Cranberry Blood

by Elizabeth Morgan

  “Well, that was weird.”

  I turned to see Brendan wipe his bloody hand across the decapitated male’s shirt. “They didn’t do anything. Not a damn thing.”

  The bodies began to decompose.

  Had I missed something? The car park still looked empty. The streets around us remained desolate. I grabbed the crossbow from the ground and slung the strap over my head.

  Brendan knelt down and gently patted the girl’s shoulder. She lifted her head off the concrete and looked at him.

  “It’s over.” He helped her to her feet.

  “Who were they?”

  “A couple of thugs,” I replied. “They’re gone.”

  The girl ran over to her partner, who still lay unconscious on the pavement. She shook him.

  I slowly surveyed the streets around the car park. The fire under my skin burned, causing my gut to churn. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Something still felt...off.

  Why the hell does it feel like someone is watching me?

  “What is it?” Brendan stopped beside me.

  “Can you smell anything?” I asked quietly.

  He dragged a lungful of air into his body and turned slowly, scanning the streets and rooftops. His brow furrowed. His plump lips pressed into a line.

  “No. I can’t smell anything.” His focus landed on the roof of a nearby building.

  “But?”

  “I don’t know. I’m not picking up on anything unusual, but something just doesn’t feel right. It feels like we have—”

  “An audience,” I commented, following his gaze to the apartment building. “Yeah. I’m getting that, too.”

  “Do you think it was staged?”

  My brow tightened as I peered up at him. “Why would someone want to watch us?”

  “I don’t know, but it would explain why the Leeches had come into a wide open space instead of somewhere more private.” His focus remained glued to the apartment building.

  “Is someone up there?”

  He narrowed his eyes and his nostrils flared. “I’m not sure.”

  “Well, let’s get these two on their way and then we can go and check it out.”

  He shook his head. “If we’re being watched by a Vampire, it will be gone before we get there. Their scents don’t stick around for long.”

  “You go check it out, then. I will take care of the humans.”

  He looked down at me. “I’m not leaving you on your own.”

  “I’m a big girl, Brendan. I can take care of myself—”

  “I’m aware that you are capable of looking after yourself, Heather,” he interrupted, his tone deadly serious.

  “Good.” I pushed my sword back into its sheath. “Then I will deal with the humans and follow you up.”

  “No.”

  “No? You’re going t’be right over there.” My finger pointed at the building.

  “That’s beside the point.”

  “What d’ya think is going to happen to me, exactly?”

  He looked back at the building. “If I knew that, I would have told you this morning.”

  “Brendan, I—”

  “Heather, I’m not leaving your side,” he said firmly. “If you want to check it out, we will go together.”

  “You just said—”

  “Heather.” He slanted a look at me. “Don’t argue with me on this. I know you can look after yourself, but we are not separating.”

  I took a deep breath.

  “Fine.” I walked over to the couple. “Are you okay?”

  “Wh...what the hell just happened?” The drunken male held the back of his head.

  The faint scent of blood danced around me. I froze. My body tensed. I dug my nails into my palms as the thirst grated against my throat. Obviously hadn’t drunk enough today.

  “Thugs,” Brendan replied, stopping beside me. He wrapped his arm around my waist, left hand splayed on my abdomen, pinning me to his side. If every muscle in my body wasn’t already locked into place, such a bold move would have had the same effect. But instead, I found myself relaxing as his scent wrapped around me, drowning everything else out.

  “They’re gone. I think it would be best for you both to go straight home.”

  “No shit.” The drunk sneered.

  “Do you live far from here?” Brendan continued politely.

  “Just down there.” The girl indicated one of the roads.

  “Walk quickly, then.”

  She nodded and began dragging her drunken boyfriend across the car park.

  “Take a deep breath.” Brendan’s tone remained soft as he dipped his head and whispered into my ear.

  I laughed lightly, fighting off the shiver that wanted to claim my right side at the simple feel of his breath touching my skin. “Not the best suggestion, Shifter.”

  “Is it the smell?”

  “My body reacts. I will be okay in a second,” I replied quietly as the tension slowly eased from me.

  “Well, they’re gone now.”

  I nodded and forced myself to look up at the roof of the apartment building.

  “You want to go and check it out?”

  “Do you think we should?”

  “You’re actually asking my opinion?”

  “It would appear so, but don’t get too used to it.”

  He chuckled. “I don’t see the point in wasting my time on those who watch. They are only worth the attention once they start participating.”

  “Why are they watchin’, though?” I scanned the length of the roof, hoping to see some sort of movement.

  “Your guess would be as good as mine.”

  Unfortunately, guessing meant I needed an idea in the first place. I had no idea. I had always attracted Vampires’ interest. They tried their best to kill me, whenever they got the chance. They had come to the house on many occasions to piss me off, but something about tonight, about the other night.... Something wasn’t right.

  Moving his hand to my hip, he squeezed gently. “Let’s go someplace else and see what we can find.”

  He took a couple steps back. A staggered breath left me.

  “Yeah.” I took one last look at the rooftop and nodded. “Yeah. Let’s go.”

  Chapter Five

  ~ Brendan ~

  Across the line, Carter exhaled a low curse through the receiver.

  Good; he agreed with me. “I’m glad I’m not the only one who finds this entire situation fucked up.”

  “The situation has been a mess from the get-go, laddie.” Carter’s broad Scottish accent thickened with each word.

  I’d promised I would call my Alpha at eleven each morning to give him an update, even if there wasn’t really anything to tell. Heather slept soundly in her room. Needless to say, last night’s hunt wiped her out; she shouldn’t have gone out in the first place. At least, with her out of the way, I could talk in private.

  “You went back to the rooftop?” Carter asked.

  “After she went to sleep. The scent had faded by the time I got there.”

  “A Vampire, then.”

  “Yeah, and he must have followed us. The Leeches we killed in the car park didn’t even put up a fight. I have never come across a Leech that would just lie down and give itself up.” A sigh escaped me. “Carter, something feels completely wrong.”

  “Why didn’t you check the rooftop out straight away?”

  “I had a bad feeling.” The remaining orange juice in my glass stuck in my throat in my attempted swallow. “I didn’t want to leave Heather alone. The fact that she had stopped to watch the building would have let our audience know that we were coming to visit, so they would have left.”

  “I suppose. If they wanted to observe and not join in, well, it’s strange, but I wouldn’t worry too much about it.”

  “My thoughts exactly.” The glass slammed back on the breakfast bar. “I don’t like not knowing what is going to happen, Carter.”

  “Understandable.” He paused. “This note t
hat Sofia left stated that this Leech would be going to a club tonight, you say?”

  “Yeah, and Heather is hell-bent on going after him.” Across the kitchen window, sunlight danced on the leaves of a small berry bush. “Did Sofia ever say anything to you about any of this?”

  “No, she did not.”

  If that was the answer he wanted to give me, I had to take it, but out of all the people Sofia could have confided in, well, I thought it would have been him.

  “I don’t know what the hell I am supposed to do, Carter.” A wave of frustration rippled under my skin. My shoulders suddenly grew heavy, as though a house rested on top of me. My left hand tensed, as if gripping something too tight. Within the short moment of silence, a crunch resounded on the other end of the phone; the anger I felt was because of Carter, because he was angry.

  “Just stay with Heather. Keep her safe.” His tone remained neutral as he continued. “Sofia was never wrong. I can only hope things will soon make sense to us all.”

  Soft footfalls echoed on the upstairs landing. The Slayer is up.

  “How is Heather?”

  “Honestly? She’s a complete pain in the arse.”

  He laughed. “She takes after Sofia, then. That woman irritated the hell out of me.”

  “She doesn’t trust me.”

  “Do you expect her to, so soon?”

  “It would make things easier.”

  “Of course it would, but the one person Heather cared about is now gone.” No one would miss the break in his voice. “You of all people know how hard it is to trust. Especially when the world we live in is not the one humans are aware of. Trust must be earned, and the way to earn it is to prove you deserve it.”

  “What happened to the days of the hero rescuing the damsel in distress and her being thankful to him?” Not that I could envisage Heather as a damsel in distress.

  “Those days are long gone, Brendan. Nowadays, the damsel takes care of herself, and on occasion, she might even rescue the hero, if she feels he deserves it.”

  “I’m screwed, then.”

  Carter chuckled once more. “Give her space. She knows you are there to help her, but don’t get in her way. You know what young women are like.”

  “I know what females are like.” The sound of Heather’s footfalls grew louder as she headed down the stairs. “Speaking of the Slayer, she has awakened.”

  “Same time tomorrow, then.” The phone clicked, and the line went dead.

  Heather pushed the kitchen door open and walked straight to the fridge to retrieve one of her bottles. Her golden curls fell in a tangle as she stood casually at the open door of the fridge, wearing a black vest and low-hanging grey bottoms. I could still make out the faint marks of Antonio’s scratch slanting down her upper left arm. One of many scars that marked her body. My Wolf growled faintly at the thought.

  Relax, boy. We all have scars, remember?

  He snorted.

  “Morning.”

  She grunted and tipped back the bottle. The muscles in her neck moved vigorously beneath her skin with every gulp. Clearly, she wanted to knock back the substance rather than savour the bizarre taste.

  “No sword this morning? Aren’t I lucky?”

  She finished her drink and stuck it in the sink. “I can get my sword if it will make you feel more comfortable.”

  “Aren’t you the accommodating one.” I slid off the stool and walked over to the oven, checking on the two packets’ worth of bacon that sizzled on the grill.

  “Who were you talkin’ to?”

  Obviously, her hearing proved better than I thought.

  “Carter. I call every day at eleven to give him updates.” I walked to the fridge and retrieved a carton of eggs.

  “Would Carter know anything?” She hopped up onto the stool opposite my own, another bottle firmly in her grasp. “You said he and my Gran had a history.”

  “They did, and no, I’m afraid he knows as much as we do.” The frying pan flew from its shelf with a grab and landed on the switched-on hob.

  “That’s a shame.”

  Understatement of the year.

  “How are you feeling?” My voice sounded barely audible over the sizzle of the eggs hitting the heated metal.

  “Fine.”

  “How are your wounds?”

  “Healed.”

  I turned and studied her. “I am referring to the one you received last night.”

  “It was only a scratch, wasn’t deep. After this stuff circulates, my thigh will be as good as new.”

  “I hope you’re right, since you want to go out tonight.” I flipped the two eggs.

  “Nothin’ is going to stop me from going out tonight. I have to.”

  I placed the eggs on one of the plates, next to two pieces of toast, then cracked open another three.

  “He won’t tell you what you want to know.” I switched off the grill, slipped on the floral oven mitt, and then retrieved the tray of bacon, before distributing it evenly between both plates.

  She laughed sharply. “Of course he won’t.”

  “So how are you expecting to make him cough up Marko’s or his Mistress’ whereabouts?” I placed the tray back in the oven and closed the door, scooped my three eggs onto my plate, then switched off the hob. “I expect there will be others with him.”

  “There will be. Michael wouldn’t allow a second generation Vampire to walk around unescorted. Luca is Michael’s special guest, and even though Luca is stronger than Michael and every Vampire with him, it’s just common courtesy for the host to give his guest use of his possessions.”

  “I see. If a situation should arise, why get your hands messy when others can do it for you?”

  “Exactly.”

  I placed one of the plates in front of her.

  She studied the food before looking back at me. “What’s this?”

  “It’s called breakfast.”

  “At 11:25 a.m.?”

  “Fine. It’s called brunch.” My plate landed on the breakfast bar, followed by two mugs for coffee.

  “Why are you making brunch for me?”

  I couldn’t help chuckling.

  “Not everything is a conspiracy, Heather. I’m making myself breakfast; I thought you would be hungry once you woke up, so it made sense to make you something, too.”

  “Err, thanks?”

  “You’re welcome.” I placed a mug of coffee in front of her and sat back down. “Now, when you say second generation, what do you mean? A Leech is just a Leech, at the end of the day.” My teeth sank into a piece of toast.

  “Marko is an Ancient and, as I have already mentioned, he is the only one we are aware of. There were Vampires before him, so we can’t ignore that fact, but until we have proof—”

  “There is no need to pay too much attention to it.”

  “Exactly. First generation Vampires are the ones turned within the first hundred years after Marko. There are hardly any first generation Vampires left; the two I know of are connected to Marko. Second generation is obviously the next lot of Vampires to be turned, and there aren’t a lot of them, either. The first three generations are seen as, dare I say, royalty. Michael is the leader of the United Colony; he’s a third generation. The older the Vampires, the stronger they are, which means they are more difficult to kill.”

  “But you can kill them?” I didn’t mean it as a question, but Heather nodded. Amusement sparked through me when she picked up a piece of toast and studied it. “I haven’t poisoned your food.”

  “I’d know if you had, and you wouldn’t still be sitting there.”

  A toothy grin escaped me. “Oh, really? Think you could take me?”

  She laughed. “You bet your arse I could.”

  I was willing to bet that she would damn well try, and the thought turned out both amusing, and dare I say, appealing.

  “Anyway, the first three generations can fully transform, and—”

  “Wait, what do you mean by fully transform?” I g
ulped the piece of bacon that wanted to stay lodged in my throat.

  “Fourth generation to the present can only half transform, meaning they remain in a human form with alterations. The first three generations are able to shift.”

  “Shift? As in, they can shift into other forms?”

  “Yup.” She took a mouthful of coffee. “I don’t know the full extent. The stories of those who have faced the early generations are somewhat fuzzy, but I do know they can also glamour humans and animals, taking hold of their subconscious and feeding them orders, wipin’ their memories and givin’ them new ones.”

  And she is expected to go up against Leeches with those powers, all on her own? No wonder she has issues.

  “Did you say your father went up against Michael?” Regret at asking slammed through me as soon as the question slipped from my mouth.

  Her knuckles went white as her grip tightened on her fork; her eyes remained on her plate as she spoke. “My Gran never told me what happened. Just that Michael killed him.”

  “So if I rip his head off, that would be a good thing?”

  Her lips lifted at the corners as her dull eyes met mine. “Yeah, but that depends on if I get to him first, Shifter.”

  “I will have to be quick, then.” I grinned. “So, we have ourselves one second generation Vampire and I’m going to take a wild guess and say any Vamps accompanying him will be our regular bunch?”

  She nodded.

  “Will he be able to glamour you?”

  “Infecteds are immune. They can’t be glamoured, and they can’t be controlled, which is more than likely the main reason for why Vampires end up killing most of them; they are a liability. So I presume that means I can’t be glamoured but—” she paused for a moment and I could see the tension bunching in her shoulders, “—well, you’re goin’ to be with me so if I start doin’ somethin’ crazy, then—”

  “I will tie you to a chair like I promised, and then slap the sanity back in to you.”

  She forked some egg and bacon into her mouth; her shoulders relaxed a little.

  “When you say crazy, do you mean more so than usual?”

  She scowled at me, before tucking into the rest of her brunch.

  Chapter Six