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Flinging the stake away, I opened his shirt to look at the damage. "Jesus Christ..." A gasp of shock escaped my lips as right before my eyes, the terrible gaping wound in his chest slowly closed and disappeared, without so much as a visible scar.
    45
My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie
"How is that possible?" I whispered. "That's impossible ...
what I just saw is impossible..."
"Not impossible," he said, struggling to sit up. "I have regenerative powers."
"Regener—you do?"
But who in the world has regenerative powers that work that fast? I wondered. No one I've ever heard of. I helped him to his feet, and he sagged in my arms as I held him close to me.
    "Who did this to you?" I asked, my lips touching his hair.
"Paid assassins," he replied, clinging to me. "And ignorant in their craft. They did not finish the job."
"Thank God for that," I said, lifting him into my arms. "We need to get away from here. I'll take you into the restaurant."
"Are your brother and his partner still there?"
"No, they left—at my insistence. I thought you weren't going to show, so I told them I had work to do."
"Good. I wouldn't want them to see me like this. It is bad enough I have subjected you to this mess."
"I'm just glad I found you, Jean-Claude."
He laid his head on my shoulder. "As am I," he said quietly.
Once inside the restaurant, I carried him through to the back office and set him down on my chair. In the light, he looked even worse, his face ghostly pale, his eyes darkly shadowed.
    "You've lost a lot of blood," I said. "I should get you to a hospital. They can give you a transfusion—"
46
My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie
"No, Ron. There is not a hospital in the world that will treat me when—" He broke off, obviously unwilling to complete what he was about to say. "There is something about me, you should now know."
    But I already knew what he was about to say. No human being's body could ever recover from a wound such as I had seen inflicted on Jean-Claude. Not even the regenerative powers he said he had could possibly work that fast. And now all the other details about him fell into place in my brain. His inability to go out in the sunlight, the fact that I had not once seen him eat any food, his delicate pallor, all were leading me to believe that what Ted and Jonas had joked about earlier was in fact true! But how could it be? Jean-Claude was not a monster. He was sweet and kind and loving— and I loved him.
    Despite the realisation of what he was, I couldn't bring myself to run from him.
I took a deep breath and gripped his cold hand in mine.
"You mean, they won't treat you in the hospital, when they realise what you are?"
He sighed. "You have guessed correctly. Are you now filled with horror and revulsion?"
"No. I just want to help you recover from this."
    "Ron, you are a sweet and wonderful man, but I wanted to spare you from this knowledge. I have become very attracted to you—something that a person in my condition should not allow to happen. I was on my way to see you tonight when the would-be murderers struck me down. But, I must be honest with you. It was my intention to not see you again after tonight—"
    47
My Vampire Lover
by J. P. Bowie
"But why?" I protested. "I've never felt so connected to anyone in such a short time. "We're so right for each other."
"Ron, look at me. I am a vampire. There is danger in knowing me. Do you still think we are right for each other?"
"We can work around it, surely..."
    He managed a small smile. "You are adorable, Ron ... but hear me now. I was born in 1876. I died in 1906 and was reborn that same year. For the past one hundred years, I have lived and survived on my wits—and on the taking of human blood. I cannot live without it, for without it I would wither away to nothing. It is my curse, but it is also my strength, and my salvation, grotesque as it may sound to you and others."
    "You are not grotesque to me," I said, squeezing his hand.
You are beautiful, and I love you. I want to