CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

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     HOTEL CARMILLA WAS NOT WHAT SHE HAD EXPECTED FROM A VAMPIRE HOTEL, THEN AGAIN NEITHER HAD MOST OF THE THINGS SHE HAD LEARNED ABOUT VAMPIRES. Entering the lobby, the walls were painted a dark shade of red and the tiles of the floor were a shiny black. It was freezing inside, something she did anticipate.

Goosebumps appeared on Dakota's skin despite her jacket as she rubbed her arms together while Eric guided her toward the front desk. Alright, maybe in the back of her mind she had thought the hotel might look something like the inside of Fangtasia, and she wasn't wrong. Though, the hotel eyed much cleaner.

Eric brought the palm of his hand toward her lower back, barely touching the fabric of her jacket as he led her through a group of vampires, one who immediately smelled the blood in her veins. None of them approached, seeing the tall blonde behind her.

"Good evening," the woman behind the desk spoke, glancing up at the two of them with a kind smile on her face. Dakota didn't know if she was a vampire or not, but from the way she peered at her neck she guessed she had to be. "Reservation?"

"Northman."

The woman gave them a nod and began typing away on her computer, searching the database for Eric's reservation. Dakota glanced around the lobby again, tapping her fingers along her thigh as the soft music played in the background. 

"I have two light-lockable rooms with a king sized bed, suites." she smiled, turning her gaze toward Eric. "Double soundproofed."

"Sounds expensive," Dakota muttered to which Eric raised a brow.

"Didn't I say it was all paid for?" he gave her a dazzling smile.

The woman behind the desk handed each of them a card and told them the floor of their rooms. Eric thanked her and motioned for Dakota to follow him toward the elevator's. Suddenly, the vampire stopped in his tracks and Dakota almost bumped into his back.

"Have you eaten?"

He had heard the low rumble in her stomach, something she had barely noticed. Eric wasn't accustomed to spending much times with humans for longer periods of times these days and often forgot they in fact needed actual food. Dakota had been too caught up with admiring the hotel that she didn't even know what time of night it was.

"No," she shook her head, suddenly feeling hungry as she thought about dinner. "I'm sure they have room service here, right?"

"You like Italian?"

Eric didn't wait for her answer as he wrapped his fingers around her wrist and set off into the direction they came from, past the front desk and toward the back of the hotel. Dakota let herself be taken by him, curiously. Eric pushed open a set of double doors and held out his arm, offering for her to enter first.

It was a beautiful room and it smelled amazing, different spices wafted from the kitchen toward the dining room. Vampires couldn't eat human food, so she was a bit confused as to why a vampire hotel had a human dining area.

"A lot of vampires take their humans here, and they need to eat." he explained as he thrusted a menu at her when they sat down at a boot in the right corner of the room. There were three more humans inside, but no other vampire. "Pick whatever you'd like."

"Does being here not make you nauseous?" she wondered, furrowing her brows.

"The smell of your blood is a nice distraction." he rested his head in the palm of his hand as he looked at her, sly grin appearing on his face. Dakota raised a brow and scoffed, eyes scanning the menu and going straight to the pasta section.

"I'm thinking lots of garlic." she grinned, jokingly, looking up at him. 

Eric narrowed his eyes at the woman before him, scrunching his nose at the thought of the horrendous smell of the vegetable. It wasn't as if vampires would repel at the sight or smell of garlic like they did in the movies, but they weren't particularly fond of it either. If a human were to consume garlic, their blood would taste foul and he hated it.

"Problem?" she tilted her head to the side.

"Not at all."

"I won't do that to you." she declared, putting the menu down beside her as she spotted a waiter coming their way. "I'm sure with your heightened scent you'd probably throw up or something."

"Miss Elkins," Eric mocked to which she snorted. "how very kind of you."

"Can I please get the four cheese ravioli?" Dakota asked, as the waiter came to take her order. He was young, probably Sookie's age as he wrote it down on his notepad with a nod. "And an ice tea?"

"Anything for you, sir?" he turned to the viking who shook his head before he left.

"Can you actually not eat anything?" she wondered, resting her arms on the table.

Eric thought about it for a moment before saying; "It tastes like death and I can't digest it so it will feel like i'm actually dying."

"Hm," she hummed. "have you ever tried it?"

"Once," he said. "in the year I was turned. It wasn't pretty."

"Do you miss your old life?" questioned Dakota, interest to hear about his life before in Sweden.

"Perhaps the sea." he said, and from the look in his eyes Dakota knew he wanted her to drop the subject so she did. "We're meeting some of Godric's people tomorrow night. They're the ones who informed me about his absence."

"Okay," she agreed, thanking the waiter as he put her plate and ice tea on the table. 

Her stomach rumbled loudly and she grimaced as Eric raised a brow. He watched as she took a bite and her cheeks turned crimson, not liking it when someone was watching her as she ate. 

As Dakota took a sip of the cold drink Eric asked, "Was I any good in your dreams?"

The woman nearly choked on her drink as she quickly set the glass down, trying to hold in her cough, hand in front of her mouth. Her eyes had widened and Eric grinned slyly at her. Dakota thought he wouldn't find out since he was, well, dead, but boy was she wrong. "Excuse me?"

"I might have been dead, but I could still feel your emotions, Dakota. They were very strong. I'll ask you again, was I any good?"

Dakota wanted to disappear right then and there, suddenly feeling as if the room had gotten significantly warmer and a rush of heat went through her veins. Eric loved to get a rise out of her, seeing her fumble over her words as she tried to come up with an excuse.

"Shut up," she muttered and he barked out a laugh, grinning.

"I'll take that as a yes." he bragged, eyes raking over the exposed skin of her neck. "You know, we could always sneak to one of our rooms and make it a reality."

"Oh my god."