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Armand jostled forward, as Daniel once again hit the back of his seat with his knees. Armand shot him a look in the rear view and caught Daniel’s eye.
“Sorry, boss, it’s a little tight back here,” Daniel said, sweeping his short blond hair up out of his face. He was a tall young man, with long limbs that he’d folded into the backseat to allow Marius to sit in the front. “Where are we going, anyway?”
They’d left Miami twenty minutes ago and Armand had not informed them of their destination.
“Do you like music, Master?” Armand asked, ignoring Daniel’s question. Marius, who had been staring out the window, nodded.
“You know I do,” Marius said.
Armand turned on the radio and began flipping through the stations. Daniel’s knee hit his seat again and Daniel muttered an apology. Armand found a station he liked—Modern Rock Hits—and turned up the volume. Marius’ expression remained blank. He wasn’t impressed, Armand could tell.
Armand frowned. “You don’t like rock music?”
“I confess I haven’t listened to much of it,” Marius said.
“The Doors are classic,” Daniel said, leaning forward and twisting the knob to up the volume. Armand slapped his hand. Daniel yelped and cradled his hand in a melodramatic way. Marius laughed.
A strange feeling wormed through Armand. Marius was laughing at the antics of his fledgling, the boy he’d given the blood to not two months before. Daniel was immortal now. Armand had been certain he could resist giving him the blood, but the thought of losing Daniel had proven too painful, finally.
He glanced at Marius through his periphery. Surely it was similar to what Marius had felt when Armand had been brought home, poisoned and dying. Desperate to hold on, unable to let go.
Now Daniel was here in the car, alive forever, animated by his blood, and Armand’s own maker was beside him, laughing. All of Armand’s emotions—joy, trepidation, worry, love—swirled into a big ball of feelings that expanded in his chest until he thought it might burst out of him. Like that little alien creature from that movie Daniel had loved.
Armand caught his own reflection in the window as street lights moved over the car, his auburn hair left in long curls as Marius preferred it, his face ghostly pale in the window.
He turned off the main road onto a highway that would take them upstate.
“So we’re not heading to Fort Lauderdale,” Daniel said, a note of disappointment in his voice.
“What’s in Fort Lauderdale?” Marius asked.
“A club Daniel quite enjoys,” Armand answered.
“Given my attire, that’s probably a good thing.” Marius looked down at his outfit—khaki pants and a red polo shirt, an outfit Armand had selected for him. It made him look like someone who enjoyed golf and boating and complaining about tax brackets, particularly with his blond hair cut short in a modern style not unlike Daniel’s. He would have fit right in at a club, like all the other middle aged men dragged there by their younger lovers. He filed that away for another night.
“You’re really not going to say where we’re going?” Daniel pressed.
“It’s a surprise,” Armand insisted.
Daniel settled back against his seat, drumming his fingers against the armrest in time with the music. Armand turned down the radio, ignoring Daniel’s little groan.
After a few moments, Daniel leaned forward again, tapping Marius on the shoulder. “Hey, I’ve been meaning to ask—” Armand shot him a warning look that was immediately disregarded. Daniel had been asking all manner of questions to anyone he could corner, and while Armand found his curiosity endearing, that was not true of everyone, though Marius had been quite patient with him. “Did you ever kill an elephant? Drink its blood?”
Marius laughed uproariously, delighted. “My boy, where did you get such an idea?”
Daniel looked slightly abashed, a soft pink blush spreading over his cheeks. Armand smiled to himself. “In Lestat’s book, he described your menagerie, and I just wondered if those were personal conquests.”
“No, merely curiosities I managed to collect. I am quite fascinated by the size and scale of some of these animals. Elephants are gentle giants with tusks that could skewer a man, but rarely do so.”
The two became embroiled in conversation about zoo animals, with Daniel telling Marius about the time Armand had broken into the Bronx zoo in the middle of the night so they could stare at the giraffes.
Less than hour later, Armand pulled off the highway onto a road that seemed to continue through swamp until buildings began to appear sporadically on either side. A sign betrayed their destination and Armand looked over at Marius and then through the rear view at Daniel, who was looking the other direction. Neither appeared to have seen it. He relaxed.
“Do you ever prefer to fly?” Marius asked.
Armand’s fingers tightened on the steering wheel. He could fly, but he preferred the whirr of engines humming beneath him - cars or planes or trains. Flying was about haste, not adventure. Not to mention that until recently he was often traveling with a mortal.
He glanced at Daniel in the rearview, the sporadic street lights making his pale, youthful visage glow. Daniel’s heartbeat was slow and steady, and while he carried a faint scent of mortality, the raw musk of life no longer clung to his skin. Again, emotion threatened to overcome him. He was buzzing with it, almost nauseated, and yet it was joy he felt. Relief. Elation.
“This is a 1985 Cadillac Sedan deVille, Master,” Armand said finally. “It has pillow seats and power windows.” To demonstrate, he pressed the button to lower the window and humid night air filled the car.
“Outstanding,” Marius said. He tried his own automatic window, though quickly closed it against the wind. He seemed pleased, at least, if not truly impressed.
“Come on, one clue,” Daniel urged.
Armand looked at him, eyes bright and burning with curiosity. That curiosity would propel Daniel through the centuries if nothing else did.
“Fine. It relates to a tradition,” Armand offered up.
Daniel’s forehead wrinkled as he frowned, the clue clearly offering no insight. “Since when do we have a tradition to drive upstate?”
“Is it regarding the upcoming Holiday?” Marius asked.
Ah, so perceptive, his master! Though it was impossible to ignore Christmas on Night Island, even though the American Thanksgiving holiday had only just ended. Every corner of the Shopping Center and Resort was covered in tinsel and bobbles, ornaments dangling from every palm tree and pine garlands around every railing. The Villa itself was not yet decked out but that was about to change.
“It is,” Armand admitted.
“So it’s related to Christmas…” Daniel tapped his long, elegant fingers against the thigh of his jeans as he considered.
“Are we off to see a nativity scene?” Marius asked. “Or perhaps meant to create one?”
He sounded almost eager that time, and Armand suddenly lamented that they were not going to some studio where his master could paint an elegant nativity scene. But then, Marius had never been one to paint such things, though he had enjoyed going about Venice and seeing the work of artists who made and crafted them, perhaps more for Armand’s benefit than his own.
“There’s no nativity scene where we’re heading,” Armand said.
“There’s a great one on Night Island,” Daniel added. “It was created by this artist Armand found in Key West. He makes these realistic wax figures,” Daniel said. “The first year they did it, I tried to talk to the Shepard before I realized he was a sculpture.”
“You were quite drunk, beloved,” Armand said, glancing at him in the rear view, though he smiled slightly at the memory.
Daniel’s cheeks flushed, the blood giving his pale immortal skin a pinkish hue. “Still looked real,” Daniel muttered.
“I seem to recall some of your drunken exploits were a bit more devious than talking to statues,” Marius said, voice soft.
Armand swallowed. He could recall all kinds of drunken exploits. Heat wormed through him as possibilities of what Marius might be referring to spun through his mind. But Marius was kind enough not to expand on that, even as Daniel perked up.
Daniel was staring at Marius in a way he didn’t like, as if he held the key to some long lost treasure. Armand had told Daniel of his past in drips and drops, giving him little anecdotes here and there, because Daniel insisted it was only fair. The boy was tenaciously curious and endlessly questioning. Daniel had chipped away at Armand’s armor, but he’d held it together more or less. And now Marius could lay him bare if he wished. He shifted in his seat.
And yet there was something awe inspiring about it. He’d never thought it possible Daniel and Marius would meet, let alone have entire conversations! And to think they were both here in his car, off on a holiday errand together! How fortuitous it all seemed. Another swell of emotion rose up in his lungs, almost suffocating. He might very well drown in it if he wasn’t careful.
“Perhaps another clue?” Marius suggested, changing the subject.
“It’s not a guessing game,” Armand said.
“Is it a symphony of some kind? A holiday pageant?” Daniel guessed anyhow.
Armand was a fan of stage productions of all kinds, amateur to professional, and had a knack for finding off-beat shows. “No,” Armand said.
Daniel flopped back against the seat, at a loss.
Suddenly Armand worried that he’d made a bigger deal out of the surprise than was warranted, that they would be disappointed.
But when he finally pulled up to the gates of the Northstar Christmas Tree farm, Daniel whistled from the back seat, impressed. “I didn’t know this place was here.” He practically leapt from the car the moment it was parked.
“A tree farm?” Marius asked.
“We usually have a tree delivered,” Armand explained, unbuckling his seatbelt. “I thought this year it would be fun to pick it out ourselves.”
“And this tree is for the inside of your home?”
“Yes, Master,” Armand said, as they got out of the car.
Marius hummed thoughtfully. “I’m afraid I’ve never understood this particular Pagan tradition.”
Armand’s stomach dropped. It was never a tradition they had in Venice, but he thought Marius might enjoy this little errand.
“It’s an essential part of the holiday now,” Daniel said. “Can’t have Christmas without the tree.”
“Is that so?” Marius asked, genuinely curious.
Daniel nodded. “When I was a kid, we used to go to the same tree lot every year to pick one out. The only time I ever heard my dad swear was when he was trying to get the tree tied to the roof of our station wagon.” He laughed at the memory.
“I see,” Marius said. He clapped Armand on the shoulder, his grip solid and reassuring. “Well, then, show me how you select a tree.”
He looked at Armand, blue eyes intense as gestured for him to lead the way. Armand relaxed. He took Marius’ hand–big, cool–and led him toward the section with the largest trees. The air was brisk and cool for Florida and the scent of pine hung heavy around them.
“We want one with full branches all around so there are no gaps.” He pointed to one that had a big space between branches. “That one will make the decorations appear uneven, it’s too spread out.” Armand showed him how some trees were too short or too full at the top but not the bottom.
After an hour looking around, Marius pointed out a tree that matched his criteria: tall, even, elegant, one so perfect that it could fit in a display window. Armand had scrutinized closely and Marius seemed pleased enough, though whether he was simply happy to be finished with the task was unclear.
Once arrangements were made for the tree to be delivered to the Villa, Armand left the tree farm’s office. Marius was outside waiting, Daniel having wandered off somewhere. He might need to get a leash for the boy, he thought irritably.
Marius put his arm around Armand’s shoulders. Armand jolted, surprised by the intimacy of the gesture, but only for a split second before melting into Marius’ side.
“I enjoy learning about these holiday traditions of yours, Ama–,” Marius stopped, clearing his throat and correcting himself. “Armand. Christmas is not so different from Saturnalia, you know, nor has it changed all that much from our time together in Venice.”
Armand’s heart squeezed. They didn’t speak of Venice much, so hearing him mention it now felt like sharing a precious secret. And oh, how good it was to share things with Marius again when he thought he’d lost him forever! How good to be held by him now!
Marius was solid against him, strong and steady. Armand breathed in his scent, cold, earthy stone and some kind of soap from the baths. It washed over him and he closed his eyes. In that moment, hundreds of years melted away and they were simply together again.
Finally, Armand broke the silence. “We should go make sure Daniel isn’t climbing the trees.” Marius chuckled and squeezed him tightly.
“He’s a lot like you, isn’t he?” Marius said.
Armand stopped, surprised by the comparison, but then, he supposed it wasn’t an unfair one. He had been rambunctious, tenacious, unyielding.
They found Daniel in the parking lot, leaning against the car and smoking a cigarette. He’d been thrilled to discover it was a vice he could still indulge, even if the nicotine no longer had any effect on him.
“Come, beloved, we’re heading home,” Armand said. Daniel pushed off the car and dropped the cigarette, crushing it with his purple converse shoe.
“You know, we could make a detour on the way back, hit that club,” Daniel suggested.
Armand started to shake his head but Marius said, “I would find that interesting, I think. Let’s go to this club of yours. I’m eager to see how modern young men spend their nights here in Florida.”
Daniel beamed.
“I suppose we have time,” Armand said, secretly thrilled to have another stop on this outing, another excuse to hold Marius close and show him another part of his world.
Two nights later, the tree had been delivered, decorated, and set up in the front parlor of the Villa. It was tall, rising nearly to the height of the room’s soaring ceilings as it filled the front windows, its star topper and lights shining so brightly through the glass so that it could be seen from boats out on the water as they sailed past.
Armand was heading out but stopped short when he saw Marius standing in front of it, looking at it admiringly. Marius had been dubious when they’d first brought the tree inside, needles falling all over the floor, though now that it was lit up, the tree made for a spectacular sight.
Marius himself was a sight. He wore another red polo shirt that hugged his broad chest, though he wore jeans tonight. Jeans had been Lestat’s idea but Armand had to admit they looked good on him, hugging his thighs in all the right ways. His hair remained long tonight, pale blond waves cascading over his shoulders.
Marius sensed Armand’s presence and turned that admiring gaze on him. Armand hoped he measured up: he had trimmed his auburn hair short. He wore comfortable dark denim jeans and a cream colored sweater.
“I must admit, this tree is truly something to behold,” Marius said, though it was Armand he was looking at.
“As I said, it brings light and warmth inside, Master,” Armand said.
Marius smiled. He reached out and examined an ornament, running his marble fingers over it. “I know they used to use candles but I prefer these colorful lights. And these little ornaments are so unique.”
Armand resisted the urge to blurt out that he’d designed a good number of them himself, carving depictions into them that Daniel called “horrifying beneath the glitz and glitter.” Many of them depicted scenes from old myths. The one Marius held showed the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, her vanishing into dust as he looked backward.
Marius let the ornament go and it swung back amongst the branches. The colors of the lights danced on his pale skin and in his white blond hair.
“Daniel reminded me of another holiday tradition I used to quite enjoy,” Marius said. Daniel and Marius had gone to the mainland last night together while Armand had been giving instructions for the team of decorators who had come to set up the Villa’s Christmas lights. A flare of jealousy burst through him that he hadn’t been able to go.
“Oh?” Armand asked.
Marius pulled a small box out of his pocket. It was silver and tied with a gold ribbon. He handed it to Armand, who stared at it, pulse racing.
A gift! From his Master! After all these years. His heart soared. He struggled to keep his face neutral as he undid the ribbon and opened the box.
Inside was an ornate ring, gold beset with rubies.
Armand’s throat went dry. “It’s beautiful,” he breathed.
“You like it?” Marius asked, blue eyes intense as he studied Armand.
Armand was too overcome to answer, so he merely nodded.
He already wore a ruby ring on his left hand, one that always reminded him of Marius, but this one, chosen by Marius, was utterly perfect. He took off the other ruby ring and pocketed it, replacing it with this new one, glad it fit the same finger. He held up his hand to admire how it looked amongst his other rings, glittering on his pale fingers.
“Hey, I—” Daniel stopped short in the doorway.
Armand flashed his hand at him. “Marius gifted me a new ring.”
Daniel smiled, a beautiful, boyish smile. He wore a t-shirt and jeans that hugged his narrow frame. “It suits you.”
He winked at Marius. A small pang of uncertainty reverberated through Armand, that these two were sharing a moment he wasn’t privy to. But then Daniel moved toward him, grabbing his hand and kissing the back of it before pulling him into a kiss on the mouth. His lips were soft and cool, no longer filled with the heat of the living.
When they parted, Armand was breathless, his hand tight on Daniel’s neck, and Daniel was grinning at him. Warmth flooded through him.
“I came to ask if you guys want to come to the mainland,” Daniel said. “Pandora and I were talking about checking out this club she heard about.”
“Do you do anything but go to the clubs anymore, beloved?”
Daniel laughed. “I’ve got eternity now, boss. Why not spend some of it dancing the night away?” He waggled his eyebrows.
Marius shook his head. “Perhaps another time. I believe I had my fill of the club the other night.”
“Fair enough,” Daniel shrugged.
“Why don’t I show you the island’s art gallery, Master?” Armand offered.
“But he already—” Daniel started and then stopped, looking questioningly at Marius before nodding to some silent message. “Yeah, okay.” Daniel leaned in and kissed Armand’s cheek, a brush of the lips.
“You two have fun,” Daniel said.
“Don’t get into trouble,” Armand warned him as Daniel pulled out of his grasp.
Daniel snorted. “Pandora will be with me.”
“That only increases the concern,” Marius said, smiling broadly.
“I heard that,” Pandora called from the hall.
Once they were gone, Armand rounded on Marius, folding his arms over his chest. “What did you say to him?”
Marius put a hand on Armand’s shoulder. “I simply told him that I hadn’t yet seen the gallery with you and that I would like that very much.”
“Oh.” Armand dropped his arms. He opened and closed his fists, watching the rings catch the Christmas tree lights as he did. They danced across his pale skin and Marius’ marble face.
Marius reached out and touched Armand’s cheek, smoothing it with the back of his hand. Tingles shot through him at the delicate touch. He grabbed Marius’ hand and kissed the inside of his wrist, giving him a sultry look.
“Still so beguiling!” Marius said, his gaze more intense. Even without reading his thoughts, he knew what Armand was thinking. “But let us go walk through the gallery now. There will be time enough for other things.”
“Other things?” Armand asked, feigning innocence.
Marius laughed and put his arm around Armand’s shoulders. “You have me forever.”
Forever, yes! A veritable Christmas miracle, like in those silly movies he and Daniel always watched this time of year, where Santa granted an impossible wish at the end.