Changeling (Book 1) Rated R

Chapter 27 Pt 2

I wasn't expecting that.

Of all the reasons he could give running through my head, that hadn't been one of them.

Suddenly, I didn't want to argue with him anymore.

It was exhausting.

"You're damn right I do." I took a seat in one of the metal chairs out on the patio, wishing I had a joint right about now. "But I'm not your responsibility. You don't owe me anything. Except...maybe a drink of that."

I pointed to the bottle of vodka lying open atop the round patio table.

It looked like he'd already put a good dent into it.

"You're not twenty-one."

"Neither are you."

"Actually, I'm a lot older than you think."

"Hmm, is that why you're so uptight?"

His eyes narrowed but he disappeared without a word into the room. I heard clicking sounds as he rummaged through the mini fridge.

Finally, he came back with two shot glasses.

I slumped back into the chair, relieved he wasn't going to make me fight him for alcohol too.

Christian sank into the chair beside me and leaned over to tip the vodka bottle into both shot glasses, filling them to the brim.

"Cheers." He said, lifting his glass as he waited for me.

They made a clinking sound when they connected.

I tipped my head back and chugged the bitter liquid.

It tasted like fire going down my throat but almost immediately it brought with it a soothing warmth that spread across my chest and stomach. 

"So, how old are you, really?"

He poured another shot for us.

While he did this, I could almost see the gears turning in his blue eyes as he tried to come up with a reply.

"Two hundred years old. Give or take a few months."

My mouth dropped open.

"You don't look two hundred years old."

"I'll take that as a compliment. Cheers."

We gulped down the next round of shots before I asked, "How is that possible? You don't look a day over nineteen."

"Close. I'm twenty. One human decade is the equivalent of one year to us."

"But—" I interrupted. "Aren't vampires supposed to be immortal?"

"Not us. Not Readers. When Soulsuckers, the first of our cursed kind were cast down to earth, they took human women as mates."

"And Readers were the result." I finished as I connected the dots. "Does that...make you half human?"

Christian shrugged.

We were going on our third shot. After I'd gulped it down, the effects of the alcohol began to kick in.

My mind buzzed.

My body felt warm and content, none of that bruised pain from the fight earlier remaining.

"In a way, I suppose. But both of my parents are Readers."

"Oh," I stated. "So you lied about your age too. Hm."

"I never told you my age." 

"I mean, yeah, but you also never told me you were two hundred freaking years old either."