Struck (A Vampire Novel) ✔

Thirty-Four

“I know I should be used to the looks by now, but… I’ve never been so hated for things I didn’t do,” I told Jacobi in a hushed voice, even though he hadn’t asked. “I’ve never been hated for things I did do, either…”

“The sooner you learn to enjoy the fact that people hate you, the better life will be for you,” He responded before leaning back in his seat lazily. “I get a sense of satisfaction when someone shows their hatred towards me. A glare here, that’s good. But when someone tries to murder me and fails, that’s the best.” I remembered how Vincent almost killed him out of his hatred for him.

“What if everyone hated you?” I inquired, but my mind was beginning to relax and ignore the glares in my direction. Jacobi released a small smile at my question. I watched his face transform under that amusement from that constant void or anger to that of an appealing and not-so-frightening man.

“I would be pretty impressive then, don’t you think?”

“Yeah. Hitler-impressive,” I muttered, trying to resist the urge to smile as well.

“Not everyone hated Hitler. That’s the point.” A man appeared at the table suddenly, standing in wait for a moment. Jacobi didn’t take his eyes off me, but addressed the man. “AB negative. She’ll have a glass of water.” The man promptly disappeared. I hesitated, staying quiet for a moment after the man left, but suddenly curious despite myself.

“AB negative is your preference?” I asked, my face heating at how silly the question sounded. It still felt strange to talk to a vampire about anything vampire related, especially their taste in blood types.

“I don’t have a blood type preference. It’s a hit or miss, but I’m luckier with the AB negative,” I didn’t understand what he was explaining, so I frowned in confusion. “Your nose crinkles when you’re confused. I knew someone who did the same thing.” I was startled by the sudden change in subject, but my thoughts were interrupted when the man appeared with our drinks. I absently asked for whatever food they had available. When he was gone, Jacobi addressed me again.

“Most vampires have a blood type preference, or maybe a human type preference say… some vampires may like vegetarians more or alcoholics. Environmental things can change the way a human tastes,” He explained to me, twisting the glass in his hands absently. “My tastes have more to do with a human’s soul. It isn’t common for vampires to taste a human’s spiritual life force in their blood, but I was made by Eve. It gave me some… different abilities.”

I was suddenly very much intrigued by our conversation. “Can you tell me about Eve? I know she was the first vampire and the leading Royal. She was the leading figure in creating the society your kind lives in now. From what I’ve heard, she was obviously well-loved by many vampires. But I was wondering about… well, what she was actually like?”

Jacobi took a drink from his glass slowly, watching me carefully. I felt like maybe I had stepped a line and become too curious. After all, this was some kind of fake date and my life was still on the line. In the end, I was still a vampire hunter and I was asking questions about the first Royal. Not that it would be any harm to tell me; after all, Eve Raene was dead now. Before he could answer my question, the man appeared with a plate of spaghetti which I eyeballed in excitement. Once we were alone again, Jacobi began to speak.

“When I met Eve, she was a strange girl, uniquely beautiful. A lot of the men in my village thought she was a witch. If you had met her, you’d understand why. She was powerful. Even humans could tell that by looking at her. She was passionate about her kind, was fair, dangerous, but she never abused her power,” Jacobi narrowed his eyes suddenly, “A lot of the Royals now are cocky assholes. She kept them in order. Now they just go around not helping anybody. Darsana’s the only decent one left.”