Burke and the Vampire by Edward Kendrick

Author:Edward Kendrick [Kendrick, Edward]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Published: 2019-01-21T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter 8

The moment he woke up, Reynaud knew he wasn’t alone in the house. Not that he was worried it was an enemy. He sensed immediately that it was Burke.

Why is he still here? Or here at all?

He was fairly certain he knew the answer. Burke hadn’t gone home as Reynaud had asked, and when he’d arrived at the house Antoine had let him in.

Now what do I do? Shower, I suppose, and get dressed. Feed, and then…He shrugged. Take it from there.

When he was presentable, casually dressed in jeans and a worn T-shirt, he went downstairs to the kitchen. Opening a small refrigerator concealed behind the back paneling in one of the cupboards, he took out a bag of blood, dropped his fangs, and began to drink.

“That’s curiously interesting,” Burke said from the doorway.

As Reynaud had heard him approaching he wasn’t surprised to see him there. He stopped long enough to smile at him before draining the bag. “Strange way to put it,” he said as he tossed the empty bag into a biohazardous waste container in one of the lower cabinets.

“There’s something almost sexy seeing you feed like that.”

That raised Reynaud’s eyebrows. “Sexy?”

Burke shrugged. “What can I say? It was. Now, I need to feed. I don’t suppose you have any eggs.”

“No, but we can go out to eat.”

“Nowhere fancy, though. I look like I slept in my clothes.”

Reynaud checked him out and agreed. “I’m comfortable the way I am, so what about the Gumbo Shop, although I doubt you’ll find breakfast at this hour.”

“There’s Big Killer, which has a great cheddar omelet Po-Boy. It’s not far from here and we can take whatever we get down by the river to eat. Or, I guess I can, since you won’t be eating.”

“That sounds fine to me,” Reynaud replied.

The walk took only a few minutes, during which Reynaud said, putting his arm around Burke’s shoulders, “You can take a break from searching. It’s not the weekend, and you aren’t armed, anyway.”

“Habit,” Burke replied with a small grin.

He did get the Po-Boy, and sweet tea. Then they walked down to the river, where, despite the relatively early hour and the preponderance of tourists, they managed to find a vacant bench in Woldenberg Park.

“Good?” Reynaud asked when Burke had made inroads into his sandwich.

“Right now, as hungry as I am, even bad fast-food burgers would taste good. To answer your question, though, it’s excellent.”

He continued eating while Reynaud leaned back, watching one of the riverboats go by.

“Did you ever take one, way back when?” Burke asked. “I know you said vampires are leery of being on the river.”

“When it’s a large boat, like that one, it’s safe enough.”

“That didn’t answer my question.”

“Yes, I have, and I enjoyed it. It was luxurious, with ornate furnishings, chandeliers, a salon with a piano player, everything one could want, if one could afford it.”

“Which you could?” Burke asked, cocking his head in question.

“I’m not poor, and I haven’t been for years. You should realize that. You’ve seen my house and you know I own the property.

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