Page 43 of B Negative

Just like she had countless times in the compound.

Only I was too wrapped up in my own shit to see it.

Fuck.

“Thank you, Sunny,” I said quietly and went off to await the book delivery.

“Ya think maybe Sherrie will deliver the next batch of books?” B asked, flipping the pages of his copy of Vampire Lore: Fact vs. Fiction.

I glanced at the towering pile of books behind him, all neatly stacked on a wheeled library cart. “Why don’t you focus on the books we already have?” I said with a laugh.

“Yeah, yeah. You’re right. Sorry.” He refocused on the page in front of him and so did I. “Well, it’s just that—”

“Just ask for her number, B. It’s not a big deal.” I grinned at the big security guard whose eyes had nearly bulged out of his skull the moment Sherrie came in wheeling her cart.

“Oh, believe me, I intend to. I was going to ask whether it was appropriate to do so.”

He had a point. Julian would probably hate the idea of his top security guard fraternizing with a tower vamp. So, I tried to think about the issue diplomatically. The way Julian might. The way a queen should.

“I’m sure if you put something in writing stating that you won’t share any compound secrets with her, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Nice. My other question is, what exactly are we looking for in these books? Titus told us what was going on with the king. And you’ve pretty much solved it by keeping up appearances in public. Unless you were serious about wanting to finagle Sunny out of her mate bond.”

“I was not.” Mostly. “I’m looking for exactly how much Julian is at risk as well as any and all vampire related info that I didn’t get from my maker. I don’t want to put him at risk again.”

B shoved his book away. “I see. You need a crash course. Vampires 101, so to speak.”

“I guess?”

“I’ve tried,” Sunny offered. “It’s difficult parsing out the parts of your culture that might be foreign to someone else.”

B rubbed at his chin. “Well, sure it is for you. You grew up with it. But I was made, just like Eden was.” He rubbed his palms together. “Now, let’s see, where to begin.” He sat back, pondering for a moment. “Actually, you already know more than you think, just from your own lived experience. You know we can tolerate the sun provided we’re well fed. Garlic is a sham. And that we need to eat.”

“That’s not quite accurate,” Sunny interjected.

“I thought as much. It’s the willing donor thing, isn’t it?” I asked.

“Exactly. When blood is offered to us freely by humans, it sates us more fully, nourishes us more completely. We lose the desire to ingest food because the blood is so satisfying.”

I nodded along, unsure I ever wanted to give up tasting food but definitely interested in getting a power up.

“Where do we fit within the supernatural community?” I asked.

“You mean like a hierarchy?” asked B.

I nodded. “Who’s the king of the supe mountain?”

B and Sunny shared a glance. “We are,” they said in unison.

“But it’s not because we’re stronger than any of them alone.” Sunny said. “If the witches wanted, they could refuse to cast for us. Refuse to provide us potions and spells and take one of us out with their power. But they don’t because we pay them extremely well.”

“The same holds true for the wolves, sort of,” B added. “We’re faster than a wolf shifter, but they’ve got us beat with brute strength. We usually steer clear of each other because of the not so distant past, but if it came down to it, we’d just buy the land they own and force them out. They know it too.”

“So, we’re only on top because we had more time to accumulate wealth?”

“Yeah, pretty much.”

That little tidbit really irritated me.