Chapter 47 - Not Avarice But Just Greed

The sender was someone with a nickname WaitingForMyHeart. For all the times a vampire could get stuck in, this one, judging by the sappy nickname, got caught in 2007. The message itself, though, was as serious—and short—as they got.

[I'm very interested in purchasing your merchandise and would like for our representatives to meet to discuss the price and the delivery. Name the time and the place. I'm sure that I can pay you the item's worth and more.]

Excitement flooded me, only to change immediately into apprehension. It wouldn't be new for vamps to lie—the previous client wrote something similar, but he was more interested in me than in the coffin. This one…

Before I could decide on it, I had to find JJ. I stuffed my phone in a pocket and rushed to the office.

He was there, just like when I came home earlier. Instead of ledgers, though, he now had a Wikipedia page opened; but his face was turned towards me with an expression of curiosity and concern.

"You stomped so loudly, for a moment I've been afraid you fell down the stairs, ma chèrie." A smile on his face let me understand that JJ was joking. "Did something happen?"

I shook my head and slowed my breath to a normal speed. "Someone wants to buy the coffin."

Emotions flickered on JJ's face as I walked to the second office chair and plopped down. Pleasant surprise, confusion, understanding, concern. It was a marvel to watch the way his animated features moved.

But even with how expressive he was, I knew he could read me much better than I him.

"You have second thoughts, ma chèrie?"

I pursed my lips and nodded. "You told me that this can be a trap. Hell, even the first buyer turned a switch on me!"

JJ turned sideways in his chair so he was now fully facing me. "There are always risks of a foul play, ma chèrie. No risks, no reward. And the higher you rise, the higher they will be."

His cat-like eyes pierced me with the wealth of experience hidden within, so much that I couldn't find words to respond to him immediately. Then, a wide smile split JJ's face, and that centuries-old look softened, filled with humorous sparks. "Vampires can be dangerous, but when you live for centuries, the wealth you can amass… Just imagine how much they can be ready to pay."

Oh, that was easy to do, especially when he said it in his enthralling voice. My name wasn't Avarice, but I had some good old greed in me, I wouldn't deny it. I grinned in anticipation, but then my smile turned sly.

"Well, if you are an example, JJ, then not a lot."

He chuckled at that, beaming without restraint, and a moment later I joined him.

"I had special, very unfortunate circumstances… you can't put me at fault for them, ma chèrie. You aren't that cruel!" JJ put his hands to his chest and stared at me in mock outrage.

"Don't blame the victim, huh? Well, well, well, I might think about it," I said, playing a harsh mistress before we both dissolved into chuckles again.

Then I grew serious again. JJ was right about risks, and while I still had doubts that this particular risk was worth it, for now I squashed them.

"Alright, JJ, let's give that emo-vamp a time and a place."

We settled on a nice (according to reviews; I hadn't been there before) Italian restaurant. It was on a neutral territory (in other words, one that didn't belong to either JJ or WaitingForMyHeart), and on Friday evenings was packed enough that I had to make reservations. Crowded places made me feel safer, which was a plus. Whether they would make me actually safer was another question.

"Won't the owner of the territory be unhappy with some other vamps making deals on his territory?" I asked JJ as I sat, ready to hit the 'send' button.

"No. It's not a breach of etiquette as long as only non-vampires involved. Of course, that means that I will have to escort you under glamour…"

I snorted. "Something tells me you do that often."

JJ's grin, both devious and prideful, was my confirmation. I shook my head in exasperation and let the message fly.

⠀⠀ ⠀

The potential danger of the Friday meeting made me try, and try, and try again to control my well with even more enthusiasm. I wanted to have a way to defend myself if I could have it.

It had been Wednesday when something finally clicked, like a neuron that went in its place. I had been chewing on a cookie from my grandpa's gifts and absentmindedly trying to make my well move when I just got it. Suddenly, the food stopped being my priority.

I had to hold my breath at first or my well expanded again, but soon enough I could hold it closed without paying much attention to it. It was like clenching my fist—I didn't need to keep focusing on it constantly.

I finished my lunch as quickly as I could and ran to my room to check if it worked. I pulled the cursed sketch out of the drawer I put it in, and was rewarded with nothing. Absolutely nothing even when I got the sketch out of its folder and touched the paper directly.

A chuckle left my lips as I put it back. Now I just had to keep this from JJ for as long as I could.. Considering how much I wanted to share my excitement with the world right now… it wouldn't be a long time.