by Amber Lynn
“It’s food, and I promise I won’t miss it. I guess mentioning my favorite food in my list of descriptions isn’t something you can replicate.”
Krinla had very little knowledge when it came to the idea of having to chew food. She knew other factions did it – the naturists even tried to push it on the Draculs with their candy – but it wasn’t something Krinla had partaken in. There was nothing saying she couldn’t. It was more the fact that doing so was a waste of time.
“How much do you actually know about Draculs?”
Krinla should’ve asked the question sooner. Hunter acted like he knew what he’d be getting into, but if he heard the truth, maybe he’d change his mind.
“If you’re going to use my lack of knowledge against me, I’d prefer if we skip that part of the conversation. All that really matters is that I like you and I assume I have to be like you to have a relationship.”
After focusing on their connected hands while he spoke, Krinla looked up to see how invested he seemed to be in the relationship he mentioned. She didn’t need visual confirmation, but she wanted to compare the desire she saw in his eyes to what she’d seen in Hulin’s.
There was no denying the desire was there. Hunter looked almost hungry as he stared at Krinla. What was missing that she saw clear in Hulin’s eyes was the hatred the Dracul couldn’t shake. Krinla had never asked what made Hulin irate, but the fact that he wanted to kill her father told her there was something between them that she was missing.
“Draculs tend to have light sensitivity, only find nourishment from the blood of other factions, the females are married by the time they’re fifteen and supposedly we’re supposed to do what my father says without asking questions.”
Krinla didn’t see anything wrong with the things she listed since they were all she really knew of the way of life. She thought they might make a difference to Hunter, though. The lack of any specific reaction told her convincing him that being a Dracul wasn’t as fun as he thought it would be wasn’t going to be easy.
“Your answer tells me that I’m right about Draculs only marrying Draculs. I know you don’t know what’s going on around us, but there is nothing but death outside of this building. Other than my dad, I have no one left here. My mom, my brother, my sisters, my grandparents, aunts, uncles, they’re all gone.”
The intenseness of his stare lessened as sadness leaked into his eyes. Like when she’d thought about Hunter being miserable, the idea that he was sad affected her. She hadn’t been in a great mood to begin with, so it was rough to have it plunge even further.
“From the virus you were talking about?” Krinla assumed that was the case, but wanted to know for sure.
Hunter nodded his head slightly. “My mom was one of the first diagnosed with the virus. It isn’t pretty what happens to people when they get it, and I’ve had to watch basically everyone I love go through it.”
“But you haven’t got it.”
Krinla wasn’t great about dealing with the emotions the conversation was leading to. She’d dealt with death, it was even of someone close to her, but she was fairly certain they handled things differently.
“Not yet, but I assume it’s just a matter of time. My dad is a brilliant scientist.” A small smile appeared on Hunter’s face. “I guess that goes without saying since I’ve been able to travel centuries in the future. He’s not a medical doctor, though, so he doesn’t have much to give towards the fight against the virus. We’re hoping something I find in the future helps us find a cure.”
“According to my father, you may have found it. I highly doubt you were looking for someone to save your people by making them something other than human.”
She wasn’t sold that she could really change humans into Draculs, but it was the option surely on everyone’s mind. Even if it was true, there was no way she could change every human. It would take years if the numbers Hunter had mentioned were actually true. Not only that, but the implications in the future weren’t lost on Krinla.
Subtle changes anywhere in the past could mean her future wouldn’t exist. Not knowing much about time travel meant Krinla was making assumptions, but she thought they were fairly reasonable ones.
“That’s not what we’re looking for, nor would we ask you to try it. At least I wouldn’t. I’m sure others would if it’s proven you can change people.” There was a slight squeeze to her hand that Krinla took as reassuring.
“What do you want?”
Hunter had set himself up for the question. Krinla had a good idea what at least part of the response would be, but she was hoping Hunter would give her more than the obvious.
He cocked his head to the side as he thought about the question. It was a good sign that he wanted to put thought behind what he was going to say. It gave Krinla a sense that he was taking things seriously.
“I’m sure you know that’s kind of a loaded question.” There was a slight pause as Krinla nodded her head. “Before a few days ago, I would have answered the question with a simple ‘I want to live,’ but things changed when I noticed you following me around.”
He stopped talking long enough while he continued thinking that Krinla felt the need to prod more of an answer from him. The way his eyes were looking at her, but maybe not really seeing her sitting there told her that it was a deeper question than she thought.
“Why did meeting me change your goals? I assume wanting to live is still a top priority.”
His eyes blinked a few times and the focus was back on her. There was a part of Krinla that liked being the center of his attention, but it felt weird to her.
“Because now I want to do more than live. I want to kill the man who hurt you,” Hunter said as he ran his thumb over her scar. “I want to marry you and have children with you. I want to learn everything there is to know about you and more than anything, I just want to be in your presence.”
The first item in his list said more to Krinla than the rest of the items. As far as she knew, factions, and therefore species, didn’t mix when it came to marrying and mating, but there was a chance she and Hunter could work things out if they really wanted to.
The fact that his blood called to her and made her want to devour him would be a slight issue, but it was one they could maybe work out. Wanting to kill Hulin was something he couldn’t do as a human. Krinla could’ve brushed off that particular want, but he’d been resolute about it enough that he put it first on the list.
“I should just kill you now.” Krinla hadn’t meant for the words to escape her lips, but it was for the better that Hunter heard them. Death could be all he knew from what was going on around him, but Krinla feared she would bring his death.
“But you can’t. Your dad said earlier that your body shut down to make sure you didn’t kill me.”
And there was the rub. Krinla had questioned those words from her father, but she was starting to believe they were true. Telling her arms to reach out and snap the frail human neck in front of her had only led to a shock reverberating through her body. She was in trouble.
Chapter Nineteen
Promptly at the one-hour mark, as Hunter liked to call it, Krinton was at the door, not bothering to knock. Krinla knew he was coming, so she didn’t bother looking surprised.
The conversation with Hunter had done nothing more to help Krinla make sense of the situation. It only confused her more, along with scaring her. More than anything, she wanted to find a way to go back to her time and remove the Hulin threat, so Hunter wouldn’t feel the need to and they could see if it was possible for them to coexist as Dracul and human.
Rya was at Krinton’s side as they walked into the room. Like Krinton, she didn’t seem as obsessed with all the new things they’d never seen in the room. Both Draculs’ eyes were focused on the couple still sitting on the bed.
“It wouldn’t work,” Rya said without any preamble.
Since the girl’s eyes seemed a little more intent on Krinla, she assumed the message was for her. Krinla
had many ideas going through her head, but she was fairly certain Rya was talking about the underlying problem she was trying to solve.
“What wouldn’t work?”
Hunter was the only one confused by the statement. Even if Rya couldn’t read minds, which was something Krinla made note of that she needed to discuss further with the girl, Draculs were good at reading others, which meant even Krinton would have a good idea what Krinla was thinking.
“Us being together if you were still human,” Krinla answered.
She glanced over her shoulder to look back at him with her version of the small smile he seemed to paint on his face often. She didn’t leave her eyes on him long, which wasn’t an easy task. Looking at the other people in the room was meant to help her strengthen her resolve, but her body wanted to keep looking at the man next to her.
“I’m all for me becoming one of you, but I’m curious why the other way wouldn’t work. Is there an issue with Draculs and humans having kids together?”
That was a question Krinla knew no one in the room could answer. It would’ve been an interesting experiment to try, but the species issue was deeper than that, even if Krinla tried to convince herself otherwise.
“It’s not that.”
“Is it because you’re royalty to your people and expected to marry your kind?” Hunter interrupted before Krinla could finish her thought.
That was another excuse that would’ve been fun to explore, but there wasn’t precedent for people to take issue with the relationship. Krinla was sure there’d be some unhappy folks, but that wasn’t an issue she thought merited much discussion.
“Nope, not that either. I’ve been promised to someone already. The only way I can marry someone else is if that someone else challenges Hulin and kills him.”
The idea of Krinla killing Hulin had been a fun one, but the laws Draculs had stated that she wouldn’t be free to marry whoever she wanted even then. She was essentially already Hulin’s property because of the promise of marriage and if he died, she passed on to whoever he left his assets to.
Krinton had already bent the rules when he postponed the wedding. Throwing them out the window when the faction was in turmoil would make things worse. The only out in the law was a direct challenge from man to man.
“And you don’t think I’d be able to kill him. What if I brought a tank back with us?”
Krinla got the feeling Hunter was grasping at straws, but not knowing what a tank was prevented her from understanding what he was getting at. She fought to turn around and see if there was anything in his expression that would give her a clue. Instead, she focused on the Draculs in the room for whatever help they could give.
“I suppose you don’t know what a tank is, so would firing a really big weapon at him so there was nothing but a giant hole in the center of his body help?”
Hunter was nice enough to further his idea. Before Krinla could answer, she watched as Rya zipped across the room in their direction. Krinla had seen Draculs move faster, but she supposed the point the girl was making would get across at any speed greater than a walk. The startled intake of breath from next to Krinla told her she was right.
“How do you plan on shooting someone when they can move faster than your mind can track?” Rya queried.
Krinla heard Hunter lick his lips and open his mouth a few times as he tried to come up with a response. With Rya right there, Krinla allowed herself to move her head to look at the girl, even though it put Hunter in her peripheral vision. The relief of being able to see him didn’t settle well with her.
“I see you fighting your body, Krinla,” Krinton said. “Why can’t you believe you are the duo sanguine and make it easy on yourself?”
Her eyes narrowed slightly as Krinla darted a look at her father before regaining her focus on Rya. Krinton knew enough without being able to see her face, as did Rya, but it was easier to look at the girl she’d only just met. There wasn’t a long history of expectations that weighed down on her from the girl.
The problem with answering Krinton’s question was that Krinla had started questioning her determination that there was no way the duo sanguine existed, let alone involved her. The fighting with her body that he’d mentioned was only part of the changing going on in her mind.
“She knows the truth. She’s just scared.”
“How can you say that with so much conviction?”
Rya smiled at Hunter’s questioning of her. The girl leaned in close, causing Krinla to squeeze her fists together, not realizing she was crushing Hunter’s hand as she did so.
“You’re going to break him if you keep that up. I’m just telling him a little secret I don’t want the guys standing outside the door to hear.”
Rya’s admonishment was enough to get Krinla to loosen her hold. For her body fighting against her wanting to hurt Hunter, it wasn’t doing a very good job. He hadn’t made a sound or tried to fight the hold, which left more questions in Krinla’s mind.
“He can explain why that is later,” Rya said, lowering her voice. With some understanding of what the girl was doing, Krinla only gently ground her teeth together as Rya’s face got closer to the side of Hunter’s head. “I can read minds, so try to keep that in mind when you’re thinking of all the things you want to do to her.”
Krinla’s attention had followed Rya’s movements, so she saw Hunter’s eyes when his brain registered the words. He looked over to Krinla for confirmation. She shrugged her shoulders. It seemed to be true, but she wasn’t an expert.
Hunter’s face turned a light shade of pink. Krinla imagined whatever thoughts Rya mentioned were ones he didn’t want other people knowing about, but she was curious exactly what they were.
“I have a lot of questions, but I’m guessing it’s not the right time to ask them,” Hunter whispered.
“Soon,” Rya replied as she straightened back up. “Anyway, Krinla will eventually do the right thing here, but it’s not going to be as soon as the rest of us want. I think you should tell her the theory you guys have about why the virus hasn’t attacked you and your father.”
Rya moved back across the room to stand by Krinton as soon as she finished speaking. She moved faster than Hunter expected, because as Krinla’s eyes remained on him, she saw his head shake.
She’d wondered if there were any theories, but assumed they didn’t have a clue since Hunter hadn’t mentioned anything. The way Rya had phrased things made Krinla doubt she wanted to hear about it.
“It doesn’t make a difference, especially since we’re not sure it’s true.” Hunter’s reluctance only added to Krinla’s assumption about it being something bad.
“You say that, yet you let her crush your hand because you think she’ll feel bad and want to fix the pain she caused. Don’t you think she’ll want to fix the disease already growing in your body?”
How anyone who could hear Rya and not guess she was able to read minds was beyond Krinla. It made her think the whole whispering thing was just to gauge Krinla’s reaction, which she didn’t put past the girl.
“What’s she talking about?”
Since Krinla had reverted back to looking at Hunter, she thought it was best to ask him the question directly. His eyes squinted together as a little anger appeared in them. Clearly, Rya had brought up a subject he didn’t want to talk about.
“I think she did a pretty good job of explaining it. We think the people who aren’t getting sick have miraculously not been exposed or already have some kind of disease the virus ignores. The chances of non-exposure are pretty slim, since the entire world is reporting cases.”
Krinla shook her head and then tilted it to one side. “I’m more curious about what disease you have. Is it something they have a cure for?”
If that was the case, it was smart to wait until the virus ran its course to fix things. Krinla was fairly certain that the anger she saw meant it was something that didn’t go away with whatever medicines they had.
“Technically I don’t ha
ve the disease yet, just the markers that say I’ll probably get it. As far as what it is, I’m sure you’ve never heard of it, but it runs in my father’s family and effectively turns my muscles to mush.”
It was obvious Hunter didn’t want to talk about it, and hearing the little that she had made Krinla want to get away from the conversation as quickly as possible. She didn’t know much about human biology, but muscles were important.
“See, Krinla. If you don’t try to change him, he’ll eventually die a horrible death.”
There was something wrong with the glee in Rya’s voice when she said the words. Krinla didn’t turn around to look in her direction, but she knew the girl was smiling.
“How long before you get it and things get bad?” Krinla asked.
Hunter tried to claim the news didn’t make a difference, but Rya was right that it did. The thought of Hunter dying caused Krinla to breathe faster. It made no sense to her, but her chest moved up and down faster than it ever had.
“Judging by the fact that there is no semblance of my world in yours, I’m pretty sure it’s not going to be the disease that kills me. Can we move on to another topic? Everything I’ve heard tells me you aren’t rushing to change me, and I’m not going to keel over dead anytime soon.”
Hunter didn’t understand how things were working in Krinla’s mind. Sadly, there was one person who did, and she seemed to be determined to push her agenda any way possible.
“Just say the word and we can speed things up. It should only take a cut in the right place. Krinla will be pissed off at first, but I’m sure you can find something to soothe her.”
The innuendo couldn’t be missed in Rya’s words. It made Krinla wonder how much the little girl overheard that she shouldn’t. She hoped her parents had figured out a way to block some of the more sensitive things they thought and did. There had to be a line where someone said too much information was being sent the girl’s way.