"The Undead Kama Sutra" - читать интересную книгу автора (Acevedo Mario)

Chapter 7

Consciousness slowly returned. I felt weak and spent, like a castaway sailor surviving a storm. I opened my eyes and found myself on a bed in one of the cabins. Our concert to Osh#250;n echoed softly in my head and faded to silence. Judging by the angle of the sunlight streaming through the window, I figured it to be early afternoon.

A chalice crowded the bed. She slept on her side, her smooth back toward me. She was naked, as was I. A bedsheet covered our legs.

Red and blue blotches from bite marks dotted her back and along her neck under the edge of her short brown hair. The bruises looked as if someone had gone at her with a ball-peen hammer. As painful as the bruises looked, in reality the chalices wore them proudly, like hickeys.

Carmen, modestly clad in a T-shirt and black shorts, her hair tied into a frizzy ponytail, came through the front door. “Felix, you’re awake. Welcome back to the land of the undead.”

I sat up and clutched my very sore abdomen. “What did you guys do while I was sick?” The words rasped from my throat. “Use my belly for kickboxing practice?”

Carmen tapped her foot against a metal wastebasket by the bedpost. Maroon muck clung to the plastic-bag liner. “It’s from all your heaving.”

“How long have I been out?”

“Two nights.”

“No wonder I feel like I’ve crawled back from the world’s worst bender,” I muttered.

“It wasn’t a pretty sight.”

I pointed to the chalice. “And her?”

“The adaptation process makes you crazy with hunger. Chalices fight for the honor of providing sustenance.”

“What a sport.” I kissed the chalice’s shoulder.

She snored. The bedsheet slipped from her hip and exposed the back of her thighs. Bruises and puncture marks trailed between her legs. More hickeys.

I noticed rows of scratches along the sides of my back and peeled the long, narrow scabs. I also had deep bite marks on my shoulders. Apparently, the adaptation process involved a lot of jungle sex as well as fanging.

“Quite the smorgasbord we both had. Too bad I can’t remember a damn thing.”

Carmen motioned that I get up. I swung my legs off the bed and stood. I felt woozy. She gave my nude body the once-over.

I said, “Sorry, but at the moment I can only get my flag to fly at half-mast.” Normally anemic and translucent, my skin was an opaque hue of mestizo beige. The spider bite on my forearm was a fading blemish. “How did you find out about the pine spider?”

“From Antoine,” Carmen replied. “It’s a Seminole vampire legend. At least, they claim it was a legend.”

I poked at the bite, a pale spot the size of a dime, and expected the flesh to give easily, but it remained firm. “I feel like a defrosted turkey.”

“Then it’s time to bake.” Carmen took my hand and led me to the bright rectangle of light framed by the front door.

Carefully, on stiff legs, I shuffled beside her. The anticipation of feeling the sun’s warmth made my breath shorten. My kundalini noir coiled, nervous and uncertain.

“Any surprises, Carmen? The last time I tried one of your tricks I got sick as…”

“A motherfucker,” she said. “Not this time.”

I pulled my hand from her grip. “Don’t lie.”

“I didn’t lie. It’s not my fault you didn’t ask the right questions.” Carmen continued outside through the doorway. The sunlight washed over her.

I paused in the threshold of the shadow and slowly extended my hand toward the sun. Conditioned by years as a vampire, I tensed to recoil at the lash of searing pain. Instead I got a warm, gentle caress. I put both hands out and enjoyed the sensation. I tried to scoop the sunlight. I cupped the palms of my warmed hands against my face. No more Dermablend. No more makeup. No more stares at my vampire complexion.

Freedom.

I wanted more sunlight and leaned away from the shadow. The warm beam pressed against my skin. I blinked uncomfortably. Carmen handed me a pair of sunglasses and I put them on.

My skin soaked up the heat. “Do we sunburn?”

“No one has yet,” Carmen replied. “Seems our rejuvenation powers counteract it.”

“Is this permanent?”

“Unfortunately, no,” Carmen replied. “Might last a few months or a few weeks. Depends on the vampire.”

“And then what?”

“You get another bite from our little friend, the spider.”

I turned to let the sun kiss more of my body. At the present, putting up with the agony of another bite seemed worth it. “Does the Araneum know about this?”

“There are a lot of things the Araneum doesn’t know,” Carmen said. “I’ll tell them when I’m ready.”

“You’re the head of the Denver nidus. You have responsibilities.”

“I head the nidus. I’m not a hall monitor.”

I twirled my arms and laughed like a giddy child. “If the Araneum learns about this and that you’ve kept it from them, they’ll have a fit.” I, in turn, had secrets from the Araneum that I couldn’t reveal to Carmen. But at this moment I didn’t care. I only wanted to revel in my nakedness and share the exhilaration. I ran between the cabins. “Look at me.”

No one appeared. I barged into a cabin. Nothing. I ran into another cabin. Again nothing. The resort was deserted.

Disappointed, I trotted back to Carmen. Streaking time was over. I found a pair of beach trunks slung over a clothesline and slipped them on. I asked her, “Where is everyone?”

“Antoine’s leading an Iyengar Yoga class on the other side of the island. Jolie’s teaching a kung-fu samba workshop.” Carmen flicked her hand to the dense brush. “The rest are here and there.”

She waved that I follow her to another cabin. She opened a nylon briefcase on a table and pulled out a thick sheaf of paper bound with a rubber band. She handed the papers to me. “You asked about The Undead Kama Sutra? Here it is.”