Free Alien Romance: Alien Heart (Scifi Paranormal Alien Abduction Invasion Cyborg Romance) (New Adult Mystery Adventure Shifter Warrior Short Stories) by Emma Taylor

family if we can work out the other thing.”
    The Count jumped in. “He’s told you we’re vampires.”
    Andrei tapped my arm. “Do you still have that piece of wood?”
    I nodded.
    He said, “Show it to me.”
    I opened my hand. “I have to accept what you told me. I saw it happen. I have the proof of it right here.”
    The Count said, “A moment ago, Georgiana said that this is a time for plain speaking. It is. You have a choice before you. I agree with my wife about your suitability for my son. You would make a good addition to our little group.” He leaned forward. “Your experience with criminals. Have you had to deal with violence?”
    “Constantly. We have at least one fight a week between our students and one of our teachers is attacked a few times a year. Obviously, I don’t take part in quelling the fights. I direct our guards in the tactics of re-establishing peace and normalcy.”
    “Excellent. You saw our enemies. They’re aggressive. If you decide to marry Andrei, you’ll have to deal with that.”
    “I can do it.”
    “Now, to the other question. Here’s the situation. As you may have heard, vampires don’t age. You may marry Andrei and remain human. We would put ourselves between you and harm to make sure you weren’t changed against your will. However, you would age normally and die. You may choose to be a vampire as we are. In that case you wouldn’t age and would remain with Andrei for the rest of eternity. Or until you die in battle. Do you understand?”
    “Yes.” I paused. The next question was hard to phrase. “I have been a decent woman my entire life. My understanding is that vampires behave much like sociopaths. You don’t fit that description. Tell me about a vampire and good and evil.”
    To my surprise, they laughed. Andrei held his hand out to me. “I’m sorry. We don’t mean to make light of your concern. It’s just that we have to deal with it so often. Let me explain.”
    He kept holding my hand. I love the contact.
    He continued, “There are good and evil vampires just like there are good and evil humans. We tend to be more extreme in our commitment to one side or the other. There are very few gray areas in our world.” He paused to collect his thoughts. “There are other differences. Food, for example. We’ve gone to dinner at restaurants. You’ve seen me eat and be satisfied. Four times a year, we must have human blood or we die. That means we have to kill someone. Long ago, we realized that there are many humans who deserve to die, many who would be found guilty in court and be executed, but they can’t be brought to justice. We step in and do what a court would do. For the last forty years, we have used Africa as our... well, I guess you could call it a jurisdiction. We patrol the land and identify mass murderers. They die at our hands and we drink their blood. Does that bother you?”
    It was an easy decision. I shook my head. “It doesn’t. I’ve read news accounts of the atrocities that take place in Africa. Horrible.”
    The Count said, “I’m glad to hear that. Our enemies are evil. The Janov clan has adapted to the evil in this world and developed gifts we don’t have. The chief one is hypnosis. They do it with a glance. Humans, especially human women, are so susceptible that one look, and they are lost to us. The Janov clan uses women as playthings. They collect many of them and take them to their cities. They’re incredibly cruel. They will often control the body of the woman but leave her consciousness intact. She can see what she’s doing and what’s being done to her and loathe it but be unable to stop it. One out of every fifty missing women in Romania is a victim of the Janov group. On a lighter note, as you’ve seen, we have some gifts. We can move as fast as they can, and we have control over physical objects. We can’t be hypnotized. It seems to balance out. Neither of our groups has been able to eradicate the other.”
    I said,