"Like wisdom teeth, you mean?"
"Exactly like that," he agreed. "Some newer vampires never get fangs."
Savanna made a face. "That would just suck."
He lifted a brow. "Why would that suck?"
"Because that would be like being Superman, but without the x-ray vision."
Kaige chuckled. 'I never thought of it like that, but I guess you're right."
"Besides," she said. "The whole fang-thing is sexy."
He leaned forward in his chair. "You think so?"
Savanna caught her breath at the suddenly intent look in his dark eyes. "Don't you?"
He regarded her for a moment, and then gave her a slow smile. "Actually, I do."
Her pulse started to race so fast that she was sure he must be able to hear it, but whether he could or not, she'd never know because at that moment, his cell phone rang.
Kaige let it continue to ring for a moment, but then pulled it out of his pocket. He glanced at the call display then back at her. "I have to take this," he said.
Savanna nodded. She licked her lips, listening to his conversation with half an ear. It was probably a good thing his phone had rung. Another minute of gazing into those soulful dark eyes and she might have crawled across the table and onto his lap. Even as she blushed at the thought, she couldn't help but wonder if maybe Kaige had been using some kind of vamp mind control on her, mesmerizing her with his eyes. Definitely not, she decided as she let her gaze run over his broad shoulders and muscular chest. It was pure masculinity that drew her to him, not any form of mind control.
Across from her, Kaige flipped his cell phone closed and shoved it back into the pocket of his jeans. "Sorry about that. It was my teaching assistant. He's covering my classes for me," he explained. "So, where were we? Fangs, right?"
She nodded, her pulse quickening as she wondered if he'd pick up where they'd left off. But to her disappointment, he didn't.
"So, the fangs are just a minor side effect of the mutation," he said. "The other part you asked about, the immune resistance response, has a more far-reaching, long-term effect. It turns out that in the process of absorbing the red blood cells from blood that we ingest, we also receive large quantities of white blood cells and other things in the blood, like platelets."
Savanna thought about that for a moment. "That actually makes sense. The white blood cells control our body's immune response. By upping the WBC count, our immune system must be more effective at fighting off infections. And the increased platelet count would aid in faster blood clotting and make for less scarring. It would also explain why you don't look two hundred and seventy-eight."
Kaige seemed surprised that she knew so much about blood. "That's right, actually. We're not immortal, but our immune system does a good job of keeping us young for a long time." He looked at her appraisingly. "You seem to be picking this up pretty fast."
She smiled. "I'm a hematologist. I work with blood at one of the labs near the hospital."
"Jensen will be interested to hear that," Kaige said. "He's a doctor, so he's always looking for people to help him out with medical services."
Her brow furrowed. 'There you go mentioning medical services again," she said. "If we don't get sick and we heal so quickly, then why do we need a vamp hospital?"
He took a swallow of coffee. "Mostly for secrecy's sake," he explained. "If a vampire gets in an accident and is really hurt, we don't want them going to a regular hospital. It might cause a problem if human doctors take a close look at us. Even something like a CAT scan would reveal how different we are. Which is why we take care of our own."
She nodded. "That makes sense."
Kaige regarded her thoughtfully for a moment. "I have to say, you're really taking this well. I would have thought you'd be freaking out about now."
Savanna laughed, her face coloring. "Actually, this is a little embarrassing to admit, but I've always had a thing for vampires," she said. "Why do you think I was hanging out at that Goth club?"
He chuckled. "And here I struggled with whether I should turn you into a vampire or not that night."
She looked at him in surprise. "You did? Why?"
He shrugged and looked away. "Not everyone is necessarily thrilled with the idea of becoming a vampire. Some people react quite badly, in fact."
The way he said the words made her wonder if he'd been one of those people. But thinking that it might be something he didn't want to talk about, she changed the subject.
"So, when do I get my lessons on how to use my powers?" she asked.
His brows drew together. "Powers?" he asked in confusion.
Savanna nodded eagerly. "Yeah. You know...powers. Like flying and shape-shifting. Oh, and levitating and teleporting, too. And I can't wait to learn how to read minds."
When Kaige only stared blankly at her, Savanna's heart sank. "You mean we don't have any powers? I can't fly or turn into a bat or anything?"
He gave her a small smile. "Sorry," he said. "We don't have any powers like that. But during the turning, certain parts of your body were optimized for...well...even though we don't have to do it anymore...hunting. You'll find that your hearing, eyesight, and sense of smell have all improved, and they'll continue to get even better over the years. You'll be stronger and faster, too, so don't feel too bad. But as far as flying or turning into a bat goes, that only happens in the movies."
She lifted her chin. "How do you know? Maybe no one bothered to teach you."
He lifted a brow. "Right, that's probably it," he said. "They just forgot to teach me. Of course, it's just a coincidence that in two hundred and forty years as a vampire, I've never noticed any of my friends turning into a bat and flapping off into the night."
She gave him a pout. "I think you're just laughing at me now."
Kaige chuckled. "Maybe a little," he admitted. "But there's a lot I still have to teach you, and since I sired you, it's my responsibility."
"What kind of things?"
He shrugged. "Mostly how to hide what you are and how to blend in with humans. That can be even more difficult in our modern information-age. With the IRS and all the various databases of information, it can be dangerous if someone notices that you've been paying taxes at the same address for a hundred-and-fifty years. I'll also teach you everything you need to know about feeding." He was silent for a moment. "Look, speaking of that, and I don't want to pressure you, but it would be easier to do all of those things if you spent the next couple of days here."
Savanna chewed on her lower lip as she considered his suggestion. She'd already spent the past several days at his condo anyway, so was spending a couple more there really that big of a deal? She certainly felt safe with him. Besides, it would give her a chance to explore this connection she thought was going on between them. Who knew? Maybe she might get a chance to nibble from his wrist again. And maybe a few other delectable parts of his body, too. As her imagination began to run wild with that idea, she was suddenly glad that vampires couldn't read other people's minds or she'd be blushing even more hotly than she was now.
Realizing that Kaige was still waiting for an answer, she nodded. "Okay, but I'll need to get some clothes and other things from my place."
"No problem," he said. "I can drive you over. That will give us a chance to stop by the local Counsel administrative offices and the clinic that Jensen runs. That way you'll know where they are."
As they were finishing breakfast, Savanna glanced out the window. It looked like a beautiful,sunny San Francisco day. That made her frown.
"I assume that I don't have to worry about bursting into flames when I go out in the sun," she said. "But then why did I get sunburn after only a few minutes outside the other day?"
"That's one of the inconvenient side-effects of our condition," he told her. "Our skin is extremely sensitive to sunlight. We'll get sunburn unless we wear a hell of a lot of sunscreen. There have even been some cases of vampires getting trapped outside who have died from exposure. That's what led to all of the folktales about vampires not being able to go out during the day. Even now, there are a lot of vampires who still don't like to go out in the daylight. Which explains why most vampire-run establishments are open at night and closed during the day."
That made sense, Savanna decided. It was a good thing she'd always been a night person.
After breakfast, Savanna went upstairs to change and put on sunscreen. It wasn't difficult to find, since Kaige had a whole linen closet full of the stuff.
They stopped by the clinic first, where she met Jensen Flynn. Tall, blonde and handsome, he was completely charming.
"It's good to see you up and about," he said with a smile. "Kaige was very worried. He hardly left your side."
Savanna looked at Kaige in surprise, but he only shrugged sheepishly. "Not all humans make it through the turning. I wanted to be sure you were okay."
Though he said the words casually, she thought she detected something else in his tone and it warmed her all the way down to the tips of her polished toes.
As Kaige had predicted, Jensen was very interested to hear that Savanna had a background in medicine.
"I'm always looking for experienced vampires to work with me. And the blood distribution center could use your expertise as well," he told her as he showed them around the facility. "Maintaining blood quality is always a problem for us. I definitely think you could help us out with that. No pressure, just think about it."
Savanna was impressed by the clinic. She had expected it to be small and minimally staffed, but instead it was large, full of high-tech equipment, and had people running around all over the place. Halfway through their tour, Jensen's cell phone rang and he apologized for the interruption before moving off to the side to put it to his ear. When he returned several minutes later, he gave them a smile.
"My wife," he explained. "She wanted to remind me to pick something up at the store on the way home."
Savanna blinked. "Vampires get married?"
The blond-haired man nodded. "Some of us," he said. "If we're fortunate enough to find a mate we can see ourselves spending the rest of our very long lives with."
"Your wife is a vampire, too, then?"
Jensen gave her a smile. "Humans tend to notice when they start to age and their mates don't."
Her brow furrowed. She hadn't thought of that. When it came to being a vampire, she hadn't thought about quite a lot of things apparently.
"So, can you get married in a church?" she asked as they began walking down the hallway again.
Beside her, Kaige chuckled. "Savanna is still trying to reconcile the fact that we're not the soulless monsters the movies make us out to be."
Savanna glared at Kaige, her face coloring with embarrassment. "You're making fun of me again."
He only grinned.
Jensen laughed. "Don't let Kaige fool you. Ask him to tell you about the first fifty years or so he spent as a vampire sometime," he said. "But to answer your question, yes, those of us who are religious get married in a church."
She nodded. "So how exactly do vampires meet? Do you have vamp personals or something?"
That brought another round of laughter from the men.
"No," Jensen said. "The vampire community is small, so we get to know one another fairly well. Though, to tell the truth, you're not the first to mention the idea of vampire personals. My wife has wanted to open up a dating service for vampires for quite a while."
Before they left the clinic to go to the Counsel's local administrative offices, which were in the next building over, Jensen reminded her about the job he'd offered her. She smiled and told him that she'd think about it.
The offices resembled those of most government agencies, Savanna thought as Kaige led her down the hallway and into a room. There was a lot of stone and the floors were highly polished; all in all, it was very industrial looking. Once inside, he explained to the female vampire behind the counter that Savanna was newly turned and was there for orientation. Savanna had to admit she was a little nervous about that part, but she felt better with Kaige there to guide her through the registration process.
The first thing she had to do was fill out paperwork. There was the standard stuff like name, date of birth, social security number, address, telephone number, email, and occupation, but after that, it got tricky.
"They want to know if I was bitten and turned into a vampire against my will," she said to Kaige. "I was bitten against my will, but if you had asked me if I wanted you to turn me, then I would have agreed, so what should I put?"
"Say that you were attacked by a rogue vampire and that I turned you to save your life," Kaige said.
She did, only to frown at the next question. "Were you informed about what becoming a vampire entailed before you were turned, and did you sign the implied consent form?" she read aloud, then looked at Kaige, her pen poised above the page.
"Write, see above," he told her.
Savanna did, then moved on to the next question. What blood type do you prefer? It was followed by a list of the different blood types. Too bad Kaige's name wasn't listed somewhere on there, she thought with a naughty smile. She much preferred the taste of his.
She looked at him. "What's your blood type?"
"A positive," he said with a smile, obviously knowing why she asked.
Savanna marked the block for A positive, and then continued. After filling out the forms, which seemed to be endless, she went into another room to get her picture taken, then have her blood drawn. Becoming a vampire hadn't changed the fact that she was squeamish about needles, but again, she felt better with Kaige there.
"Why do they need my blood anyway?" she asked him after the lab-tech had left the room.
"The Counsel keeps a record of every vampire's bloodline," he explained as they walked back down the hallway to the main registration room. "While you're from my bloodline because I'm your sire, your blood can also be traced to Jensen, who is my sire, as well as that of the vampire who sired him, and so on and so on."
"Wow," Savanna breathed. "So, they can actually isolate each vampire's blood separately?"
Kaige nodded. "Pretty amazing, huh?"
"I'll say. I might just have to take Jensen up on that job he offered me," she said as they walked back into the main registration room.
Savanna wasn't sure what else she had to do as part of the registration process and was relieved when the woman behind the counter told her that she was done. She was more than a little surprised, however, when the woman handed her a thick vampire handbook before she and Kaige left.
"Aren't they afraid that this might get into the wrong hands?" she asked Kaige.
He held open the door for her. "Not really," he said. "It's not like anyone is going to think it's real."
Savanna supposed he was right about that. As she thumbed through the pages while Kaige drove, she couldn't quite believe it was real herself. Not only did it give detailed information about the Counsel, but it had an entire section on what a vampire should do if he or she felt the urge to bite someone.
Contact your sire right away and explain the situation, the book said. If you are not able to reach him or her, then immediately contact the hotline at the number provided.
Guess the vamp who attacked her hadn't read the handbook, Savanna thought wryly. Then again, if he had, she would never have met Kaige.
"If the Counsel has all these rules in place, and all vampires drink bagged blood, then why did that vampire in the overcoat attack me outside the club the other night?" she asked.
Kaige glanced at her as he made a right-hand turn. "Every once in a while, a vampire will turn rogue and decide he prefers the old ways," he said. "But don't worry. He's not going to come after you again. And even if he wants to, the Counsel will find him before he can."
"I'm not worried," she said with a smile. "I know you won't let him get near me again."
He looked surprised by her words for a moment, but then he grinned. "No, I won't."
When they walked into her apartment twenty minutes later, Savanna noticed that the light on the answering machine was blinking. She considered ignoring it, butthen decided that Michelle, her friend from work, might have called to check on her. Tossing her purse on the couch, she walked over to the answering machine and pressed the play button.
She'd been right. The first call was from Michelle. The other two, however, were from her mother, reminding her yet again about coming to dinner. Savanna groaned.
"Let me just call my mom and tell her that I won't be able to make it," she said, picking up the cordless phone.
From where he was standing by the couch, Kaige frowned. "Why?"
"Because having dinner with my mom and dad is never just about us getting together for some quality time," she said. "It's always about her trying to set me up with some guy."