Love Bites Then it Sucks by Julie Steimle (best self help books to read .TXT) 📕

Andy was not shaking. Rather, he was glowing. I had seen this only once before. The Seven each had this inner light which, once invoked, was actually quite terrible. And beautiful. It had rocked me to the core when I first saw it, as I knew it was also the very power which could destroy me.

Daniel grabbed his arm. “Red!” He gestured back to Troy who was cowering next to Peter who was fingering his red crystal with the same inclination as Andy, wondering what they could do against a so-called angel. But Peter was holding back.

Quenching his light, Andy turned around and looked to Troy who, as a vampire had gotten singed. “Oh! Sorry!”

That made me curious. You’d think that light would have turned a vampire to dust. It was nearly as potent as the sun.

Troy stared, eyes wide on Andy. “What are you?”

Daniel waved at him. “Holy Seven. Warrior for God.”

I watched Troy’s mouth pop open, though I had feeling he knew that detail already. Perhaps he had not understood it was a real thing. But Peter was smirking at his fellow member of the Seven, way too amused by Daniel’s bluntness. But Daniel was never one to waste words.

“What are you lingering around that vampire for? It is fruitless to try to spare the damned,” the death angel said from above.

“Are you really an angel?” Andy shot back. “Because that rhetoric is entirely counter to the Gospel. The whole point of it is to redeem souls. Whose side are you really on?”

Immediately the angels whisked away, either offended or exposed.

It was a profound question which I had not thought of. Andy had a point. Us death angels were seeking redemption by submitting to this service. I would be considered one of the damned. Were those death angels in fact on the side of God? Or had they flipped sides? I had heard legends of angels flipping sides from a Jewish girl I knew at college. Something about the apocryphal book of Enoch. I’d never read it. But Hanz said it was mostly fiction, thus apocryphal and no longer in the Bible. He said to take whatever was written in the apocrypha with a grain of salt. Of course our atheist friends thought we were foolish for believing in God at all. If only they knew what I was. And I had wondered how they would explain me away.

It was getting closer to dawn. I could feel the sun rising. The sky was lightening. The faint stars that had been in the sky, strong ones like Rigel and Sirius, were no longer visible. You could still see Venus, though—what my dad called the morning star. I watched as the group tried once more to convince Troy to not give up on life and to make due as a vampire. The idiot was having none of it, though.

Panting, tramping up the stairwell, sweating like a dog—except I think dogs don’t sweat so that was all wrong… But anyway, up came Rick Deacon who set eyes on me once then looked out the door, halting. “Eve…”

I shushed him. I didn’t know how he could see me though.

Rick shook his head, pointing, heavily breathing. “Is… Troy up here?”

I nodded, pointing out the doorway. “He wants the sun to kill him.”

“Oh! The idiot!” Rick rushed past me and out onto the roof. He ran straight up to Troy and jumped on his back. “What are you thinking!? Get off this roof!”

“Ow! Get offa me!” Troy wrestled him back, and was surprisingly strong. Rick and he tussled on the rooftop, everyone getting out of their way. Troy threw Rick off, but Rick just tumbled back on all four paws, abandoning his shoes and pounced on Troy as a wolf.

“Gah!” Art ducked behind Hanz, whose eyes widened also on Rick as this was the first time Hanz had ever seen Rick as a wolf. Andy gently stood between them and Rick, mostly for show as Rick definitely would never harm either of them.

“Rick! Stop it! I don’t want to be a vampire!” Troy tossed him off again.

Climbing onto his feet, Rick pulled into human form once more, his feet shrinking back to human shape with claw-holes in his socks. “Yeah? Well, I don’t want to be a werewolf, but I’m stuck!”

“But I can end this,” Troy said, irises redder as he panted.

“Oh? And I can’t ‘end my condition’ too by eating garlic or honey? It’s the same damn thing! You are committing suicide,” Rick countered angrily. “You are being selfish and short-sighted. Snap out of it!”

“You don’t understand,” Troy said in a low voice.

“I don’t understand?” Rick bristled, the hairs on his head almost raising like hackles.

“You’ve always been a werewolf,” Troy said. “I was just a kid—”

“I was just a kid! I had no clue—”

“Not the same thing,” Troy snapped.

“It is! You’re freaking out and giving up!” Rick shouted. “You think I’ve never thought that way? Tom? Verify it for me!”

Tom raised a hand. “I solemnly witness I’ve seen Rick get bombarded with suicidal thoughts too. But he does not entertain them.”

“Entertain?” Troy protested, hearing Tom’s accusatory tone.

“Yeah,” Tom bit out. “Do you actually think you are better than us just because you were born entirely human? What about Eve who spared your life? She’s a damn angel now.”

“She got me stuck this way!” Troy snapped back like he wanted to bite me if he could find me.

“What’s this?” Rick asked, looking to the others.

“No, she didn’t,” Tom shook his head, approaching Troy as the sky seemed even lighter. The sun was about to crest the edge of horizon soon. I could feel it. “Your stinking father, the vampire, and his thugs from the Order of Blood did this to you. Eve merely saved your life.”

“I chose to die.” Troy straightened his shoulders.

“Not acceptable,” Rick said. “I thank God Eve was your angel.”

Troy stared at Rick, mouth open and wordless.

But then the sunlight broke, shining directly on all of them.

“Agh!” Troy collapsed to his knees, his skin smoking.

“Shield him!” Troy’s doppelganger shouted as he threw himself into the sun’s path, splaying his arms.

The others quickly jumped to do so, except Peter who looked annoyed with Troy to the point of wanting to just let the guy suffer for his stupidity.

“No!” Troy shoved them away. “Let me be! It is my choice! My life!”

“But Troy,” his friend grabbed him, “I can’t let you do this. You’re my best bud.”

“You’ve got Silvia,” Troy said, looking to her almost jealously.

Silvia stared at him, flustered.

His doppelganger groaned. “Ugh. As much as I love Silvia, I did not marry her to replace you. Friends for life, man.”

“My life is over,” Troy said, cringing.

“No.” His friend almost collapsed to his knees, face stricken.

And yet the sun still burned down on all of them. Funny thing was, Troy was in the light and he was still burning—just not how a vampire would burn up. A vampire would be a pillar of dust in an instant, blowing away on the wind. I had seen it happen. Dusted vampires don’t leave bodies. Troy was just getting sunburn.

“Ow…” Troy said, groaning. He stared up at the bluing sky. “I’m sure it’s not supposed to take this long.”

“It isn’t,” Daniel, Andy, and Peter said in chorus, knowing smiles appearing on their faces. They shared relieved looks.

Rick lifted his eyebrows and glanced back at me. Tom followed his gaze and saw me in the doorway. A smile crooked up to one side of his face.

“What’s so funny?” Matthew said, then looked back at me. Hanz and Art looked that way too, but did not see me.

Troy looked also, then stared. “You!”

I stepped out. I realized I only had a short time left before I was caught. “Shut up, stupid, and listen. You’re clearly not a vampire. That means you’re not entirely dead.”

Troy stared in disgust at me as I marched across the roof to him. “And you’re the expert?”

“Yes,” I said, walking past Hanz who shuddered when we were close.

“Eve?” Hanz looked around, somehow hearing me though I could not tell how much. Unfortunately I had to deal with Troy first.

Troy looked to Hanz then me, bewildered. “He can’t see you?”

“Only people whom I have saved can see me.” I totally guessed. It made sense in that Matthew and Rick could see me as well as Troy. “Now, I’ve only got a second. You need to start buying high SPF sunscreen. I used to use about 90 SPF. You’ll probably have to do the same. And sunglasses—until you can curb your appetite and your eyes go back to normal.”

“How am I not a vampire?” Troy shouted at me. He looked like I had slapped him. “I can’t feel my heart anymore. I crave blood.”

“Have you drunk someone else’s blood yet?” I asked dryly.

Those who could see me, gathered around us. Those that couldn’t stared around the group, trying to catch some sign of me—though Hanz stepped in, closing his eyes and listening.

“What about the vampire’s blood they forced down my throat?” Troy bitterly tossed back.

“Eve?” Hanz reached into the space next to me, hoping to touch me.

I looked to him, cringing. I stepped out of his reach as touching me might harm him. I then said to Troy, “That was against your will. Vampirism is still a choice. You can be a daytime vampire.”

“A daytime vampire?”

“Is she really here?” Hanz turned to Rick. “I can hear her, but she’s ignoring me. Can she not hear me?”

Rick pulled him aside, whispering in his ear. “She has to help Troy first. Give her second.”

Casting Rick a thankful glance, I said to Troy, “That’s right. You still have a life.”

“A life…” Troy muttered, glaring at the ground, dejected.

“Shut up,” I snapped. “You’ve had it easy up ‘til now. Now you have to learn how to resist severe temptation—and maybe learn to think outside yourself for once. I bet since you got bit you’ve done nothing but hide from vampires. Did it ever occur to you spend your time helping others with their vampire problem instead of only thinking about yourself?”

His face would have colored if he were still mortal, but vampires do not blush.

“Use your new gift to help those who do not have your experience and knowledge,” I said.

“Gift…” he muttered.

“Even a curse can be a gift,” I snapped. “I learned that.” Then I turned toward Hanz. “Hanz?”

“Yeah?” He was staring into space near me.

“Can I ask you a favor?”

He exhaled, tears welling in his eyes. I knew he understood the numerous things I was implying by asking him a favor. It meant we could not be together. It meant I still loved and trusted him over all men I have ever known. But it also meant that perhaps what people were telling him about me might be true—and he did not want to hear that part. But he nodded.

“Help Troy figure this out. Bring him to Will or somebody like him who can help him adjust to being no longer human,” I said. “And return this backpack for me.”

“Eve…” Hanz approached me as I set Cassius’s backpack on the ground where it materialized.  

I stepped back. “You can’t touch me. It will hurt you.”

Hanz halted. But then he reached out anyway and, surprisingly, set his hand on my cheek. I could feel the warmth from his touch. So alive. I stared into his eyes as he now stared into mine. A smile materialized on his face and tears obscured his vision. I don’t know how much of me he saw, but he was not harmed.

“Oh wow,” Troy’s friend murmured.

“That’s her,” Silvia eked out.

I was visible.

Hanz leaned in to kiss me.

That second I got yanked up into the air. Sariel and that other guy had seized both my arms and jerked me out of there. I saw