Taste For Blood: Pour (Nephil-Vamp Series Book 2)

by Jenna Bernel

  I knew my words were harsh. Even I didn't like the person I'd become. As human, or even vamp, I was never one to be purposefully nasty, maybe a little bratty, but never outright cruel. It was as if I were a different person walking around in someone else's skin that didn't quite fit me right. Even as I felt my soul growing darker, something in me was becoming so bad, I had to project my pain outwardly and onto Alec. I couldn't bear it alone. It felt like I was slowly dying inside, and whatever once made me good and kind was the first to go.

  He looked up at me. The sting in his eyes was palpable, and I could tell my words had finally hit home. I thought it would make me feel better, but somehow, I just felt worse. I couldn't look at him or his perfect mouth, which hung open now as he tried to formulate a response to my icy words.

  I turned and began to walk back toward the stairs, but I felt a breeze passing by me as Alec leapt over my head, spinning to face me. He blocked my path. He gripped onto my waist, and I could feel each of his fingers clutching my sides, even through the thick wool of my coat. He pulled me into a hug, clamping down my arms so they were pinned to my sides, knowing I'd immediately try to wriggle free. I fought against his embrace as he calmly swayed us, while breathing into my hat.

  "Alec, this isn't going to work. Let me go," I said, my face pressed against his coat.

  He ignored me and soothingly continued to rock us. I let out a frustrated sigh and tried to maneuver my hands up to his chest, to push him away, but it was like a Chinese finger trap. His embrace only held me tighter if I moved.

  "Just let me say one thing, and I'll let go," Alec said softly, and I grumbled, holding still.

  "I won't push you anymore. I won't say another word to try to explain myself, but know that I'm here to stay, if only to protect you. Whether you like it or not, we're stuck with each other, so I only ask one thing of you. Please don't say anything between us was fake or pretense. No matter what you say, or how much you deny it, we both know what we had was real. It's important that you find your forgiveness. That doesn't mean I ever expect you to take me back, but you need to find forgiveness. Stella lost hers. I'm never going to let that happen to you, Dani." Alec whispered the last words into my ear and stepped away.

  "No, I don't know that our time together was anything, but a big facade," I said, putting my hands on my hips, judgmentally. He tilted his head and pursed his lips, dismissing my failure at acting out a blatant lie. He knew better.

  "Stop. Stop trying to take it away from me, if that's all I have to remember us," Alec said darkly. Everything about how he looked at me told me it was true. I dropped my hands from my hips and looked away.

  "What do you mean, Stella lost her forgiveness?" I was still looking out at the field, not at all understanding what his comment might entail, or how anything about Stella affected me.

  "It's all a part of the explanation you won't let me give," Alec whined. Damn he was good, trying to reel me into his web with that intriguing tidbit.

  "Would knowing your explanation help me get Eli back?" Having already asked that many times over the week, I already knew the answer.

  "Not exactly, but..."

  "Nope! You said you wouldn't push me anymore, and I still don't want to hear it." I crossed my arms stubbornly.

  "You are so bull-headed. It is absolutely infuriating!" Alec threw up his hands in defeat.

  "Good!" I pushed past him to walk to the car.

  "A week ago, all you wanted were answers, and now I can give them to you. Aren't you curious about why I'm here to protect you from Stella, even though I work for her? Don't you want to know who you are? And why you and I are so different?!" Alec shouted to my back.

  "No!" I yelled, as I continued to walk away. Actually, I was dying to know, but none of that mattered to me right now, only Eli mattered. I didn't want any distractions to interfere with getting him back. Besides, I didn't want to know why Alec was so different, and so alike me. Why was he the only vampire on record who still had human emotion and could transfer it to other vampires permanently simply by tasting his blood? Anything that could bring us closer together I didn't want to know about. All I wanted was more distance from him, as far and vast as the ocean in my dreams.

  I wished Eli had entrusted me with the manila envelopes that held the instructions to ensure our Reborns’ safety. Alec refused to give them up until I agreed that he could cart us both around Illinois and other surrounding states for almost two days straight. We hadn't spent this much time together all week, and the trip was utterly draining.

  I clipped on my seatbelt and sat back, waiting for Alec, ready to go to Henry's house for my final Trance, and say goodbye. Today wasn't about Alec and me, going at each other's throats, but about them. I needed to do this. I wanted Eli to feel confident and have the strength to hang on, knowing that I did exactly as he asked. His final, selfless act was complete, and they were safe. My insides roiled and churned as I chewed on what Alec said. I was afraid… afraid there was no forgiveness left in me.

  Chapter 2: School Daze

  Honk! Honk!

  I felt like I was launched from my bed. I sat up so fast, a cold sweat broke out across my forehead. I swore I could still feel his long, chilly fingers wrapped over my shoulders as he whispered once again, "It's going to be okay." I clasped my hand over my wrist, where I could still feel the heat from the bodiless hand stirring me from my sleep. The dream of me reaching out to the ocean while my maker tried to comfort me felt so real, it seemed like it was actually coming to life. What was happening?

  I brought my palm to my throat and palpated my speeding pulse. I knew I must’ve turned vamp before bed. I did it as soon as I returned home on Sunday night, after sending away all of my Reborns. Had the dream brought on such deep angst and emotion that I involuntarily restarted my heart in my sleep? Turning back to human while dreaming… now that was definitely something new. I immediately wanted to talk to Alec about it, but sharing the dream would be something personal and intimate, so that option was out of the question.

  Honk! Honk! Honk!

  The familiar sound of Kate's car horn obliterated my thoughts. What time was it? I looked over at my clock to see that she wasn't early. I was running very late. That was also not like the usual me, and I was tired of this unfocused, dizzy side that I never knew I had. I grabbed my cell phone off my nightstand. Sorry, two minutes I quickly texted Kate. As I set my phone down, my bedroom door burst open. Dad's girlfriend slash Conner’s nanny, Missy, stood there, and she somehow looked even bitchier than usual. She and my grandma switched places last night, when Missy picked up Conner from my mother's house, on her way back in from the city. She was probably partying on my dad's dime all week, and uber-pissed to have to return to the ‘burbs, and "take care of" my little brother, and I use that phrase loosely.

  "Are you deaf? Kate's here. Go to school!" Missy snipped, with her hand on her hip and a twisted scowl on her face. I glared at her.

  "First of all, knock before you enter. Second of all, get out," I replied dismissively. Right then, Conner ran past her, proudly wearing Batman pajamas with his arms splayed out like wings, as he jumped onto my bed before scrambling into my lap.

  "Get up, get up, get up!" he sang, bouncing around, shaking us both, and I laughed. He was the only one who could still manage to make me laugh.

  "I'm up, I'm up, I’m up!" I teased back, tickling his sides, as he thrashed and giggled wildly.

  Missy made a disgruntled sound in her throat, like that was way too much noise to deal with, while still recovering from her harsh weekend hangover, I'm sure.

  "Come on, Conner. Dani needs to get ready, and you need some breakfast," Missy chimed, in a much nicer tone. Conner jumped off the bed and out the door, right before Missy slammed it shut. Man, I hated her. I ran to my closet, and put on a simple green sweater and dark jeans before bolting to the bathroom to pull a comb through my hair while brushing my teeth. I grabbed my bag and was out the door less than a minute later.

&nbs
p; "Hey, sorry,” I said to Kate. “My alarm didn't go off." I was slightly breathless as I slipped into the car.

  "No biggie," Kate shrugged as she pulled out of the driveway.

  "Look at you! All dressed up," I said, taking note of Kate's perfect hair and makeup, black tights, fitted sweater dress, and killer heels.

  "Yeah, you too," Kate said sarcastically, since it was pretty obvious I spent no more than one minute getting ready.

  "Ha! Yeah, it's for my photo shoot later," I said, digging around in my bag for the few bits of emergency makeup I kept stashed in there. I pulled down the visor mirror and swept some compact powder over my tired face, brushed on a coat of mascara, and dabbled on some light pink lip gloss. I wiped the excess gloss from the wand onto my index finger and gently dotted it along the top of my cheekbones before blending it in. A little trick my mother once taught me to achieve a dewy, fresh skin look whenever you're in a bind. Not great, but certainly better.

  "Seriously though, something is different about you. What is it?" I asked, looking over Kate's transformed demeanor as I put my makeup away.

  "My attitude. This morning I woke up, and decided I was sick of being bummed out about Eli. So I got out of bed, picked out something special to wear, and committed myself to getting over it and moving on," Kate explained. My heart sank when she mentioned Eli's name. Perhaps I could’ve managed not to be obsessed with him for a whole five minutes.

  Eli was previously pretending to be a substitute teacher at our school, in order to look after me, when he met Kate. They were supposed to go out on their first date last weekend, but he sent her an email saying he got a job offer in Europe that he couldn't refuse. He apologized that they didn't have the chance to get to know each other better. But I knew the truth, and it killed me to continue to keep it from her.

  "Good for you," I said, patting her on the shoulder. Kate was strong in so many ways that I wasn't. I hoped someday her positive spirit would rub off on me.

  "I was surprised not to hear from you this weekend," Kate said, pulling her cheek to one side with dismay.

  "I practically ran for the city as soon as the bell rang on Friday," I explained vaguely, since I was actually stuck with Alec, heralding bad news all over the Midwest.

  "Yeah, I get it. You could have hid out at my house, though," Kate suggested, and I imagined that meant she was stuck home alone again, having to deal with her clingy, pill-popping mother.

  "Thanks, I'll need a good hide-out for next weekend," I said with a small smile.

  Everyone knew that Alec and I were finished before we even really started. At school, I avoided him as much as possible, which was tough since we shared eighty percent of our classes, by his design, of course. I still wasn't talking to Evan, because of that night at Dale's party. He blabbed to half the school, right there on the beach, that he'd spent many nights in my bed, like we'd been secretly hooking up. He and I knew that wasn’t true, and we were just close friends. The sleepovers were strictly platonic. But his girlfriend, Harper, certainly didn't believe that, and spent all of her free time convincing anyone who would listen, what a back-stabbing slut I was.

  Our social group was pretty split over the whole drama. Obviously, Sienna and Alicia, Harper's little minions, now hated me, not that we were best buds before the incident, but that really sealed the deal. The guys on the baseball team, however, mostly didn't believe it; but they also didn't really care that Evan "cheated" with me, despite Harper’s best attempts to sway them otherwise.

  It was complicated since we were all in the same social circle. I pretty much tried to dodge everyone at school except Kate, because no matter what they believed, I was tired of their speculation and theories, as well as their pity and ill-conceived judgments. Plus, the tension was awful ever since Harper formally decided to "forgive" Evan and keep dating him. I thought it was more like a guarantee to make his life miserable.

  Kate pulled into the lot and I dreaded getting out of the car. It didn't help that the first person I saw was Alec, leaning against his black Audi, and clearly waiting for us.

  "Do you want me to run him over?" Kate asked, and I smiled, seriously considering it, even though the impact could do nothing to dent his carved body. Vampires were so annoying that way.

  "No, let him live," I teased, appreciating that Kate had my back. She parked a few spaces away from Alec's car, and he began walking toward us. I jumped out before he could try to score chivalry points by opening my door.

  "Good morning, ladies," Alec said happily, but it sounded rather contrived. It wasn't like him to mask his true mood, and I instantly wondered what was going on.

  "Morning," Kate said with little enthusiasm, while breezing past him to get to her class across campus. She shot me an apologetic look for leaving me alone with him.

  "Well, she seems to be warming up to me again, how ‘bout you?" Alec said jokingly. Kate had clearly picked her side. Alec also did his part at making false insinuations at the beach party. I told Kate that it was obvious he was just a player who wasn't worth my time. I almost wish it were just that simple. It would make the attraction I felt toward him so much easier to ignore.

  "Dream on," I said, walking past him toward Mapleton Prep's entrance.

  "Speaking of dreams, have you been sleeping all right? You look tired." Alec clasped my wrist to stop my stride and forced me to face him. I looked down at his hand and realized it was his disembodied hand that kept pulling me out of my unsettling ocean dream in which my maker appeared. That revelation instantly sent a chill down my spine.

  "Thanks, you look like crap too," I mumbled.

  "Dani, that's not what I meant. You are the most stunning creature to ever grace this earth," Alec said sincerely, stroking his hand down the length of my long, auburn hair and making my whole body involuntarily hum with pleasure.

  "I really wish you'd let me drive you and Kate to school. I know you hate me right now, but I still have to protect you. And I certainly prefer your company over anyone else's at this school…" He continued looking at me like I was the most fragile flower on the planet.

  "Forget it. I can take care of myself. And you'd be sleeping badly too, if your friend was out somewhere, being tortured because of you, and there was nothing you could do about it," I said. I wanted to break the palpable tension that always flared between us, especially when he looked at me the way that he did right then.

  "Trust me, I'm losing my fair share of sleep, too," Alec said, and I huffed my skepticism.

  "Trust you? Interesting choice of words," I grumbled under my breath as I walked away.

  "Dani…" He said at length, but I didn't look back.

  I made it through the halls to my locker, keeping my eyes down to avoid the stares, and groaned when I saw Evan waiting there. Geez, can't a girl ever catch a break? I would surely have to transfer to another school if this was what I was relegated to face every day, and it wasn't even first period yet.

  "Hey," Evan said, straightening his posture to attention as I approached. He always looked so put together, even if it was just a thin sweater and jeans. But when I got closer, I noticed that, like me, he had definite circles under his eyes, and I wondered if he was losing sleep too.

  "Hey," I said half-heartedly. The whole situation was already bad enough, and I didn't need Harper discovering Evan waiting for me at my locker.

  "I tried to call you all weekend," Evan said, leaning against the lockers to look at me.

  "I know," I said through my teeth as I jimmied the stubborn metal lock open.

  “So, what? Are you never going to speak to me again? It's been over a week, Dani. We need to talk about this already." The inflexion in his voice was pained, and I leaned my forehead against the edge of the cold, steel door as it swung open.

  "I know," I murmured before twisting my head to look at him. "I had a rough weekend. I'm dealing with a lot of family crap, and I'm just not ready to deal with all this friend drama too," I said honestly.

  "You use
d to say that I was more than just your friend, Dani, that I was your family," Evan said pointedly, and I shrunk. He was right. I did say that, and I would always think of him that way. Evan had always been there for me, for years, even when my family wasn't.

  "Why don't you come over tonight? And we can talk, that is, assuming Harper doesn't have you under a twenty-four hour watch," I offered. I was sick of all the fighting. I didn't know if I could forgive him. I just knew I lacked the emotional strength to continue avoiding him right now. Evan was my best friend, so I figured I should at least hear him out.

  "About that…" Evan began, but right then, Dale came bounding over, and planted a wet kiss right on my cheek.

  "Yuck, Dale!" I whined, wiping away his slobber.

  "Hey, I'm on team, Dani. Just trying to show the love," Dale said unapologetically while hanging his arm over my shoulder.

  "So, I assume you congratulated your late night lover over here for sporting the biggest pair of brass balls I've ever seen," Dale chimed proudly.

  "Dale, I swear to God, if you call him my ‘late night lover’ one more time, I'm going to snip your not-so-brass balls right off your body. And you’re the only one standing here who has seen his anything," I said, elbowing him in the side to knock his arm off me.

  "Hey, now, remember: what happens in the locker room stays in the locker room," Dale joked.

  "Dude, shut-up," Evan said sharply as he gave him a good jab in the chest, clearly annoyed that he just interrupted whatever he was about to say.

  "Why is everyone so cranky this morning? Harper got all pissy, too, when I offered my escort services to her for Homecoming.... And at a very reasonable price I might add," Dale said with a devilish smile.