by W. J. May
He leaned slightly away, but didn’t let her go from his arms. “I’m a vampire too.”
So he wasn’t a werewolf like she thought. “How’s that possible?”
He stared at her and slowly shook his head. “I always imagined the first person I told that to would take off running and screaming.” He smiled. “How are you able to stay so calm? Here you stand, not even trembling… at least by what I’m telling you.”
She felt her face burn. He apparently had the ability to hear or smell or sense her body’s reaction to him. “My daddy can kick your ass,” she joked.
“He probably can. He just doesn’t know it.”
“What do you mean?” She couldn’t imagine anyone being able to hurt Liam, especially knowing he was a vampire now.
He picked her up like she weighed nothing and carried her to the leather couch. He set her down and sat beside her. “Are you ready for all this?”
If he was referring to blowing her mind with more information, he was in for a surprise. After finding out her father needed blood to live off of, nothing would shock her anymore. She pretty much believed in everything now. “Try me,” she teased.
He wiped his hands against his shorts even though they wouldn’t be sweaty.
Probably an old, nervous habit he had. She wondered how long ago he had turned. Did human habits start to die away over time? Or like someone who’s lost a limb and still had that ‘ghost’ feeling, did it linger?
“I don’t think you know everything. I’ve wondered for the past two years what your father knew. But you or your mother never showed up dead so I figured he was being taken care of.”
He was, by me and my mom. “What don’t we know?”
“You ready for Vampire one-oh-one?” He tried to smile again but it looked forced. “There are two types of vampires. If you knew that, you would never have approached me to help your dad.”
“Oh.” She didn’t know what else to say.
“The two types are referred to as the Red Bloods and the Blue Bloods.”
She tried not to laugh. Nervousness sometimes made her giggly and she was edgy from his comment about her not approaching him. “Very original names. Did you come up with them? What do they represent, red blood and blue blood?” She lifted his arm and pretended to check his veins. “They look blue to me. Might have to pop open an artery to double-check the oxygenated blood.”
A low laugh escaped his lips. “No need for oxygen here.”
“Oh yeah, right.” She should know that, she’d watched enough TV shows and movies to know part of whatever tales they told had to be true. “It’s because of your eyes.” She paused a moment to try and organize her crazy thoughts. “Why are there two kinds?”
“I haven’t figured that one out yet, but they don’t get along.”
Why does he say they instead of we? “Really? What happens? A Red Blood sees a Blue Blood and suddenly they start tearing each other apart?” She was joking, but couldn’t help but be paranoid Liam might say it was true.
“Sort of. I’ve yet to see a Red Blood I didn’t want to tear apart.”
His comment sent a chill down Kallie’s spine. “Stay away from my father, then.” She went to stand and Liam rested his hand on her knee, forcing her to stay seated.
“I won’t hurt your dad. I only go after the ones that murder and kill. Red Bloods seem to have made it a sport. Hunting down and killing innocent people.” He shook his head, disgusted. “Bastards.”
“How do you know my dad isn’t one of them?” Was that why he locked himself in that room in the basement?
“He hasn’t killed a human yet. When Red Bloods kill, it triggers something inside them and they become aggressive. Over aggressive.”
“Is that why they are feeding off of him?”
A look crossed Liam’s face that Kallie couldn’t mistake for anything other than pure pity.
Chapter 7
“What is it?” She didn’t like his pity, it made her feel even more helpless toward her dad. She should be feeling mind-blown, like none of the world made sense. Except she had been through that two years ago and these days, nothing seemed like it could shock her. However, she had no problem being scared. Everything scared her now.
“I don’t know how your dad’s surviving.”
“What do you mean?” Panic welled inside of her, which made her eyes fill. She blinked rapidly, not wanting to cry but very close to being unable to stop herself. “What’s going on,” she whispered.
Liam reached for her hand and held it tenderly in his as if she were a fragile teacup. “Your dad has never fed off of you has he?”
She shook her head. “My mom’s a nurse. She’s been bringing bags of blood home from the hospital. Her and I also pump blood and store it for him when he runs low.” Should I be telling him this? She wasn’t going to find answers if she didn’t.
He nodded. “Impressive. That’s a great idea. Your mom’s a smart lady.”
She appreciated the compliment, but she didn’t care. She wanted to know what had Liam looking so sad a minute ago. “Why does it matter if he’s never fed off of me? He’s had my blood.”
“But not directly from the source.”
“No. Is it key he needs to drink from me?” If it was, she would force her dad to do it. If it meant stopping the horrid full moon nights. She would do pretty much anything.
“It’s not just you.” He smiled and winked. “Though I’m quite positive you taste delicious.”
She could see a slight point to his canines that her father had when he laughed. She couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed it on Liam before.
Liam looked down a moment when she didn’t reply. “Sorry. That was inappropriate.” His face turned serious again. “Your dad hasn’t drunk from any vital source. He’s never bit into flesh and drank directly. From anyone.”
Kallie didn’t know, but she was pretty sure Liam’s assumption was correct. “I don’t think he has. He spends most of his time locked down in the basement these days.”
“He’s a good man. He should have been turned a Blue Blood. If he was, he wouldn’t have these issues. He’s doing everything he can to fight his body’s urges. He’s incredibly strong.”
“Can you turn him into a Blue Blood?” Kallie somehow knew the answer already, but she tried arguing her point anyway – more at herself than at Liam. “What if you bit him? Let him feed off of you? Or whatever you guys do. Would that turn him into a Blue Blood instead?” She pulled her hand from Liam’s and grabbed his wrist, putting it close to her mouth. “What if you let me feed off of you and then my dad drank my blood with yours in it?”
Liam gently but forcefully lowered his wrist. “I don’t think that’s going to work.”
“How do you know it won’t? Have you tried it?”
“Kallie,” he said, his voice soft. “It won’t work.”
“Then tell me something that will!” she yelled, not meaning to be so loud, but unable to stop herself.
“They’re feeding off of him because he’s never fed! He’s still a virgin, in a sense.”
The word made her ears burn. She was no doubt one herself, but he surely didn’t know that. He wasn’t calling her out with the reference, but simply pointing out the reality of her father’s situation. Her heart palpitated and the slight flare of his nose let her know that whatever hormones were boiling in her blood were putting off a noticeable calling card.
“Your dad’s blood is completely pure. In that purity there is strength and power. The Red Bloods are taking his strength from him.” He rubbed his chin. “Possibly to protect themselves.”
“What do you mean?” A glimmer of hope shot through her. She didn’t want to put everything into it… yet.
“If your dad didn’t let them feed from him during one full moon, he would be stronger than ten of them.”
“So if he had two full moons of his strength, it would make him even stronger?”
Liam nodded.
“Incre
dible. He has no idea, and if a couple of months could make him strong, then six month’s might make him invincible!” She stood from her seated position and began to pace again, the realization that there was a fighting chance washing over her and offering a small wave of peace.
“Your thoughts are on the right path Kallie, but it’s not that easy.” He stood and moved toward her, his fingers brushing along her forearm as he slowed her fidgeting. Weariness tugged at her, the night growing late and the week still offering residual stress.
“Figures. Nothing is clear-cut anymore.” She sighed. “Tell me what you’re thinking.” She absently reached out, her hand softly placed on his chest as she looked up at him. Her ability to finally share with someone the horror her life had become was drawing her closer to him. The brilliant blue of his eyes and strong set of his jaw left her breathless. To remain cognizant in the moment was the greatest struggle, and yet she dug her fingers into the side of her leg to do so. She quickly stopped when she thought she might draw blood. What if he turned into a vicious monster at the sight of it? Or the smell of it? Her father sometimes acted like an animal when he drank from the blood bags, never able to get them emptied fast enough.
“The Red Bloods won’t let him leave.” His eyes moved from hers toward her neck and then down her chest. He took her hand from his chest and moved it toward his mouth, kissing the inside of her wrist softly before depositing it on the side of his neck.
Her breath caught as she moved closer, the sensuality of his touch stilling her heart. He was a monster, prone to kill and take life just as the vicious creatures that violated her father, right?
Her fingers moved with a mind of their own and found their way to the nape of his neck. Her free hand moved to the other side of his neck. Tentatively, she traced the edge of his hair, the soft shortness of it tickling her fingers. The feeling entirely pleasant.
His stare was heavy and filled with carnality, but she pushed the conversation, knowing that now wasn’t the time to fall in love or give herself to the handsome boy before her.
She wished like hell for that time to eventually come, but right now her family was in need and Liam seemed to be the only one who could move up beside her and help her save them. A strange sound, like a click and sliding at the same time came from inside Liam’s mouth, her eyes diverting to take notice of his pale pink tongue rolling over sharp pointed incisors.
She should be petrified. Her mind screamed at her to run out of the house and never come back, but terror ran hard and fast, her need and desire took control. She wanted to press up on the top of her toes and lean in, the desire to have his tongue brush against her own almost consuming her.
Had she ever felt so out of control with anyone else? She took a quick breath, moving back a smidgen at the same time and letting her hand slide down the side of his muscular neck and onto the strong contours of his chest. She focused her gaze back to his, those ocean blue pools pulling and tugging at her emotions. She could easily become lost in them forever.
His head moved and suddenly she was sure he was going to kiss her.
Kallie shifted her weight and tried to focus on her father, suddenly nervous about their lips touching. “I know it won’t be easy. For my dad, I mean. We’ll have to hide him for six months.” She rushed her words as ideas began to push past her vision. “Maybe he could go somewhere, out of town or something.”
“The Red Bloods are beasts.”
She continued on, ignoring Liam’s words. “If he’s gone and we’re here the Red Bloods might come after me and my mom. And how would he feed? That wouldn’t work.” She shook her head. “We’d have to go with him. Then he—we—could come back and he… he… can take care of business! Go in and bam! Kick their arses!”
Liam reached down and took her hands into his, pulling her flush against him. “Slow down. The Red Bloods will hunt him down. Hiding in some city isn’t going to protect him. You don’t know these people, Kallie, but think for a moment of how heinous they are when your father is being compliant. We need to think through this and be smart about it. He just visited them, so we have another month to work something out.”
She liked how he said ‘we’. He said Red Bloods and Blue Bloods were enemies and he was going to help her. “How do you know moving him to another city wouldn’t work? Can they track him?” She didn’t want Liam to take the wind from her sails, even if he had valid points. Her hope began to diminish, the soft touch of his cool skin on her fingers not registering for the race her mind had begun. He was supposed to get stronger with more time, so that’s what they were in search of – more time.
“They have people everywhere. They’ll trace your bank money, or a visa or your car. Whatever they need, they have it at their disposal. If nothing else, they can smell one of their own. Your father’s virginic blood must be like a beacon to them. We are animals, creatures who utilize all of the extra senses given us to feed, mate and continue growing as a race. We lust after everything.”
Her breath caught in her chest as she pulled her hands from him and let them hang by her side. What would it feel like to be wrapped up with the perfectly masculine man before her? Letting him take life from her while…
Liam’s eyes flared as he swallowed, a smile playing at the edge of his perfect mouth.
“Oh, hell. Can you hear my thoughts?”
“No, but I sure wish I could. Something tells me I’d enjoy them quite a bit.”
She laughed, the sound shaking as it exited her lips. “I’d die of embarrassment, which I just might.”
He moved back, breaking the touch between them. “No dying. I won’t let that happen.” He shoved his hands into his pockets. “Look, I’m not sure of my involvement in this. I want to help you. However, I’m a Blue Blood. Helping a Red is insane for me to even consider. If I were even in the presence of your father I’m not sure what my reaction would be. Or what his would be. That violent switch of his, combined with his strength, could destroy me.”
Kallie didn’t like what he said. One moment he spouted lust and mating and the next he was trying to protect his ass. “Then don’t come near him.” She almost growled her response, her emotions all over the board from the weirdness that hung heavy around her. She wanted to see what might happen with Liam, but her first responsibility was to her family – her father.
Liam tugged a hand through his dark hair. “Kallie, it isn’t a choice I’m making to attack your father if I see him. It’s something he, nor I, can control. Much like werewolves can’t help but change when the moon is high when the gods of heaven call for their pets to come out and play.” He shrugged, his finger brushing over his jaw, scratching along his cheek.
“You’re a cop. I thought it’s your job to protect people.”
“It is—”
“Only when it’s safe for you.”
“That’s not true. I risk my life every day trying to stop the madness taking over our city.”
“So you’re an anti-vigil now?” she mocked.
“I’m not.” He looked ready to snap a comment back at her but held his tongue. Inhaling a long deep breath, he let it out slowly. “I’ll see what I can do.” He paused a moment. “What made you think I was a werewolf, by the way?”
“You’re hairy enough to be one.” She let the words roll off her tongue, still mad he wasn’t stepping in to help when she had thought he would. It was something her family would need to figure out. Liam had already taught her more than she bet her father knew. If Liam was able to help in any way possible, she would take it. It wasn’t like she would be having the ‘my dad’s a vampire’ talk with anyone else.
He chuckled, reminding her of the comment she had snapped back in his direction. “Be glad I’m not a wolf. I can see the increase in your heartbeat when something arouses you, or embarrasses you, but a wolf can smell it as well.” He chuckled at the shock that rolled across her features. “Now they are the true beasts of this world.”
She couldn’t take any more mind-b
lowing information tonight. That conversation could be saved for another day. She shook her head, closing her eyes. “What should I do, Liam?” she whispered, hating herself for the way his name sounded so sexy on her lips. Too distracting.
He hesitated a long moment, which made Kallie open her eyes to see what had happened. His face had grown serious, his blue eyes more intense with some inner decision he had made. “We. What should we do? I don’t know how I’m tied to you, but I can’t deny I want to protect you no matter what the cost. I’m going to need to meet with your father to see how we respond to each other. I need to know if I’ll be able to help you intimately or from the sidelines. It might be a big mistake, but it’s something I’m willing to risk.”
His use of sensual phrases and words, along with the smell of his musky cologne and half-naked body had just about done her in. She needed to get home to save herself from a mistake that was going to eventually happen. She just couldn’t let it happen tonight. “Okay. So we’ll have you meet him. When?”
“Not tomorrow night, maybe the next. I’m working from nine to four that night, but I’ll just meet you at your place around eight before I go in. Your dad has a closed-off room, right? He and I can talk in there.” He moved closer, his fingers reaching up to brush a long strand of blonde hair from her shoulder.
She wanted to hug him for agreeing. “I’m worried. I love him so much. You should have seen him when he came back out this last time.” Her voice cracked slightly as her teeth pulled at her lip. “I just don’t think I can survive watching him take much more. I’d rather it be me.”
“No! It won’t be you. It’ll never be you.” His hands curled into fists and slowly relaxed. “We’ll figure this out.”
A thought crossed her mind. “Why can’t you meet him tomorrow night?”
A smile brushed across Liam’s mouth as his finger pressed softly under her chin, lifting her face toward him. He leaned down and brushed a soft kiss across her lips, feather light and perfect. “Because I’m taking this girl I just met dancing.” He winked and walked her to the door.