by W. J. May
“In a way, yes. They are the darkness. Out of the woodwork crawled the immortals. There were ones drawn to my power and wanted to obtain it for their own. They didn’t care about human responsibilities or the complications of love. They cared about my blood. And so a war began. The Reds chose to protect me and my family, while, the Blues sought to destroy us.”
Kallie nodded. Finally someone had begun to unlock the secrets. This was how it began. A fight over magic. A fight for power.
“We thought all the Blues were gone, until Liam showed up,” Caleb offered.
“But Liam couldn’t have made himself a Blue, someone had to have turned him.” Kallie didn’t believe Liam was the only Blue Blood. Either they were lying or weren’t looking in the right places. Liam was a policeman. He couldn’t be all that bad. Why am I defending him?
“Exactly. We got rid of the Blues eighteen years ago, or so we thought. Liam is a fairly newborn vampire. He’s only two, a baby in vampire years. So whoever turned him, must be connected to a secret nest of Blues.” Caleb looked at Petra and she nodded at him.
Everything Caleb said made sense. Suddenly the world wasn’t so foggy, it was very much black and white… more like Blue and Red.
“Liam told me about the night he was turned.” Kallie knew it wasn’t her story to tell, but after the way Liam had treated her, she really didn’t care. “He was with his family, returning from vacation. They were in the car and they were attacked on the road by Reds. He said Reds attacked him. Then Blues saved him. He was dying from his wounds and so they gave him a choice, die or live as a Blue.”
“Well, he didn’t know any better,” Petra said, momentarily sympathizing with their enemy. “Anyone would have done the same. Did he say anything else? Did he mention if he still is with them?”
Kallie thought about it, but couldn’t remember any more of the story than that. “No, I’m pretty sure that’s all he told me. I think he just began his new life after that.”
Petra reached forward and took Kallie’s hands in hers. They were like holding ice. Kallie wanted to pull away, but forced herself to stay still. “I’m so happy you decided to come to us, Kallie. Caleb is my most trusted member of the Watchmen. He’ll not fail you. Perhaps one day, you might even want to join us, yourself.”
Kallie pulled her hands away. Is this why they were watching her? To make her a vampire?
Before Kallie could challenge the woman, the bookcase slid and six members of the Watchmen rushed in. “Petra, a Blue has been spotted inside the Red Dragon.”
“Caleb! Protect Kallie! The rest of you come with me!” Faster than Kallie could blink, Petra and the others disappeared.
Caleb grabbed Kallie’s hand. “We have to get you out of here.”
“I need my purse!” she cried, realizing she had left it back in Caleb’s room.
“Are you really going to be a typical girl right now? This is life and death. I need to get you to safety!”
She jerked her hand out of his. “I need it! I can’t risk a Blue finding my wallet. It has my address. My phone. They could come after my father!” Or they could torture her family and friends.
Caleb looked annoyed. “Really? That’s your concern over one Blue Blood? He’s here to steal your purse?”
“You think it’s only one?”
Caleb shook his head. “We both know it’s Liam. And he already knows where you live.”
“What if it’s not?”
“It has to be.”
Kallie started for the bookcase. “That’s not a risk I’m willing to take. And if it is Liam, I can talk to him.” Or at least prevent him from being killed.
Caleb threw his hands in the air. “Fine, but I’m carrying you!” There was no time to argue as Caleb swept her up and ran as fast as he could out of Petra’s apartment through the nightclub and back to his private room. The nightclub whipped by in a blur. It didn’t sound like chaos, so Kallie assumed not everyone knew there was a break-in. Caleb moved fast, he practically jumped through the mirror that hid his lair, then stopped short as it swung closed behind him.
There in the room, stood Liam.
He looked horrible. His face was filled with anger and rage, but when he saw Kallie in Caleb’s arms it switched over to sorrow and remorse. Caleb lowered Kallie to the ground and swept her behind him, using his body as a vampire shield to protect her from Liam.
“How dare you enter our private club? You’ve no business being here!” His fangs slid out as he hissed the words.
Liam put his hands up in the air. “I’m not here to fight you. I’m here for her. Give me Kallie, and this’ll all be over with no blood shed.”
“The only blood I’m about to shed is yours.” Caleb leaped at Liam, and the two vampires crashed together. They were moving so fast, thrashing each other around the room, that Kallie could barely tell who was who. She flattened herself up against the wall and prayed that the victor would be Caleb. Why isn’t anyone coming to help him?
Then the truth of what Caleb had told her earlier took hold. The room was soundproof. No one knew they were even in there, far less having a fight to the death. Kallie thought about leaving to get help. But aside from Petra, she had no one to seek out, and Petra could be anywhere.
Caleb was tossed across the room like a rag doll. He landed on the glass cocktail table, causing it to shatter. Liam ran over to the dartboard and grabbed the darts, he started throwing them at Caleb, but Caleb avoided each one. He snarled and lunged at Liam, slamming him into the wall and began to strangle him. Liam, still having one more dart in his hand, stabbed it into Caleb’s neck.
Caleb let go of the hold he had on Liam, and tumbled back. Plucking the dart that was wedged deep into his neck, he threw it at Liam, but Liam averted it.
Caleb yelled, “Kallie get out of here!”
Seeing the blood flow from Caleb’s gash and the rage in Liam’s eyes, Kallie refused to leave him.
Caleb hissed at her as he held his neck, racing over to her. “Leave! Now!”
“Look out!” she cried as Liam hurled sharp wedges of broken glass at Caleb.
Caleb ducked, instinctively, allowing the glass to find a new target.
“No!” Caleb cried as a sharp piece embedded itself into Kallie’s chest, another deep into her thigh. Warm blood began running down her leg.
It seemed Liam screamed out as well.
Kallie couldn’t be entirely sure as she stumbled back against the wall, the room getting blurry as the sharp stings of pain set in. She felt her body sliding down to the floor.
Caleb turned to charge at Liam, but Liam was ready. He caught Caleb in midair and hurled him back so he slammed through the other side of the mirror, Caleb slid across the wooden floor, covered in his own blood, leaving a way out for Liam.
Kallie whimpered in pain as Liam picked her up. She fought the nausea, terrified if she passed out she would die.
In a haze, she watched Liam remove the glass from her leg. Blood began to seep and flow from her leg, pulsing from the punctured area. She heard sounds, but they seemed distant. The colors of the nightclub began to swirl around her.
Where was Caleb? Why wasn’t he stopping Liam?
Liam’s footsteps echoed as he ran down a narrow hallway. Was this the way they had come in? She couldn’t remember. She wanted to cry and scream for help, but her voice seemed dry, rough and lost. Her body was on fire from the pain. Was she bleeding internally? Where were they going? To the hospital she hoped, but she was sure he wanted to find a secluded area so he could finish what he started, and dine on her in peace.
“Daddy,” Kallie moaned softly. Her face was wet, but she didn’t know if it was from tears or blood. “Dad… I’m so sorry.” She should have listened to her father. Now what would he do? Would he seek revenge? Would he try to hunt down Liam and get killed in the process? What Liam had done? Kill everyone he touched?
Her thoughts jumbled as the cool night air hit her face. They were outside, no longer in the club, a
nd from the sounds of silence, they weren’t being followed.
Kallie had enough strength to look up into her captor’s eyes. “I hope you’re happy you filthy Blue… I hope you choke on my blood, you bastard.” Liam stopped running for a moment and locked his gaze on her. He looked painfully distraught.
No one would save her. She was about to die at the hands of a man she once thought could protect her, and safeguard her whole family.
Then everything went blank.
Chapter 9
The sounds of birds singing, and wind whistling through the leaves in the trees seemed like a touch of heaven. Had she died? Kallie rolled and lay still a moment, her eyes still closed. Rays of the sun warmed on her face. Slowly, she cautiously opened her eyes and looked around. Familiar flowers, trees and vibrant green grass.
Shifting, her bed swung underneath her. No… this isn’t my bed. I’m outside on the porch swing… She scowled, trying to remember how she’d fallen asleep out on the porch. Last night’s horrors unfolded in her memory.
She grabbed for her chest. No protruding piece of glass lay in it and her leg wasn’t on fire or oozing blood. “I’m alive,” she whispered. Everything seemed fine. She looked down and saw she lay covered in a thick brown blanket. She pulled it off. She wasn’t in her pink dress any more. Instead she was wearing oversized pinstriped pajamas.
What the hell?
She peeked down her shirt and saw that her bra was covered in blood, but her wounds were all healed. Placing her feet on the floor, she got up and stretched. She had never slept on the swing before; it hadn’t been the softest bed. But a stiff bed is not even close to being dead, so she didn’t complain. On the floor next to the swing was a shopping bag. Kallie looked inside and found her blood-soaked dress, Jeanna’s silver stilettos, which were clean and blood free to her surprise, and her purse.
Grabbing her purse, she pulled out her wallet. Her license and everything lay untouched in their usual places. She checked her phone. There were several text messages. It would appear that someone had sent messages pretending to be her last night.
Dad, I’ll probably sleep at Jeanna’s don’t wait up. :) Kallie
To which her father had replied, OK! Have fun!
Then there was one from Jeanna.
So? Did you feel it everywhere???
Apparently Kallie had taken a different approach with that text. Nothing to write home about!
Finally, there was the text actually meant for her from her near-killer.
Words cannot express how sorry I am. I hurt you once, and I never wanted to hurt you again, but I did. I’ve given you my blood to heal you again. Please believe me, I would never intentionally put you in danger.
She didn’t understand how he could mistake the need to feed on her as not intentionally putting her in danger. And what did he mean by giving her blood again?
True, he hadn’t killed her last night. She was healed, and changed out of her blood-soaked clothes so he helped hide what had happened, but that didn’t mean he could be trusted. What had he done to her while she was passed out?
“What about Caleb?” Last she saw of him was as he was thrown across the nightclub, covered in his own blood.
With a shaky hand she dialed his number. The phone was answered on the first ring, “Kallie?” Caleb’s voice came out terse and angry. “You okay?”
“I’m fine. Are you?”
“Yeah, I’ll be there in a second. Don’t move!”
She heard a click and jumped when Caleb leaped over her fence.
He raced over to her, grabbing her face in his strong hands and crushed his lips against hers. Kallie couldn’t think of a better way to have been greeted by him. A few moments ago, she thought him dead, but he was alive. She wrapped her arms around his neck and threaded her fingers through his hair as he turned his face and deepened their kiss. They didn’t have to talk, or explain anything. All they needed to heal the pain of last night was this moment—to be lost to each other.
His kisses ignited a fire in her soul. She couldn’t get enough as his tongue danced around hers. It was completely different from kissing Liam, and she was grateful for that. She didn’t want to be reminded of what it felt like to be in Liam’s arms.
Finally, Kallie needed air, and reluctantly broke away from Caleb. He kissed her nose and her forehead, then just held her in his arms. “I never want to let you go,” he whispered.
“What happened last night? I was so worried, I thought you were dead.”
“No, not dead, just knocked out.” He grinned. “It’ll take more than that to kill me.” He frowned. “I failed you. It’s my job to protect you and I failed miserably. It’ll never happen again. I promise.”
Kallie pushed herself up onto her tippy toes so she could kiss him once more. Caleb wrapped his arms around her waist and drew her closer, moaning softly into her mouth as they submitted to each other. “As happy as I am to see you,” he said between kisses, “I hate that you’re in his clothes.”
She stepped back. “How do you know that they’re his?”
Caleb wrinkled his nose. “You reek of Blue.”
“Oh!” Kallie blushed. “I thought Liam came to kill me.”
Caleb’s eyes blazed orange from his rage. “So did I.”
“Someone’s up in your house.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Go inside, shower, and do whatever you have to. When you need me, text me.”
She smiled and tried to make out any sound from inside the house. She heard nothing.
Caleb kissed her quickly again, dipping her this time, causing her to giggle.
“Can you please let me go?”
He released her immediately and she hurried inside. From the screen door, she watched him jump back over the fence. She knew he would stay close.
When Kallie got upstairs, she saw her mother’s room was ajar. The bed made, the room empty. Caleb must have heard her father early because it looked like mom must have had an early shift. Kallie peeled off her clothes, and looked at them for a moment, not sure what to do with them. Deciding she didn’t want to return them, for that would mean having to talk to Liam, she threw the pajamas and the bloody bra in the garbage. Pulling on her robe she went to the bathroom and took a hot shower.
She felt wonderful, full of energy and unable to hide her smile. Last night she was sure she was at death’s door. How could she be so incredibly, deliriously happy right now? In an odd way, it reminded her of the morning after the accident, until her father realized something was wrong with him that night. Then everything changed.
Mindlessly she swirled the loofa over her arms and body. She touched her lips and already missed having Caleb’s pressed against them. Just a few nights ago she was lost to Liam, but he had shown his true colors. Now all she could see was Caleb. He had already explained so much, and she knew by aligning herself with the Reds, her father would be safe once more.
Lathering up her legs with shaving cream, Kallie began dragging the razor from her ankle to her knee, in a quick pattern. Humming as she shaved.
“Ow!” The razor had nicked her skin, and red blood began to flow. Kallie always somehow managed to cut herself while shaving, so she was used to the sting of the shaving cream seeping into the wound. What she wasn’t used to was the wound healing itself.
What the—? Kallie rubbed the spot that had just been cut. No wound. Not even a scratch was there.
Liam’s blood. Inside of her. Keeping her alive and healing her. As long as it lingered there, she would heal. No wonder I feel so weird. She dropped the razor. Had Liam saved her the night of the accident? Shouldn’t she be a vampire then, like her dad?
Kallie turned the shower off, towel dried her hair and went downstairs to get something to eat. She was starving! The kitchen was dark so she flicked on the light. “Oh!” She didn’t expect to see her father sitting at the table.
“Do you have something to tell me?”
Kallie shrugged. “Don’t take a shower, I used all the ho
t water.” She noticed all the blinds shut tight and her father unusually pale against his ruby red eyes.
“I’m not amused. Can you explain why there’s bloody clothes and pajamas that don’t belong to you in the garbage upstairs?”
“So you’re going through my things?” Kallie crossed her arms, disgusted at how even at nineteen she still didn’t have any privacy.
“Kallie, I’m a vampire. I can smell blood.”
She looked into her father’s tired eyes. He was worried. Between the stress of the ones who tortured him, and her new acquaintances, who could blame him? She pulled out a chair, and sat down. “Okay… just don’t freak out.” She told him where she had gone last night. How she was with Caleb at the Red Dragon, and Liam had shown up. She told him how the guys had fought and she was hurt. She told him how Liam had healed her. When she was done talking, her dad looked like he had seen a ghost.
He put his face in his hands and rubbed his eyes. “What am I going to do with you?”
“What do you mean?”
“You flirt with danger! I can’t protect you Kallie!”
“You don’t have to! Everyfreakin’ body wants to protect me! I don’t need to be guarded!”
“Nobody seemed to be protecting you last night. It’s Caleb’s responsibility and he did a lousy job. Last night Liam saved you.”
“Liam hurt me,” she said through gritted teeth. “Again.”
“You were not his target. Two idiot hothead vampires fighting because they’re blinded by the heat of hormones over a girl. You got in the line of fire. That’s what you’re doing, Kallie, you’re playing with fire. It’s only a matter of time before you’re burned. Why can’t you see this?”
“Who’s Petra?”
“What?” Her father actually paled.
She stared at him, angry that he’d accused her of being the reason the two boys fought last night. It wasn’t her fault. “How do you know her?”
“I… when did you see her?”
He was avoiding answering her. “Last night.”
“Did she come looking for you?”
“Caleb introduced me to her.” She tilted her head as she stared at her father. Liam’s blood seemed to make everything clearer in her mind. “She looks like me.” How she hadn’t clued in to that last night was weird. “She’s maybe five years older than me, tops.”