Page 58 of Vampires of Eden

I shrug. “The fresh air will do me some good. I don’t mind a little rain. It’s fine, I promise. I can do it in two trips.”

“I’ll help.”

Both Kathryn and me look behind us and Daniel is standing at the screen inside of the house. He opens the door and stepsoutside. “I can carry the boxes?” He goes over to the flattened stack and lifts them by the string, testing the weight. The heft of his braid falls forward like a rope thrown over his shoulder.

“Nooo Danny, I’ll do it,” Kathryn insists. “If you watch the pot on the stove, then I can go with Alexander?—”

“Kat,” he says, smiling politely. “Let me challenge myself sometimes, alright? I could use the work-out.”

I have no skin in this game, so I don’t say anything. If Daniel wants to try, who are we to discourage him or stand in his way? She and Roland are always discreetly fussing over him—carrying things on his behalf or assigning him the least labor-intensive tasks. Leoni does this, too, but she’s better at giving him space to breathe.

I don’t know why his health is this way and I don’t ask questions. Of course, I want to know, but it isn’t my business. Plus, I’m pretty sure he’d snap at me if I even dared to broach the subject—like he did when I asked why he stopped playing the piano. He evaded my question and threw a bunch of ridiculous scenarios at me. It was weird.

Daniel is… I don’t know how to describe him, but I enjoy talking to him. These conversations we have are like nothing I’ve ever experienced with another vampire. Not even Raphael. Daniel asks me personal, thoughtful questions and helps me to see things I’d otherwise neglect. He’s patient and listens intently.

I appreciate that I can be open with him, but I don’t think it goes both ways.

Kathryn throws her hands up. “Alright, suit yourselves. Lunch should be ready in about thirty minutes. I think Roland will be back from the market by then.”

The bucket filled with glass has a handle, so I take hold of that with one hand, then grip the tops of the two garbage bags with the other. The weight isn’t too bad. I look over my shoulder at Daniel. “Shall we go?”

“Yup.” He lifts the boxes, holding them wide across his bodyand with both hands. We move down the steps and around to the front of the house, heading for the main road.

“I was thinking,” he says once we’re on the dirt path of the driveway. “We could watchBuffythis weekend, if you’re free?”

“Sure. I don’t have anything planned on Saturday, other than a video call with my parents, I think. I’ll check with Raph to make sure.” A sudden gust of wind throttles my back, jostling and blowing the weight of the bags and challenging my grip. The rain smells closer now.

“Do your parents know that you come here?” Daniel asks, making his voice louder against the wind. “That you’re renovating the house and volunteering at the village markets with Leoni and me.”

“Nope. My father probably wouldn’t care, but my mother…” I shake my head. “It’s not that I think these activities need to be kept secret. It’s more so that I’d like to avoid a fight.”

“Un-princely habits?”

“Exactly that—according to her, anyway.” I’m surprised he remembered me saying that.

Just as we’re nearing the end of the long driveway and the main road comes into view, lightning strikes with a loudcrackand a brilliant flash of silver overhead. Like the glint of a sharp knife it illuminates everything around us.

Me and Daniel pause because the woods go dead silent. That is, until a colossalboomrumbles the ground underneath our feet and electrifies the air around us.

I turn to look at him and both of our eyes are wide. Without a moment’s delay, the rain comes down. At first, it’s a couple heavy drops between us. A dot on his forehead that causes him to flinch and look up. Another on my shoulder, like the weighted tap of a finger.

Then, it’s truly torrential. Fierce buckets pour down and over us and the sound is deafening. It falls so hard that it seems to be raining both from the sky and from underneath our feet on the ground.

“Hurry!” I rush toward the main road and drop my load on the curb. The rain water soaks my hair like an unwelcome shower. Dripping in my eyes and ears. Daniel is farther back, so I go and meet him to grab the boxes. He’s getting completely soaked too as he hands me the stack. Strands of his dark hair are plastered on his pale cheeks and forehead like ink from a broken pen.

Moving quickly, I set the boxes beside the trash bags and bucket. But when I spin around to head back toward Daniel, I slip. The next thing I know I’m face-down in the dirt and mud. I mean literally, I’m doing a plank, except I couldn’t even manage to catch myself with my hands. Full-on prostrate and with my face in the mud. Shaken, I quickly try to get up, only to slip again. This time catching myself on my knees.

On the second attempt, I manage to stand to my feet and messily wipe my face. Daniel approaches me in the chaos, shouting as I look at my hands and the front of my clothes—all covered in mud.

“Are you alright?” he asks hysterically, yelling over the rain.

“I think so? Here.” My jacket is soaked and partially muddy, but I quickly shrug out of it and lift it over Daniel’s head because he’s visibly shivering. “Areyouokay?”

“Y-yeah…” he says, sputtering. I think he’s coughing, but I can’t tell because of all the godforsaken rain hitting every surface around us.

“I can carry you back to the house?” I offer. This can’t be good for his health and I can make it there quickly if I put him on my back.

Daniel’s pale eyes are utterly appalled. “W-what? No!”