Woman King

Chapter 19

My first thought the next morning was that I needed to hit the books if I was going to have a meaningful relationship with William. My degree was in American history, not world history, and my education felt incomplete. The man I wanted to be with had walked across the western front and watched the dawn of Prohibition. While my education may have been extensive, to truly understand William, I would need to delve deeper.

    Luckily for me, my best friend had unlimited access to the library system. With a few strokes on a computer keyboard, Lily could locate any book I needed. I had texted her on the way over to make sure she was free.

    When I arrived at her office, she was sitting at her desk, reading her e-mail. I noticed she was wearing new eyeglasses, a pair of thick black rectangular frames that had become a fashion statement for the elite nerds of cities everywhere.

    "I like your glasses," I said as a way to pull her attention away from the computer. "You look like a very sexy East German spy."

    "Why, thank you," Lily said, fingering the frames with one hand while still clicking with the other. "I know they're a bit of a fashion cliché, but I like how they look." She turned away from her monitor and looked up at me. "What brings you to the Main Library today?" she asked. "I thought you were off to Palo Alto."

    "I am going to head down there for a few hours," I said, "But Levi's out of town, and after last night, I've decided I need to do some quick research."

    "Hmm," Lily said. "What happened last night?"

    "If you must know, the main thing is that I've been acting like a silly, moonstruck child," I said. "William is vastly more complex than I ever imagined."

Lily stood up from her desk and walked to my side. "I don't want to say 'We told you so,' but that is what Elsa and I were trying to tell you."

    I didn't reply. I was too busy sulking. I slumped onto the edge of her desk, burying my face in the crook of an elbow.

    "What did you find out last night?" Lily said, the alarm in her voice audible.

    Her concern caused me to laugh. "It's not what you're imagining," I said. "In fact, you'll be quite surprised to learn it's the opposite. I'm the one with the dark secret he doesn't approve of."

    "What?" Lily said. "Listen, let's get out of here and grab a cup of coffee. When we're done, I'll help you find whatever books you're interested in, or I'll drop them off at your house while you're on your way to Palo Alto." I followed Lily out, and we walked up Van Ness to a nearby coffee shop and ordered cappuccinos.

    "OK, now tell me everything," she said. "And start at the beginning."

    I sighed. "Like I was saying, William's life is much richer and more complicated than I gave him credit for," I said, sipping my drink. "I saw him as a handsome man in faded jeans who played in a band, but that's a one-dimensional biography. And he's not human. Maybe I could take a human man at face value, but William was born in 1830. It turns out those one hundred eighty-one years make quite a difference."

    "That makes sense," Lily said.

    I tilted my head back and closed my eyes as I tried to think about where to begin. "He was a Confederate soldier who was killed in battle, then reborn as a vampire. He was a citizen of Paris at the time of the World's Fair, and a volunteer ambulance driver during World War One . . . And that gets us to only about 1917."

    Lily was obviously delighted at my predicament. "Yes, I can see what you mean."

    "Wait," I said, holding up my hand. "I haven't told you the best part yet."