The Rules of the Red - 2nd Edition |✓|

Chapter Ten, Part Three - The Vampire's Gift

With the deal done and the stock exchanged, Tidus and I took our leave from the museum in the company of Shira and Mr. Foster. But once we reached the first floor I fell back and joined Shira, who up to this point had been walking alone.

"Um, Shira, could I ask you something?" I said softly.

"Please do," she replied, her voice courteous and grave.

"When Mr. Foster said you have the Seeing Eye and that you can recognize people for what they really are... Well, I was just wondering-how accurate was his claim?"

She smiled knowingly. "I am never wrong, if that is what you mean. I know where this is going, but are you sure you wish to know?"

I hesitated, but only for a moment. "I'm sure."

"You are Wolf, down to your very core. Yet you also have a Humanness that others resent. Don't heed them. Humanity is beautiful, embrace it. However..." Shira stopped walking. "Something else hovers about your aura-something other-but what it is, and whether it is good or bad, is not for me to say. That is something you must discover, on your own terms."

"Ok. Well, that doesn't sound so terrible." I bit my lip. "And what about Tidus?" I said in a low voice. "What do you see when you look at him?" I caught his eye from across the room. I knew he could hear perfectly well what we were saying but I didn't care. I wanted to know. I had to know.

"Mmm, that one. He has the eyes of a charmer and the mouth of a dead poet. But your friend's insides are all... twisted up." Shira gave me another one of her funny little smiles. "There's monster in him and plenty of it-even more than you're willing to give him credit for..."

* * *

Tidus and I returned to our hotel room, tired, but triumphant. And if what Shira had said bothered Tidus, he didn't mention it. Before bed we stood at the bar as he poured drinks-straight rum with a few cubes of ice. I was drained, but the very first taste set me on fire.

"You know, you saved a man's life tonight," I said.

"Well, I didn't do it on purpose." He took a seat on one of the bar's stools.

"Ha-ha. Tidus, why didn't you tell me that you can use Glamour on Humans? Or that your blood can heal? "

"Why would I?" Already he looked irritated. "Do you know what the Humans would do if they found out Vampire blood could heal the sick and the dying? There'd be chaos and destruction. And Vampires would become lab rats- nothing more than experiments for the Humans in white coats." Tidus chugged his glass and got a refill, looking jaded and Human-tired.

"But you could help so many people. Think of all the good that Vampires could do..."

"For once could you try thinking less like a Human? Earth is over-populated as it is. If we healed every Human in the world we would destroy the planet, Naomi."

"What about the mind control?" I remained patient, ignoring his bad temper. "Is that real too?"

"Glamour. But yes, it's similar to mind control. All Vampires have the ability to use it, but the older the Vampire the stronger and more effective it becomes."

"And this 'Glamour'... can it be used on other Supernaturals? Like Werewolves for instance?" I thought of Ethan and how he'd left so abruptly the night he'd followed me. He'd acted like he was under a spell, just like the bellman who'd seen my Wolf's eyes peering back at him.

Tidus looked as if he were about to speak, but a sharp ringing cut through the moment. He fished his phone from his pocket and glanced at the screen.

"It's Claudia." I observed his relief with suspicion. "I should take this..."

I left the room to give him his privacy. I didn't have to wonder what his answer would've been. I had a feeling I already knew.

* * *