by C. L. Quinn
It was done, what he’d been urged to do, the amulet rode against his body. It had been very warm, and now, lying still, his attention only on the brilliant stone in the center of the amulet, he knew that, for first blood vampires, this thing held unimaginable power. What it was doing for him, only human, he did not know.
Even if he was mistaken, even if it didn’t save his life, even if it didn’t mean that he had a special destiny, the warmth was life-saving. It meant that he still may have a chance to get out of here alive.
Lying still, his eyes closed again, Nikolai allowed himself to feel the amulet, and what it was doing to him. The pain was gone, the cold too. He felt as if he floated on a cloud, high above the world. If this was death, he embraced it. His mind floated and he lost consciousness again.
Nikolai opened his eyes to darkness, only this wasn’t total pitch black absence of light. He sat up, easily, no pain, no discomfort at all, and scanned his surroundings. He sat high on a cliff with a vertical drop just below him, a deep valley beneath with distant villages lit for the night. A sea lay beyond, illuminated by an overly bright full moon that seemed so close he could touch it. As bright as the moon was, stars competed for their place in the sky that, too, seemed too intense to be real. A soft breeze lifted his long hair and moved the grass back and forth in a slow dance.
Where the hell was he? He stood with no resistance, no pain, and moved his arms and legs to check out his body. It was perfect, better than ever. Even the persistent ache he’d had in his neck for years from arthritis was gone.
Don’t be ungrateful, he thought. “Is this heaven?” he asked out loud.
“No. But as close to it as you can get,” a deep voice behind him answered. Nikolai slowly turned to see who did so.
He was tall, built like what Nikolai envisioned a god would be, his eyes black in the night, but sparkling with silver lights. He wore his dark hair like Nikolai did, long and pushed back over his shoulders.
“Where am I?” Nikolai asked. “And who are you?”
“Good questions, both. Sit, we will discuss this. I am only now learning about this new journey we travel.”
“Journey? We?”
The huge man sat on the edge of the precipice with no concern for safety. Automatically, Nikolai scanned him, his graceful movements, quiet, calm demeanor, plain clothes but archaic. He was shoeless.
“Sit beside me, please. You have a lot to learn before the change begins.”
“Change?”
Nikolai did as requested and dropped down beside the stranger. “Change? What change?”
“We will come to that. The first answer of who I am to you is a simple one. You and I are one. My spirit rides within the amulet that you wear.”
His hand moving to his chest, Nikolai felt bare skin beneath a dark tee shirt he wore in this strange dream. The amulet he remembered putting on in reality was not there in this dream.
Nikolai’s eyes crinkled as he grinned.
“Funny. Dreams can get so bizarre,” he said to the man beside him, who, for some reason he couldn’t figure out, he could not take his eyes off.
“Yes, they can. But…” The big man looked out at the sea breaking against the shoreline far below. “This is not a dream.”
His odd eyes went back to Nikolai. “I am Mies. Or I was. Many, many years past. I was one of the first of my kind to settle on this special world, but those days came to an end and I was able to rest at last. I was done with life and I was okay with it. After a thousand years of living, I desired the eternal rest.” He paused again.
Nikolai didn’t speak because he sensed that, whatever this man had to tell him, even if it was in a dream, as he believed it to be, was grave and monumental.
Mies continued.
“It appears that the ancient powers that command the universe have decided that I am not finished after all. I am already exhausted at the idea of returning to a corporeal body.”
“Can’t you tell them no?”
“I cannot command the sun or the moon, or the stars that wander through eternity. Like all living things that are, that once was, that are yet to be, I must bow to the justice of the universe. I sense some capriciousness, I believe the fates may have a wicked sense of humor, but I still have no power to change this decision.”
“Huh.” Nikolai didn’t know what else to say. He felt as if he was the most inconsequential being ever. That led him to the question he needed to ask.
“Why am I here?”
Mies turned and faced Nikolai.
“You are dying. There, on the globe, the planet beneath your damaged body, you are leaving your life. Nikolai Zalesky, this is not my choice. I need to tell you that I am being sent to earth again, to live again, in your body that is, even now, being changed by the spirit amulet that holds all that I am, all that I ever was, and all that I will be again. I am, too, now merging with you, physically, and spiritually, soul to soul, lifeforce to lifeforce.”
None of this made sense. It was as crazy of an idea as Nikolai could have ever dreamed up.
He laughed. “I never realized I had such a good imagination. I’ve spent too much time among the vampires recently, I must think that I can become one of them. It is all too hilarious.”
He watched Mies smile and lower his head. “It does seem unreal. You are not even vampire, so you are coming from a place where you can’t conceive of the power of destiny’s hand. Reality will convince you quickly, unfortunately, as soon as your spirit is returned to your body.”
“Sure, yeah, okay,” Nikolai responded with a laugh.
“This has never been done before, my friend. I have no idea how it will work. They did not want to sacrifice you, the powers-that-be say that it is our combined lifeforce that will lead us to where we must be. I am glad that you have a sense of humor, Nikolai. We will both need it in the days to come.”
“I’m going to play along with this weird-ass conversation since obviously I am the one who dreamed it up. What the fuck are you talking about?”
“It is nothing normal, I must agree. Nikolai, your body is damaged beyond the ability for you to survive. Right now, your body is dying in that cave deep beneath the land of the mother. I am a first blood, one of the first vampires to ever exist in this world. My people died thousands of years ago. It is my own spirit amulet, dead for all of those years as I was, that you touched in that cave. You brought it alive, and me with it, and now, having donned the amulet, your body is changing to become vampire, to become a vessel, to become first blood. You will inhabit that body again.” After a brief pause, he lifted his eyes to command Nikolai’s. “But not alone.”
Quiet for a few moments, Nikolai’s smile waned. “I don’t know what you would mean by that kind of comment. If this were real, I’d be concerned.”
“You would have to be. And you should be concerned, it is real. You will understand that soon. I have no more idea than you how this will work. It must be possible, though, or they would never have put us where we are. We are here at this moment for me to let you know what to expect when you are returned to your body and find me there. Can we agree that neither of us want this and that we must attempt to make the best of this for both of us?”
Nodding, Nikolai continued smiling complacently to the dream.
“Sure, sure. Don’t worry, my friend, we will be like peas in a pod.” Then, laughing, he slapped Mies on the back. “My, but you are big. You will be disappointed to be plopped inside of my puny body.”
“Do you remember me commenting about the change and that you would be first blood?”
“You mean I am going to get bigger?”
Mies smiled too. “Yes, Nikolai, you are going to get bigger.”
Suddenly, he looked up into the canopy of stars.
“It is time. I will see you on the surface. Good luck, my companion.”
Before he could respond to Mies, Nikolai watched him fade into nothing.
He shot up and scanned the landscape but he was alone
.
“Alone,” he whispered. What a ridiculous idea, that he would be put back into his body, and that he would not be alone there.
Sighing, he looked up at the super-sized moon.
“I’m going to be really disappointed if I survive this and don’t get my huge vampire body.”
Dizziness struck fast and Nikolai pushed himself away from the fatal drop off the cliff before he lost consciousness.
Three
PRESENT DAY … BOSTON
Sarah had never seen anything like Naji’s birthday party.
The determined woman had the entire thing catered by the top catering company in the city, Bebe’s Best.
“Naj, everyone in the city must be here tonight!”
Dressed head to toe in sparkling crystals, Naji nodded.
“Nearly. My guest list topped three hundred. Don’t look at me like that, I know a lot of people. Besides, a girl only turns thirty-one once, am I right?”
Only once? How would Naji like being thirty-one forever? Sarah knew without question; Naji would love being vampire. If anyone deserved it, this vibrant woman did, and she would make an exceptional one.
“Love, I know it’s my birthday, but I have two gifts for you.” Naji’s purloined British accent was really getting a workout tonight.
“What?” Sarah said, surprised. “I don’t need anything. Really, you don’t have to give me anything.”
“Yes, I do. Look over by that ice sculpture of the tigress. See that man that looks like he needs to be licked from head to foot?”
A big man with a spray-on tan and bleached blonde hair cut very short posed near a buffet table grazing on shrimp hors d’ourves, his nice body well showcased in overtight pants and a jacket that barely buttoned.
“Yes?”
“He’s yours,” Naji whispered.
“No, he’s not.”
“Yeah, I bought him for you. You told me at dinner that you were horny.”
“I didn’t use that word. I said that I needed some localized stimulation in the nether regions.”
“Yeah, horny!”
“Well I didn’t mean for you to buy someone for me!”
“Oh, it was a bargain. I got a buy one, get one free deal. The other one is gift-wrapped on my bed right now.”
“You’re crazy!” Sarah laughed. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m not taking that man home!”
“I figured. A girl’s gotta try. Okay, then, here’s the other gift. Put that in your bag, it’s non-negotiable.” Naji handed her a shiny black rectangular box. “And at least go get another drink and hit that dance floor. This band cost me a fortune!”
“You make me laugh, Naj! That’s just one of the many reasons I’ve fallen in love with you.”
“Me too, doll. Well, I need to get back in there.”
“I’ll have to head out shortly, they have me on early tomorrow.”
“Ooh, I hate your hours!”
“Sometimes I do too. Happy Birthday, my sweet friend.”
“Thank you, Sarah. Make sure you have some cake. It really is to die for!”
Naji danced away, her body and feet glittering in the lights created by stringing white LED bulbs all over the ceiling to cascade down the walls, all behind pale blue tulle. Whoever designed this was very good at their job.
Sarah did as requested. After snagging a red wine and a large piece of vanilla cake with raspberry icing covered with chocolate shavings, she slipped out the door and grabbed one of the hired cars that the hotel had provided for Naji’s guests.
Once home in her small space, dressed in a low-necked plain white tee shirt and thick socks, Sarah fished the box out of her bag.
“What the hell, Naj? It isn’t my birthday!”
When she lifted the lid, she grinned.
“Oh, my God,” she whispered.
It was silver, and an odd shape, with some weird protrusions at one end, and a battery compartment at the other. She read the card attached to it.
I knew you wouldn’t take the guy. So this will have to do. And it does do the job very well! It’s called the King Kong, so take it to bed and climb that Empire State Building!
Sarah squealed and grinned. After pouring a glass of wine, she killed the lights and stopped to look out at the city through her small window. Naji’s party would go on until daylight, but by then, Sarah would be back at MGH.
With the glass of wine in her hand, she wandered over to her bed, but before she did, she picked up the box.
Early shifts were still tough for Sarah. After over a hundred years with vampires, she was so accustomed to nighttime hours that the brightness of early morning still felt punishing at times.
As she finished tonight, she headed to the doctor’s lounge and the locker room beyond. Off early at only seven, her mind was on returning to bed as soon as she got home, even though it wasn’t that late. She’d found that she tired much easier than she had when she was blood-bonded. Worse, her back ached after long shifts, and that was completely new.
Even when she’d decided to discontinue the vampire blood, she hadn’t expected that her body, which had arrested at age twenty-nine, would have any medical problems. It appeared that working twelve and fourteen hour shifts, on her feet most of the time, bent or lifting much of it, took its toll on even young human bodies. Now that she was off Xavier’s blood, her aging had resumed at a normal rate. By this time next year, she would celebrate her own birthday.
For now, though, an NSAID and some rest was what she needed as she found the sore spot on her back. Slipping off her lab coat, she looked up as the door to the doctor’s lounge swung open.
“Finished for the night?” Leo Peretti said as he opened the door to his locker, his smile charming as usual.
Sarah felt her cheeks heat. “Yes, thankfully. Too many guests today.” Without realizing it, she continued to massage just above her tailbone with her fingers.
Seconds later, she felt another set of fingers, bigger, stronger, replace hers.
“Sore? See if this helps.” Leo kneaded along her backbone, sliding dangerously low as he leaned closer.
Damn, he smelled good! There had been some erotic moments recently when Sarah had daydreamed about his hands on her, and while they weren’t exactly on her back in the dreams, this was close. Leo’s fingers felt amazing as they worked the tired muscles. And turned her on. Without realizing it, a moan escaped.
She felt his breath on the back of her neck and dropped her head forward. When she felt his lips there, she bucked back away from him.
Leo held his hands up as if in surrender. “I’m sorry, that was probably too forward. I just…well, that just happened, it wasn’t planned. Somehow, it felt right, like it was something that we both needed.”
He paused as he slowly lowered his arms. “Am I right? Surely you’ve noticed that I’ve been attracted to you from that first day we met a few months ago.”
Trapped against her locker, Leo’s broad chest well revealed now that he’d removed the white coat, Sarah looked up at him. This near, she admitted that he was probably the handsomest human male she’d ever seen.
Clearing her throat awkwardly, speaking with men didn’t come easily for her, Sarah placed a hand on his chest as a way to let him know that she’d reacted badly. And that he was right.
“I’m sorry, that was a strange reaction. Especially since…” She trailed off, her eyes shooting up to his. Pale blue, long blonde eyelashes, the prettiest touches of yellow in the iris…she was distracted. “Um, what I mean to say is that yes, you’re right. I do find you fascinating…attractive, I mean. Um, I mean, I am interested. Shit, I suck at this.”
“I get what you’re saying, and no, you don’t.” Leo moved closer again, placed one hand on the locker on each side of her head, effectively pinning her between his body and the thin metal.
“I’ve wanted to do that for such a long time.”
One hand slid down the locker to land on her waist, curling around her as it slid l
ower and lower, curving to move sensuously against her buttocks. The thin skirt she wore didn’t block him much.
Sarah didn’t answer, her attention fully on where his fingers were and what they were doing. Her eyes lifted to his, locked for several seconds while his fingers continued their exploration unstopped.
“So many things I’ve wanted to do,” he whispered, just before he leaned down to kiss her, a gentle tease at first. As their kiss deepened, the door opened and an intern entered, whistling, stopped in his tracks as he noticed Leo and Sarah’s passionate kiss.
“Sorry,” the young doctor said quickly and backed out, the door closing with a gentle whisp.
Sarah pressed against her locker, then slipped from under Leo’s arm to step aside.
Leo smiled. “So, now that we’ve settled that we are both interested, how about a proper date?”
“I…yes, I would like that.”
“Why don’t I pick you up next Saturday evening at seven? I checked the schedule and we’re both off. Do you like Italian?”
“I do.”
“It’s a date then.” He paused, then his voice lowered slightly. “Sarah, I’m really looking forward to this.”
“I am too, Leo. It will be interesting.”
“I guarantee it.”
Leo hesitated long enough to finger a loose strand of hair before he walked out of the room. Sarah fell back against the locker once more.
“Holy shit,” she whispered. She had a date with Leo, her first since she’d returned to her human world.
“Holy shit,” she repeated, as she hung her lab coat in the locker and walked out of the lounge.
Shaking her head, she wondered how well this would go since she was so damned ignorant of human relationships.
“Holy shit…”
Exhaustion was setting in, maybe a little shock. It was time for sweet unconsciousness.