Raven's Blood

by Cassandra Lawson

Chapter Twelve

  Raven’s visit with Muriel was nice. It was strained at first because Raven couldn’t help but feel betrayed by the fact that Muriel was siding with the vampires. Of course, Raven could admit they weren’t all bad. She liked Jack, and she could see why Muriel loved him. More importantly, she could see Jack loved Muriel. Jack’s devotion to Muriel was one of the reasons Raven was determined to accept their relationship and forgive Muriel. It was comforting to have someone from her past to talk to.

  “Where are we going? There are plenty of wooded areas close to your home,” Raven pointed out. They’d been in Connor’s jeep for nearly an hour, and he hadn’t spoken a single word to her. Actually, he hadn’t spoken a single word to her since he’d left his bedroom. The man was clearly angry. It was funny how that didn’t scare her like it would have a week ago. Even his threat to hand her over to another vampire hadn’t bothered her because she knew he wouldn’t do it. It was obvious that once he decided to take care of someone, they were getting taken care of whether they liked it or not.

  “We’re going to a place called Las Trampas Regional Wilderness,” he explained irritably. “We’ll be there soon.”

  It was strange seeing the remnants of the human world as they drove along the old highway. The road was cracked and uneven. Bushes and trees lined the road, but she could still see some of the old cities. In some areas, the buildings looked well cared for. In others, she saw houses literally crumbling to the ground. Driving through one of the old cities, the broken streets were lined with burned out buildings. At some point, there must have been a massive fire.

  “I wonder what happened here,” she mused mostly to herself.

  “A lot of the human settlements were burned to the ground to drive out turned vampires, and no one ever rebuilt,” he explained when he saw her staring at the remains of the city. “There aren’t enough people left to justify rebuilding in most places. As I’m sure you’ve already guessed, it’s also safer for people to stay close together.”

  “Who burned it down?” she asked.

  He shrugged. “Most likely humans, but it might have been born vampires. It happened when things were still crazy, so it’s hard to say. Burning down cities is more of a human thing, but born vampires have been known to burn out turned vampires, too. I’ve always discouraged it because it’s risky and destroys valuable resources. Of course, I wasn’t in charge of this area back then. No one was. That was before Fangri La.”

  “Fangri La?” she asked. “What is Fangri La?”

  He laughed. “Yeah, I know it’s a ridiculous name, but it’s for the tourists,” he explained. “The city humans used to call Las Vegas is where our main government is located. After we opened trade, Fangri La was opened for tourism. It’s the only city I’m aware of where people from other countries are allowed to visit. They have strict safety rules, and people are screened at the airport. Everyone has to show proof of being vaccinated and on birth control.”

  “Why do people go there?” she asked.

  “Some people want to hang out with real vampires. It’s a very unusual place.” He spared her a quick glance before returning his attention to the road. “I’ll take you with me the next time I have to go. I’m not a big fan of the place, but it is fun to see the first time.”

  “Do I have a choice?” she asked.

  He sighed. “Probably not. I’m sure they’ve already heard about you, so I’ll be expected to bring you with me.”

  She nodded and continued to stare at the haunting reminders of life before the Moon virus. Of course, she hadn’t lived among humans then, but she’d seen photos and talked to people who were alive back then. Now, they were all gone, and the only living humans had never seen a world without vampires.

  When they turned into a canyon, Raven was thankful they were in an off-road vehicle. It was a little nerve-wracking to ride over the torn up old roads under any circumstances. When they were narrow and completely washed away in sections, it was downright terrifying. She thought she saw activity at some of the ranches lining the road and wondered who would want to live out here with so little security.

  “Why are we traveling so far?” She was really tired of sitting in the jeep.

  “I didn’t want to risk running into any of your human friends close to the settlement. This place is an old wilderness area, and it’s considered a safe area,” he explained. “We should be there in a few minutes.”

  “Safe area?” she asked.

  “We cleaned out most of the turned vamps, and humans have stayed away from this area for about fifty years. There are still humans living at the ranches, but they just want to be left alone.”

  She nodded. Old signs announcing the entrance to the park had bushes partially covering the green paint, which was now chipped and faded. A kiosk was practically falling over. The parking lot was overrun with dried grass and wild flowers. A redwood sapling sat in the middle of it all. Obviously, the vampires didn’t feel the need to maintain the old parks.

  “Why bother cleaning out the turned vampires? It doesn’t seem like the park gets much use.”

  “Turned vampires are dangerous, and if we don’t work hard to destroy them, they increase their numbers quickly by infecting humans. You’d think with so few humans left, they’d have a hard time finding any humans to infect, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. I guess they’re not really trying to infect the humans so much as looking for blood,” he explained as he climbed out of the jeep and opened the compartment in the front to remove the battery. He went around the back to trade it for the one fueling the jeep. It amazed her how small the battery was. She still remembered the batteries from the electric powered vehicles when she’d first gone to live with her father. They’d mostly used those since gasoline was so hard to come by. Now, they only had a few with functioning batteries left, and those batteries were huge.

  Raven slipped out of her shoes and stepped out of the jeep, glad to stretch her legs. She was also glad to have the uncomfortable shoes off. One would think she’d be used to shoes, but after more than eighty years, she still hated them.

  “It wouldn’t be so bad if more humans had the vaccine available in their settlements, but some only have limited supplies while others have none at all. There are also a lot of humans who don’t want to live in settlements or deal with born vampires. Basically, most of the human population is no longer protected against the Moon virus.”

  Raven knew that was true about the vaccine. It was only given to a select few in the settlement where she had lived. “You know an awful lot about human settlements,” she said suspiciously. “Do you have spies in them?”

  He laughed. “No, I don’t have spies. Believe it or not, I don’t consider your human settlements a big threat. I’ve lived long enough and seen enough change to realize that eventually your settlements will crumble on their own. If any of them became a threat, we could easily destroy them. Many of the humans living among us now, came to us from human settlements. They got tired of the starvation and hiding. They came to me for protection. I knew you were coming for medical supplies. Actually, I only suspected you were coming. I’d heard from another human settlement about the illness.”

  “Which one?” she asked, feeling somehow betrayed that another settlement was talking to the vampires about them.

  “Treasure Island,” he replied. “They trade with us. When we traded the medicine to them, they mentioned your settlement was suffering, as well.”

  That bothered her on many levels. Mostly, it bothered her because it made her wonder if she’d been fighting in vain all these years. Maybe the humans did need to start cooperating with the vampires. It certainly seemed to work for the Treasure Island settlement. Then another thought occurred to her. “You already know where my settlement is. You don’t need the blood bond to track me.”

  He ducked his head. “Yeah, I wasn’t exactly sure how to tell you. I didn’t want you to know for a couple of reasons. I’d like to say it was all noble, and I j
ust didn’t want you to worry about your friends, but part of it was a power play. If you run, it’ll be very inconvenient for me. I’ll have to attack your settlement to bring you back. I really wish that wasn’t true, Raven. I’m sorry.”

  She stared out at the trees, eager to move into them. She was a little angry, even though she understood his reasons. Still, she didn’t want to argue when she could feel the woods calling her. Rather than fight, she decided to change the subject. “I’ve been meaning to ask how you get these vehicles. There aren’t many cars outside your settlement.”

  “This is a long story, but I’ll try to keep it short,” he said as he removed the old battery and walked around to stash it in the front compartment. “We negotiated trade agreements with the countries of Mexico and Alaska first and now have some with Canada. They get goods we need from counties in Europe and Asia. We’re working on a direct trade agreement with China. It wasn’t easy opening up trade routes again. People around the world were terrified of vampires, and we didn’t have much to offer. What we did have was the vaccine for the Moon virus, and a lot of countries wanted it. That’s how we opened up negotiations. Now, we trade cosmetic treatments made with vampire blood. They can temporarily make a person look up to twenty years younger, so they’re in high demand.”

  “So, you get the jeeps imported?” she asked.

  “Nope,” he replied with a shake of his head. “We make the jeeps. There was an old plant close to here where they made early electric cars for humans. It was still in relatively good repair, so once we got the parts imported, it was easy to start making them. Our needs are different from other countries, so we designed the bodies ourselves. Actually, we copied old designs. Most countries have no need for off-road vehicles. We mostly make motorcycles and jeeps that can be used off-road because the streets are in really bad shape most places. Sometimes we find older vehicles in good enough shape we can reuse the frame. That’s pretty rare.”

  “I didn’t know vampires were so organized.”

  He laughed. “Yeah, but until recently, you thought we were all slobbering beasts, wandering around looking for blood. Listen,” Connor began before taking her hand, “I’m sorry I yelled at you earlier. I was acting like a real prick.”

  His words stunned Raven. Of all the things she’d expected him to say, that hadn’t been one of them. She smiled at him. “I suppose I should be flattered you were angry about me risking my health. I’m not handling my loss of freedom very well. I’ve never had to ask anyone to take care of my needs before.”

  “Not even a boyfriend,” he asked with a lopsided grin.

  “Especially not a boyfriend,” she said, but she didn’t elaborate. She’d never had a man as more than a sex partner. Her life hadn’t allowed for more than that.

  “I don’t know how all of this is going to work in the long run,” Connor admitted, “but I will take care of you. I’ll do my best to make sure you’re safe, and I’ll try to make you happy.”

  His words were nearly her undoing. They were spoken with such sincerity, it made her feel cared for even though she knew that wasn’t the case. She was just another one of his responsibilities. “Would you let me go?” she asked.

  “No.” He wouldn’t meet her gaze. “I can’t do that, and you know it.”

  “I could disappear into the woods today, and you couldn’t stop me,” she pointed out.

  “And I could track you down anywhere,” he reminded her, meeting her eyes with a hard stare. “That part of the blood bond is true. If anyone found out about you trying to run, I would have to punish you,” he added. “Please, Raven, don’t make me do that. I will be as ruthless as I have to in order to protect my people, but I really don’t want to hurt you.”

  His eyes were so beseeching, Raven caught her breath. Her hand lifted to reach out and touch him, but she let it drop to her side.

  “Why?” she asked.

  “Not everyone wants peace,” he stated.

  She nodded her understanding. “That’s true in the human settlements, too. Some of them want to live in peace, but others want to destroy all vampires.”

  “What about you?” he asked.

  “I want peace,” she admitted.

  “Have you killed vampires?” he asked.

  “Only in defense of myself or those I care about,” she replied. “I’ve never gone out looking for them.”

  “Let’s walk.” He gestured for her to walk ahead of him through the narrow gate. It was funny to call it a gate. Most of the fence was falling down, and tall grass obscured the gate almost completely.

  Raven looked around and smiled. She saw the fields of overgrown grass, but beyond that, there were trees, and she sensed the hidden areas in the woods. “Where are we going?”

  He shrugged. “You’re the wood nymph. Lead the way.”

  Connor was shocked when Raven took off. She skipped the overgrown trail and headed straight into the trees. He followed her, awed by her graceful movements. If he’d been human, he never would have been able to keep up with her. With each step, she seemed to gain strength.

  Connor finally caught her arm. “Slow down, little nymph.”

  “Why?” she asked with a radiant smile. “Are you having trouble keeping up with me?”

  Connor stepped in closer to her body and leaned in until she was trapped against a tree by his much larger body. Her gasp made him smile. She had obviously noticed his erection pressed against her belly. “Vampires get excited by the chase,” he explained. “It weakens my self-control.”

  Her eyes widened. “You said you don’t want an unwilling partner.”

  “I don’t,” he assured her. “That’s why I would have to lay you down on the ground and lick every inch of your sweet body until you begged me to take you.”

  Her pulse quickened, and Connor couldn’t resist the temptation to lean forward and run his tongue across it. That made him even harder, something he hadn’t believed possible. She seemed to be considering letting him do it. The green tint to her cheeks deepened. Never in a million years would he have guessed green tinted flesh would be a turn-on. This hadn’t happened before, so he assumed it had something to do with her proximity to nature. He suddenly wondered if other parts of her body flushed green when she was excited. He would love to strip her naked and find out.

  Finally, she let out a shaky breath. “Sorry, I’ll move slower.”

  He released her and adjusted his jeans. “We need to stop for a minute so I can get things under control.”

  “I’m sorry,” she stammered. “I wasn’t trying to arouse you.”

  “You never are,” he grumbled, mostly to himself.

  “Thank you for taking me out here,” she said, obviously trying to change the subject.

  “How often do you need to do this?” he asked.

  “Every week,” she admitted. “The oak tree in your yard helps because it’s my tree spirit, but I also need to be close to my animal.”

  “Let me guess, the raven is your animal.”

  She shook her head and stared off into the trees. “Because of my name?”

  “I couldn’t come up with a better explanation,” he replied.

  “I had black hair when I was born,” she explained in a far off voice. “My father said I was going to grow into a raven-haired beauty, and my mom liked the name Raven. If my father hadn’t managed to get leave shortly after I was born, I might have a different name. Needless to say, my hair didn’t stay black, so it’s a silly name.”

  “So, what is your animal?” he asked.

  “The wolf,” she replied, turning to smile at him. “I doubt you have a pack of wolves living in your settlement.”

  He laughed. “No, and I think we’ll keep it that way. I didn’t even realize we had wolves around here. I’ve only seen them in movies.”

  She hesitated, not really sure how to explain it to him. “They don’t venture out of the other realm often. Actually, they can’t unless someone who’s bonded with the wolf helps th
em cross. It’s strange because they can see me from the other side, but they wouldn’t be able to see you.”

  “Other realm?” he asked.

  “That’s probably a bad word for it,” she admitted with a shrug. “When you describe a wood nymph disappearing into the woods, what she’s really doing is stepping into a part of the woods you can’t see. There are hundreds of miles not visible to you, all existing on a different plane. Only someone linked to the spirits of the woods can see them. I may need to disappear into one of those areas for a short time to find a wolf. I won’t be running away. I promise.”

  He nodded and stared at her in awe for a moment before motioning her to continue walking again. “I’m excited about seeing you disappear. I kind of get what you’re saying, but it seems impossible.”

  She smiled and started moving. “I wish I knew a better way to explain it.”

  “Who do wood nymphs mate with?” he asked. “I wanted to ask before, but you wanted to kill me at the time. There are no male wood nymphs. How does it work? By the way, feel free to tell me if I’m being too nosy today. I’ve been trying not to bombard you with questions.”

  She waved off his worries. “We’re supposed to mate with someone who’s linked with a spirit of the woods. Mostly, they were human before that. There are others, but I’m not really at liberty to talk about them. My father never linked with an animal or tree spirit, so my mother shouldn’t have been involved with him. They met when he was about to leave home to join the military. She ended up pregnant with me, which was a huge disgrace. I never really fit in with the other nymphs because of that.”

  “How did you get to know your father?” he asked.

  “He came back to the woods to visit whenever he could before the pandemic. I ended up living on an old military base with him after my mom was killed.”

  “When was that?” he asked.

  “More than eighty years ago,” she said in a far off voice.

  “And in that time, you’ve become a kickass vampire hunter?”

  She laughed. “Uh no, I do my best to avoid vampires. Well, I did. My life really has taken a strange turn.”

  The wind rustled gently through the trees. Raven inhaled, and her face scrunched up. Connor smelled it, too, old blood and the faint scent of decay. The forest erupted with vampires, and Connor shoved Raven behind him, pinning her between his back and a tree.

  “Well, well, well,” said one of the vampires as he sauntered forward confidently. “Looks like a blood brat decided to take his pet out for a walk in the woods. Bad luck for you, blood brat.”

  The others laughed and moved in on them.

  “Stay behind me, Raven,” Connor ordered. “Don’t let them know what you are.”

  “There are too many of them,” she breathed out. “Let me help.”

  “You can help by staying safe,” he insisted. “Can you disappear into the woods until this is over? I’ll find you.”

  “Yes,” she reluctantly agreed.

  Connor moved forward and turned briefly to look at her over his shoulder. It was no exaggeration to say she vanished. Connor was amazed. The trees seemed to envelop her. She took a step to the side and then she was gone. If he hadn’t collared her, she would have disappeared from his life that first day.

  “Wood nymph,” one of the turned vamps said in awe. “I wonder if she’ll trade her life for yours.”

  Connor hoped she wouldn’t. He was pretty sure she hated him and didn’t see him as any better than other vampires most days, but the woman had a way of shocking him. He schooled his features into a bored expression. “Not likely, but you’ve probably cost me my lunch. Now I’ll have to hunt her down again when I’m done killing you.”

  The turned vampires laughed. “Brave blood brat, aren’t you?”

  One of the vampires lunged, and Connor sent him flying with a kick to the chest. The other vampires descended, and Connor quickly unsheathed the large knife he carried, nearly slicing the hand off one of the turned vamps. The guy screamed and fell back. The scent of blood had the desired effect, and several others fell upon the bleeding vampire like ravenous dogs. His screams further incited their feeding frenzy.

  That left Connor with five vampires closing in on him. They moved slowly, careful to avoid his knife. He needed the small handheld crossbow he normally carried, but like an idiot, he’d left it in the jeep. With just the knife, he was about to get his ass handed to him. At least, Raven was safe.

  A loud rumbling growl startled them all. It came from ten large wolves, and at the center of the pack was his wood nymph. “I suggest you move away from him or my friends will tear you to pieces.” Her threat was made with such authority, Connor was truly in awe and more than a little turned on.

  The leader looked startled and confused. “What difference does it make to you if we kill him, nymph?” he asked.

  “I don’t like explaining myself,” Raven replied, as she ran a hand along one of the wolves. “Your choices are run or feed the vultures. The wolves won’t eat your rotting carcasses. They’ll just tear you apart, but the vultures will enjoy the feast.” To emphasize her threat, four large turkey vultures swooped down to perch on the trees above Raven.

  Connor could see the woman who had been a great leader standing before him. She was fearless and ruthless when she had to be. She was truly magnificent. He couldn’t help but smile.

  The leader scowled at Connor. “This isn’t over, blood brat,” he snapped. “Soon, your kind will all be destroyed or back to living as blood whores.”

  The turned vampires backed away and then took off running into the woods, leaving behind the bloody remains of the one with the nearly severed hand. The vultures happily swooped down to feast.

  “Chase them away,” Raven told the wolves, and the pack took off after the vampires.

  Connor grinned. “You are fucking awesome!” he praised. “Here you’ve been playing the scared little hostage when you’re actually a total badass warrior.”

  She gave him a shy smile. “I think the wolves did most of the work.”

  “But you called them with your power, right?” he asked.

  She nodded. “The wolf is my spirit animal. They respond to me. What’s a blood brat?”

  “That’s what the humans used to call born vampires,” he explained.

  “What’s a blood whore?” she asked.

  Connor shook his head. “Sharing time’s over. We need to get out of here. I’m sorry we can’t stay longer, but it’s not as safe as I thought. I’ll bring an extermination team to clear out the turned vampires.”

  Raven nodded her understanding, but Connor caught her look of disappointment before she masked it.

  “Was this enough time to regain your strength?” he asked.

  She nodded. “I should be okay for at least a few days.”

  “I promise to bring you back as soon as we have the turned vampires out of the woods,” he assured her. “Until then, I’ll find another place to bring you.”

  A yelp startled them both, and Raven took off in the direction of the sound with Connor right behind her. One of the turned vampires had struck out at a young wolf. The wolf was injured, and the vamp was moving in for the kill. Connor leaped across the distance and threw the other vampire to the ground. His knife was still sheathed and the other vampire was armed. Connor slammed his fist into the vampire’s face before he had a chance to react. Then he caught the hand holding the knife. Connor could feel the bones cracking and breaking under his firm grip. Still, the vampire didn’t drop the knife. Finally, Connor slammed his head into the guys face, breaking his nose. When the knife dropped to the ground, Connor recovered it and sheathed it in the other vampire’s chest.

  Looking up, he found Raven trying to stop the flow of blood on the wolf. He stripped out of his shirt and pressed it against the wolf’s wound. “We need to take him back with us or I don’t think he’ll make it.”

  “Thank you for saving him,” Raven said.

  “He
saved my life,” Connor responded with a shrug. When the wolf whined Connor looked down at him. His eyes locked with the wolf’s, and he felt the strangest sensation. For a moment, he felt like he was the wolf. He could see with clarity the thrill of running free and feel the security of the pack. When he looked away from the wolf, he saw the woods stretch out behind Raven. He saw a waterfall that hadn’t been there moments before. Shaking his head to clear it didn’t work.

  “Are you okay?” Raven asked.

  “I’m fine,” he replied and then lifted the wolf. “I’ll carry him back to the jeep, and you can keep pressure on his wound until we get it stitched.”

  The trip back to the jeep was rough. Connor had trouble figuring out where he was going. There were suddenly things around him that hadn’t been there before, which was disorienting and a little frightening. There was no denying it was also pretty fucking cool. He wanted to ask Raven what was happening, but he wasn’t sure if she’d freak out if she knew he could suddenly see into her world. She didn’t exactly trust him. He’d just admitted to knowing how to find her human friends, but admitting he could find the wood nymphs might be too much for one day.

  When they finally reached the jeep, Raven studied him, and he knew she was worried. “Maybe I should drive,” she suggested. “I’m guessing you were hurt worse than you want to admit. You look pretty out of it.”

  Now that they were back at the parking lot, Connor’s head was starting to clear some, except that he understood the little whimpers coming from the wolf. “Do you even know how to drive?” he asked.

  She hesitated before shaking her head. “Human settlements don’t have many vehicles. We mostly walk or use bicycles.”

  “Then I think I’d better drive,” he insisted with an amused grin. “It’s a little harder than it looks.” Connor carefully loaded the wolf into the back of the jeep.

  His head felt much clearer now that he was away from the woods. He might have even been able to convince himself he’d imagined it if he weren’t feeling so anxious about the wolf. He knew he was somehow tied to the wolf now.

  “Who’s going to stitch up the wolf?” Raven asked. “I can keep him calm while it’s done, but I’ve never put in stitches before.”

  Connor smiled and allowed a hint of fang to show. “Don’t worry. Shelby has a lot of experience patching people up. I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to help your friend.” He couldn’t wait to tell Shelby she’d been volunteered to take care of the wolf.