consequence is swift and irrevocable.”
That didn’t sound good, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what the consequence might be. I took a swallow of Coke, waiting for him to tell me more.
“Sabors fall in love with the vampyr who comes to them, but only for the time they’re together, until the vampyr moves on. Sometimes it’s after a day. Sometimes it’s after a couple of days. It all depends on how much blood the vampyr needs. They leave us once they’re done feeding.”
“Do we stay in love with them?”
“Oh, no. When the next vampyr comes to us, we’ll fall just as madly in love with her.” He studied me thoughtfully. “Him.”
I felt myself flush. “Um…. How often do they… uh… come to us?” I couldn’t bring myself to even think the word “feed.”
“We’re given about two months to recover between visits, although it can be longer than that.” He crossed to a window and stared out of it. “That factor in our blood that they need to have? We need to have it drawn. It can become painful for us if we go too long without a visit from one of them.”
Didn’t that suck? And oh, great. I’d just made a pun.
I disregarded it—I had other things on my mind. “How do they see us? I mean, are we just a buffet to them, or do they see us as a person, or….” Or maybe did they love us back?
Uncle Phil seemed to know what I was asking. “The vampyr doesn’t fall in love in return.”
“What, never?”
“Well, they aren’t supposed to. I’ve never heard of one doing so.” He didn’t answer my other questions, and I realized that was answer enough.
“Maybe he did, but they just didn’t want sabors to know?”
“Don’t set yourself up for a fall, Tyrell. No matter what we… you… want to believe, vampyrs won’t love us.”
“Well, that sucks.” And the heck with the pun. “Not only don’t I get to have sex for the rest of my life, but I don’t get someone to love me.”
“Your father loves you. So does the rest of the family.”
“You know what I mean. I’ll be some vampyr’s chew toy for the rest of my life.”
“It will be a long life.”
Like that was going to compensate for being passed from one vampyr to another. Six a year, for the rest of my life? No, that was no compensation at all! And how was I going to deal with them touching me?
“Do they… do they still come for you, Uncle Phil?” He was pretty old, at least forty.
“Not for a long time.”
“But you said it hurt if they didn’t feed from us.”
He rolled back his sleeves. Deep cuts scarred his arms, and I felt nauseous. He must have seen how sick I looked. “No, they weren’t attempts at suicide. We can’t… sabors don’t have the option of an easy out. This? It was the only way I could get any relief.”
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
He covered his arms, and when he met my gaze, his eyes had taken on a wistful expression. “My vampyr…. Her name was Vidalia.”
I bit my lip in an effort to keep from asking, “You mean like the onion?” That would have been cold. “What happened?”
“She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen, younger than the other vampyrs who’d come to me, and I fell in love with her as soon as she entered my home, just as I expected to, but afterward, after she left… I hungered for her.” He looked out the window. “I’d go around for days with a hard-on….”
“Uh… too much information, Uncle Phil.”
“Sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe she sensed it. I don’t know. I do know she came to me more often than any of the others. And then one night, we made love while she was drinking from me. I knew we shouldn’t—there’s a reason why penetration isn’t permitted—but I couldn’t resist her. She nearly drained me. After that…. Well, I was no longer a virgin.”
“And that vampyr dumped you?” The bitch!
“No! She…. It wasn’t her fault.” There was aching loss in his words, and it almost broke my
That didn’t sound good, but I wasn’t sure I wanted to know what the consequence might be. I took a swallow of Coke, waiting for him to tell me more.
“Sabors fall in love with the vampyr who comes to them, but only for the time they’re together, until the vampyr moves on. Sometimes it’s after a day. Sometimes it’s after a couple of days. It all depends on how much blood the vampyr needs. They leave us once they’re done feeding.”
“Do we stay in love with them?”
“Oh, no. When the next vampyr comes to us, we’ll fall just as madly in love with her.” He studied me thoughtfully. “Him.”
I felt myself flush. “Um…. How often do they… uh… come to us?” I couldn’t bring myself to even think the word “feed.”
“We’re given about two months to recover between visits, although it can be longer than that.” He crossed to a window and stared out of it. “That factor in our blood that they need to have? We need to have it drawn. It can become painful for us if we go too long without a visit from one of them.”
Didn’t that suck? And oh, great. I’d just made a pun.
I disregarded it—I had other things on my mind. “How do they see us? I mean, are we just a buffet to them, or do they see us as a person, or….” Or maybe did they love us back?
Uncle Phil seemed to know what I was asking. “The vampyr doesn’t fall in love in return.”
“What, never?”
“Well, they aren’t supposed to. I’ve never heard of one doing so.” He didn’t answer my other questions, and I realized that was answer enough.
“Maybe he did, but they just didn’t want sabors to know?”
“Don’t set yourself up for a fall, Tyrell. No matter what we… you… want to believe, vampyrs won’t love us.”
“Well, that sucks.” And the heck with the pun. “Not only don’t I get to have sex for the rest of my life, but I don’t get someone to love me.”
“Your father loves you. So does the rest of the family.”
“You know what I mean. I’ll be some vampyr’s chew toy for the rest of my life.”
“It will be a long life.”
Like that was going to compensate for being passed from one vampyr to another. Six a year, for the rest of my life? No, that was no compensation at all! And how was I going to deal with them touching me?
“Do they… do they still come for you, Uncle Phil?” He was pretty old, at least forty.
“Not for a long time.”
“But you said it hurt if they didn’t feed from us.”
He rolled back his sleeves. Deep cuts scarred his arms, and I felt nauseous. He must have seen how sick I looked. “No, they weren’t attempts at suicide. We can’t… sabors don’t have the option of an easy out. This? It was the only way I could get any relief.”
“I’m… I’m sorry.”
He covered his arms, and when he met my gaze, his eyes had taken on a wistful expression. “My vampyr…. Her name was Vidalia.”
I bit my lip in an effort to keep from asking, “You mean like the onion?” That would have been cold. “What happened?”
“She was the most beautiful creature I’d ever seen, younger than the other vampyrs who’d come to me, and I fell in love with her as soon as she entered my home, just as I expected to, but afterward, after she left… I hungered for her.” He looked out the window. “I’d go around for days with a hard-on….”
“Uh… too much information, Uncle Phil.”
“Sorry.” He ran a hand through his hair. “Maybe she sensed it. I don’t know. I do know she came to me more often than any of the others. And then one night, we made love while she was drinking from me. I knew we shouldn’t—there’s a reason why penetration isn’t permitted—but I couldn’t resist her. She nearly drained me. After that…. Well, I was no longer a virgin.”
“And that vampyr dumped you?” The bitch!
“No! She…. It wasn’t her fault.” There was aching loss in his words, and it almost broke my
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