Blood Veil

by Megan Erickson

  So far, two things were clear to me about Idris. 1) I was no longer terrified of him. He was scary, and very large, and his fangs looked quite sharp. But I didn’t think he’d hurt me. At least, not physically. It wasn’t just that he needed me to barter for his dad. It was that I didn’t feel Idris was capable of senseless violence. Yes, he’d killed the Quellen, and I believed he’d kill again. But I didn’t think he’d hurt to be cruel. At least not me, not when I hadn’t done anything to him. Maybe I was wrong, but I trusted my instincts. 2) His anger, his emotional outbursts and snarls…there was something comforting in the humanity of his anger. He was capable of anger, and agony over his clan’s situation, which meant he loved. He had to.

  I puttered around my new small apartment while Idris ignored me. There was some shampoo and a bar of soap in the shower, so I cleaned up. I dressed in a pair of jeans and a V-neck T-shirt.

  I organized my clothes in a small dresser in the corner of the room. Then on a three-shelf cupboard near a microwave and hotplate, I took out the food Idris brought. There was even a small fridge, which I stocked with a few cold things. By the time I was finished, Idris had turned back around and was watching me thoughtfully. Now that I’d finished everything I wanted to, I sat down on the bed, fidgeting. “Do you know how long it will be before we go meet my father?”

  He shook his head. “Could be in the next hour, could be days.”

  “And what will happen with me after that?”

  Idris’s gaze dropped and he rubbed his thumb over his shortened finger; something I noticed he did when he was anxious. “I don’t know, Celia. I would think your father would take you into the fold.”

  “And that would be the end of my life in Mission.”

  He looked at me and nodded his confirmation.

  I thought about my life and my apartment. I had no pets other than the stray cat in the alley, who would miss me. But sometimes I thought the cat came around more for me than for himself, like he sensed I was lonely. A freaking alley cat taking pity on me was a new low, even for me.

  But my coworkers would miss me. Monica would ask about me. While Landon would move on, he’d be concerned, too. Then I remembered Charlie. Sweet, little six-year-old Charlie. So brave, but more brave than he should have to be at his age. I visited him at least once a week, and the last time I’d promised him a stuffed ocelot, his favorite character from Minecraft, a video game he played nonstop. I’d bought it, too. It was in my closet in my apartment, shoved on the top shelf. If the Quellen hadn’t ripped it apart, it’d still be there.

  Charlie had to have it. I didn’t care about anyone else, but I couldn’t let him down.

  “Idris.”

  He looked at me, and for a moment, I saw Charlie in his eyes. They had that same sadness, like they knew the future and didn’t want it to come. It only encouraged me more to do the right thing before I was lost forever to this world of vampires. “I need to do something.” I pointed to the ceiling. “Up there.”

  “No,” his answer came in a sharp bark.

  “You didn’t let me explain.”

  “Celia, there are Quellen up there who want to slit your throat. Who want to take a knife like this”—he held up a wicked-looking blade and the sight of it made me flinch—“and plunge it right into your heart. And now you want to go up there on an errand?”

  How could I make him see? “It’s a little boy,” I said, my voice soft. I wasn’t going to cry. I was going to state my case as passionately as I could. If there was one thing about Idris I’d learned, it was that he had emotions and they did rule him. “He’s sick. Really sick. So sick they don’t know if he’ll make it. But I visit him once a week. I’ve been doing it for a year. Whenever he’s an inpatient, which is a lot, I’m there. I bring him presents, and he calls me Ceely. Last time I saw him was the night I saw you in the parking garage.”

  He swallowed, and something in his eyes flickered.

  “I promised him I’d be back with a present. A very specific thing. It’s this little stuffed animal. It’s in my closet, and I want to get it to him.” I stood up and approached Idris slowly. When I reached him, I knelt down before him. “Please. I need to get it to him.”

  Idris didn’t say anything, but his eyes began to swirl, and his fists were clenched on his thighs.

  “I’ve been good,” I said. “I haven’t tried to escape, or ask too many questions. You said I haven’t had a choice in all of this, and you’re right. So can I have this? This one choice to do something for a little boy before I’m lost? It will kill me if he thinks I abandoned him.”

  Idris’s jaw clenched, and I could hear his teeth grinding. He didn’t take his eyes off me.

  It wasn’t lost on me that I was on my knees before him. I’d never been on my knees before a man. Maybe he’d take it as a sign of me offering something. I’d never had my mouth on a man, but I’d do it now. What would it be like to see Idris lose a little control with pleasure? Heat pooled between my thighs.

  “Stand up,” he growled.

  I stumbled to my feet, eyes glued on his white fangs, which had punched down to reach his lower lip.

  “Don’t do that again,” he snapped, standing to tower over me.

  “Don’t do what?”

  “Don’t get on your knees for me. Don’t get on your knees for anyone.” His face was twisted into a snarled grimace, a look that terrified me and aroused me at the same time. My gaze dropped to the front of his jeans, and the bulge there was unmistakable. I made a sound in the back of my throat and his hand gripped my chin, forcing me to look at him. “Yeah,” he snapped. “I saw that you were offering. And don’t even think about it. If your father knew you were on your knees for a Gregorie he’d cut off my head, then yours. That’s if my brother didn’t do it first.”

  “Then why—?”

  “Why am I hard? Because I might be a vampire, but every time I feed, more blood flows through my veins. My heart beats. I’m like you, but my body doesn’t produce its own blood, so I need to drink to get it. So my dick works and I can smell you.”

  “Smell me?”

  “Pussy. I can smell that you’re hot for it.”

  Oh, my God, I was fucking mortified. My mouth dropped open and his gaze shifted to my lips. “You want to make your delivery, fine. But don’t offer something that’ll get both of us killed.”

  “Idris, you’re scaring me.”

  “Good, sweetheart. You should be scared. This isn’t fun and games. Get ready. We leave as soon as the sun goes down.” He pushed me away from him, not roughly, but enough that I stumbled back on the bed. He watched as I landed on the mattress, then turned around, his back to me again as he picked up his phone.

  That was it. We were done. I’d been rejected and humiliated and that was that. Still, I’d gotten what I wanted. So when I turned away to grab something to eat, I allowed myself a small, bittersweet smile.

  Chapter 6

  Idris

  “I look like a toddler bundled up going out for her first snowfall.”

  Celia’s voice was muffled, but I heard her loud and clear. She glared at me through the thin strip we left showing of her face. She did, in fact, look like a mummy. I didn’t want to laugh at her, but it was a little hard to keep a straight face. Even though I’d laid down the boundaries earlier today, I still found her alluring and attractive. And even more so, I respected her. I remembered watching her bend over the little boy’s bed, her face so kind and soft. Charlie—I now knew his name—had looked up at her adoringly.

  She was risking herself, and I was risking her to do this, but I couldn’t tell her no. Because I’d want her to have one good memory of me after I took her father’s head off. I didn’t know why I cared, but I did.

  I brushed her padded shoulders. “Your hair is recognizable and so is your…figure,”
I said. “We’ll move fast, but I can’t have you looking like Celia with the Quellen out.”

  “Oh, right, and you just blend right in.”

  She was so miffed I had to cough to cover my smile. “You’d be surprised how well I can go unnoticed.”

  “Whatever,” she said. “I shouldn’t complain because you could have said no, so let’s do this your way.”

  She could move, but not fast, which didn’t matter a whole lot since I was with her. Anywhere we needed to go in a hurry, I’d carry her. Even so, as we walked to the stairs that would take us to the Mission streets, my nerves were on edge. I didn’t know what awaited us out there. If Athan knew I was doing this…I shook my head. Forget Athan. Taking Celia to see Charlie was going to be the least of my crimes when this was over.

  I opened up the portal, listening to Celia’s soft gasp as the wall blurred enough to see the other side. I waved her through, and she put her hand through first, palm out, eyes wide between the wrapped scarf we’d used to cover her face. She looked like a homeless woman trying to stay warm.

  We stepped onto a stoop in an alley, our entry concealed by darkness. Celia glanced back at the portal as it closed. “Wow, that’s so cool.”

  “Let’s go.” I grabbed her arm and we hurried down the street. I’d chosen the portal closest to her apartment that I could find, so we were topside as little as possible.

  Celia kept quiet, hurrying along next to me. I listened over the swish of her clothes for the hissing of Quellen, for anything, really, but all I heard was the typical sounds of Mission City at night. Some cars street-racing along the east side. Arguing carrying through thin walls of aging apartment buildings. A few people in rags huddled next to a barrel fire, warming their hands. They ignored us as we walked by.

  Mission had once been a bustling industry town. The Gregorie clan had been considered elite to settle here. Now…not so much. Today we just tried to keep our family close, stick to our principles, and exist in harmony with humans. The good thing about Mission now was that no one asked questions; everyone minded their own business. And there were plenty of humans who were willing to give their blood for cash.

  We reached her apartment building in under five minutes. One thing about returning here was that this would be the last place the Quellen would expect us. I still wasn’t taking chances, though. We went up the back staircase, the one Celia had said was rarely used because a lot of squatters had made it their home. We passed dirty sleeping bags on each platform and a few sleeping bodies. A couple reached out their hands for cash or food, but we had none.

  “I’m sorry,” Celia muttered to several of them. “I don’t have anything.”

  I kept us moving. Up and up until we reached her floor. The door was closed and locked. I took Celia’s key and turned it. Still worked. The knob clicked and the door opened. I pushed Celia back against the wall while I looked inside.

  The place hadn’t been touched since the Quellen wreaked their havoc. The landlord either didn’t know or wasn’t in a hurry to clean it up.

  I wanted to make sure the apartment was safe for Celia, but I also couldn’t leave her out in the hallway, so I brought her in and positioned her at the door. I pulled the scarf down past her nose and mouth to check if she was okay. Her dispassionate gaze took in her wrecked apartment, and I let her. They’d emptied food onto the floor, ripped open the cushions of her couch, and shredded a throw blanket. As far as I knew, she owned nothing they wanted, so they either did it just to punish her for escaping them, or to send a message when she returned that she wasn’t welcome. Maybe both.

  “I’m sorry this happened,” I said to her.

  Her eyes came to me and she shrugged. “I’m not…all this is just stuff. Mostly stuff I bought secondhand at thrift stores. What upsets me more is that they were here to kill me, and when they didn’t, they hated me so much that they destroyed my place.” She squeezed my hand, then dropped it.

  I was reminded again of how different her place was than Roxy’s. Maybe things didn’t mean as much to her as other humans. I pressed. “But this is your place, your possessions.”

  “This place never felt like home. I didn’t own a lot. Mostly just stuff I needed, and that was purchased at thrift stores. I don’t have family heirlooms because I didn’t have a family. So I’m not upset. Maybe it’ll hit me later and I will be. But right now I’m okay. As long as we get the ocelot.”

  I dropped the subject then. “Bedroom?”

  “Yeah,” she said.

  We walked down the hallway to her bedroom. There was no evidence of what happened here. No Quellen body, head, knife or even bloodstain. They’d taken care of it like they always did. No trace. Fucking professionals. I’d respect it if I didn’t hate all that they stood for.

  She broke away from me and ran to her closet, standing up on her tiptoes and digging around the top shelf. With a triumphant cry, she held up a little tan and yellow stuffed creature. I thought it was rather ugly.

  “It’s weird-looking, I know,” she explained. “But the game is kind of blocky and…” She sighed. “You don’t care, do you?”

  “I’d be happy to hear you explain everything you want to explain, but when we’re safe. Not here where we’re exposed.”

  She looked embarrassed. “Oh, right. That was stupid.”

  “Give me the animal.” I held out my hand, and she placed it on my palm. The fur was soft, and I stuck it in a pocket inside my coat. “There, now it won’t get lost. Ready?”

  She nodded, her cheeks flushed, and then she turned to me and gave me an all-out grin.

  That grin nearly flattened me. I would do this a million times over. I’d carry five thousand stuffed animals in my coat and deliver them to every sick child in the world if she gave me a grin like that.

  And that urge was confusing for me. I’d never felt that way, not about anyone other than Athan—and in turn, Tendra. And with Celia it was magnified. Over a smile. I wasn’t sure what it meant, but something in my gut told me that everything just got a lot more complicated.

  I took her hand, maybe a little more roughly than I meant to, and pulled her toward the window. “What—”

  “We’re taking a different way back,” I said. I threw up the window, gathered her in my arms, and said, “Don’t scream.”

  She clapped her hands over her mouth just as I leaped out the window to the alley below. I landed solidly on two feet, and when I placed Celia on the ground, she wobbled, staring at me. “That was…we just…”

  “Yes,” I said, growing impatient. The longer we were out here, the more anxious I got. “Those stairs were a waste of time.”

  She stared at me in wonder. “So what happens when you’re turned into a vampire? You get superhuman strength?”

  “Our muscles don’t weaken as fast, and our bones are stronger,” I explained. “As long as we feed. Same with our strength and speed. It’s all because of the human blood we drink. It interacts with our body chemistry differently than it does in humans.”

  “Oh,” was all she said in response.

  I didn’t wait for more conversation. I gripped her hand and hauled her ass in the direction we needed to go. It took her a minute to realize I was walking without direction. “Wait, do you know—”

  “I know.”

  She tugged on her arm but I didn’t let it go. “How do you know?”

  “I’d been watching you, remember?” I glanced down at her. “I saw you with him. A couple of times.”

  She fell silent at that, and I wondered if she was angry about the reminder of being watched or if she was thinking of something else. We continued on our way. The route was deserted, as most people in Mission weren’t out at this time of night, and if they were, they were up to no good and certainly weren’t investigating a tall man and bundled woman speed-walking
through the streets. So we didn’t see a single soul.

  We were close to Charlie’s place, maybe a block away, when I caught a familiar scent a half second before a Quellen dropped down in front of us.

  Celia made a muffled scream at my side. I immediately shoved her behind me and took a few steps back, so the wall of a nearby building was behind us. I didn’t want anyone getting access to her unless they went through me. I smiled. I’d been in a killing mood lately and hadn’t been able to fucking kill anything. This was where my confidence soared.

  I said to her over my shoulder, “Just stay out of the way.” Her fingers dug into my hips, then she let me go, just as three more Quellen joined the first.

  I reached into my jacket and pulled out a knife for each hand. I rotated my wrists, and the blades gleamed in the moonlight.

  “Come and get me, fuckers,” I said.

  With a hiss, they converged on me at once. I took out the first one easily, slicing his head clean off his body just like I’d done back at Celia’s. The other three were a little bit harder. Now that I knew they possessed Sevren blades—enhanced metal that caused wounds vampires couldn’t heal from—I couldn’t let them cut me. They’d nearly killed Athan with one of those. Athan was a damn good fighter, but I was better. I’d always been better, and that was why our soldiers were so loyal to me.

  I twisted my body, dipping and whirling as the Quellen came at me from all angles with their blades. They meant to kill me, that much I was sure of. They didn’t intend to incapacitate me and run off with Celia. No, they wanted to take my head off with one swipe of their deadly knives.

  I dispatched two more in quick succession, slicing their throats with swift swipes of my knives. The fourth was larger—maybe the leader. He hissed at me, but his eerie eyes were focused on what was behind me. Celia.

  I beckoned to him with fingers bloody from his fallen comrades. “You aren’t getting her unless you go through me, so give me your best shot.”