DYING LIGHT | James Patrick March [paused]

12

Lilith wasn't sure where James intended for her to meet him so she made her way to her room first to process what the hell that was. It certainly wasn't what she expected.

She was remarkably proud of herself for resisting the temptations. Vampires in literature were known to be incredibly persuasive, she would be rooting her own horn for withholding for as long as she lived. Lilith had just made it to the bathroom when there was a knock at her door. Her hopes of who to expect were fulfilled as she pulled the door open.

"It's marvellous to see you alive and well." James said with a wide grin, "and not a hair out of place." She stepped back to pull the door open and he took the invitation.

"I was just gathering my wits." She said as he strode over to the small table in the corner, placing an ornate bottle on the surface. "I wasn't sure where to find you."

"You can always trust me to find you, darling." James said with a smile, before admitting, "I saw you come in."

She chuckled softly, kicking out of her high heels diminishing her by four inches in height. "I wondered if it was omnipotence or coincidence."

"Suffice to say a little of both." Lilith found she couldn't get enough of the way he smiled, just a little crooked like there was always a punchline to a joke only he knew. "Tell me all about your interview with the vampire."

"It was.." she sighed, pursing her lips for a moment as she settled into the chair across from him, "unremarkable." James' eyebrows shot up. "She did try to kiss me but didn't react too poorly when I shot her down. I briefly thought she might slit my throat for it but she was cool about it." Lilith, apparently, had made the mistake of thinking that was a good thing. James sunk back into his chair, a deeply perplexed look adorning his handsome face. Lips twisted down into a frown that was eventuated by his thin moustache and his eyebrows knitted together.

"Not that I'm not glad you did not succumb to her wiles and even more glad that she didn't kill you for denying her but.." he reached out to uncap the decanter in front of him, "that is supremely out of character. She didn't press?"

"Not really. I told her I had a rule and she let it go." James' frown only deepened, "what's the normal course of action for that?"

"Well, if you'd agreed she might have had her way with you and then drank her fill of your blood and sent you down the body chute." He said pouring a glass of amber liquid for him and then one for her. "Had you denied, she'd have saved the dramatics and killed you there. I fully expected your spirit to come wandering toward me."

Lilith blinked a few times, sinking into her chair a little bit too. She didn't realize exactly how treacherous this dinner had been. "You thought she'd kill me?" It came out quietly and James' eyes softened. Why the hell hadn't he been a little more forthcoming with that assumption? Why hadn't Liz?

James slid the glass toward her and she accepted it willingly. "There's no denying her." She took a deep gulp of the firey liquid, feeling far too sober following the quantity of wine she'd consumed upstairs. "Given your desire for self destruction, I thought it better to save you the stress." He had a point. "Besides, darling, I'd be lying if I weren't a little selfish in the hope you'd die in this hotel. I know you have a desire for oblivion over this purgatory."

That rendered her speechless for a moment, her eyes locked on to his. Her silence was worrying him, she could tell. It wasn't getting her brain to stop short-circuiting.

"Are you that desperate for decent company?" She asked with a glimmer of a smile.

"Horribly desperate." He said with a relieved grin. "There's a deficit of competence in this establishment."