Page 8 of The Vampire's Mate

“I’m twenty-eight,” I say with a smirk. “I guess that makes me older than you, then.”

“I guess it does,” he says with a smile I can’t quite decipher.

“Moving on,” I say after clearing my throat. “Will you live forever?”

“I’m not technically alive, am I? My heart doesn’t beat. I only have to breathe to be able to smell things, not for the actual oxygen filling my lungs. All of my organs are frozen in time, except for my brain. It continues to learn and process, yet it will never degenerate like a human’s will. It constantly repairs itself.”

“Okay,” I say, quickly scribbling down the key points of that monologue. “Will you ever truly die? Can anything kill you?”

“You planning to take me out?” he asks.

“This is strictly academic, I assure you,” I say.

“I know,” he says. “And yes, we can be killed. I hope you don’t expect me to tell you how.”

“But—”

“I know you just want answers, but those answers in the wrong hands could mean trouble for my whole race. Others would take advantage, using that knowledge to become vigilantes who rid the world of us demons.”

I know he’s right. Men have used their power to subjugate and destroy those that make them feel threatened since the dawn of history. That doesn’t mean I’m not disappointed, though.

But I guess if I don’t know the real facts, neither will my readers. I decide to just move on.

“Can you fly?”

“Are you asking me if I turn into a bat?” he asks with a laugh.

“No, of course not.” Actually, kind of. “In some legends, vampires can levitate and fly without wings.”

He leans back to get more comfortable. “I can run as fast as a bullet, leaping over obstacles, climbing trees, cliffs, and buildings, and launching myself through the air for meters at a time. I suppose that could be construed as flying, and gets me where I’m going just as fast—if not faster—than actually soaring through the air.”

“I’d like to see that,” I murmur as I try to imagine it.

“You wouldn’t be able to track me with your eyes,” he says, hearing the low words.

Of course not.

“What about mind control?” I ask, getting into the stuff I really want to know.

“We can control the mind, in a sense. I can’t force thoughts on you or make you forget what you know, but I can control the part of your brain that directs your actions. So, for instance, if I wanted to make sure you never tell anyone about me, I can’t make you forget I exist. But I can command you to never speak of me, and you won’t be able to. I can’t make you decide to get up and go to your room, but I can make you physically get up and go. It’s the physical I control, not the mental. Does that make sense?”

I nod slowly. “Can all vampires do that?”

“To one extent or another,” he says. “Some are better at it than others.”

“And you?”

“I’m one of the best.”

“Show me.”

“Are you sure? It’s quite invasive. And makes you feel more than a little defenseless.”

I think about his warning, then give a short nod. “Just make it simple. Nothing embarrassing or debasing.”

“Okay,” he says, leaning forward to meet my gaze full-on. “Put your hand on your head.”

In a blink, my hand is on my head. I don’t know how it got there. I didn’t lift it, myself. I didn’t even have a moment to think about obeying the order before it happened.