around in your own filth all day. It’s a good life.” Gabe grinned.
“Then you get killed and made into sausage.”
“Yeah, but then you come back again, right? So what’s the problem?”
Harvey shook his head, but he smiled. “You’re hopeless.”
“What are you going to come back as? Vampire bat?”
Gabe dodged the kitchen towel flying at his head and shoveled more food into his mouth to hide his grin. He enjoyed yanking Harvey’s chain too much. It had been five days since Dill’s rescue, during which time Gabe had been back and forth between his hotel and Harvey’s place. They’d given their account of the events to Stan and Ray. The two older vampires had been much more accepting toward Gabe. However, Gabe had a vague impression that they and Harvey had still been withholding something from him.
When the doorbell rang, Harvey went to answer it. He came back with a large black envelope.
“What is it?” Gabe asked.
“I don’t know. It’s for you,” he replied, handing it over.
Gabe looked at it, confounded. His full name was written on it with silver ink in elegant script. He turned it over—only to find a red wax seal on the other side. Two letters, VA, also in cursive script were stamped into it. Gabe slid a knife under the flap of the envelope and slit it open, leaving the seal intact. He found a single card inside. Gabe pulled it out and read it.
“What does it say?” Harvey asked impatiently.
“It’s an invitation,” Gabe replied, handing the card over to Harvey, who snatched it and read it quickly.
His eyes went big. “Fuck me till I’m blue in the face, this is from Victor Augustine!”
“So?” Gabe had never heard the name before.
“He’s big cheese. Big vampire cheese. The rumor is that he’s six hundred years old at least.”
“Have you met him?”
“No. Not many do. And he wants to see you tonight. Shit.” Harvey looked anxious.
“Should I be worried?” Gabe asked.
“About what? Oh, that. No. If he wanted you dead, you’d be dead already. Victor is one of your just-do-it kind of guys. I can’t imagine, though, why he wants to see you.”
“What if I don’t want to see him?”
Harvey glared at him with wide-eyed shock. “Are you crazy? One doesn’t turn down an invitation from Victor Augustine. It would be like snubbing Vito Corleone; it’s simply not done.”
“Or you might find a horse head in your bed?”
“You’re so not funny.” Harvey snatched Gabe’s plate and tossed it in the sink. “Get dressed. Hurry! We need to get you something decent to wear.”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” Gabe protested.
“You have the fashion sense of a drunken marsupial. I’m surprised the fashion police haven’t taken your gay card away. C’mon, chop-chop.”
They arrived at the address provided in the invitation a whole fifteen minutes early. Harvey made them wait around the corner for ten minutes.
“Arriving too early is as rude as being late,” he proclaimed.
Gabe wore dark gray slacks, dress shoes, and a crisp white dress shirt with a fancy designer label in it. However, he’d refused to put on a tie or a jacket. Five minutes before the appointed time, they finally walked up to the unremarkable doorway. Gabe didn’t miss the discreet security camera above. Harvey pushed the intercom button and stated their identity.
A minute later, a redheaded, buxom woman of short stature opened the door. She beamed at them with a full set of pearl-white teeth and enthusiastically introduced herself as Ellie. She reminded Gabe of a fancy show pigeon. If it weren’t for that tickling sensation just under his skin, Gabe would have never figured her as one of the undead.
“You’re Mr. Vadas, then,” she said, dimpling.
Gabe concurred, and she led them into a lounge-slash-waiting room. It was outfitted with expensive-looking modern furniture, complete with a desk next to a heavy wooden door.
Ellie turned to Harvey. “I’m sorry,
“Then you get killed and made into sausage.”
“Yeah, but then you come back again, right? So what’s the problem?”
Harvey shook his head, but he smiled. “You’re hopeless.”
“What are you going to come back as? Vampire bat?”
Gabe dodged the kitchen towel flying at his head and shoveled more food into his mouth to hide his grin. He enjoyed yanking Harvey’s chain too much. It had been five days since Dill’s rescue, during which time Gabe had been back and forth between his hotel and Harvey’s place. They’d given their account of the events to Stan and Ray. The two older vampires had been much more accepting toward Gabe. However, Gabe had a vague impression that they and Harvey had still been withholding something from him.
When the doorbell rang, Harvey went to answer it. He came back with a large black envelope.
“What is it?” Gabe asked.
“I don’t know. It’s for you,” he replied, handing it over.
Gabe looked at it, confounded. His full name was written on it with silver ink in elegant script. He turned it over—only to find a red wax seal on the other side. Two letters, VA, also in cursive script were stamped into it. Gabe slid a knife under the flap of the envelope and slit it open, leaving the seal intact. He found a single card inside. Gabe pulled it out and read it.
“What does it say?” Harvey asked impatiently.
“It’s an invitation,” Gabe replied, handing the card over to Harvey, who snatched it and read it quickly.
His eyes went big. “Fuck me till I’m blue in the face, this is from Victor Augustine!”
“So?” Gabe had never heard the name before.
“He’s big cheese. Big vampire cheese. The rumor is that he’s six hundred years old at least.”
“Have you met him?”
“No. Not many do. And he wants to see you tonight. Shit.” Harvey looked anxious.
“Should I be worried?” Gabe asked.
“About what? Oh, that. No. If he wanted you dead, you’d be dead already. Victor is one of your just-do-it kind of guys. I can’t imagine, though, why he wants to see you.”
“What if I don’t want to see him?”
Harvey glared at him with wide-eyed shock. “Are you crazy? One doesn’t turn down an invitation from Victor Augustine. It would be like snubbing Vito Corleone; it’s simply not done.”
“Or you might find a horse head in your bed?”
“You’re so not funny.” Harvey snatched Gabe’s plate and tossed it in the sink. “Get dressed. Hurry! We need to get you something decent to wear.”
“What’s wrong with my clothes?” Gabe protested.
“You have the fashion sense of a drunken marsupial. I’m surprised the fashion police haven’t taken your gay card away. C’mon, chop-chop.”
They arrived at the address provided in the invitation a whole fifteen minutes early. Harvey made them wait around the corner for ten minutes.
“Arriving too early is as rude as being late,” he proclaimed.
Gabe wore dark gray slacks, dress shoes, and a crisp white dress shirt with a fancy designer label in it. However, he’d refused to put on a tie or a jacket. Five minutes before the appointed time, they finally walked up to the unremarkable doorway. Gabe didn’t miss the discreet security camera above. Harvey pushed the intercom button and stated their identity.
A minute later, a redheaded, buxom woman of short stature opened the door. She beamed at them with a full set of pearl-white teeth and enthusiastically introduced herself as Ellie. She reminded Gabe of a fancy show pigeon. If it weren’t for that tickling sensation just under his skin, Gabe would have never figured her as one of the undead.
“You’re Mr. Vadas, then,” she said, dimpling.
Gabe concurred, and she led them into a lounge-slash-waiting room. It was outfitted with expensive-looking modern furniture, complete with a desk next to a heavy wooden door.
Ellie turned to Harvey. “I’m sorry,
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