“Do you know an Abraxas Rolans?” Nikola had started up the program, placed Sadik’s account information in it, and it had done all the work. Sadik scrunched up his nose at the name.

“Nothing can be done, then. Abraxas did say I will owe him after the last favor he did me. But, he could have said something,” Nikola looked at Sadik with disbelief.

“A favor that is worth five Million?” His eyes were wide, and Sadik noticed that his hair was unruly and had a fluffy quality to it. Suddenly, Sadik very much wanted to touch it. He could see what Abraxas saw in Nikola. The man was a lamb. Innocent and corruptible.

When Abraxas had told him he would hook him up with someone who was exactly to Sadik’s taste, he hadn’t been kidding. Nikola was the perfect match for the vampire. He could see spending years with the man in the future.

“You would be surprised. Are you busy right now?” Nikola shook his head hesitantly.

“Then, since you did me two favors, do you mind if I take you out to dinner?” A bit forward, Sadik knew. But if he wasn’t blunt with the lamb, he might never see the man again.

“There is no need. I was happy to help. It was what the church teaches us,” Sadik looked at the icon and then back at Nikola. He wasn’t doing it to keep up a pretense. He was a genuine believer. Sadik liked him all the more. Sure, they had different religions, but he could always appreciate a fellow believer.

“Maybe I want to convert you to the right faith?” Sadik winked and Nikola chuckled.

“For your information, that can’t ever happen. For I have proof that the Christian God exists,” Sadik prepared to hear raving and began to reconsider his interest in the man, when he took off his sweater and then pulled up his sweatshirt.

“I should have died, yet, I survived. Even when the wound festered, I survived. Do you see?” There was an old scar that passed through the entirety of Nikola’s torso. It looked like the wound had been deep, too.

“How did it happen?” Sadik regraded asking the question because Nikola pulled down his clothes. Certain that Sadik had seen.

“A hunting accident. I was small and leaning next to my father as he skinned a doe. The knife slipped and ended up in my torso. We shouldn’t have hunted, when we had food a plenty. We angered the heavens by doing so and I paid with my suffering,” Sadik resisted the urge to tug up the soft, white, sweater, and the sweatshirt and touch the scar. It should have killed the man, truly.

“You were lucky. It had nothing to do with God,” Nikola smiled at the words and his eyes half-closed. As if he was speaking to a particularly amusing child.

“There was a punishment and, then, forgiveness. Surely, you must agree, that it was in typical bible fashion?” Sadik shook his head.

“Your father should have been more careful. So, dinner?” Sadik looked hopeful then, and Nikola became thoughtful.

“Maybe I can convert you? You are a Muslim, so, you do believe in Christ. Even if you don’t consider him the savior he is,” Sadik supposed that was true. What harm was there in letting the lamb talk his ear off? After all, if he played his cards right, the man could land in his bed tonight.

“I know a restaurant in downtown. They make the best Indian food. Do you like spicy things, Nikola?” Another myth was that vampires couldn’t eat food. They could. But they didn’t get any nourishment out of it.

“I never had any. It sounds interesting,” Sadik grinned and went to open the door of the office and to hold it open. Nikola went pass him, and they were out soon after. They took Sadik’s car, as Nikola didn’t have one. Of course, Sadik knew that detail about his neighbor too, but he had played it like he hadn’t.

In the restaurant they were seated by a window and Sadik ordered Nikola a curry he knew was milder than most of the things that were served here. The food was done half an hour later, and they dug in.

“This is not as spicy as I feared,” Nikola said after a mouthful of curry. Sadik grinned and nudged his plate towards Nikola.

“Why don’t you try mine?” Nikola did so, not noticing the mischievous grin on the Turk’s face. In seconds, he was coughing, his face red. In a raspy tone, he spoke.

“How can you eat this? It can kill you to eat all of it,” Sadik shrugged. A good thing about being dead was that his taste receptors were mostly, well, gone. He could vaguely taste the food, but it was muted.

“Glad you liked it. It is the restaurant’s special,” Nikola send him a glare and Sadik chuckled. “Has anyone told you that you are adorable when you are angry?”

“My mother, mostly,” answered Nikola, and Sadik gave him a wide grin.

“The woman is onto something. Anyway, may I call you Niki?” Nikola took a big gulp of his glass of water before answering.

“I don’t see why not. But, we haven’t spoken about religion the whole time we were here,” and the silence had been awkward, to say the least. With Sadik undressing Nikola with his eyes and Nikola being obvious about it all.

“Forget about religion for one night. Better yet, think of sinful things we can do, together,” Nikola blinked and Sadik knew that the man now couldn't understand or pretend not to have.

“I, uhm… I don’t do things like that with men. I can’t eat another bite. Good evening, Sadik,” and Nikola stood up. Operation get the lamb in bed was almost in ruins. Then, Sadik got an idea.

“If you give me a kiss, I’ll go to church with you. Surely, you care about the salvation of my soul?” Sadik was putting Nikola to the test. To see if he really believed. Granted, if he was a fanatical believer, this would be the time for the brown-haired man to pick a stone and throw it at Sadik.

“I suppose a kiss can’t hurt,” Sadik grinned. There was another myth about vampires that few knew. Once you exchanged saliva with one, you enter a bond. One from which there was no going back.