Blood Debt

by Heather MacKinnon

  We stood side by side in the now rearranged master bedroom. My furniture was along one side of the room, closest to the bathroom, while his was along the other, near the door leading to the hall.

  It looked like a room shared by siblings. Two very different siblings. The darkness of his furniture only made the whiteness of mine that much brighter. The whole room was a giant juxtaposition. Yin and yang in the form of furniture.

  “Nicholas,” I began, “thank you again for all of this. It’s beautiful,” I gushed for the fifth time in as many minutes.

  He held up a hand to stop me.

  “I’m happy to do this, Adrienne. You don’t have to keep thanking me.” The smile on his face cushioned his stern words.

  “I’ll leave you to unpack and get situated. I’ll be in the library if you need me.”

  I spent the next couple of hours unpacking my things, taking my time now I wasn’t being rushed. With my clothing put away, I set the picture frames along the dresser.

  Admittedly, it was a little strange to be sharing a room with a man I’d just met, but I felt better that we would be sleeping in separate beds. It was unbelievable that sharing a room with a man I barely knew was what I found myself worrying about–not that I’d recently found myself one of the undead.

  That thought brought me up short. Were we undead? Or dead, for that matter? I reached up and placed a finger against the pulse point on my neck. Nope, not dead.

  So “undead” wasn’t the proper terminology, but whichever way you looked at it, I was a vampire. I had super speed and strength, I’d live for a really long time, and I’d have to drink blood.

  My stomach knotted thinking about my new diet. I was beyond thankful that recently changed vampires didn’t need to eat–or drink–right away. I wasn’t sure I’d have been able to handle that along with all the other changes the past couple of days had brought me.

  When I finished unpacking and changed into more comfortable clothes, I made my way to the library. Nicholas was sitting at his desk, reading through a stack of papers when I entered. I sauntered across the room and plopped onto one of the cushy leather chairs by the window.

  After watching me settle in, Nicholas set aside the papers and rose to join me in the opposite chair.

  “Have you finished in the room?” I didn’t miss the fact that he called it ‘the room’ and not his room anymore.

  “Yup, all unpacked.”

  “That’s great. I know you said the furniture was beautiful, but I hope it was something you’d have picked out for yourself. Perhaps I should have asked for your input before ordering them. I thought the canopy bed would give you some semblance of privacy. I’ve already contacted a contractor about removing the window from one of these two rooms, so you could have your own. I think–”

  His rambling was pretty adorable, but I needed to stop him there.

  “Nicholas, you’re not tearing apart your home for me. The furniture is perfect, the canopy is lovely, and sharing a room is fine. It’s not like I’ll spend restless nights–days–worrying about you sleeping a few feet away from me. As we both know, it’s lights out for me as soon as the sun comes up.” I smiled, hoping it would reassure him.

  His answering smile was brilliant, and I had to blink away the stars in my vision.

  He clapped his hands together. “Fantastic. Glad we got that cleared up. Now you’re settled, there was something I wanted to speak with you about.”

  Tucking my feet beneath my bottom, I replied, “Sure. What’s up?”

  He reached up to rub the back of his neck. “It’s a bit delicate, Adrienne,” he began. I hadn’t seen him this nervous before and it worried me.

  Blowing out a breath, he finally got to the point. “I know you mentioned that your mother has passed but I need to ask: are there any other family members that will be looking for you? Your father? Grandparents? Aunts or uncles? We need to make sure there are no loose ends. I’m sorry to say you’ll have to leave your human connections behind. It isn’t possible to continue to have a physical relationship with anyone you knew from before you were changed.”

  I sat in front of him, stunned into silence. He’d said ‘no loose ends’. Were there any connections I had that were important enough that I’d have to sever them? The list was depressingly short.

  Misinterpreting my silence, he continued. “I know this is difficult for you, Adrienne. That’s why I’ve waited so long to bring it up. You’ve had a lot to deal with and I didn’t want to add to your grief. Usually when a human is changed, they have months of preparation leading up to this moment. Unfortunately, you don’t have that luxury.”

  “I don’t have anybody.” The truth of that statement stole my breath, even after all this time.

  He paused before asking, “You have no family that will look for you?”

  “No. No family. I lost both my parents six years ago in a car accident and I’m an only child. Neither of my parents had much family. At least none that I’ve ever met. When they passed, my mother’s friend took me in and raised me alongside her boys. I suppose she would worry if she didn’t hear from me for a long time, but that’s it.” As always, the truth of how few people I had left in the world left me feeling empty.

  “I’m sorry, Adrienne,” he said quietly.

  I waved his concern away. “It’s fine. Like I said, it happened a long time ago. I’m over it. Or as ‘over it’ as you can ever be about losing your parents.” I chuckled humorlessly. “I suppose my mom’s friend, Marianne, and her family is the only loose end I have to tie up. Makes things simple, right?” I forced a smile on my face, but I could feel how brittle it was.

  Nicholas reached forward and placed a hand on my jean-clad knee. The warmth of his touch seeped through my clothes and into my bones. It soothed me, and I released a deep breath, letting my tense shoulders droop.

  “Does this Marianne live close?”

  “Yeah. The Markham’s live on Long Island. An hour, tops, from here.”

  Nicholas smiled. “Well, if it’s all right with you, we’ll go tomorrow to visit them. You can try your hand at glamour. What do you say?”

  Thrilled about trying out a new vampy skill, I nodded excitedly.

  He chuckled, leaned back in his seat, and picked a book from the shelf behind him. I immediately mourned the loss of his touch.

  He’s just being nice and trying to comfort me, I tried to remind myself. Nothing more. He’s never given any indication that he is interested in anything beyond being my maker and guiding me through this time in my life. I needed to get my wayward hormones under control before I embarrassed myself.

  Shaking my head to get rid of those thoughts, I picked up Pride and Prejudice and continued where I left off.

  Within minutes, my eyelids drooped, the words blurring in front of me. I pushed on, remembering that yesterday I’d had a few minutes of wakefulness once I first felt tired. I continued to read, getting lost in the story until my blinks got so long my eyes spent more time closed than open.

  Snapping the book closed, I stood, immediately swaying on my feet. I took a step, using the arm of the chair to steady myself. The room spun.

  “Nicholas…”

  The air shifted as he swiftly stood and made his way to my side. I took another step but couldn’t feel my feet anymore. Like yesterday, I pitched forward, on a one-way trip to face-planting. Also like yesterday, Nicholas caught me before I fell and swept me into his arms.

  Barely hanging on to consciousness, I wrapped an arm around his neck.

  “I need to stop falling around you,” I muttered as my vision darkened around the edges.

  Just before the blackness took over, I heard him say softly, “I like catching you.”

  ***

  The next day, Nicholas spent the hour-long car ride to the Markham’s explaining the basics of glamour.

  “Eye contact is key,” he said. “And stating their name. We’re not sure why, but a human’s brain is more susceptible to glamour if th
eir name is used when you’re trying to put them under.”

  “Like you did when you met Charlotte,” I said.

  “Exactly like that. So, you make eye contact, greet them by name while keeping your voice steady, and impose your will upon them. I like to think of it as casting a mental net from my head to theirs. Once you’ve ensnared them, it’s a simple matter of willing them to do, think, or forget whatever you want.”

  “You make it sound so easy.” I wasn’t convinced.

  “It’s second nature for a vampire. This skill will be just as easy for you as your strength or speed.” His reassurance helped, but my stomach was still in knots.

  Alexander was driving us in the big black Suburban again, the perpetual frown distorting his otherwise handsome features. I looked away from him to watch us turn down the Markham’s street and slow to a stop at the curb in front of their house.

  I took a deep breath to calm my nerves. It didn’t help.

  “Nicholas, what if I can’t glamour them? What if it doesn’t work and they get upset over how freakish I look now?” I asked, studying my pale white arms.

  “Adrienne,” he began softly, “I’ll be there to step in if you have issues with glamouring them, but trust me, they won’t see you as anything other than the beautiful woman they’ve always known. The change couldn’t change that.” He smiled a little at his play on words.

  My cheeks heated, and my stomach knotted for new reasons. I wouldn’t tell him that his little pep talk actually made me more nervous.

  With a deep sigh, I muttered, “Here goes nothing.”

  I hopped out of the car and marched up to the front door of Marianne and John Markham’s home. It was around nine and everyone should have been home by then. I rang the bell and waited on the front stoop for someone to answer.

  A small, chubby woman with short copper hair answered the door.

  “Adrienne?” she asked, the curious excitement obvious in her tone.

  Here goes nothing, I repeated in my head. When Marianne opened the outer screen door, I caught her gaze and imagined myself casting a mental net around her.

  “Hello, Marianne.”

  Her eyes glazed over, and she stood stock still, staring at me. My smile almost split my face in half.

  “Can we come in?” I asked, keeping my voice steady like Nicholas had instructed.

  “Come in,” she repeated, holding the door open for us to enter.

  “Marianne, who’s at the door?” a man bellowed from within the house.

  We walked through the kitchen and into the living room where John sat with his feet up, watching ESPN, his sandy-blond hair greyer than I remembered.

  “Adrienne?” he asked, a tremor of trepidation in his voice. He must have seen how different I looked. Crap!

  “Hi, John,” I said when I got close enough to look him in the eyes. When his blue gaze turned glassy, I knew he was under.

  Feeling on top of the world, I turned to Marianne.

  “Are the boys here? Can you call them down?”

  Without taking her eyes off me, she yelled, “Boys! Come down here!”

  We heard their feet thundering above us before four blond-haired boys skidded into the living room.

  “Adrienne!” the two youngest ones yelled with glee before launching themselves at me. They were much bigger now than when I moved in six years ago, but to me, they’d always be little.

  Overwhelmed, I called for backup.

  “Nicholas, this is Connor and Liam,” I stuck my chin out towards the two older boys. Catching my drift, I watched Nicholas slide over and greet them by name, effectively glamouring them.

  I took a calming breath now that most of the room was under control. Pulling the two young boys back so I could see their eyes, I said, “Hi, Jackson. Hi, Joshua. How are you guys?”

  “We’re fine,” they both responded in monotone. A twinge of guilt hit me, but I pushed on.

  “Everyone go have a seat on the couch,” I ordered.

  The Markham family filed through the room and each took a seat on the dark green sectional sofa. I ran through the story Nicholas and I had come up with on the way over.

  “Listen, guys, I have to go away for a while,” I began.

  “Go away?” Four out of the six asked in unison. I kept my eyes trained on them, but I could hear Nicholas repeating the same story to the two older boys.

  “I got offered a job overseas and I’m leaving immediately to take it.”

  “Leaving immediately,” they agreed.

  “I wanted to come over and say goodbye to all of you before I left and make sure you know how thankful I am for everything you guys did for me.” I sniffled. This was harder than I thought it would be.

  Nicholas leaned over to whisper, his warm breath caressing my ear, and I fought off a shiver.

  “Don’t be upset, Adrienne. This is for the best. You can always call or email them as often as you’d like.”

  Steeling myself against the onslaught of emotions, I turned to the people who’d been a second family to me.

  “Can you each come up and give me a hug goodbye? Jackson?”

  The pre-teen rose and made his way over. As he got closer, I sniffed the air, noticing a funny scent. I wrapped my arms around his bony shoulders and gave him a gentle squeeze.

  Meeting his eyes once more, I told him, “You can go back upstairs and continue whatever you were doing before I came by. After I leave, you’ll only remember that I came to say goodbye because I’m moving far away.” He nodded and walked off.

  “Joshua,” I called. “Come give me a hug.”

  As Jackson’s twin approached, I caught a similar smell coming from him. It invaded my nostrils and burned my throat. I coughed a little and wrapped him in an embrace. After giving him the same instructions, I called to John.

  The middle-aged man walked stiffly over, and I had to hold my breath. The smell coming off him was so potent my eyes watered and my mouth felt bone dry.

  When I was done with him, I called Marianne to me. The woman who had been my surrogate mother after I’d lost my own. I hugged her tightly, doing my best to ignore the way my mouth watered at her scent. When I couldn’t take it anymore, I pushed her away, a little harder than I’d meant to, and she stumbled back a step.

  “Adrienne?” I heard Nicholas call my name but couldn’t spare him any attention.

  My eyes locked on Marianne’s throat and I watched her artery throb with her pulse.

  It called to me.

  It didn’t matter that this woman had taken me in when I had no one and treated me as one of her own.

  Didn’t matter that I loved her and would never do anything to harm her.

  My entire universe centered around that throbbing inch of skin. I unwittingly took a step closer before my view became blocked by a broad, muscled chest.

  “Adrienne, you need to leave.” Nicholas was so close his words rumbled against me, sending shivers down my spine. I tipped my head up to catch his hazel eyes looking at me, worry creasing his brow. He put his hands on my shoulders and turned me around, breaking the spell Marianne’s pulse had put me under.

  I blew out a ragged breath and ran for the front door. Once out in the cool, crisp air, I could breathe again. When Nicholas joined me, he slung an arm around my shoulders and led me to the SUV.

  “What happened to me in there?” I asked in a small voice. I’d never felt so out of control of my own body.

  “That was bloodlust, my dear Adrienne. And that means it’s time for you to hunt.”

  Chapter 7

  Alexander drove us back to the city, Nicholas insisting it would be easier to hunt there. I spent the ride with uneasiness in the pit of my stomach. I’d almost hurt Marianne, the woman who’d taken care of me when I was sick, been at every one of my softball games, and taken pictures of me and my prom date.

  I felt ill.

  What kind of monster had I turned into? How could I have lived with myself if I’d hurt her? Or anyone else i
n that house?

  “Adrienne,” he began, “I know you’re probably upset about what happened at the Markham’s, but there’s no reason for you to feel bad. You’re a young vampire that hasn’t fed yet. Anyone in your position would have reacted the same. That’s why you have me, to help keep you from doing something you’d regret.”

  Like slithering my way onto your lap so you can comfort me some more?

  I shook my head to get rid of those thoughts. Nicholas took my head shake the wrong way.

  “Yes, Adrienne,” he urged. “You’re handling everything so well. There’s a reason it’s rare for a human to be changed without their permission. It’s a very difficult thing to accept and navigate, but you’re doing excellent. You’re pretty amazing.”

  I sat there, lost in his deep, brown-green eyes. If Alexander had crashed the vehicle, I don’t know if I could have ripped my gaze away from his. The moment felt loaded, like there was more he wasn’t saying. I sure knew there were a few things I was trying to hide from him.

  Unable to stand the silence any longer, I cleared my throat and chuckled in a husky voice so unlike my own. “Thanks, Nicholas. That means a lot to me. I’m trying my hardest and it’s good to know I’m not messing everything up.”

  “You could never,” he replied softly.

  I cleared my throat again, noticing for the first time how dry it was. Because I was thirsty, or because of Nicholas? I wasn’t sure.

  “So, about this hunting stuff,” I began.

  Nicholas clapped his hands together. “Right. Let’s go over what you can expect. Alexander?” he called, turning to the vampire up front. “Could you please take us somewhere to hunt?”

  Alexander gave him a grunt that Nicholas must have taken as confirmation.

  “So, Adrienne, hunting is another ability that will be like second nature for you. You’ll first glamour the human you’ll be feeding on. Being a beautiful woman will work to your advantage in attracting a meal.”

  My face heated at his compliment. That was twice now he’d called me beautiful, but who was counting?

  “Once you’ve ensnared someone in your glamour, you’ll let your instincts take over. There’s no need for me to coach you further on that because as hungry as you must be, the second you’re near another human, you’ll have no choice but to hunt them. Any direction I gave you would go out the door the instant you smelled them.”