Venom & Vampires: A Limited Edition Paranormal Romance and Urban Fantasy Collection

by Casey Lane

  Two vampire medics entered the dim chamber. One covered her with a thin white clinical sheet, and the other drew a blue curtain around her body.

  “That is better,” muttered Mordecai.

  “How did we miss her?” Castille, Mordecai’s assistant, worried. He paced behind the glass observation area. “This child is ready to be born. We may not be able to do anything.”

  “Virginia had no idea she was laden with a girl child,” said Draegan from underneath a spherical dome in the medical laboratory. “The sex chromosome virus accurately transmuted the XX to XY, but only in one child. Look again, Mordecai. Virginia is carrying twins.”

  Mordecai had brought Draegan to be detained as a special prisoner in the Society’s Genetics and Medical Research Lab. He’d installed an impenetrable, fifteen-by-fifteen foot glass dome, guarded by two of the fiercest and strongest of the old Phoenix clan. Mordecai had also installed, within the dome, a tranquilizing gas release valve. If ever necessary, a heavy concentration of etherized chloroform would subdue Draegan’s unsavory activity with a simple pull of a lever.

  “Call the crone,” Mordecai shouted. The old vampire woman, Draegan’s nursemaid, was a gifted midwife. “She will help us deliver the boy safely and dispose of the girl.”

  “You can’t dispose of the girl,” Castille objected. “The humans are becoming suspicious that no female vampires are being born of the breeders. It won’t be long until they suspect we are still experimenting with genetics and altering viral matter.”

  “We have to take that chance. What do you suggest? We welcome our destroyer into the Society with open arms?”

  “I must let you know, England’s leaders suspect we haven’t kept our vow to refrain from genetically modified science. Our own women have been rendered infertile. We use breeders who, over time, will dilute the purity of our DNA strands. And now, laying before us, we have a chance for a vampire daughter. A true vampire—one of us. One we can raise as we wish, who can be mated with the best of our clan, strengthening us.”

  The crone entered the room. “Hello, Mordecai,” she rasped. “You in a bit of a bind are you?”

  “Deliver to me the boy. Reject the girl.” Mordecai turned to enter the birthing room.

  “Sir!” yelled Castille.

  “Enough. Speak of it no more.”

  The nursemaid walked behind the curtain, joining Mordecai. “Free her,” she said. “I can’t deliver a healthy boy if the mother can’t move. Release her.”

  Mordecai obeyed, and Virginia regained access to her bodily movements. As soon as she regained power and feeling, she screamed in pain.

  “Hush,” said the nursemaid. “I will do my best with you, but you must save your energy for the expulsion.”

  “Expulsion?” asked Virginia.

  “Delivery,” she answered.

  “You are a child snatcher! You will take my son from me, and kill my daughter!”

  “My name is Ivy.” She stepped between Virginia’s legs. “I am no murderer. Hush now.” She reached deep within Virginia’s body and cupped the head of one of the infants. “Push. Push quietly.”

  Within moments, an undersized boy was born.

  Draegan laughed from behind his glass prison. “Look at what you are breeding, Mordecai. Undernourished weaklings!”

  The small infant was whisked away to an incubating basinet. Its small, red hands were covered in miniature mittens to keep him from scratching his face as he whimpered quietly.

  Ivy put the scissors, bloodied from the umbilical cord, back on the metal side table. Once again, she reached into Virginia. “This one is breech,” said Ivy. “I will need to cut the mother.”

  “Don’t bother,” said Mordecai. “I am not interested in either one of them. Take her from here. Deliver her elsewhere, and remember what I said about the girl.”

  “Get rid of her?” she asked.

  “Precisely.”

  Ivy placed her hand on Virginia’s stomach as she wheeled her from the room. She swept back the damp curls from Virginia’s forehead.

  “How will you cut me?” Virginia grabbed Ivy’s hand. “Don’t hurt me or my daughter. Leave me, and I will deliver her myself.”

  “Hush. I lied to Mordecai. Your baby is not breech. I am taking you to the River Thames. Do not push!”

  “They will know you lied. They are prophetic! They will see your plan,” said Virginia.

  “They are also arrogant men,” she answered. “Not unlike your human men. It will not cross their minds that they could ever be outwitted by an old woman.”

  “What about my son?” pleaded Virginia.

  “I cannot help you there. He belongs to them.”

  “And my daughter?”

  “She belongs to me.”

  “What will happen at the river?”

  “You will be quiet, and you will find friends.”

  Draegan had witnessed Mordecai’s vision of the female vampire who’d pour venom onto the Society. The girl, a toddler, had been sitting alone and unguarded by the River Thames. Her chestnut brown hair had been pulled under a bonnet, while her gray eyes had looked into the wake of the water. The girl then spoke outloud as she turned to the full moon. “I command the sun, the wind and the skies.”

  Mordecai came into the room, breaking Draegan of his thoughts. He was there to see the new vampire boy, gaunt and undernourished.

  “You want to know who the girl is, don’t you?” taunted Draegan.

  “I need you to make sure no more are born.”

  “You want me to murder them?” Draegan asked nonplussed.

  “I want you to make certain that the transformation from female to male in the womb is more effective! I can’t have errors.”

  “Perhaps, inoculating the breeders with a new retrovirus . . . Yes! A vaccine that rejects the X-carrying vampire seed.”

  “Make it happen, Draegan. And be swift.”

  “And in exchange?”

  “Freedom.”

  Draegan witnessed the mutation as it destroyed the vampire X sex chromosome in the Petri dish. Inoculating the human women would be a risky and dangerous venture. It could take years to understand the side effects and adverse reactions. Then, as he injected the estrogen-X virus into the human ovaries, he witnessed a strange resulting molecular instability. The host ovary mutated, unexpectedly absorbing the compound.

  “Damn,” whispered Draegan. “Only the eggs should receive the mutation.”

  “What?” asked one of the guards.

  “The women’s cellular membranes are mutating, not just the DNA of their eggs.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Nothing. All is fine,” he answered. It means this retrovirus isn’t contained. It spreads. Yet, he wondered what it could imply, as he continued to inject each egg in the Petri dish with the retrovirus.

  “Is everything according to the design?” asked a research vampire sitting at the mainframe analog.

  “Yes, yes. Nevermind,” said Draegan. As long as it prevented female births, his freedom was secure. Mordecai can deal with the after effects.

  Ten young women, all around the age of twenty, were brought in for the genetic trial. Draegan’s research team selected itinerant serving girls, unlikely to be missed in the event of possible failure.

  “We’re to be paid handsomely,” said Justine, the youngest of the group. “And I don’t even mind living here for nine months. It’s better than home.”

  “The beds are lovely,” added Karina, an effervescent chubby girl with a cheerful disposition. “And all we have to do is produce a vampire baby.” She giggled. “I hope we get to pick the father!” Both girls erupted in laughter, making crude motions with their hands.

  “You like vampires? I heard they aren’t allowed to touch you. That they can’t . . . ” Justine moved onto Karina’s bed and whispered in her ear. “I think they must just hand you their—”

  “Oh stop! What’s the fun in that?”

  “Maybe we are too sed
uctive for them,” Justine joked. “We are the chosen vampire temptresses.” Again, they erupted in peals of laughter.

  Draegan watched the girls with mild disgust; their simple minds repulsed him. But Karina, the larger girl, made him stir in a strange, yet familiar way. Fortunately for her, he remained locked inside the glass sphere prison.

  Working night and day to perfect the concentration and delivery, Draegan had chosen a blood borne delivery system because of its instant absorption into the blood stream. Blood. The thought of entering Karina’s blood rich veins, even through the proxy of a needle, aroused him.

  He watched Karina lustfully each day when she came to the clinic for food and measurements. The medical staff wanted to ensure the subjects were not too fat, or too lean. Karina would glance over to Draegan, trapped under his glass dome, flattered at his obvious desire. He would sit, leaning far back in his chair, and stare back at her, fixated on what he’d do to her body if ever he had the chance.

  Draegan could hear the messenger vampire talking to Justine and Karina just outside the door.

  “You are invited into the treatment laboratory after you dress. Today begins your efforts,” the messenger mused in a high-pitched, officious manner.

  “They aren’t going to suck our blood out, are they?” joked Justine as they made their way nearer.

  “You will merely receive a small prick, inserting the medication into your arms, in order to prepare your bodies for fertilization.”

  “Nobody told me about a needle going in me!” objected Karina. “I don’t like to be stabbed.”

  The messenger opened the door to the treatment lab, where Draegan was housed in his confinement.

  “Silly girl,” Draegan said. “It is a subcutaneous injection. You will feel nothing. Besides, I am an expert with veins and the administration of medications.”

  “How did you hear her?” asked Justine. “We were outside the iron door.”

  “I can read your thoughts . . . most of the time.” He looked at Karina, who flushed with warmth, as her thoughts regarding Draegan had been less than pure.

  “What will this stabbing needle do? I only agreed to carry a baby. I understood that to be the only requirement.”

  “This vaccine is merely to ensure the health and vitality of your baby.”

  “I don’t know.” Karina looked disappointed and nervous.

  “I will administer it to you myself,” said Draegan.

  “That is out of the question,” said the small messenger with unusual nostrils, pointed and slim. “The medics will be administering the medication.”

  Draegan whispered through a series of tiny holes in the glass to his guards. “This stupid cow trusts only me. She will back out of the trial if I don’t inject her personally. Do you want to tell Mordecai one of his subjects dropped out? And that you, along with your small-minded, obedient brain, are to blame?”

  The guards exchanged glances and nodded. “She can enter. But you cannot exit.”

  “Agreed,” said Draegan.

  Karina shuffled to the dome. The guards quickly pushed her in and slammed the door with a crash. Her eyes widened as she was locked inside, alone with Draegan.

  “What do I do?” she stammered. “Shall I wait here, by the door?”

  “Just sit, be still,” he answered as he directed her to come toward his table. The cold glass dome warmed with her human presence, and the wall fogged behind her.

  He looked at each of her arms, stroking the insides to feel for good veins. His heart raced and his mouth watered. She smelled so fresh, like damp soil, rich with nutrients. He traced a vein on her inner left forearm, licking his lip as he felt the heat radiating from her neck. Her pulse quickened in her throat as he quietly moaned.

  “Careful, Draegan,” warned the messenger. “Step back.”

  “That tickles.” Karina smiled, ignoring the messenger.

  “You have the most lovely veins,” Draegan flattered.

  She instinctively pulled away, her answer coming out as a whisper. “Thank you.”

  He moved closer to her, his hands grasping each of her elbows. “Relax,” he soothed. “I promise, you will feel nothing and no harm will come to you.”

  She nodded and offered him her arms without resistance. He pulled down his goggles from his forehead and held her arm up to a small probe of light attached to the right lens. She had a rich, creamy smell, and he felt his mouth water once more. Swallowing back his desire, he swabbed her arm and reached for the syringe.

  “Don’t move, it will pinch for only a moment,” Draegan purred.

  Karina held her breath as the syringe entered her arm. Draegan slowly pushed the contents in further.

  “Ouch. It burns,” she said.

  “Almost done. Lovely job.” He emptied the contents and pulled back on the needle. The retraction pulled some of her blood back into the syringe, refilling it with crimson. Eagerly, he shoved the needle in the pocket of his robe. “See? There was nothing to fear. You may go, Karina.”

  Karina smiled and stumbled as she stood. She reached for the glass walls for balance, her legs wobbling beneath her. “I’m all right,” she said to no one in particular.

  “Thank you, you are most beautiful,” Draegan whispered into her ear as she leaned upon him.

  The guards opened the door enough for Karina to exit, and the shrunken messenger escorted her to the hallway. “Return to your room to rest. You’ve had too much excitement. We will bring you some refreshment.”

  “Now that you’ve seen how easy it is, you will be at ease with the medics administering your shot,” he addressed Justine with a nod, then turned to his guards. “Please lower the lights. I need to rest a bit.”

  As his sphere dimmed, he pulled the golden velvet curtain around his cot and fingered the syringe of Karina’s blood in his pocket. He looked toward the ceiling as the cut-glass dome cast jagged shadows through the light. He felt as if he were trapped inside a diamond. He closed his eyes and rolled the blood-filled syringe between his fingers—his mouth watering.

  Reclining on his narrow cot, he let his robes fall to the floor. The syringe was tucked in his palm, enticing him. His body pounded with desire; if only he could suck the blood from her body directly, he would be fully sated.

  Draegan smelled the heavy iron content and still felt the warmth of Karina’s body in the syringe. He placed the needle in his mouth. Slowly, he pushed on the syringe. Drop by drop, Karina’s warm blood filled his mouth and trickled down the back of his throat as he closed his eyes in elation.

  Chapter Eight

  Storm in a Teacup

  “We must leave now,” insisted Ivy. “I must get you back to the Society before morning.” Her skirts snagged on the small bushes and trailed in the mud along the river. She pulled Virginia behind her, away from the boathouse.

  “Please, Ivy, I beg of you. May I stay?”

  “No,” replied Ivy with a heavy voice. “If you do not return, Mordecai will look for you, and then he will find your daughter. That would be the child’s death sentence. And mine.”

  “Won’t he look for her anyway?”

  “No. Not if you find the strength to deny her. Only by denying her, can you save her.”

  “What do I say happened to her?”

  “You say nothing. Mordecai trusts me. He will believe I disposed of your daughter. I have always been obedient to the Society.”

  “Why are you doing this? Please, just leave me here. I will disappear with her.”

  “Don’t be a fool. Disappearing is impossible. You would be found.”

  “No. I would go far away. Another country,” she pleaded irrationally.

  “Your daughter is dead to you. You must believe that.”

  Virginia’s hair swirled around in a mess of tangles and disarray as she reached for Ivy’s hand. “I can barely walk. I’m exhausted. Just leave me here.”

  Ivy pulled Virginia up, her hands around her collar. “Listen to me. If you give up, your daughter
is as good as dead. We all are as good as dead. Gather your wits! You were strong enough to be selected as a breeder, and you are strong enough to save your daughter.”

  The human wiped her tears, leaving muddy smudge marks under her eyes. “Why are you even helping me?”

  “By helping you, I help all women. The time has come for change. The Society cannot continue as it is. Our women are barren, and no new females are born to replace us. We are genetically erased! Your daughter must not be found yet. She must live to fight.”

  Ivy and Virginia walked along the River Thames as the sun began to rise.

  “You can walk in the sun?” asked Virginia. “I thought you would come to harm in direct sunlight.”

  “No longer true. The genetics laboratory spliced a dermatological mutation into the strands of our DNA, allowing us to walk outside in the daylight. The project was a success, except for one irreversible side effect. All vampire women became sterile.”

  They slipped along the bank of the river, the fetid smell along the shoreline hung in the damp fog. It did not require much knowledge of chemistry to analyze the contents of the river. A glance of the eye would see that the Thames held copious amounts of dead canine, dead feline, and other animal matter, mixed together with a strong infusion of cabbage-leaves and miscellaneous vegetable refuse and sewage.

  “What will become of my daughter?” the woman covered her nose and mouth.

  “I don’t know. But if the prophetics are correct, she represents a change of power. For now, you must believe she is dead. Dead. Do you understand?” Ivy turned and grabbed Virginia’s hands. “I don’t say it will be easy, but it is the only way.”

  “Dead,” repeated Virginia. “Yes, my daughter is dead.”

  It took all of Mordecai’s energy and power to tame Karina as she woke from another fitful night’s sleep. Her body rose in an ocean of energy, her mind filled with madness.

  Karina’s abdomen, which had held a healthy, male vampire fetus for five months, had now deflated like a popped balloon. Her skin hung limply in layers as she bellowed and screeched, hanging in midair, where Mordecai telekinetically held her in place. She clawed at the air and hissed with insanity as her mouthed frothed. Mordecai knew he must hold her in place, for her growing madness increased her strength.