I don’t get a chance to write too much with the characters who aren’t Alistair in REVOLUTION, so I figured this is an good a place as any to flesh out a few of the characters we don’t see as much of. And since Esme is a character out of her element, as it were, among all these vampires, I figured I’d give my wolfy friend some time in the spotlight. Enjoy!
Esme slips in the door of the bar, flashing a toothy grin to the bartender. “Evenin’, Grace.”
“Well well well, look who decided to show up on this side of town,” Grace responded, leaning on the bar as she polished a glass. “Tired of the bloodsuckers?”
“Shut it,” Esme said back with a glare. “You’ve met Vic, haven’t ya? You know full well they aren’t all like that.”
“Mm-hmm.” Grace’s smile betrayed her unimpressed tone. “What’s it gonna be, Esme?”
“Jack and Coke is fine.” She took a seat at a table near the bar, leaning back in the chair. Esme didn’t mind that the bars tended to cater to one side of the nightlife or the other, but sometimes the fairy-tale rivalry got old. Here at the Full Moon, it was almost exclusively wolves. Occasionally an uninfected human found their way in, but they rarely stayed for more than a few visits. Esme couldn’t remember ever seeing a vampire in here.
It was different on the other side of the town, at Beth’s bar Alpha+. There was always an assortment of people in there. Sure, there were less wolves, but that was more the wolves and less Beth or the bar. Too many of her own kind had taken to heart the thought that wolves and vampires were supposed to be enemies. Sure, there were some vamps who bugged the hell out of Esme, and it did seem that wolf blood was borderline toxic to vampires…but still.
But still.
Someone loped over to her table and fell into the chair next to her, and Esme glanced up–and sighed. “Hey there Tay.”
“Hey, hot stuff.” Esme and Taylor had been a thing even before they’d both been infected, but not too long after they were both turned they’d called it off. Well, Esme had called it off. Tay wasn’t sure he couldn’t win Esme back. “How’s it going? You don’t smell too much like blood tonight.”
“I haven’t been over to Alpha yet. I’ll send Vic your love when I do though.” She smirked at Taylor’s face going white. “What? Not keen on it?”
“That fucker scares the shit out of me.”
“He should. Vic’s been like this a hell of a lot longer than the rest of us.” Her expression shifted, a genuine smile now. “You’d like Beth, though.”
“That’s Vic’s girl, right?”
Esme snorted. “Sure. I wouldn’t say that to their faces, but yes, the two of them are together. I still think you’d get along well with Bethy.”
“Mm.” Tay leaned forward onto the table. “You ever think about havin’ a relationship again?”
“We’ve been over this, Tay.”
He waved a hand. “No, no I didn’t mean with me. Just in general. Like, I’m not gonna say no if you ask..” He winked, and Esme rolled her eyes. His expression grew serious. “But I kinda get why you broke it off. Life…it’s weird now. Like, it’s not the same feeling as when we were just normal, ya know? How does it work? This isn’t just like interracial dating. Can a vamp and a wolf date each other?”
Esme laughed. “Yeah, fair enough. And I dunno about that. But I see what you mean. We never had to worry about what the virus did to us. Are we all still compatible? Can we have families? If I had a kid, would they be affected too?” She hadn’t really thought about that. “Huh. I wonder if vamps and wolves really can be together.”
“You gonna be the one to find out?” Taylor responded with an amused smile.
Esme rolled her eyes. “Sure, Tay. Pioneer of inter…something relations. Sounds like me, alright.”
I don’t even know what vampire I’d ever be interested in. AC’s cute and all, but doesn’t take a genius to see he’s in no position for a girlfriend. Vic’s taken, ain’t touching Cooper with a stick…huh. Dunno. Something to think about, I guess.
I am not lost... 