“What, now?” Justin asked, looking out through the tinted window. This didn’t look like some ritzy vampire neighborhood. In fact, it looked a lot like the street where Xavier had picked him up.

“No, not now. Tomorrow night,” the vampire said, “but I need to know now so I can keep looking if your answer is no.”

“I really have a choice in this?”

“Of course. I’m not going to force you to go.”

“Yeah, but couldn’t you just use your Jedi mind trick on me and make me think that I want to go?”

Xavier stared at him, his green-gold eyes smoldering in the darkness, and Justin felt a weight against his the back of his head, like someone applying pressure to his brain.

“Say yes, Justin,” Xavier said, his voice seeming to echo within the back seat of the car. “You want to accompany me tomorrow night. Say yes.”

Justin blinked and shook his head. The feeling vanished. “Was that it? Why didn’t it work?”

“Because you knew I was doing it,” Xavier said. “Mind tricks only work on the unaware.”

“Too bad for you, I guess.”

Xavier shrugged. “I wouldn’t compel anyone to go to this thing against their will. The other vampires would know it and I’d be the subject of ridicule.”

The car stopped and Justin recognized the alleyway where he’d been trying to sleep. He was no longer hungry, and while his clothes were still wet, he wasn’t cold anymore.

“Two questions,” Justin said. “Will I be available for tasting?”

“Absolutely not,” Xavier said. “The others know me and they know I do not share. And your second question?”

“How much will I be paid for this?”

“How much do you want?”

Justin finished his wine as he considered how much his life might be worth, because as far as he was concerned, there were no guarantees when dealing with vampires.

“How about...a thousand?” he said. The vampire laughed. “Is that too much? I could do seven, I guess.”

“No, no, it’s just, after all this time, I should no longer be surprised by the things you mortals say and do, but I always am. I will pay you ten thousand for your company, and should you be asked to go above and beyond, I will raise that to fifty thousand. Does that sound good to you?”

“Uh...sure,” Justin said, at a loss for …