Almost Human

by Secret Cravings Publishing

  “I’m…God, how much did you take? I’m laying down, and I’m still dizzy.”

  His eyebrows came together and he frowned. “I took more than I should have, but you’ll be fine. Stay still. I don’t want you to be sick.”

  “No problems there. I think if I sat up, I’d pass out.”

  “I’m so sorry. I waited too long to feed. And you came in here, smelling good and afraid. I was angry that you had come back, but glad at the same time, and I snapped.”

  Glad? He’d been glad to see me? I frowned at the giddy, girly feeling I got. “How long did you go without feeding?”

  “A month. There’s been so much going on lately. I haven’t had time, or been in the mood.”

  A month? Holy crap. “I’ve never heard of a vampire going more than two weeks without feeding. By then they’re like rabid animals, and they usually kill their victims.” A chill went down my spine. How close had I come to death this day?

  “Yeah, but have you met that many over a hundred? I’m like eight hundred. I have control. I would have more if I deprived myself more often to test my limits, but I’ve gotten spoiled. It’s a lot easier to find willing victims in the twenty-first century than it was in my time.”

  The light bounced off something metal behind Alaric’s head. I braced my hands on his shoulders and shoved, rolling with him.

  “What the fu—”

  The double-sided axe bit into the bed. Before the zombie could lift it out, I kicked her in the stomach. She flew into the wall with enough force to dent the sheet rock.

  This had to be Sherra. She looked pretty good for a zombie. Mother must have poured a lot of magic into her. But you could still tell she was a corpse. Her skin was almost grey and stretched taut across her bones. Her limp hair hung well past her shoulders and a small patch was missing on the side of her head. Thinned lips pulled back from her rotting teeth and the stench of her was enough to make me gag. She must have been cloaked in magic for Alaric not to have noticed it well before I spotted her.

  Stuffing flew as I yanked the axe out of the bed. I shoved myself off Alaric and spun around. I swung the heavy axe at Sherra’s head with all I had. She ducked, and the blade struck the wall.

  She kicked me in the stomach and I tumbled across the bed and onto the floor on the other side. I lay there for a second, relearning how to breathe. Nausea swelled up in my gut. Oh gees, not now. I didn’t want to be vomiting up everything I’d ever eaten when this bitch decapitated me.

  There was pounding on the door and the doorknob rattled. “Alaric!”

  “Can you hear us? What’s going on?”

  “We can’t break down the door.”

  Jet black, pointy-toed boots came into view. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand and looked up at the evil dead.

  She stared down at me with solid white eyes and I felt her disgust. Her lip curled back from her teeth. “Why do you defend this creature, daughter? You’re of my line. You should be hunting it.”

  She seized a hand full of my hair and yanked me off the ground. “This one killed me. You should avenge your ancestors, and instead you feed it. Do you fuck it, too?”

  She punched me in the jaw and sent me spinning, face first, into the wall. My vision fuzzed out for a second. She had one hell of a right hook.

  She moved toward Alaric. “You will die, vampire. You turned one of mine, and her mother called me back to kill you.”

  Alaric shook his head. He looked even paler than usual. “You’re dead.”

  She took another step toward him. “Yes, you killed me. Did you know that blood bonding me to you would kill me slowly, and painfully?”

  He flinched. “No, I swear. I only meant to control you, so you wouldn’t kill any of my brothers or me.”

  “You deserve to die,” she screeched. “You’re evil.”

  I banged my fist on the wall, and Alaric’s distant gaze jerked away from her. “Stop talking to her, Alaric. Kill her. She came back wrong.”

  He snapped back to himself and decked her right in the jaw. She landed on her ass on the ground. He pulled a sword from under the bed and swung it at her neck.

  The blow that should have severed her head passed through it, as if she were made of smoke. “Mortal weapons can’t kill me.” Her voice gained a demonic echo and Alaric’s eyes widened. She planted a foot in his stomach and he crashed into the wall above the bed.

  He knelt on all fours, wheezing. “Holy shit.”

  Sherra drew a knife and stepped toward him. I pushed myself to my feet and hurled myself at her. I grabbed her knife hand and nailed her with a kick to the face. She stumbled backward, but didn’t fall.

  There was a sharp, blinding pain in my abdomen. I glanced down to see another knife sticking out of it. She twisted it and I howled, releasing her other hand.

  “Kori,” Alaric yelled.

  She yanked the knife out, and I clutched the wound with my hands. I lifted them and stared at the blood. I knew what to do with what little time I had left. I grasped either side of her head as my knees buckled. I stumbled into her and felt a spark of power flow from her. I ripped her magic from her and she screamed in agony.

  “I cast you out,” I shouted in the old language. She burst apart right under my hands. I collapsed on the ground without her support. The door fell inward and all the residents of the house, and Dagger, tumbled in a giant pile on the floor.

  I managed to lock eyes with Casey and she screamed. “Kori. Oh my God.” There were several curses as she kicked herself free of the heap. She rushed toward me and dropped to her knees beside me.

  “Alaric, help me roll her over.”

  I moaned as they did. God, the pain was excruciating, but it was slowly starting to fade.

  I grabbed Alaric’s forearms and sunk my nails into it. “Hurry, you have to finish the spell. Smear blood under all the doors, and on the windowsills. My spell won’t last forever.”

  He nodded. “Does it need to be your blood?”

  “No, anyone’s will do.”

  He glanced across the room. “Fallon, Misha, get on it.”

  I put my hand on Casey’s where she tried to stop the bleeding. “Don’t bother. Internal bleeding. Not that much blood left to lose anyway. I stole enough time to tell you—”

  She grasped my hand. I had to break off and take a breath. “I love you, little sister. I want you to be happy. You need to get out of town. Hell, maybe out of the country.”

  I had to take another pause.

  Casey shook her head before I could start again. “No, this isn’t goodbye. You can become a vampire. To a vampire this wound is nothing.”

  “No.” I tried to put as much power behind the word as possible, but I got the feeling it was lacking.

  Tears made tracks down her pretty face. “Yes. You have to live. I can’t let you die. I need you in the world.”

  “I won’t be a vampire.”

  “It’s better than dying.”

  “I don’t want to spend my last minutes with you arguing, little sister.”

  She dropped my hands and stood slowly. “Alaric, turn her.”

  I coughed and blood splattered my lips, the copper taste settling in my mouth. “Don’t make me get up and beat your ass. I’m capable, damn it.”

  She ignored me and focused on Alaric. “Do it. I don’t care what she wants.” She glared down at me. “I’m a selfish spoiled, brat and I will have my way in this.”

  Alaric looked into my eyes. His face was completely blank.

  “Don’t you dare? You know better. I’ll kill you if you turn me, you bastard.”

  He arched an eyebrow. “I’m so very afraid. You already hate me. Turning you couldn’t make you hate me less.” He glanced at my sister. “It might make her hate you, though. You prepared for that?”

  “Yes. I know the consequences, Alaric.”

  Black spots filled my vision and I let my eyes fall closed. It took too much effort to keep them open.

  “Alaric, hurry.�
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  I heard the pop of cartilage as Alaric bit into his own wrist. I tried to turn my head away, but he grabbed my jaw in his painfully tight grip, keeping my mouth open, unless I wanted to attempt to bite his hand. No matter what, he got his way. He shoved his wrist against my tongue.

  The rich, copper taste of his blood hit me and a spark of raw power flooded my body. All thoughts of resisting fled. Hell, all thoughts period were gone. I grasped his wrist with both hands and drank in giant gulps.

  He stroked my hair. He was whispering something, but I couldn’t make out what he was saying.

  I released his wrist as agony flooded my body. It overrode the pain of being stabbed. I couldn’t see or hear as I writhed on the floor. But I could feel hands on me, adding to the blinding torture as they touched my sensitive skin. And then everything went black.

  Chapter Seven

  I moaned and cracked my eyes open. I grimaced and shut them again. Even with the lights dimmed, they still managed to go right to the source of my headache.

  “Turn the light out.”

  The clicks as someone turned off the little lamp were deafening. God, was I hung over? Astra and I had gotten smashed before after a high kill count, but I’d never felt like this.

  It felt like I had two metal spikes sticking in my temples, and my stomach felt like it was taking a boat trip. Even the sheets against my skin were uncomfortable. And I was hot. Burning up. Witches didn’t get sick, so what the hell was going on?

  I could hear everything. The whisper of clothing as the bed dipped under someone’s weight. And breathing. There were at least four people in the room. And there was pounding. It was faint, but for some reason, incredibly comforting.

  “What’s that thumping?” I slurred. My mouth was as dry as the desert.

  A rough hand caressed my jaw and the most incredible smell filled my nose. Clean male. I turned my face into his palm. “It’s heartbeats, babe.” His deep, slightly accented voice was like a caress.

  I definitely wasn’t at Astra’s. None of her friends sounded like that. I recognized that voice. I opened my eyes again. A gorgeous, blond man with a goatee leaned over me. He was close, and his hair fell in a curtain around us. He licked his lips, and I desperately wanted to kiss him, but I was so tired I could barely lift my head.

  It took me a second to realize who this beautiful man was. “Alaric?”

  He nodded. “Good, you remember who I am. How are you feeling?”

  “Achy, nauseated, exhausted. And my memory is a little…gone.”

  Someone across the room cleared his throat. “Is that normal? The not remembering thing?”

  Alaric broke eye contact with me to look at whoever was speaking. “Dagger, you don’t remember your own conversion?”

  “Not really. In my defense, it was a couple thousand years ago, and I wasn’t exactly in my right mind then.”

  Another person laughed. “Only then?”

  “Don’t make me kill you, gnat. Just because you’re of my line doesn’t mean I won’t gut you.”

  “Fallon, please don’t goad Dagger. I’d hate to have to try and steam clean your blood out of the carpet. And to answer your question, Dagger, yes, this is normal for someone who’s had a tough transition.”

  A little bubble of panic welled in my chest. I grabbed Alaric’s wrist. “Transition?” The memory surfaced, fighting past the barriers of my lethargic brain.

  I pushed Alaric back and sat up. It was a bad idea. My head felt like it was going to explode. I dropped my hand to the hem of the tank top and pulled it up to examine my stomach. There was no wound there—only tender, pink scar tissue.

  “It’s healed. In a few more hours there won’t even be a mark,” Alaric explained, his expression completely vacant. He probably knew I didn’t need an explanation.

  I ground my teeth together. “I told you not to do this. I told you I’d kill you.”

  His eyes narrowed. “I’m not your bitch, Kori. You’ll be weak until you feed, not that I’m particularly worried about you killing me anyway. You might be a tad faster and stronger than you used to be, but I still have some seven hundred years on you.”

  Casey, who had been silent until now, broke our staring contest. “Don’t blame Alaric, Kori. I asked him to.”

  I didn’t stop glaring at Alaric. “Get out. I need to speak with my sister alone.”

  The room dropped about ten degrees in temperature. His hand clamped onto the back of my neck. He squeezed, letting me feel his strength. “You will stop ordering me around.”

  I smacked his arm and jerked back. He rose smoothly and was at the door before I could blink. “Come on, boys. Let’s give the ladies some alone time.”

  The door shut softly behind him, even though I could still feel Alaric’s rage echoing in my head. What the F? He’d left the room, but for some reason I still felt his presence. God, I seriously hoped that went away eventually. Because underneath all that rage was pain and confusion.

  I shook my head to clear it. Now was not the time to wonder about the vampire.

  I glanced at Casey. She was staring at me, twirling a long strand of blonde hair around her finger.

  “How could you let him do this to me, Casey?”

  She bit her lip and refused to meet my gaze. “I didn’t want to lose you.”

  “I didn’t want to be a vampire. You should have respected my wishes.”

  Her gaze met mine. “Do you still think I’m evil?”

  I pursed my lips. “I was doubting it, but this incident does make a girl wonder.”

  She stood quickly, knocking her chair to the ground. “You expected me to let you die? To lose you like we lost Tahira? Or did you forget that vampires kidnapped my twin? That we never found a body? Fuck you. You think I can live without you, too? I love you as much as you love me, probably more. I clung to you when she was gone. I’d lost my other half and you wanted me to do that again?”

  She took a deep, shaking breath. “Even if you hate me, at least now you’ll be alive, somewhere in the world.”

  She turned and stomped to the door. Where Alaric had shut it silently, she slammed it with all her strength. I was surprised she hadn’t broken it.

  I sighed. My sister had to be the only person in the world who could make me feel guilty about not wanting to become a vampire.

  Of course I hadn’t forgotten about Tahira. And could I fault Casey for wanting to keep her only surviving sister? Probably not.

  “Crap.”

  “You shouldn’t be so harsh with her. She loves you. That’s how all my brothers ended up vampires. They would have died if I hadn’t turned them.”

  I glanced up to see Alaric standing inside the room. How had he gotten the door opened and closed without me hearing him? The words “silent as the grave” came to mind.

  “And why did you agree to this? You hate me.”

  He shrugged. “I would do anything Casey asked of me because she’s made my brother happy. And you did save me. Maybe I didn’t feel like you deserved to die.”

  I snorted. “I don’t exactly consider this saving my life.”

  He smiled. “We have a difference of opinion, then. I saved all my brothers, and my brother saved your sweet sister. I wouldn’t have a family if I hadn’t turned them. They all would have died painful, lingering deaths.”

  “Is that what you were thinking about earlier? You were hurting.”

  He snorted. “Right, the link between us. It will fade. Ignore what you feel. It’s not as if you actually care.”

  As I felt a sliver of fear go through him, I realized he was wrong. For some reason, I did care. I slid over in bed and patted the spot beside me. Alaric’s brows drew together in a frown. “Sit. Tell me what you’re thinking.”

  He sighed and sank onto the bed. He pulled me into the crook of his arm. I tensed, and when I discovered that it felt natural to be with him like this I tensed even more. I could feel my shoulder blades trying to grind together.

  He ign
ored my taut body, or didn’t care. “I was thinking about Jairdan. He was the first person I ever turned. Seeing Sherra again brought back horrible memories.”

  “Tell me.”

  “I came from a family of serfs. But I was chosen to be a knight. My brothers stayed and worked the fields. I rarely saw them. When I wasn’t fighting I was partying, and when I was home it was like being around strangers. I was always angry about that. Because of me, they had moved up in the world. They lived on my land and ran my estate, but I wasn’t family to them.”

  “One day I fell in battle. Darius found me and turned me, which is a different story entirely. I returned home a different man, knowing that if I’d died in that wretched battle they probably wouldn’t have missed me. I wanted to know them. I spent as much time as possible with them, all the while keeping my new nature to myself. Back then I was a devout Catholic, and while I firmly believed I was going to hell for what I was, I clung to life. I taught my brothers what I knew best—killing.”

  He fell silent and remained that way for so long I had to glance at him, to make sure he hadn’t fallen asleep. “My lord arranged for me to be married. Another knight had died, and he was required to marry off the man’s daughter. I reluctantly agreed. I could have any woman who wanted me, and plenty of them did. I knew I could only father children under very specific circumstances, and the woman would have to know what I was for that to happen.”

  He sighed. “But then Sherra arrived. All thoughts of not wanting a wife fled from my head. She was beautiful, graceful, and she became my world. My brothers were even taken with her, and they had always been surly men.”

  For a second I felt an unreasonable stab of jealousy. I was in no way a graceful, delicate flower like a woman from his time period would have been. I couldn’t measure up to that. I pushed it to the back of my mind and continued to listen to his story.

  “I didn’t know she practiced witchcraft, or that her servant’s child was actually Sherra’s. And I’ll never know how she found out what I was. What I do know is that when I returned home, I found the keep in ruins and my brothers were long gone. One of her servants was waiting for me. I was instructed to go to her old home, alone, or my brothers would die. So I went.”