His eyes narrowed. “I am nothing like Theron.”
She reached up toward his mouth, but he grasped her wrist before she could touch him. She pursed her lips. “Fangs,” she said. “Do you have fangs?”
Kallias released her wrist. He stepped toward her and growled with his fangs bared, causing her to fall backward. “Does that answer your question?”
The woman stared up at him, visibly trembling in fear. She nodded and stuttered, “Y-y-yes.” Somehow, she managed to pull herself to her feet, even as she continued to look pale with terror. “Would you do it? Would you bite me?”
“You humans are all so stupid,” Kallias snarled. “Do you want to die?”
The woman paled. “Um…n-no,” she stammered.
“See, that’s where this road ends,” Kallias said, his voice low and dangerous. “You were lucky last night that Theron found a use for you, or you’d already be dead. But I can assure you that if you return to him, he will eventually kill you. Maybe he’ll grow tired of you. Perhaps you will just get too old for him. More than likely, you will piss him off, and he will end your life without a second thought. Theron doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t value your life. Theron is a monster, just like me, and you can always expect him to do what all monsters do.”
Her eyes were wide and fearful. “What do monsters do?”
His eyes darkened. “Monsters kill.”
“Are you going to kill me?” she asked quietly.
“I should,” he said tiredly. “But I have a better idea.”
The woman frowned, still pale with fear. “What?”
Kallias leaned in close. “You’re going to lead me to Theron.”
She shook her head quickly. “But I don’t know where he is.”
“No, but your body does,” Kallias said, smiling. “Use your blood bond.”
The woman swallowed audibly. “Blood b-bond? I don’t know what…”
Kallias grasped her chin and forced her to meet his gaze. He then took control of her mind again. “Use your blood bond to lead me to Theron. Now.”
“Yes,” the woman replied impassively. “Follow me.”
—
Rose jumped as the sound of the door creaking open suddenly interrupted the silence of the empty classroom. Her reading glasses fell crooked as she glanced at the door. She sighed in relief when she saw the middle-aged woman in the doorway. A few strands of ashy blonde hair hung around the woman’s narrow face, falling from the loose bun that held the rest of her long, blonde hair. Her khaki business suit blended with her skin, and oversized glasses framed her bright green eyes. She carried an armful of textbooks in her arms.
“Rose,” the woman said, smiling. “I should’ve known I’d find you here.”
“Hey, Dr. Parker,” Rose said, smiling back at her professor.
Rose straightened her glasses as she returned her gaze to the computer on the corner desk, browsing for useful articles in the school’s database.
The professor crossed the room and dropped an armful of books on the desk, the books crashing loudly on the wooden surface. She leaned forward tiredly and sighed as she rubbed her sore arms. “I missed you in class today.”
Barely missing a beat in her typing, Rose pointed at the bandage on her head. “The hospital held me hostage,” she said, her gaze still on the computer.
Dr. Parker frowned at her nonchalant tone. “What happened?”
“Ah, nothing,” Rose muttered as she typed. “Some psycho attacked me.”
“What?” Dr. Parker sputtered. “Someone attacked you? Are you okay?”
Rose looked up from the computer screen. “Yeah, I’m fine.”
Dr. Parker shook her head and laughed, “You’re so strange sometimes.”
“So I’m told,” Rose agreed. “Did I miss anything important in class?”
Dr. Parker leaned her arms on the desk and waved her hand dismissively. “Nah. Don’t worry. You’re already months ahead of everyone else anyway.”
Rose nodded, her brows furrowing as she read an article on demonology.
The professor walked around the desk, raising an eyebrow at the strange article on the computer screen. “What are you working on?” she asked Rose.
Rose stopped and spun her computer chair toward Dr. Parker. She stared at her professor for a moment, uncertainty visible in her bright blue eyes. She sighed, “Dr. Parker, how much do you know about vampire mythology?”
Her interest officially piqued, the professor grabbed a chair and pulled it over to the desk, the metal legs scraping loudly across the floor. She sank into the chair and leaned forward, resting her elbows on the desk. “Not much,” she admitted. “Are we talking modern mythology or medieval mythology?”
“Both,” Rose answered. “And…earlier.”
Dr. Parker frowned. “What do you mean by earlier?”
Rose pulled off her reading glasses and set them aside so that she could rub her temples tiredly. “Ancient Greece, for example,” she sighed. “How much do you know about what ancient cultures believed about vampire-like creatures?”
The professor nodded, her brows furrowing as she considered the question. “I doubt I know any more than you do,” she admitted. “I know that Jewish folklore ascribed vampire-like qualities to the infamous Lilith. I also know that Ancient Greek mythology suggested that the demigoddesses Lamia and Empusa fed on the blood of humans and that they were said to be beautiful and seductive. And of course, I know later Greeks believed in other blood-drinking creatures.” She sighed. “I’m afraid my knowledge on the topic is limited.”
Rose chewed on her pen, lost in thought. “Beautiful and seductive.”
“Can I ask again?” Dr. Parker asked. “What exactly are you working on?”
Rose snapped out of her daze and glanced back at her teacher, smiling shyly as she met Dr. Parker’s confused gaze. “It’s a long story, but the short version is: I’m trying to translate this set of scrolls. I’m pretty sure they’re written in a very ancient dialect of Greek, and they describe a vampire-like creature.”
The professor blinked at her. “Um…okay…”
“Yeah,” Rose agreed. “It’s weird. The word vampire is never used, of course, since it didn’t exist at the time, but the scrolls do refer to this creature as a monster, a blood-drinker, and a creature of darkness on multiple occasions.”
“May I ask how you came to possess these scrolls?” Dr. Parker asked.
“That part is even weirder,” Rose sighed. “Someone gave them to me.”
The professor raised an eyebrow. “Someone just gave you ancient scrolls that could be worth who-knows-how-much money? Who gave them to you?”
Rose blushed. “I don’t know his name. I’ve never seen him before.”
Dr. Parker stared blankly at her. “A stranger,” she said, her eyes wide. “That is beyond weird, Rose. Do you happen to have the scrolls with you?”
Rose shook her head. “No. Not at the moment.”
Dr. Parker nodded thoughtfully. “Well, my guess is that they’re probably not as ancient as they seem. Preserving ancient documents is no easy task. If they were really that ancient, I doubt they’d be legible. As a matter of fact, they’d probably be dust by now. If I could just look at them, then, maybe I could tell.”
“I could bring them tomorrow, maybe,” Rose offered nervously.
The professor sighed and stood. “You do that, and we can go over them together. Maybe, together, we can translate them and get to the bottom of your weird little mystery.” She smiled. “The husband and the kiddoes are waiting up on me, so I need to get home. Try not to get attacked by a psycho again, okay?”
Rose smiled at her teacher. “I’ll try.”
Dr. Parker headed toward the door. “Lock up for me, okay?”
“Sure. Of course,” Rose said, returning her attention to the article.
She’d nearly given up on finding anything useful when her phone rang.
Rose pulled the phone out of her pocket and
answered it immediately. “Don’t worry. I’m not walking home. I was just about to call you,” she laughed.
“Oh, Rose! You answered! Thank God!” Audrey squealed in her ear.
Rose winced and pulled the phone away from her ear. “Why would you be worried that I wouldn’t answer? When have I ever not answered?”
“Are you okay?” Audrey asked. She sounded like she was almost in tears.
Rose frowned at her friend’s panicky tone. “I’m fine. What’s wrong?”
“You need to leave! Now! Get out of that room!” Audrey demanded.
“Okay,” Rose said. She held the phone with her shoulder as she shut down the computer. “I’m officially confused. You told me not to leave the room.”
“Yeah, well, now I’m saying I was wrong! Leave now!” Audrey shrieked.
“Okay, okay,” Rose chided as she pulled off her glasses and slipped them into her pocket. “I’m turning off the computer now. What’s going on, Audrey?”
“There’s no time for this,” Audrey cried breathlessly.
Rose frowned. “Why not?”
“I just remembered where I’ve seen that room before,” Audrey told her.
“Really?” Rose asked as she watched the computer shut down. “Where?”
Her voice cracked with panic. “In my dream. Rose, he will kill you there.”
Rose didn’t have time to respond because as her gaze darted to the door, she found someone standing there. Dressed in brown dress pants and a green sweater that complimented his tawny skin, Theron stood there, staring at her.
Without saying anything to Audrey, Rose pressed the end button and dropped her hand to her side, staring warily at the man who would kill her.
“I found you,” he announced, wearing that same sickening smile.
Rose stood slowly, her hand grasping the closest thing to her: a ballpoint pen. She swallowed nervously. “If you come any closer, I’ll scream,” she warned.
Theron seemed to take that as a challenge. He approached her, slowly and predatorily, his dark eyes wild with manic excitement. “Go ahead. Scream.”
“That’s not the response I was hoping for,” Rose complained.
Theron chuckled, “No one will hear you. I already made sure of that.”
Rose frowned worriedly, her stomach sinking as she wondered what he’d meant by that. Her apprehension only increased as she noticed the blood-red stain that darkened his lips and the skin around his mouth. “Why are you here?”
“We were interrupted last night,” Theron told her as he gracefully maneuvered around the desks. “I figured the least I could do was finish the job.”
“Oh,” Rose said, taking a step back. “Well, I appreciate the thought and all, but surprisingly, I’m actually okay with that particular job never being finished.”
Theron rounded the computer desk. “Well, I’m not.”
Rose took another step backward, gasping as she backed into the wall.
Theron shoved the computer chair aside and cornered her against the wall. His nearly black eyes darkened with hunger as he stared down at her.
With no possibility of escaping, Rose pressed her back heavily against the wall, desperate to keep space between them. “Why do you want to kill me?”
Theron stepped closer, eliminating the tiny breadth of space between them, ignoring how she cringed. He raised his hand and placed it on her neck, feeling her rapid pulse beneath his fingertips. He leaned in close and sniffed her neck, inhaling her enticing scent. “Well, you do smell delicious,” he murmured.
Anger and disgust boiled inside of her, and she barely resisted the urge to shove him or punch him, actions she knew would only succeed in hurting her. “That’s all? I smell good, so you decided to kill me?” she asked incredulously.
His hands skimmed the edge of her shirt. “Essentially,” he confirmed.
“In that case, maybe I should have skipped that shower,” Rose muttered. She shoved his hands off of her. “You better get your hands off of me, you…”
“Or what?” Theron interrupted, laughing. “What will you do, human?”
Rose didn’t have an answer for that question. “Something,” she warned.
Theron smiled condescendingly at her, as if he considered her no more than an ant with a battle cry. “The truth is I didn’t come here to kill you. I came for something far more valuable than you, something I was told you possess.”
“So you’re not going to kill me?” Rose asked hopefully.
“Of course I’m going to kill you. It’s just not the reason I’m here,” Theron said. He leaned closer to her and hissed, “Killing you is just a bonus.”
“How flattering,” Rose muttered dryly.
Theron licked his bloodstained lips. “I need to taste you,” he growled.
Rose frowned at that comment and the way he stared so hungrily at her neck. “Taste me?” she repeated. “What are you going to do? Barbeque me?”
Theron scowled at her. “No.”
“Wait. Who told you that I have anything valuable?” she asked suddenly. “I’m a college student. I do well to afford Ramen noodles and coffee.”
“I’ve had people watching you. I know what you have,” Theron said.
“Stalking is illegal, you know,” Rose said, “but then, so is murder, so…”
Theron traced his fingernail across the pulsing artery in her neck.
“Stop touching me,” Rose snarled, her blue eyes flashing with anger.
“No,” Theron said. “I had them watch you because you were looking for me. I wanted to know why. And when I found out what you have, I had to come.”
“I don’t have anything,” Rose insisted, brushing his hand off of her again, ignoring his glare. “And I was not looking for you! I don’t even know you.”
“Does the name Calista Petrakis ring any bells?” Theron asked.
Rose stared at him blankly. “No,” she answered. “Should it?”
“Short. Brunette. Much prettier than you,” Theron described.
Rose narrowed her eyes at him. “Don’t you think that destroying my self-esteem before you kill me is just a little excessive?” she complained.
“She works in the reference section of a library you visited when you were in Greece last week,” Theron continued. “You asked her if she had ever heard of any Greek myths or stories about a vampire with the name Theron.”
Rose froze as she remembered the librarian. She stared warily at the man in front of her, blocking her escape. “And what does that have to do with you?”
Theron offered her a condescending smirk. He gestured toward himself and said, “Theron.” Then he flashed his fangs at her and said, “Vampire.”
Rose’s eyes widened at the sight of those sharp, inhuman teeth. “That’s impossible. Those are fake. They have to be. They’re costume teeth. Right?”
Theron suddenly grasped her wrist and leaned forward. Before she even realized what was happening, one of his fangs sank so deep into her fingertip that it hit the bone. As she cried out in pain, Theron pulled back and smiled at her.
“Did that feel fake?” he sneered, her blood dripping from his mouth.
Icy shock and dread washed over her as she stared at the thin stream of blood running down her finger. She glanced up at him, watching in horror as he licked the blood from the razor-sharp fang where his canine tooth should’ve been. She suddenly felt as if everything she knew about the world might be wrong.
Her horror and disgust only increased as Theron placed her finger in his mouth and sucked the blood from it. She tried to snatch her hand away from him, but no amount of force could remove her hand from his grasp. She suddenly felt a strange, disturbing wave of pleasure cascade through her body. Thankfully, it didn’t last long as he relaxed his grip and allowed her to pull her hand free.
“You taste powerful,” he groaned, fixing his ravenous gaze on her neck.
“Powerful?” Rose repeated, bewildered by what was happening.
“I
need more,” he growled as he moved his mouth to her neck.
Panicking, Rose ducked and tried to escape him. She didn’t even manage to run one step before his arms wrapped around her and pulled her back against him. He shoved her painfully against the wall and ripped the top of her shirt open. She shoved and fought his hands, but her fighting didn’t seem to faze him at all.
She realized that she needed to stop fighting long enough to think. As his fangs brushed her neck, she asked, “What do you want? What valuable item?”
Theron pulled back to glare at her. “You know what I want.”
“Of course,” Rose agreed sarcastically. “I’m just asking for no reason.”
Theron growled at her. “I already told you that I don’t like that attitude.”
“And I don’t like being murdered,” Rose said. “I’m weird that way.”
“Why would you care what I want? You’ll be dead,” Theron said.
“What if I gave it to you? Would you let me live?” Rose asked curiously.
Theron’s dark eyes roamed her body, lingering for too long on her hips and her breasts. She felt sick as she saw the lust in his cold eyes. “No,” he laughed. “I plan on devouring every drop of your blood. You taste too good to waste.”
Her heart pounded harshly and rapidly against her chest, and Rose knew when she saw the smile that curved at his lips that he knew somehow. He knew how frightened she was, how weak she was. “It was stupid of you to tell me that.”
Theron’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “Did you just call me stupid?”
“No, if you were listening, you’d know that I called what you did stupid,” Rose corrected, ignoring the pure rage that flashed in his eyes. “Think about it. If you hadn’t told me that you would kill me either way, you could have used that as leverage to make me give you that item that you want so badly.”
Rose whimpered as he suddenly grasped her face hard enough to bruise her jaw. His fingernails dug into her skin as his eyes darkened dangerously.
“Do you know what I think is stupid?” he snarled. He leaned in close. His warm breath smelled of blood as it fell against her face. “Insulting the person who plans to kill you. I can make your death very painful. Is that what you want?”
The Stone of the Eklektos Page 13