The Supplicant

by Michelle Marquis

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  The Supplicant

  by Michelle Marquis

  "You're hungry," Krysis said. "You need to feed. But first you must know the truth of what you are." He smiled, showing two impressively long canine teeth. Then his companions did the same. Sin stared, wondering if this was all just a horrible dream and she was really in a coma somewhere.

  Sin tried to speak, but all she could do was shake her head in disbelief.

  "At the crash, you were dying. You asked me to help you, and I did. I gave you a second life so you could choose. Do you want to die, or do you want to live?"

  She swallowed. "And if I choose to live, I become a vampire. Is that right?"

  The woman with the dark hair laughed. "You're already a vampire."

  "So what happens if I choose to die?" Sin asked.

  Krysis unsheathed a silver saber from a scabbard hidden in his long black trench coat. "Then I will release you, and you can rest in peace."

  "Just like that?" Sin asked.

  Krysis gave her a grim look. "Just like that."

  "Don't I get some time to think about it?" she asked.

  "There is no more time. In order for you to continue the change, you must become my supplicant and take the second bite. Then I can finish your transformation," he said.

  "And I'll never see the sunlight again," Sin whispered, more to herself than anyone.

  "No matter what you choose, Sin," Krysis said, "you saw your last sunrise yesterday morning."

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  That realization hit her hard, like someone had kicked her in the chest. So much was happening so fast that she didn't even pause to wonder how he knew her name. After a few seconds for the shock to sink in, Sin reached a decision. She was surprised it hadn't been a more difficult one. "I want to live."

  Krysis held his arms out to her in welcome. His eyes became as light blue as a glacier. "Then come and let me kiss you."

  Sin melted into his arms and inhaled his rich, manly scent.

  Krysis squeezed her, nuzzling the soft flesh of her throat.

  Then he struck, plunging his long white teeth into her. Her entire body shuddered as a lightning bolt of pain flashed from the site. His fangs pushed deeper, sparking every nerve with searing agony, and then it all changed.

  Blessed euphoria came over her and, rushing away the suffering, bathed her in sweet pleasure. The sensation started from the wound, flowed down her chest and arms, and warmed her all over. Overcome with a million tiny joys, Sin wrapped her arms around the vampire and clutched his large frame against her. A gasp followed by a desperate moan escaped her lips, and she was suddenly aware she was no longer standing but being held up by Krysis.

  "I'm getting cold," Sin complained. Her mind was fading, slipping away into a growing darkness. A sharp pinch and Krysis withdrew. Sin blinked, trying to stop the darkness in her brain from completely taking over.

  Krysis removed a dagger from a sheath on his hip. Then he tore his black T-shirt open and cut a long wound into the 18

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  thick meat of his pectoral. Dark red blood flowed from the injury, and Sin's stomach twisted in hungry knots. Then the vampire placed his hand on the back of her head and pushed her mouth to the wound.

  Like a baby sucking at her mother's breast, Sin pulled the lifesaving blood into her body. Time slowed and disappeared as she drank, all the while listening to the tender, seductive words Krysis whispered in her ear. And just as Sin's body began to warm, he pulled her away and let her collapse to the ground, where she landed on her butt.

  Sin fought to catch her breath. She wanted this man more than anything she'd every wanted in her whole life. She wanted to feed off him, fuck him, and spend all eternity with him. "I want more," she said, wiping a trickle of blood from her lips.

  Krysis slipped his trench coat off his massive shoulders and let it fall. Blood still ran from the wound in his chest. He crouched down and smiled at her. "Beg me."

  Sin had never begged for anything in her whole life, and she sure as hell wasn't going to start now. "Fuck that." Faster than she thought she could move, she rushed at him, only to be restrained by one of the other vamps.

  "Let go of me!" she shouted angrily.

  Krysis dug his nail into the wound, making it bleed faster.

  "Hungry, my beautiful Sin?" he taunted.

  Sin lunged at him, but the vampire held her firm. She fought him and was surprised she managed to break free. But just before she could fasten her lips to Krysis, he grabbed her by the throat and held her back.

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  "Let me drink," she snarled, trying to pry his fingers from around her neck. But Krysis proved to be a stronger adversary than the other vamp who'd tried to hold her back.

  "Beg for it," he commanded.

  Sin's stomach cramped with hunger. "Please, Krysis.

  Please let me have more."

  But instead of letting her have her wish, he flung her back into the arms of the two other vamps. "Later."

  Sin glared at him. "You're a bastard."

  Krysis only laughed at the insult. "If you think that now, wait until I get you in the bedroom." Then he threw Sin over his shoulder and carried her out into the night.

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  The Supplicant

  by Michelle Marquis

  Chapter Four

  Glamorous, sexy, cool.

  For over two hundred forty years, Krysis had heard those words used to describe his kind, and it always made him laugh. They were spoken by people who had no idea what it was like to outlive family, children, and friends. All most people knew about vampires was what they saw at the movies or read in fiction books. No one could know the profound suffering and loneliness that came with the dubious gift of a prolonged life. No, that you only learned once you had begun your second life.

  Krysis looked down at Sin's lovely head sleeping in his lap.

  He was grateful she'd fallen asleep in the car and was now resting peacefully. Her lips were pale, but her cheeks had that familiar dark blush of a first feeding. He stared out the car window and watched as the city's darkened buildings rolled by. Absently he stroked her dark hair and wondered if he had done the right thing by her. There was so much about this new life she didn't yet know, and he was worried she might have trouble adapting. Some did and had to be destroyed.

  But then he reminded himself she was a policewoman. She was tough. And she had agreed to the change. He hadn't deceived her. He'd just given her the choice, a choice he'd never had when he was turned so very long ago.

  Would she learn to accept him? Could she someday come to love him? Those thoughts were almost too difficult to 21

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  entertain. It had been too long since he'd had someone to share his life with, much too long.

  Sin stirred. "Where am I?"

  "You're in the back of my car being driven to my home."

  She sat up, her brow wrinkling with concern. "How bad was the accident, Krysis?"

  "What good does it do to be reminded of it? That life is over now."

  "Please. I need to know."

  "It was bad. You were smashed up and dying. You begged me. . . ." Her lovely face paled even more, and he let the rest of his words die on his lips. "I don't want to talk about this."

  " Please. Tell me everything," she insisted. "I can barely remember any of it."

  He shook his head. "It's better you don't remember."

  Her dark eyes flashed in rage. "It was my death, damn it! I have a right to know what happened."

  A chord of emotional agony sounded in his heart. "Why?

  So you can relive it over and over again until you go insane?

  What do you want to know exactly, Sin? Do you want to know about th
e way your legs were crushed under the mangled dashboard or the way your spine was twisted into the compressed seat? What part of that harrowing vehicular crash would you like me to spin for you?" But right when the last words left his mouth, he knew he'd made a terrible mistake.

  Her face was slack with the horror. Krysis tried to put his arm around her, but she pulled away violently. "I'm sorry, Sin," he said. "But it wasn't any picnic for me either seeing you like that."

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  "Why?" she said stiffly. "Who am I to you?"

  "Well, I would say that's entirely up to you, now isn't it?"

  he replied. He glanced out the window. "Hold on to your questions. We're just pulling in now. We can talk in private inside."

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  23

  The Supplicant

  by Michelle Marquis

  Chapter Five

  The house was a gated residence situated on a seaside cliff. It was one of those houses that didn't look like much from the street, just a modest dwelling obscured by a gated privacy fence. But upon entering, the visitor was awed by a spectacular seaside view that spanned the entire living room.

  A full moon illuminated the waves, making the panoramic view all the more mysterious and beautiful.

  "Where do the other vampires live?" Sin asked as she took in the modern decor of the living room.

  Krysis removed his trench coat and tossed it over a white couch. "In the neighborhood. Would you like a drink?"

  "Can I drink anything other than blood?"

  He smiled, and there was a flash of those long, sharp teeth. "Of course you can. You can even get drunk. But in order to continue to live, you must drink blood, my blood."

  Sin folded her arms and toyed with the idea of sitting on the couch. She still was very uncomfortable with him, and this felt very much like a blind date. "Why does it have to be your blood?"

  He went to a black marble bar with shining glass shelves and poured himself some vodka he'd pulled out of an icebox.

  He held up the bottle in offering, but Sin shook her head.

  "How about a nice glass of red wine?"

  Sin unfolded her arms and rolled her shoulders trying to relax. "Do you have white?"

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  He replied with a smooth, sexy smile. Reaching under the bar, he opened a small fridge and took out a bottle of white wine. He poured her a glass, brought it over to the couch, and set it carefully on the glass coffee table. Then he took a seat on the couch and sipped his drink.

  Sin stayed where she was.

  "You didn't answer my question," she reminded him. "Why do I have to only take blood from you?"

  "Because you are still my supplicant," he said. "You're still human, but that will change. In about two weeks, your teeth will come in, and you'll begin to think differently."

  "Differently how?"

  "More like a predator." Krysis patted the seat next to him in invitation. "Why don't you come and sit? I'm not going to bite you." He laughed darkly, and gooseflesh came up on her skin.

  Sin paced and, shaking her head, tried to think clearly.

  Krysis had a strange pull on her that made it very hard to reason. "I need to contact my sergeant. I have family I need to talk to."

  "And tell them what? That your death was all a terrible mistake and you're all better now?"

  Krysis let the absurdity of what she wanted to do sink in for a moment. Of course he was right, and she hated him for it.

  "You're dead, honey," he said, "dead and buried."

  "This is all so confusing," Sin said, running her fingers through her hair. "I mean, I feel normal. " She stopped pacing and stared at him. "Why did you pick me?"

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  "I felt sorry for you. My death was somewhat similar."

  Now Sin was intrigued. She came over, sat on the opposite couch, and took a sip of her wine. "How did you become a vampire?"

  Krysis stretched his arms out across the back of the couch.

  "I was a Hessian soldier, something of a German mercenary, recruited by Great Britain to serve in the American Revolutionary War. One evening while scouting for the enemy's camp, I and another Hessian were ambushed by some American revolutionaries. In the confusion, we drove them back, but me and the other soldier gave chase instead of returning to our superiors to report what had happened.

  We ended up getting shot for our trouble. My partner died immediately, but I wasn't so lucky. I was left for dead, and as I lay dying in the wilderness, a mysterious vampire came and turned me just as I did for you."

  Sin was no expert on history, but if she recalled correctly, the Revolutionary War was sometime in the late seventeen hundreds. "That was over two hundred years ago. Is that how old you are?"

  "Yes," he replied.

  "Then what happened?"

  "The vampire kept me with him for about two weeks, kind of like a pet. He never spoke to me or told me who he was.

  He only kept me long enough to give me the essential second bite. Then I was on my own."

  Sin considered this for a few moments. Interesting, Krysis had no trace of a German accent. But then again, he'd 26

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  probably lost it being in the United States so long. "That must have been lonely," she commented.

  "It was, and I would never do that to anyone I changed."

  "Do vampires live forever?" she asked.

  "No," he said. "We grow old and die just like humans do, but we do it at a much slower rate."

  Sin pushed down her nerves and came over to sit next to him. There was a sexiness about him that teased her, and she found herself unable to stop staring at his full lips. "I can't believe you don't have a lover."

  "I've had them in the past," he said, reaching out and stroking her temple. The flesh-to-flesh contact made her heart speed up. "I just don't have one now."

  "Did they leave you?" Sin asked. She leaned in close, mesmerized by those diamond blue eyes.

  "They died," he replied. "Sometimes out of foolishness, sometimes because they got tired of living. But they all died before their time."

  "Is that my fate as well? Will I, too, die before my time?"

  "That is entirely up to you, Sin." Krysis placed his large hand against the side of her face and cradled her cheek. Then his lips touched hers in a soft, seductive kiss. Swept up in his dark aura, Sin closed her eyes. Something sharp scraped, then pinched her lower lip, and she tasted blood. Pulling away, Sin realized she'd cut her lip on his teeth. But before she could complain, he placed his hand on the back of her neck and claimed her mouth again. His rough tongue lapped at the wound and made it sting. The kiss ignited a passion in her that was all animal heat.

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  Krysis stopped kissing her and stood up. Stretching his muscular torso, he peeled his shirt off and prowled off down the hall unbuttoning his black jeans. If this had been her normal life, the life before she became a vampire, she probably would have left. After all, she wasn't in the habit of sleeping with men she had just met. But in a day and night, everything had changed. She was different now, inside and out. An old part of her heart mourned the old life as a highway patrol officer, but a new part of her rejoiced in this newfound existence.

  So Sin decided to follow Krysis and see where this weird relationship led.

  Sin got up from the couch and followed him down the darkened hallway. It led to a huge master bedroom that could have been an apartment in itself. At the center of the room was a four-poster bed with snow white sheets and a downy comforter. Around each post were thick leather straps, and Sin felt her mouth go dry.

  Krysis stood, naked, on the balcony overlooking the ocean below. His body was a masterpiece of sc
ulptured muscle and looked perfect in the silver moonlight. His cock was partially erect, and even in that somewhat relaxed state was enormous. Sin guessed it must be around twelve inches long at full attention.

  "What are the straps on the bed for?" she asked, fearing what his answer might be.

  He came back into the bedroom, not bothering to close the sliding glass doors. His light blue eyes seemed to glow in the darkness. "Restraint."

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  "Who gets restrained? You or me?"

  Krysis smiled evilly. "Why, you do, of course." Then in an instant, he was in front of her, grabbing her by the throat and tearing the clothes from her with his sharp nails.

  Sin lifted her hands to her neck certain he meant to kill her. Then she remembered she was already dead. She tried to pry his hand off her throat but couldn't budge it. "I don't like this," she croaked out.

  Krysis laughed. "So stop me."

  Furious now, Sin pulled back her fist and slammed it into the vampire's throat. Krysis barely registered the attack. He finished stripping her naked and tossed her on the bed like a rag doll. Sin jumped to her feet and ran across the mattress to get as far away from him as possible. But in the blink of an eye, Krysis was right in front of her, blocking her escape. She rolled away, but he caught her by the foot. She screamed in rage.

  Kicking at him with all her might, Sin scanned the room for a weapon, any weapon. There was a curved dagger mounted on the wall, and Sin twisted her foot out of his grasp and lunged for it. Her hand circled the handle, and a new sense of power filled her. Armed now, she turned to face Krysis.

  He chuckled. "Planning to kill me, Sin?" he taunted.

  "No," she said, holding the knife out threateningly. "But I am willing to do what I have to in order to defend myself."

  Krysis held up both hands in mock surrender. "I give up then."

  "Why did you attack me? What was that, some kind of sick test?"