Matthias exchanged looks with the other two. He was on his own.
“Because,” Matthias said, “I’m not normal.”
“Tell me something I don’t fucking know, Matthias!” Anger had to be a good sign, right? And she was still calling him by his first name.
Matthias smiled at her.
“I’m a vampire,” he said.
She obviously waited for a punch line that wasn’t coming. “And?” she finally asked.
She looked at the other men. They weren’t laughing.
“You know, this stopped being funny before it ever started,” she said.
“No one’s kidding, Taz,” Tim said. “We all are.”
She arched an eyebrow at him. “Vampires.”
He nodded.
She stared at him. “Vampires.”
He nodded again. She looked at Matthias. “Vampire?”
Matthias nodded. She looked at Albert. “Vampire?”
He nodded.
Back to Tim. “Vampire?”
He nodded.
She looked at the table, put her hands on it for balance, and cautiously stood. “Well gentlemen,” she said slowly, eying them. “This has been real, and it’s been fun, but it hasn’t been real fun. If you don’t mind, I’m not sticking around for the second act.”
“Anastazia!” Tim sounded stern, looked her in the eye, and took control of her again.
A moment later she found herself back in the chair, wondering how she got there. Tim knelt in front of her and held her hands again. “Please, listen to me. You must believe us.”
She nodded. “Sure. Okay. Whatever you say.” She ran through the options in her mind. 5150 psychiatric hold? No, that was California. What’d they call it here in Florida? Baker Act, that was it.
She could get them Baker Acted, and that would mean a hold for evaluation. She had Matthias’ power of attorney, and she could do Robertson because he was family. Albert would be a problem—
“Anastazia,” Robertson said, interrupting her thoughts. “We are not crazy, and we do not need to be Baker Acted.”
She’d only thought that. How did he know?
“You can’t be vampires,” she said, lamely, “because I’ve seen you all eat and drink and go outside and drive cars!”
Matthias laughed at that one. “Vampires don’t drive cars?”
“They don’t in the movies. I think.”
He laughed again. Tim sent him a warning look. “The movies are just that, Taz, movies,” Tim explained. “Most of what popular culture knows about vampires is a myth created by Hollywood, not real life.”
“Because vampires are so misunderstood. Yeah, I get that. Just like the Tooth Fairy gets screwed while Santa Claus gets all the glory.”
“Anastazia!”
“That was actually pretty funny,” Matthias said.
Robertson turned on him. “You are not helping, Matthias.”
“I killed the demon. I say that counts as helping.”
Taz laughed despite herself. “I would say that counts. If it really happened.”
Tim threw his hands in the air and motioned for Matthias to take over. “Fine. You try to help her through this. I’ve only known her all her life and you…haven’t.” Telling her now of Matthias’ ten-year crush might not be the wisest choice.
Matthias hesitated, then sat in Tim’s vacated chair.
Then he looked her in the eye and smiled.
Oh, Jesus, that smile! It took her breath away and started a deep, longing ache inside her. No one ever made her feel like that. What were they talking about again?
Matthias waited for her eyes to settle and focus on him, his voice so soft she had to carefully tune her full attention.
“Anastazia,” he whispered. A delicious shiver ran up her spine and spread through her very core. “Are you all right?”
She slowly nodded, unable to pull her gaze from him.
She didn’t want to.
“I know this is difficult to believe. We understand you’re upset. We never wanted you to find out like this. This wasn’t the plan. But I have to protect you.”
“I can protect myself.”
“Of course you can.”
“Don’t patronize me, Matthias.”
He paused. She didn’t miss the satisfied smirk Robertson shot Matthias. “I’m not patronizing you, Anastazia. There is a lot for you to learn. You must get past this initial shock, and then we can get started.”
Taz fought the urge to lean over and kiss him. He wasn’t wearing cologne. He never did, but he smelled like bath soap and laundry detergent, his deodorant, and something else that made her want to reach over and…
She blinked. Holy crap, what is wrong with me? “You can’t convince me you all aren’t seriously whacked.”
Matthias nodded. “I know.”
She looked at them again. “You’re all crazy.”
He shook his head. “We’re not crazy. This situation, yes, is crazy.”
Robertson used a handkerchief to pick up the knife and carefully handed it to Matthias. She noticed they kept the cloth between their flesh and the weapon. Matthias showed it to her, and when she reached out to touch it, he pulled it back. “No. Never touch a demon’s knife with your bare hands.”
She looked. Made of metal, it resembled stainless steel, but darker. Several large, maroon stones were embedded in the rough handle, which was wrapped with a strange leather cord. It radiated a horrible feeling, a sick heat.
She turned away, unable to look at it. “No.”
Albert took it away. Even though he hadn’t actually touched the metal, Matthias wiped his hands on his pants. “There are a lot of things we must teach you. I can’t begin to explain it all.”
“What about his other…stuff?” She motioned to the briefcase and papers on the table.
“I’ll get them,” Robertson said, clearing the table.
“It won’t hurt him to touch that?”
“It’s just their tools,” Matthias explained. “The forged items you cannot ever touch. Or the demon itself, until you’re strong enough to fight.”
She still had trouble processing all of this. But she felt a little calmer.
“Vampire?” she asked him.
He nodded.
“Let me see your teeth.”
He suppressed a laugh and opened his mouth.
“You don’t have fangs.”
“Hollywood myth.”
She looked at Albert and Robertson. “Vampire?”
Matthias nodded.
She fell quiet for a long moment. “I don’t feel so good.”
“That’s understandable,” Matthias said. “This has been quite a shock for you.”
She watched them, and they didn’t interrupt her thoughts. Finally, in a soft voice that didn’t sound like her, she said, “Why are you doing this to me? Why are you putting me through this?”
Matthias wanted to reach out and hold her. He also knew if he did, it would send her running. Just to be this close to her and have the secret out, despite the circumstances, was a relief.
Tim, sensing her mood, stepped forward again. “Taz, we never wanted this to happen,” he said from behind Matthias. “This isn’t how we wanted you to find out. We were going to ease you into it, reveal things slowly, and once we had shown you many things, put a name to it.”
“You go out in the daytime. I spent three fucking days in a car with you,” she said to Matthias.
He nodded. “Hollywood lied. Imagine that.”
He sensed her choke back a reluctant laugh.
He smiled. “Anastazia,” he said, “just let us explain—”
“So, I’m going to be some sort of sick blood feast for you?”