Hot for Slayer

by Ali Hazelwood

I’ve learned to treasure little joys, like making other people’s lives better by lending a hand or a smile, doing small talk, laughing at bad puns.

“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.”

“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?”

He will live forever through the memories of those who outlast him. I will remember him for as long as I live, and as long as I carry him in my heart, he will be here. With us.”

“Two nights ago, when you saved me? How did you realize I was in danger?”

He remembers who I am, who he is, and yet he does nothing to protect himself from

me. “I think you know,” he says. “And if you don’t . . . I’m sure you can figure it out.”

“If I wanted you dead, you would be dead.” “That is very presumptuous of you. You could try, but I would—”

“Aethelthryth,” he says, absolute.

“I can’t come in. Unless you formally, verbally invite me.”

“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.”

“Since when did the Hällsing Guild give a pass to ethical vampires?”

“I didn’t think that was something slayers could do. Retire, I mean.”

“I didn’t choose to become a slayer. I was the youngest son of poor parents, and they sold me off to the Guild to feed my older siblings. Nothing was explained to me—I was molded and plied and ordered to slaughter what was described to me as a horde of beasts made in the devil’s image that threatened the very survival of humankind.

“I didn’t suddenly find you anything. I always knew you were . . . cute.”

“I missed you. Watching you.

Observing you. I just . . . liked you.

“I liked you a lot. As a person. As a woman. 81You were beautiful. And whenever we were close, despite the fact that violence was involved, you felt . . . good.”

“Glad to see that you find the most meaningful moment of my life hilarious.”

“Because . . . A slayer and a vampire. Doing it. It has to be a first in all of history, right?”