Hot for Slayer

by Ali Hazelwood

what’s a girl to do when the only constant presence during the last millennium of her life has been a guy who’s contractually mandated to murder her?

“Dawn is in six hours. I hope you have some fun ideas for how to pass the time.” His lips twitched. “We could reminisce. Thankfully, we share many memories.” “Thankfully. Like that time you tried to kill me in Constantinople. Or the time you tried to kill me in Lampang. Or the time you tried to kill me in a courtyard in Venice. Or the time in Saskatoon, where—and you may start to notice a pattern—you also tried to—” “Hush, Aethelthryth.”

How the hell did a slayer’s blood get to smell this good?

When he noticed my eyes on him, he lifted the blade up to his face. And with a smile that did not feel like a smile, he began to lick it clean of my blood. It was . . . Well. It just was.

Vampires suck—no pun intended—and

My motto is: If I have to suck someone dry every few weeks, why not make it a Goldman Sachs executive?

LOL

I am taking. A vampire slayer. To my home. No: I am leading the oldest and most feared vampire slayer in existence to my place. Despite being a vampire myself.

I run back to my apartment, and step inside just as he walks out of the bathroom. Naked.

DEAD HOT DEAD

“I might not remember my name, or anything about who I am. But I could never be near you and not know exactly what you are to me.”

the girl says solemnly. “I’m going to be a vampire when I grow up.” “And I’m going to be a vampire hunter,” says the boy. “And we’re going to get married.” I try not to choke on my tongue. “Good luck with that,” I mutter, because they’re definitely going to need it.

“I know your smell. I know your skin. Your hair. It’s all familiar. I have it all memorized. And I dream of you—of this. So many dreams, all so different, we must have done it a million times, in a million different ways. Tell me what you’re hiding from me, let’s get this over with, and then let’s do it a million more times.”

“Some lives run invisibly. Undetected by most. And when a person comes along who sees those lives for what they are, who acknowledges their reality, who reminds people that there is value in different ways of existing . . . A minute of that is worth more than a thousand nights with a lover. Wouldn’t you agree?”

“Aethelthryth, nothing would make me happier than having you with me here, or in any other place that I will call home, for as long as I live. Please, come in.”

My spine, together with the rest of my nerve endings, liquifies. I feel my entire body tremble. Try to make myself consider the impossibility of it: A slayer. Offering nourishment to me. A vampire. Then the scent of his blood hits my nostrils, and all I can do is run to him.