[Anthology] Ancient Blood of the Vampire & Wolf

by W. J. May

He smiled sheepishly. “Sorry, Kallie. I forgot you needed to breathe. I would have kissed you to death.” He smirked and leaned down, rubbing the tip of his nose against hers. She kept her eyes open, coveting the fact that he had finally broken down and kissed her. She wanted more of those kisses, but the club wasn’t the time or the place for such intimacy. She reached up and brushed her thumb along his bottom lip.

  His eyes moved from her to the floor as his body stiffened. “We need to go. Trouble’s arrived.”

  She turned as he moved from the bar and took her hand into his, pulling her toward the door without thinking about her being in heels. She stumbled as they rushed outside, but he caught her as if he anticipated it. The look on his face was anything but sensual.

  Something was wrong. Caleb maybe? It had to be.

  “I’ll walk you to your car.” He reached for her hand, but she pulled it back.

  “No. I don’t want the night to be over yet. We’ve barely been here an hour.”

  He dragged his fingers through his hair. “Look, there are Red Bloods in there. It’s too dangerous. For you. And me.”

  She knew instinctively that Caleb wouldn’t hurt her. Could there be more and she simply hadn’t noticed them? “You couldn’t fight them off if they came after us?”

  “Of course I could, but if anything happened to you I’d go mad and slaughter everyone, which wouldn’t exactly help my reputation as one of the good guys, right?”

  She huffed, taking the step that lay between them and sliding her arms around his waist. She pressed her lips to his pectoral muscle and looked up at him, a pouty look on her face, one she’d only used as a child. “I’m not ready to go home.”

  He leaned down and kissed her nose, running his fingers through her hair and tugging on it softly. “This is the start of many nights… if you’re up for it.”

  Her heart sputtered a rhythm created just for him. “I am, but who knows what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

  “Tomorrow is tomorrow. Tonight felt like the start of something amazing.” He tapped his knuckles against the roof of her car. “I feel like I should drive you home.”

  “What if I wanted to go home with you?” She bit at her lip, her thoughts shifting from fear back to lust.

  His eyes widened a little as he worked to gently move her hands off his waist. “I don’t think I could survive tonight with you. I’d ravish you senseless.” He backed up a step. “Get in your car and let me see you drive away. It’s for the better tonight. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

  He had to play cop now. She knew it, she just didn’t want him to. She unlocked the car and opened the door. As she rested her elbow on it, she stared hungrily at him, a smile playing on her lips. “What if I want to be ravaged?” She liked how he bit into his lip with his teeth, those incisors sending chills like they begged to taste her.

  He shook his head and growled softly, the sound menacing and sexy at the same time. “I’m not a man, Kallie, but a monster. Help me remember that before you offer your body and unknowingly, your blood to me.”

  Chapter 11

  Dreams of death and darkness seemed to be ever present when she closed her eyes. After a night of meeting Caleb and feeling the lustful pull of Liam, she didn’t want the warmth washed away. Staying awake was her only course of action. Her father paced the floor down in the basement, the soft tapping of him against the walls her reasoning for knowing what he was up to. She slipped out of bed, the midnight hour long gone. He needed to get out, breathe fresh air and try to live whenever he was able to. She wished he would stop hiding.

  She yawned loudly, clamping her hand over her mouth as she walked toward the door that led down into the darkness of the basement. It smelled like wet dirt, very earthy down there, leaving her apprehensive about going down. She opened the door and leaned in, the darkness stealing her vision. “Daddy?”

  “I’m here.” His voice carried a hint of sadness mixed with frustration.

  “Come up here. I can’t sleep.” She swallowed, it sounding more like a gulp. “I want to talk with you about something.”

  The sound of him ascending the stairs calmed her, his mood off kilter the last week, leaving him moody and rather unpredictable. Where he would never physically attack any of them, his anger left him ragged and unpleasant. It was funny how nothing more than a look from him would undo her. She found herself tearing up several times in his presence the last week, her father’s heart hurting from behind his red eyes.

  It was unfair. It should have been her that turned. It was her fault the accident happened in the first place, and yet it was him suffering the consequences of it all. She moved back as he walked through the door, his eyes a soothing magenta color. He smiled at her, reaching over to pull her into a quick hug. “Your voice gives you away. What’s going on?”

  She returned his hug, happy for the strength behind it. She reached up to kiss his cheek before moving back. She motioned for him to follow her out the back door. The air now cooler at night and the moon illuminating their small patio as if it were a stage for the stars. She took a deep breath. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the accident. I want to know what happened.” She looked over toward him as he moved beside her, resting his forearms on the balcony of the wooden structure. His skin was incredibly smooth, years of hard work taken away by his new lot in life.

  “I’d rather you let this just lie, Kallie. It won’t do any good to dig into that horrible night. Something went wrong and we both ended up with our lives. That’s good enough.”

  She reached over and slipped her hand over his, closing her eyes and letting out a soft breath. She hated so much that he would never feel the warmth of the sun on his cheeks, never take her mother for their favorite lunch at the bistro in town. Her head dropped as her father moved over to put his arm over her shoulder.

  “Maybe if I understood what happened I could fix it,” she whispered, tears mixing with her words. She knew exhaustion played a part in her emotions getting the best of her, but she needed resolution. Everything had the ability to change, to morph into something new. Their situation was no different. Hope would afford them a chance. It had to.

  “We cannot fix the past, baby. We can only work to make the future better.” He brushed her hair with his fingers, a heavy sigh leaving him.

  “It’s not going to get better if we keep living like this. We can’t hide and disappear.” She straightened, forcing his arm off her shoulder as she turned to face him. “Dad, I’ve found someone who can maybe help you.”

  Her father moved from her, his eyes burning bright against the dark. “What the hell are you talking about?”

  “The detective at the police station, the hot-shot one everyone talks about. He’s a vampire as well.” She bit at her lip, her father’s expression not good.

  “How do you know this?” The accusation and the way his eyes raced to her neck and wrists were proof he had already assumed he knew how.

  “His eyes.” She lied - sort of.

  He took a step closer, his large hands coming to rest on her upper arm as he squeezed them. “They’re red, like mine?”

  She shook her head and tried not to wince from the strength he didn’t realize he had in his hands. “Brilliant blue.”

  He stared at her like she had gone half mad.

  “Liam explained that there are two types of—”

  Her father reached up and cupped his hand over her mouth, his face turning into a grimace. “Don’t speak of this out here, Kalls. The trees have ears.”

  She nodded, her eyes wide. His actions were a little dramatic, but she knew that monthly he walked through the boughs of hell. No one should have to see the things he saw, or feel the pain of not being strong enough to push the parasites off of you. She shuddered as he moved, grabbing her hand and walking quickly back to the house.

  “Inside. Now.”

  A flash of white moved along the trees and she pulled from her father’s grasp, walking back and cupping her hands a
round her mouth. “Caleb. Is that you?”

  Her father cursed and picked her up, toting her into the house and dropping her. He scowled at her and she returned the gesture.

  She stamped her foot. “That was ridiculous! I thought I saw someone. You didn’t have to go and pick me up like some caveman.”

  He leaned in close, his breath almost stinging her face. “This isn’t a game, child. These things are monsters! They don’t care about your innocence or who you are. They are only out to sate their sick desires. Stay inside from now on.” He turned and then spun around, his finger pointed at her as he spoke, “Don’t play the hero. Do you hear me?” The man before her looked more menacing than he perhaps realized. She simply nodded, too scared to say anything back.

  He sighed, his shoulders dropping and his hands hanging by his sides. “What do you know about the vampires? Who have you been talking to?”

  “I told you. The detective at the station. He said there are two types of vampires. The Red Bloods, which you are, and the Blue Bloods.”

  “And you believed him?” He shook his head. “It’s a game to all of them, with high stakes that are our lives.”

  “No. He’s different. I want you to meet him. He’s a little concerned with getting together with you because apparently your two factions don’t get along instinctively, like cats and dogs, oil and vinegar.” She shrugged and picked at her lip. Her father carefully swatted her hand down, his eyes closing for a moment before opening, the iris a brilliant red. She licked her lower lip and realized she’d made it bleed.

  “I have to go back to the basement.”

  “I’m not leaving you until you agree to meet with Liam.”

  He was already heading toward the stairs. He threw his hands in the air. “Fine. I’ll meet him, but this means nothing. Stop snooping around, Kallie. So help me, if your curiosity hurts you or your mother...” He sighed, his shoulders stooped. “They are private people, Kalls. If they find you looking into them or figuring out anything they don’t want you to figure out… God help us if they come for you. I will kill them all with my bare hands.” Blood dripped down the side of his mouth, his incisors piercing the soft skin around it.

  She nodded, partially regretting she had brought the conversation up. “I’ll be here all night until mom gets home. Let me know if you need anything. There is blood in the fridge.”

  “Where’s your mom?” He glanced toward the back door, nervousness clear on his face. “No more talk of this until I can think.”

  “Yes, sir.” She held back from saluting him. She watched him leave her. “She’ll be fine, Dad,” she whispered after he had disappeared into the basement.

  Dark circles rimmed her eyes, her hair looking less healthy than normal. Usually she had a bounce in her step, the world giving them lemons. Today Kallie was too tired. She had lied to her father’s face last night. She wasn’t letting this go. She was going to figure out exactly what happened and then work with Liam to understand what it meant.

  If they were able to uncover who changed her father, what good would it really do? She wanted to kill the monster who had done it, but it wouldn’t change how things were now. Was it in hopes of gaining protection from the vampire or possibly looking at a cure? If she killed the vampire who turned her father, would that give her father his humanity back or kill him too? Could you kill a vampire? How in the world did one go about doing that?

  Liam had been clear that her father was dead at the scene of the accident – his neck broken. He had to have taken vamp blood before the accident.

  She got into her car, the public library quiet and full of information about everything that occurred in their busy city. She pulled on her sunglasses, the world not needing to be made aware of her weariness. Turning on the radio, she checked her phone and wondered what Liam had done last night after they parted ways. Most likely sat around his house in his shorts, his beautiful chest and stomach on display for no one. After he had killed a bunch of Red Blood evil vamps. Caleb excluded. She smiled at the thought of Liam near naked, weaving through traffic with little patience. She’d grab a muffin and a coffee on the way home, but duty called, as Liam would say.

  She parked under a large shade tree and walked quickly into the library, the town silent and still resting on the early Saturday morning. A quick wave to the librarian and she jogged up the dilapidated stairs toward the free access computers. She sat down and put her purse on the ground beside her, grateful that the sunlight pushed back the monsters, unlike the night.

  The Internet was older than dirt and took forever, but she finally got to the article of the accident from two years ago. She leaned in to look at the picture of her old little Honda, the body completely crushed. It was a wonder she lived at all. Liam making mention of her father’s death made complete sense. No one should have survived that night.

  She searched the article quickly for mention of Liam, the handsome detective saying he was at the scene of the crime. He’d made mention of her swerving to miss hitting someone in the middle of the street, but she just couldn’t remember anything. She’d need to quiet her nerves to really allow herself to go back uninhibited in her mind. She needed answers desperately.

  Most of the day was wasted diving into the various rabbit holes about her accident and others like them around the country. Seemed they weren’t the only ones to have survived something miraculously to never really be seen again. Her father’s friends had written him off, their gratefulness that he was alive and well soon overshadowed by his unwillingness to do anything during the daylight hours and often refusing to go anywhere at night. Kallie usually made the excuse for him, saying he preferred staying near the house.

  Something nagged at her about the picture of her car. She should print it off. She sat back and ran her fingers through her hair, the clock on the wall shocking her with the information that the sun would be setting in the next hour. Her stomach growled loudly in protest, the elderly librarian whispering for her to hush as if she had done it on purpose.

  Ignoring the librarian, Kallie pulled the photo up on the computer again and leaned in, her leg bouncing up and down below the small desk. Standing and pushing herself away from the desk, she paced around the small room, her eyes on the various shades of blue forming an uneventful pattern on the ground. Something was there, she could feel it.

  Information was staring at her in the face and she was ignoring it. Oftentimes when things were too hard to deal with, people not only blacked out in the moment, but locked away the memories until they could deal with them.

  “I’m ready. I can deal with it,” she whispered harshly, only to garnish the attention of the librarian again. She looked over and apologized, took a deep breath and moved toward the screen, whispering softly once more – pleading, “Show me… please.”

  She let her gaze blur as she stared at the picture.

  The car took center stage on the picture, the tree bending over the destroyed metal. It was post-accident, after they’d already been pulled out of the wreckage. She silently begged, her eyes moving along the car and then to the surrounding area.

  What she saw almost stopped her heart.

  Just across the street, squatting on the top of Old Man Walker’s tall white brick fence was a man, no a boy. His eyes were focused on the camera as if he wanted them to know he was there. His jacket was black, as were his boots and pants. His eyes red like blood. The flash of the camera that night had caught him, or rather he’d caught it. She leaned in as chill bumps broke out across her skin.

  “What the hell… Caleb?”

  Chapter 12

  Food would have to wait. She needed to talk to Liam. He would know what to do. He had been right about the Red Bloods. She had been an idiot not to mention Caleb to him last night. It hadn’t seemed like a good idea to get Liam upset over Caleb the night before, as he seemed to just be an average vampire who wanted to date.

  She scoffed at the ridiculousness of her thoughts, her car racing through the str
eets of the city to get to the police station. She was supposed to meet Liam so that they could go see her dad, but that was still an hour off.

  He had sent her a text earlier to say he would be at work before coming over to see her dad. He’d changed his shift, or cancelled it, or something. He mentioned he needed to stop by the office to check with the guy taking his shift. Hopefully he would be at work now because she needed time to talk things through with him first. She parked in the first available spot, ignoring the handicap sign on the small placard before her and painted in bright blue on the asphalt.

  Getting out, she pulled at her shirt, her skin suddenly crawling. She stopped and turned in a full circle, looking into the dusk to see if she could pinpoint the reason for her sudden discomfort.

  She wanted to yell she knew he was there, but decided against it as a few policemen made their way to the station entrance just in front of her. They held open the door and she thanked them before stopping back at the front desk to get a badge.

  The portly woman looked up and sighed. “You again?”

  “Yes ma’am. Sorry to bother you.”

  “Then don’t.” The woman looked down at her computer. “Name?”

  She started to reply as a hand slid around her waist, Liam leaned over her shoulder and smiled down at the woman as her disposition changed. “She’s with me. She doesn’t need a badge. Thanks.” He didn’t wait for a reply, but nudged Kallie to move down the hall with him. He looked at her and smiled, the expression turning into concern as he studied her. “You’re not sleeping. What happened?”

  “Nightmares. I went to the library today and you’ll never guess what I saw.” She was going to tell him right in the bloomin’ hallway with whoever was around to hear. She didn’t care.

  Liam obviously did. He moved up the stairs with her, the look on his handsome face a warning that she better be careful. He didn’t have to voice his concerns as they were both aware of the danger that lingered all around her.