Thirst

NOT FOR A VAMPIRE

Juanita sat in silence, taking in his words, the reality of the situation and then finished her martini in one go.

"How did you know I ate steak on Sunday, Samil?”

Samil didn't answer. “You may need a refill."

He beckoned towards the waitress for another martini.

Juanita just scoffed. "You've been watching me."

He still didn't answer.

"How many of you are there? In London?" She decided to ask a different question.

"A few," Samil said effortlessly, his face a perfect mask. "We keep to ourselves."

"A few as in... twelve?"

Silence.

"... A hundred?"

He folded his arms.

"I'm not answering that."

"So it's definitely more than a hundred."

"I didn't say that."

"You didn't deny it either."

"I also didn't confirm it."

Juanita sighed dramatically.

"You know, for someone who kidnapped me because I 'deserve answers,' you're giving remarkably vague answers."

"Aren't I answering your questions?"

"You forgot to mention the terms and conditions."

"There are things I cannot tell you."

"Cannot or will not? You know give toxic masculinity a bone and keep things from me to uphold your vampire male superiority over me? You know the weak, naive, sheltered human girl whose head is filled with naive fairytales,” she referenced their first literature class together. “Because, of course, you know everything, and I'm just a bird brain, that'll believe everything you say and not question what you tell me. Not so?" Her tone dropped with sarcasm and when she saw his jaw clench, she took pleasure in it that she was unnerving him. Provoking him. "Or maybe you've been lying about a bunch of stuff that I've just nodded and accepted.”

Samil met her eyes. "You mistake restraint for deception."

Juanita rolls her eyes. “Oh I'm sure.”

"If I told you everything tonight, you'd spend the rest of your life wishing I hadn't. Juanita, there are things you simply cannot know. It has nothing to do with…"

"What about your parents?" Juanita cut him short — a power move — and her vision came to her memory unsolicited.

The man her father beheaded…he looked like Samil. Or rather, Samil looked like him.

Maybe her father was a vampire hunter?

Samil’s posture hardened instantly. The smooth, cool demeanor vanished, his jaw clenching tightly as his gaze flicked toward the floor.

"They died in 1995."

The raw, bitter grief radiating off him was palpable. It felt physical.

Juanita felt a sharp pang of empathy in her chest, it felt like a betrayal of her logical angry mind.

“And so the predator shows vulnerability," she said.

Another martini arrived.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked if it's a sour topic," Juanita said after the waitress left. She sighed.

"It's fine," Samil said, his voice hoarser than before. "I was very close to them. They were…everything. And yes, predators can be vulnerable." He cleared his throat, deliberately shifting the weight off his past. "What about your parents? You mentioned your father is fiercely protective."

Juanita let out a humorless, complicated sigh, leaning back in her chair. "I grew up completely sheltered. I'm an only child. My parents…I love them so much, and I know they love me. They would literally do anything to keep me safe. But my whole life, I've felt like I was locked in a beautiful velvet cage. And now..." She looked down at her hands, where the faint transparent lines had temporarily dimmed. "Now, I feel like the people I've known my entire twenty-one years…I don't actually know them at all. I don't understand how I can have these…these powers. I don't know who I am."

Samil watched her closely, a dark, heavy secret lingering in his eyes. "I don't know either.”

He got up from his chair and leaned against the railings.

She looked at him and her eyes darted down to notice a man laughing downstairs while a pale woman gently brushes fingers across his neck.

She certainly didn't look like she was contemplating the life of that man.

Juanita shook her head, trying to clear the fog of confusion and continue with her questions. "And what about the sun? That day in the alley, you were burning. If the sun kills you, how were you even remotely around in the daytime?"

"When a vampire ages past four hundred years, the sun naturally loses its power over them," Samil explained. "Obviously, I am nowhere near that age. For younger vampires, our coven uses a rare elixir that allows us to stealth under the daylight. But it doesn't last long, and that day, I had stayed past the hours it allowed."

Juanita's eyes widened slightly as she remembered how violently his skin had been burning —sizzling if you will. "Why would you do that? It looked so incredibly painful, Samil. You could have died."

Samil stepped away from the railing, closing the distance between them until he was standing right over her chair. He looked down at her, the intensity in his gaze returning tenfold. "Because I was watching you."

The figure...

The rose...

It was all him.

Haunting her.

Juanita felt her breath hitch, but she immediately tried to deflect the sudden heat in her chest with defensive humor. She snorted, rolling her eyes. "Right. Of course. I have a grandpa stalking me. And you've been watching me, don't use the word “was” like you did and then stopped."

She ate a cherry and sipped her martini.

"Juanita."

He said her name in a voice so low, so raw and laden with gravity, that the breath completely left her lungs.

"I am drawn to you," he continued, stepping closer, his presence utterly overwhelming. "To your blood. To everything you are."

She stayed quiet, frozen in her seat, just looking up at him as he spoke.

"Our kiss at the party…it was…" Samil swallowed hard, his unyielding composure cracking for a split second. "It consumed me. It meant everything to me. I cannot stop thinking of you, Juanita. It’s like you’ve completely bewitched me. I know I cannot be the only one feeling this pull. You know what you’re feeling. I know what you’re feeling."

Juanita tried to find her ground, letting out a weak, mocking scoff. "Right. You can read my mind."

"I can't," he countered immediately.

She blinked, startled. "What do you mean you can't? You just said..."

"You are the only mind I cannot read, Juanita," Samil admitted, his voice dropping to a fierce whisper. "From the very first day I saw you, your mind has been a total blackout to me. You intrigued me because I couldn't see into you. Everything I feel towards you is real."

"Samil, I..." She stammered, the heavy silence stretching between them as her heart hammered a frantic rhythm. Her mind screaming at her — run. He could kill you. You cannot trust him.

"There is a reason you came with me tonight, Juanita," he pressed gently, leaning down slightly.

"Want to finally admit that you mind f****d me?" she snapped defensively.

"You came here of your own free will," Samil whispered, his face inches from hers. "I didn't make you do anything. Why can't you just admit that you feel something for me?"

"I loathe you," she shot back, her voice trembling. "That's something."

"Do you?" Samil murmured, his dark eyes boring straight into her soul. "Do you really?"

The sheer, unhinged intensity of his gaze was too much. Juanita had to look away, her chest heaving as the walls of the VIP lounge seemed to close in on her.

"I can't do this, Samil," she let out tiredly, burying her face in her hands. "All of this…everything that has been happening over the past two weeks has just been too much. I am exhausted. I am tired. I am so f*****g confused, and I just…I need to breathe. I need to think, because absolutely nothing makes sense right now. My normal life went from zero to sixty in a single second, and I haven't even processed the fact that I have magic, let alone…let alone whatever this is. It's too much. You are too much right now, and I just can't. I can't, Samil."

The frantic, desperate exhaustion in her voice hung heavily in the air. She needed space. She needed time to ground her reality before it completely shattered.

The silence between them stretched for a long, agonizing beat. Then, slowly, Samil reached out and gently took her hand.

As his fingers wrapped around hers, Juanita noticed the slight, lethal sharpness of his nails. His hand was freezing cold against her skin, but strangely, the moment their fingers intertwined, an inexplicable, deep warmth flooded through her veins, calming the erratic buzzing happening inside of her — probably from her magic.

"I understand," Samil said softly. He looked down at their joined hands, his expression remarkably gentle. "I am going to respect that. I sincerely apologize for my behavior tonight, and for forcing you out of your room. I will give you all the space and time you need. I will wait until you are ready."

Juanita looked up, meeting his soft, solemn eyes. "I'll wait forever if I have to," he added.

A small, weary breath escaped her lips. "Forever is a very long time, Samil."

"Not for a vampire," he murmured.