I followed Peter’s directions and drove us to what turned out to be a tiny pub.
“You can’t drive for shit,” he mumbled under his breath as we left the car.
“It’s been a while, okay?” My ex-boyfriend had taught me, but I hadn’t driven since. “Isn’t it a bit early for this?” I asked, more to distract myself. Since I tasted Peter, his cinnamon scent had overtaken my nostrils completely.
“Never too early for a shot after being fed on,” he replied.
He knocked back four shots then chased them with a beer.
“Feel better yet?” I asked.
He glared at me. “I’ve been bitten by a human, watched you go into a little vampiric frenzy and almost kill someone, and then you licked me as if you wanted to...” His cheeks flushed red. “And, apparently, there are vampires and humans galore after us. What the fuck are we supposed to do now?”
“Well, we could get shit-faced drunk, or we could man up and deal with it,” I snapped back.
“Option A it is,” he said and ordered more shots. “Want one, Carl?”
“You can’t give him alcohol!”
“Why not? Look at the size of him. He can take it.”
“I dunno, it’s like giving alcohol to a kid or something. Stop it!”
“You really need to lighten up,” he said and downed another drink.
“What do we do now?” I asked him, trying to get him focused on reality.
“We drink. And if we’re smart, we forget all about things that go bump in the night. Even if you’re one.”
“We have to do something, Peter.”
“What we have to do is face facts. Life is shit, and then you die. Some of us sooner than others. And if you’re really unlucky, some psycho bitch will bite a chunk out of your neck.”
I tried to get him to focus—even catching him up on what Becca had said about the experiments in Spain, but he brushed it off. Two hours of constant moaning later, and he could barely stand. “That’s it, we’re going,” I told him when he knocked a glass into my lap.
“Spoilsport,” he muttered but followed me anyway. I hoped even he was fed up with his whining. Carl held him up long enough to make it to the car without toppling over.
“I’m driving, you idiot,” I said, guiding him away from the driver’s seat. “Both of you, in the back, now.” I felt like a harassed mother, something I would never be. In the car, I drummed on the steering wheel. Peter had lost it. He was supposed to be this big hunter or something, and he couldn’t deal with having his shoulder licked by a girl.
“My house,” Peter said, slurring his words. “Safe.” He closed his eyes and was soon snoring. It took me a long time to drive there. Not only did I get slightly lost, I was pretty sure a car was following us. I wanted to get it off our trail, so my driving grew even more erratic. Eventually, the car disappeared from the rear view mirror. I breathed a sigh of relief and tried to remember where exactly Peter lived. I wanted to be inside before anyone else came looking for me. I also needed to work out how to make sure Carl and Peter stayed safe if anything worse happened.
Both men were asleep when I pulled into Peter’s driveway. I decided to work on Peter first seeing as it was his house. I figured one of the keys linked with his car keys would fit his front door. I struggled to help him out of the car, but once he untangled his legs from under the passenger seat, supporting him to his front door was fine. I felt strong, part of the after-effects of drinking Becca’s blood.
