He seemed all right so far from what she could tell. He was certainly good‐looking, and
those eyes of his! She'd never seen golden brown eyes before. They were almost as
beautiful as Victor's.
Her gaze slid to Harper. He was a handsome man too with his golden hair and silver‐
green eyes. All four of the men in the car were attractive, but of the four of them she
would have said Victor appealed to her the most. She couldn't say why and didn't care
to ponder the matter. Besides, they'd reached the grocery store… finally.
And Edward was driving past, she realized with horror. Sitting forward, she shrieked,
"Here!" Then cried out in surprise as Edward stomped on the brakes and sent
everyone slamming backward in their seats.
There was a moment of startled silence in the car, and then Edward turned slowly in
his seat and cast a cold glare her way. "Ms. Black. In the future, you might try to avoid
screeching in the driver's ear whilst giving directions. It can be quite alarming."
"Sorry," she said meekly. The man could be quite scary when he chose to be.
"She gets the point, Edward. Just pull in here." Victor's voice was harsh and
commanding and Edward responded to it, though not before she saw annoyance
flicker across his face.
Releasing the breath she'd been holding once he'd stopped glaring at her, Elvi took a
cautious breath and offered Victor a grateful smile, then turned to glance
questioningly at Alessandro when he tapped her arm.
"You like me, no?" he asked with a grin when she met his gaze.
Elvi stared at him in confusion, and then followed his gaze when he glanced down,
realizing only then that when Edward had slammed on the brakes, she'd grabbed the
man's knee and was still clutching it for dear life.
A surprised squeak slipped from her lips, and she immediately released his knee, only
to realize she was clutching Victor's with her other hand as well. Reclaiming that
straying hand too, she crossed her arms over her chest and stared straight ahead at
the A&P sign like it was a beacon in the dark.
"Cheesecake, chocolate, ice cream," she muttered under her breath. Nothing else
would matter once she had those.
Chapter Eight
"She was serious. The emergency is cheesecake?"
Edward sounded incredulous as he watched Elvi hover indecisively over the cake
counter.
"She hasn't eaten in five years," Victor muttered distractedly as he stood at her side,
eyeing the cakes with interest.
"Why not?" Harper asked.
"She didn't know she could," he answered absently.
"What?" Alessandro sounded horrified. "Who is your sire, bella? I would talk to him
about this. To leave you in such ignorance…"
Elvi ignored him. She had no idea what Alessandro was nattering on about with such
outrage. She had no idea what a sire was and couldn't be bothered to sort it out at this
point. Didn't he know she needed food?
Elvi had nearly fallen flat on her face in her rush to get out of the car. Only a steadying
hand from Victor had kept her upright. Gasping a " thank you" she'd charged for the
store, rushing ahead and leaving the men to trail her or not as they liked. It was late
enough that the store was nearly empty, which meant lots of carts were all lined up at
the front waiting for her.
Elvi had tugged one free and pushed it to the back of the store at a near run, drawing
the eye of the few people stacking shelves. They'd glanced her way, and then done a
double take when they saw who it was. Elvi had managed a smile for each in passing,
knowing that what was startling them was that she was shopping… like a real person.
Elvi had arrived at the counter well ahead of the men, but now as they reached her,
she still stood hemming and hawing over her choices. This was a serious issue. Her first
food in five years. She hoped it tasted the same.
That thought drew her up short. Blood tasted different to her now. What if food did?
While she'd lived, blood had been a tinny, nasty thing, but now it was yummy. What if
foods that had seemed so yummy when she was alive, now seemed flat and tasteless
in death?
A test was necessary, she decided. She wasn't going to drag home food she couldn't
even enjoy, but would be left to stare at in mournful depression. She needed to try
something and see what it tasted like, but what?
"Elvi?" Victor sounded concerned as he moved to her side. "Are you all right?"
"I need something," she muttered.
"What do you need?" he asked, and she couldn't help but notice Victor sounded rather
cautious, as if he were approaching a possibly rabid animal… or a madwoman.
She was too distracted to care. Besides, he obviously didn't understand. She was a