by Apryl Baker
Nausea rose up. She’d done that to him? She’d attacked him, killed him? Oh God, oh God, oh God. The brute’s arms tightened. She needed to go, to leave, to run, to…die. She refused to spend a lifetime killing others to survive herself. Monster. She was not a monster.
“Calm yourself,” he demanded as the man was picked up and carried out.
“I killed him!” Her voice sounded hysterical even to her.
“Nay, he’s not dead…yet.”
“But…”
“He’s nearly dead,” the brute clarified. “He’ll be healed in moments.”
“By turning him?” she snarled, angry that she’d been the one to force this life on someone else.
“No. Our blood heals as well.”
“Heals?” What was he going on about? Vampires were not creatures who healed. They took lives.
“Yes.” His voice rumbled through her as he spoke. “We will give him just enough blood to stop him from dying. He’ll wake up in a few days, a little more than when he went to sleep. The effects of our blood take some time to wear off.”
“I…I didn’t know you could do that.” Confusion made her hesitant. Maybe she didn’t have to kill anyone.
“Your bloodlust is stronger than any new turn I’ve seen, stronger than any vampire I’ve come across. The ravager blood has made it thus, I think. We need to teach you to control it.”
Bloodlust. He’s said something about that last night to Gavin. “What is this bloodlust?”
“If I let you go, will you stay calm?” He sounded unsure this time. Fear tinged his scent. Was the brute afraid of her? Or afraid she’d try to harm herself again?
“I’m not going to try to commit suicide, if that’s what you’re thinking.” At least not where they could stop her.
He released her, but his body remained tense, ready to tackle her if necessary. “Sit by the fire.” Once she complied, he walked to the opening of the tent and spoke with someone. Food? He’d said something about food. Her gaze swept the bloody spot on the floor and she grimaced. She didn’t need to do that again any time soon.
The brute sat, close enough to her that she couldn’t leap to freedom, but still managed to keep his distance. He regarded her with hooded eyes.
“Why did you stop me last night?” she asked, her voice low.
“Why did you try to harm yourself?” he countered.
“Ravagers.” The word didn’t come easily. “You said I’m part ravager.”
“Yes, we suspected the blood bonded to your DNA as our virus mutated it. We weren’t sure until you woke up.”
“What made you think…?”
“You are ten times stronger than a new turn, and your magic almost ripped this camp apart when you found out about the bonding. And your bloodlust.” He paused, listening. Another pair of footsteps reached her ears. Only one this time.
“Good morning, sunshine!” Greggor stepped in, flourishing a tray of food, which he set in front of her. “I wasn’t sure what you liked so I brought several things.”
Katyia glanced between the two men. They were so different. Not just in looks, but demeanor as well. Greggor seemed boyish, charming. The brute was all hard stone, unforgiving. The two were friends, of that she was sure. How anyone could tolerate the brute was beyond her, though.
“Thank you.” She managed to remember her manners. Her grandmother would have a fit if she thought Katyia was ignoring her upbringing, even in this situation. Strange how thoughts like that swam to the surface, when the mind was being tortured by so much.
“How is my brother treating you this morning?” Greggor handed another plate to the brute, took one for himself, and sat across from her.
His brother? The shock must have shown on her face, because he laughed. “Yes, he’s my brother. I’m Greggor, this is Roman, and you are?”
“Katyia.” She looked down at the plate and picked up a slice of bacon. He’d brought her eggs, bacon, and some fruit as well as a chunk of bread. “My name is Katyia.”
Greggor smiled. “Well, Katyia, it is nice to know your name at last.”
The brute grunted. She saw him pick up his plate out of the corner of her eye. Roman. The name suited him. She thought of the Roman soldiers of old, stoic, hard, unforgiving. Yes, the name suited the man.
She sniffed the bacon. The smell hadn’t changed, so she took a small bite. The wonderful taste of bacon tantalized her tongue. She shoved the whole piece in her mouth, starving. Who knew vampires ate real food?
“Slow down,” Roman barked at her. “You’ll be sick.”
She shot him a disdainful look and gobbled another piece. Bacon was her one weakness. Get near her bacon, and people could lose a hand.
“I bet you’re full of questions.” Greggor sipped at the flask he held.
She nodded, swallowing. He handed her his flask. Water. She drank greedily, not caring if it was bad manners or not. She couldn’t shake this thirsty feeling.
“Thirsty much?” Greggor’s brow raced toward his hairline.
“It’s her bloodlust.” Roman’s voice was quiet, but full of anger. He sounded mad at her for something she hadn’t asked for.
“Hmmm.”
“What are you hmming about?” she demanded, riled up.
“Have you fed yet?” Greggor asked instead of answering her. She winced and looked away. Not something she wanted to be reminded of.
“Aaron brought her someone with the sweet sickness in his blood.”
Greggor let out a long whistle. “I bet that didn’t go well.”
“You could say that.” Roman put his plate down.
“Did she kill him?” Greggor sounded more curious than upset or shocked.
“No.” Roman leaned back, stretching his arms above his head. “Not to say she wouldn’t have. She was on him as soon as his scent hit her.”
“Something to work on controlling.” Greggor nodded and turned his attention back to Katyia. “Don’t feel bad about it. A newborn has an insatiable thirst for blood when they awaken. It will be some time before you gain control of it. Eventually, the need to feed all the time will lessen.”
“It will?” Hope sprang up. “How soon?”
“It’s different for every new turn. The changes your body goes through take time, and it needs the blood to make those changes. Why, we don’t know, but as your change comes to a stop, the need for blood isn’t as bad. Most of us only feed a few times a week.”
“You don’t have to…feed…all the time?”
“Newborns will need to feed several times a day for the first few weeks as your body finishes its change. Once you’ve gone through most of it, your need for blood will not be as strong.”
“Why do vampires need blood at all? Once the change is complete?”
“Blood is for us like air is to humans. They need it to breathe, to make their bodies function. Without air, their lungs would stop working and they’d die. It is the same for us with blood. Our bodies need it to keep functioning.”
“It’s not that we don’t need it every day.” Roman picked up the conversation. “We do, but we’ve trained ourselves to go without it.”
“Why?”
“Survival.” Roman looked her in the eyes. “Too many running around with bites would eventually be noticeable. Back in the old days, we hid what we were by training ourselves to feed only when it was too much to bear, and we kept the hunters away. Plus, bleeding a human dry daily will kill them. It takes time for blood levels to rebuild. Killing off your food source is irresponsible.”
“I see.” There was so much that didn’t add up to what she knew about vampires, or thought she knew. “You can walk in the sunlight too?”
That pulled another laugh from Greggor. “There is much you probably think you know that is pure myth. We can walk in the light of day, eat garlic, wear crosses, and eat real food.”
“It’s just that…”
“You thought we were soulless dead creatures of darkness, damned for all eternity?�
�� Greggor winked at her.
She nodded, her mind racing.
“First, we aren’t dead, despite popular belief.” This earned a snort from Roman. “The virus combines with our DNA. It does change us, but we don’t die. We have souls, feelings, we bleed. We just also need blood to survive.”
“What happens if you don’t drink blood?”
“Not something you want to attempt, Katyia. It’s painful. Your body shuts down, the virus consuming every last ounce of blood remaining until there’s nothing left.”
“Will you die?” Maybe it was as simple as refusing to consume blood.
“No.” Roman’s voice was harsh. “You will not die. It is the curse of our vampire blood. You will live, but you will waste away to almost nothing, feeling nothing but the burn of the thirst driving you insane.”
“Greggor just said we needed it to survive, but you’re saying we don’t need it to live? Which is it?” Irritation bled through, but she didn’t care. She was irritated.
“I didn’t explain it well,” Greggor said ruefully. “While our bodies won’t die from lack of blood, we do need blood to function normally. Katyia, you aren’t thinking of trying this, are you?”
She looked down, unable to meet Greggor’s eyes. She was considering it.
A sigh erupted from the brute. “You will not harm yourself. I command it.”
He commanded it? Her irritation was quickly turning to anger. “Command me, do you? Just who do you think you are to command me? I’m the daughter of the Regent. No one commands me.”
Roman blinked and she almost laughed at the indignation on his face. Almost.
“I am the head of this clan, their ruler. You will obey me because I am now your ruler.”
“That line work often, does it?” She raised a brow questioningly.
His nostrils flared, but before he could say anything, Greggor asked a question. “Why do you wish to die?”
“Because of the ravager blood.” The words slipped out. She hadn’t meant to say anything, but they fell off her lips unbidden. Dammit.
“But why?” Greggor pressed. “Why would that be cause to end your life?”
“Because they killed my family. I want no part of the demons that murdered my mother and my baby brother. The thought of that blood running through my veins makes me sick. I cannot live like this.”
“Your family?” Greggor pursed his lips. “I don’t understand.”
“I am the bastard daughter of the Regent.” Bitterness tainted her words. “I came to live at the manor after ravagers attacked us. I survived, but my mother and my brother didn’t.”
“That explains it,” Roman said, bringing her attention back to him.
“Explains what?”
“Why you’re here and the others are not. The Regent sacrificed you instead of his legitimate children.”
“My father didn’t send me here, but he didn’t stop it either.” She sighed and told them everything she remembered from last night. “Instead of coming to find me, he just accepted it. He’s as guilty as Olivia.”
“You are going to let your stepmother win, then?” Roman asked, contempt in his voice.
“What?”
“If you kill yourself, she wins. You give her what she wants without her ever having to lift a finger, and she never has to worry about retribution.”
That gave her pause. She did want Olivia to pay. The need to do the woman physical harm raged as hotly as Katyia’s thirst. Did she want to end her existence? Yes. But not before she made her mother pay for what she’d done.
The question now became could she live with what she herself had become long enough to deal out some well-earned revenge?
The answer was easy.
“She has to be accountable for this. They both do. For all of this.”
“All of this?” Greggor asked, his voice hesitant.
“For sacrificing our people.” Her voice hardened. “They never asked for volunteers, never explained anything until after it was all said and done. That is wrong. Reprehensible. Our people are not stupid. Some may not have the same education others do, but they understand more than I think anyone gives them credit for. If Father had explained the situation, had called upon them to help him protect their families, who’s to say what might have happened? He took the coward’s way out. His people are not going to trust him anymore. How could they when he snuck in like a thief in the henhouse, and ripped members of their family away from them?”
“The magic that protects this sector is failing.” Roman shifted, his pose relaxed, but she could read the readiness in his muscles to spring if necessary. Maybe a response to her heightened agitation? Did he think she’d attack them? Well, she might, truthfully. They were starting to smell awfully good. She pushed that thought back and ate several forkfuls of eggs to try to stop the rising thirst. It helped a bit. Kept the need from overwhelming her. Maybe that was why they still ate food? To lessen the stress on their bodies surviving on only blood would cause? There was so much she still didn’t know about her new way of life.
“Yes. It’s why I was out so far away from the manor yesterday. I was testing the limits. Father said it’s why he employed you, to help maintain the perimeter.”
“And what did you find, little one?” Roman leaned toward her, his body invading her personal space. She caught a whiff of him and fought to keep from lunging at him.
“It’s barely holding together close to the village. It’s going to fail soon. All of it.”
“Is there a way to prevent it?” Greggor brought her attention back to him.
“Yes.” Katyia nodded, eating more of her eggs to try to quell the urge to sink her teeth into the man next to her. She didn’t want to think about that. She remembered what he tasted like. The memory alone sent a shiver through her, and not all because of her thirst. “When a new Regent passes the test of the First Regent, his or her magic is used to strengthen the ward protecting the sector. As a Regent grows older, their power wanes. At least in most cases. The first few Regents’ power was immeasurable, maintaining the ward long after their time as Regent was over.”
“This trial is supposed to take place soon?” Roman asked, his eyes thoughtful.
“Yes, especially with the ward failing so badly. Nicolette is not looking forward to it, but she’s been groomed to be the new Regent since she was a small child.”
“Is her magic strong enough to hold the ward?” Roman craned his neck, looking past Greggor and outside. She tried to see what he was staring at so hard, but failed. There were just people milling around.
“I don’t know.” She clenched a fist, her thoughts returning to why Olivia had thrown her to the wolves. “Father told me Nicolette couldn’t sense the failing magic.”
“And that’s a bad thing?”
“Yes, it is,” she told Greggor. “If my sister can’t sense the difference, I fear she will fail the trials. In our sector, each new Regent has to pass a set of tests designed by the First Regent. She had this test put in place to ensure whomever took over would be strong enough to hold the wards. My father can’t keep the wards up much longer. His magic grows weaker every day.”
“Did your father know your sister’s magic wasn’t as strong as yours?”
“I’m not sure. Why?”
Roman pursed his lips. “Because I overheard them talking last night. It was just a moment, but it sounded like they were arguing about you taking your sister’s place.”
Katyia’s face paled. No wonder Olivia went off the deep end. If her father decided to have Katyia do the test and essentially take Nicolette’s role as the future Regent, then Olivia would have done anything to prevent it. At least now it made some sense to her.
“When are the trials supposed to take place?” Greggor started cleaning up plates, moving them back onto the tray he’d brought them in on.
“A little less than two weeks from now.”
“Then when it’s time, you will go and take your sister’s place.” Rom
an cracked his knuckles, his expression calculating.
“I can’t.”
“Why not?” Those blue, blue eyes pierced her and she forced herself not to look away. How someone’s eyes could cause so many things to clench in delicious ways inside of her made her a little nervous.
“Obviously, because I’m now a vampire.” She swallowed the last of her water and handed the flask to Greggor.
“Are you not still the daughter of the Regent? Do the people not know you?”
“Well, of course, but none of that matters now.”
“Is your magic not stronger now?” he continued, and she growled, frustrated. Why would he not understand?
“Don’t you see why Olivia gave me to your group? She knows they will never let me back. People are scared of you. The stories we’ve heard, grown up on. There is no way they will allow a vampire to rule them.”
“They will.” His eyes hardened. “If you pass the test, they will have no choice but to accept you.”
She let out a long, long sigh. Was the brute always this dense? Or did he have an ulterior motive to wanting her to become Regent?
“Why do you care so much?” she asked. “What does it matter to you? If the ward fails, then your employment as border patrol will become permanent. Why should you care what happens?”
“Because I need your help.” The statement came out harsh, his eyes clouding over with determination. “If I help you protect your people, I expect you to help mine.”
A hiss came from the doorway and they all turned to see a woman standing there, her expression feral. “Why haven’t you killed the abomination yet?”
Well, that didn’t sound promising, Katyia thought. Nope, not promising at all.
Roman let out a curse and stood, stepping in front of Katyia. His sister would choose now to come in with her doom and gloom. He needed this woman’s help, and letting her know how much his entire clan called for her death was not the best way to gain her trust. It might only reinforce the girl’s desire to end her life. Damn Delia.
“What are you doing here?” His voice left no room for games.
“I came to see if you’d killed her yet.” She moved further into room.