Excerpt: Hunger for the edge

This is from Eternal Darkness, a collection of Blind Vampire stories. It is currently out of print.

“Please, can you tell me where I am?” The young man’s voice was slightly accented, almost musical.

“You’re outside Egypt. What are you, blind?” Zach had no time for beggars or foreigners.

“As a matter of fact, yes.” This was accompanied by a sweet smile and the appearance of a white cane.

Zach looked more closely and realized the man’s odd blue eyes did not focus. They tracked some as he spoke, but they never seemed to settle on him.

“You’re at 45th Street and Euclid. You want me to call you a cab? This isn’t a good neighborhood.”

He smiled again, making Zach swallow with the desire to taste that lovely white smile. “I’d much rather you helped me into the club? It has been a long time since I danced.”

“Can you dance?”

“Most assuredly. I must, however, have some small assistance in reaching dance floor and the bar.”

Zach’s eyes narrowed. “Are you asking me to be your date?”

The man’s laugh was as musical as his speech. “Not at all. Merely that you aid me in getting a drink and finding the dance floor.” He ran his hand up his prey’s arm. “I’d be very grateful.”

Zach thought about it. He was curious to see what the blind man could do on the dance floor. He shrugged. “Come on then. I’m Zach.”

“Adrien.” His accent was charming, southern of some sort. He tucked his hand into Zach’s offered elbow, and felt ahead with his cane.

Adrien was a wine-drinker, to Zach’s amusement, and wasn’t bad on the dance floor. He stayed in one spot, moving barely three steps in any direction, doing something that looked like the bastard child of the hustle and the cha-cha.