer one question, please. Are you hurt?”

  I snapped my head toward him and glared. “Of course I’m hurt! My husband tried to kill me! What do you expect?”

  To my utter shock, he smiled. “Good. Now that you’re talking, first of all, I don’t know how or why that happened. Second, I doubt a car could kill you anyway, but that’s not what I meant. I meant are you hurt physically?”

  “No. I’m not. My shirt is ruined though,” I answered. I knew deep down inside that Christian loved me but something else was going on here, something was very wrong. “We really need to talk to Aloysius.” I reached for his hand out of habit, before making up my mind on whether or not to stay angry with him.

  The taxi pulled up, two tires on the sidewalk, in front of the apartment building. I handed the money to the driver and slid out of the seat and to the sidewalk without waiting for Christian’s assistance. The hurt expression on his face was breaking my heart but, then again, so was the fact that he had tried to hurt me.

  “Aloysius, are you here?” I called as soon as we had the front door open.

  “I’m in my bedroom getting dressed. I suggest you do the same,” he yelled from upstairs.

  “Why?” I asked as we climbed the stairs to our room. “Are you expecting someone?”

  Christian moved a few paces closer to me. I clasped both hands behind my back. I saw his face sink but I turned away.

  “No. We’re going out. It’s your first night here and I’d like to show you a good time. In a few days, I will be heading up to Trujillo and then your honeymoon will be all yours. I hope you don’t mind.” He stepped out of his bedroom wearing jeans as black as night, a long sleeved white shirt so crisp that it offset his ebony hair. On his feet, he wore black leather dress shoes with a silver buckle. He looked like a man in his early twenties, ready for a night out on the town. The top three buttons on his shirt were undone and I saw how close the color of his skin was to the whiteness of his shirt.

  “We ran into some problems tonight and we’d like to talk to you. We thought maybe you’d have some answers,” I said.

  “Well, we can talk about it on the way if you don’t mind.” He looked at me so I nodded. “Now, go get dressed, please. There will be dancing so dress appropriately. I have some calls to make before we leave. Just let me know when you’re ready.” He started down the steps toward the living room without a backward glance.

  “What should I wear?” Christian had his suitcase already open on the bed and was shuffling the clothes around. We hadn’t even unpacked yet.

  “I don’t care.” I started pulling things out of my own suitcase, trying not to look at him.

  I chose a denim mini-skirt, black ruffled sleeveless top, and the new boots. I took my pile and went into the bathroom, closing and locking the door behind me.

  “Do you want me to leave the room?” Christian asked from the other side of the door.

  “No. That would look really bad. This is supposed to be our honeymoon.” Worrying our gracious host was not something I wanted to do right now, especially since he would be leaving us soon. I wanted to talk to him about the people on the beach. I decided I would say nothing about what happened with Christian, not right now anyway.

  The look in Christian’s eyes when I re-entered the bedroom told me he approved of my outfit but his tight lips told me he was confused about me getting dressed in the bathroom instead of with him. He looked great in his dark jeans and black v-neck sweater, his white tee-shirt sticking out at the top of his chest. I caught myself before I could compliment him.

  “I’m not planning to tell Aloysius what happened with us. I just want to know who those people on the beach were.” I grabbed my small knitted bag, containing only my lipstick and identification, and slung it over my shoulder. I knew better than to carry anything too important in a purse and my money was already in the front pocket of my skirt. It was too easy to get a purse snatched in Lima, even from a taxi.

  Aloysius had a taxi already waiting at the curb in front of the building. He gave the driver directions to downtown Lima, to a popular tourist spot where live music played and dancers entertained the crowd with typical Peruvian dances.

  “You said you had a problem today?” Aloysius turned to look at us from the front seat. I took Christian’s hand only so we looked like the honeymooners we were supposed to be. He smiled and squeezed my fingers anyway.

  I told him what happened with the kid we followed and the group on the beach. Aloysius put his hand up to stop me and glanced at the driver. He was mouthing the words to the Spanish song on the radio and seemed oblivious to our conversation. He most likely didn’t speak English or just didn’t care what we had to say.

  “Let me guess. He told you our kind is not welcome in Lima?” Alo
ysius smiled, amused.

  “You know them?” Christian asked, tightening his grip on my hand.

  “Pay no attention to them. They consider themselves vampire hunters. I have yet to hear of one vampire casualty caused by them, however.” He laughed and looked at the driver again. He was still singing along to the song on his radio, his head bobbing slightly.

  “But they are human, right?” I asked, thinking about how the kid put the idea of following him into Christian’s mind.

  “As far as I know, yes. They call themselves vampire hunters but will frown upon anything supernatural,” he explained. He was taking money out of his pocket so I assumed we were nearing our destination. “They’re hypocrites, if you ask me.”

  “Why do you think that?”

  “Well, I haven’t seen them in years, but I know a few of them also consider themselves witches. I’m pretty sure that qualifies as supernatural. Here we are then.”

  We followed him into a crowded vestibule, where happy chatter, in various languages, swallowed anything else I tried to say. That was all the information we would get tonight. Aloysius paid for the three of us and we followed him into a large room to find a seat. A raised stage sat in the front of the room where musicians were setting up their instruments. A lower stage, larger than the first, sat empty below it, the wooden surface shining as if it had just been waxed. Three sides were surrounded by tables and surrounding that was another platform with more tables. He led us to one on the bottom level and at the center of the two stages.

  A waiter came over as soon as we were seated and Aloysius ordered three Pisco Sours. Christian leaned toward me and asked, “What are those?”

  “Pisco is liquor made from grapes. A Pisco Sour has lime juice in it and foamy egg whites on the top. It looks and smells really good but I’ve never actually tasted it.” Sitting next to him, with the excitement of the crowd, and the sounds of the band warming up, I felt my anger fading away layer by layer. Aloysius smiled at me and I wondered if he sensed my anger and hurt.

  “In between dances,” he said, “the band will keep playing and give the audience a chance to dance too. I’m hoping your husband won’t mind sharing you. I so love dancing.”

  Christian shook his head. “Not at all. After all, you are family.”

  Music started and a man’s voice filled the room as he introduced the first of the dancers. The crowd hushed and all eyes were on the side of the room where a line of men wearing colorful chuyos and playing pan flutes walked in a line toward the stage. The zampoñistas played while they danced around a man beating a drum. Christian leaned closer to me, his eyes never leaving the stage. When that act ended and the zampoñistas had filed back to what I assumed was the dressing room, the man on the stage invited the audience up to dance and the band started playing something very fast and very Latin.

  My feet started tapping under the table without my control and Christian turned a scared face toward me. “What is it?” I asked.

  “I never danced to this kind of music before. I might be really bad at it,” he said into my ear. “But shall we try anyway?”

  “Trust me,” Aloysius said. “No one will care. Just have fun. That’s the whole point.”

  I answered by pushing away from the table and leading him by the hand to the dance floor. We worked our way into the crowd and found a spot toward the middle. He might feel a little less self-conscious if we were surrounded by dancers and all eyes were not directed toward us. He looked at me expectantly, not knowing what to do, so I took one of his hands and placed it on my hip and started moving against him. We swayed back and forth, my legs on either side of one of his, his fingers gripping my hip as it moved back and forth against him. Turning on the dance floor, grinding against him, I noticed Christian wasn’t breathing. His hand had slid down my hip as I moved to the rhythm of the music and he now gripped my bare thigh. I wondered how much of my body was on display as we danced against each other, but as crowded as the dance floor was, realized no one could see. I also realized that I didn’t really care.

  His eyes sparkled as our bodies moved to the music and I felt the fluttering in my stomach and the sudden hunger in my soul. I want you.

  I looked up at him when I heard that but didn’t have a chance to respond as his wet mouth crushed mine. My fingers tangled in his hair and I pulled his face against mine, realizing we weren’t even moving anymore. I didn’t care. I’m sorry…I’m so sorry I doubted you, I thought, never taking my mouth away from his. Applause filled the room before he could respond. We parted and looked around, shocked. The music had stopped and the crowd had left the dance floor, leaving us alone, kissing while everyone watched.

  They’re clapping at us!

  I know…what do we do?

  Smile and walk back to the table…what else?

  Oh, my God! This is so embarrassing. He looked only at the floor as we walked.

  I guess we just became part of the entertainment…

  As we neared our table, we finally looked up. Aloysius clapped along with the rest of the audience and his amused look confirmed that he’d also enjoyed the show.

  “That was quite a show,” Aloysius teased when we returned to our seats and hung our heads in embarrassment.

  The announcer broke the applause by introducing the next act. As the dancers filed out of the dressing room in their elaborate costumes, the men in colorful costumes and the women in skirts so short you could see their black panties, Christian stiffened and sat straight as a board. “What?”

  He didn’t need to answer. I saw him too. Leading the line of dancers was the boy that had led us to the beach. His eyes were focused on us and his smile sent chills up my spine.

  ~ Seventeen ~

  “He’s only a boy,” I said to Aloysius as he unlocked the front door and we followed him into the apartment. He led us into the living room and we sank into the plush white sofas.

  “What does he have to do with the hunters?” Christian asked.

  “You’re right, Lily. He is only a boy but that has nothing to do with it. It doesn’t matter how old you are to have talents and start training in witchcraft. If he is the one that put the idea of following him into your head, Christian, then he most likely is a witch, or at least training to be one,” Aloysius explained as he stretched his legs out and rested his feet on the coffee table. “As far as who he is, I don’t know. I don’t remember seeing anyone that young with the group of hunters in the past, but then again, I’m not here much. It is possible that some of them have children.”

  “Don’t they ever bother you?” I asked, trying to make some sense of this.

  “We met many years ago, when I first bought my apartment and started spending extended periods of time here. We seem to have an unspoken understanding. I don’t bother them; they don’t bother me. I keep my identity as secret as possible from humans and they like that. I try my best to blend in where ever I go.”

  “So what are we supposed to do to avoid them?” I asked, thinking about how often Christian, as a new vampire, would need to feed.

  “Keep doing what you’re doing. Enjoy your honeymoon and be the tourists you’re supposed to be. As for feeding, try to stick to La Perla and Rimac, if at all possible,” Aloysius advised.

  “Why those areas?” I asked.

  “Those are areas that need cleaning up, if you catch my drift. No one there will mind a few missing vermin. The police can’t even keep up with them. They’d probably be grateful.” Aloysius crossed the room and slid the curtain aside, unveiling a floor to ceiling window overlooking the glowing nighttime city with the Pacific as a backdrop. The blackness of the ocean was speckled with a light here and there from what I assumed were ships. It looked as peaceful as a painting.

  Both La Perla and Rimac were areas I had heard of in the past but they were places I never ventured into. Since Ian was not opposed to killing innocent people to satisfy his thirst, we hunted in the more populated and tourist areas of the city. We frequented the bar
s at the most popular hotels, the parks, and the walks along the cliffs that overlooked the beaches. Some nights we even hunted at the theater or the opera. I walked over to stand by Aloysius and made the mistake of leaning toward the open window to get a better look. My head started spinning instantly as I leaned out. Aloysius chuckled and pulled me back with an arm around my waist.

  “Afraid of heights, I see.” He kept his arm around my waist.

  “Believe it or not, she is,” Christian answered.

  “How then do you manage to fly?” Aloysius asked, raising his eyebrows.

  “The times I’ve flown have all been times when I’ve had no choice,” I answered, thinking of the times Ian grabbed me and flew with me in his arms, like when he gave me the proposition to save Christian’s life. Either I leave with him and forget Christian or Christian dies. He flew with me in his arms then from Oregon to New York. When I realized I could actually fly myself, it was purely an accident. I was falling out of a tree. “I flew Christian away from captivity because I had no choice. He was too weak to walk far on his own and I had no access to a car. I can and will fly when I have to, but, believe me, I don’t have to like it.”

  Both men laughed but I ignored them, walking back to the safety of the sofa to sit by Christian.

  “It almost feels like they knew we were here. I mean, the boy, he was with a girl and they walked away. He came back after a little while by himself. That’s when he told me, in my mind, to follow him.” This time, Christian was the one to get up and start wearing circles into the area rug as he paced around the coffee table.

  “Do you think it was a coincidence that he was at the club tonight? I mean, what are the chances?” A low rumble under my feet made me yank them up onto the white sofa. Aloysius gripped the frame of the open window as the glass rattled. We looked at each other. Dead silence.

  “What the hell was that?” Christian asked. He had stopped walking and stood with his arms out, like a tightrope walker in a circus.

  “It was just a very small earthquake, nothing to worry about,” Aloysius explained and leaned to look out the open window. “It looks like no one outside even noticed.”