Blood and Lust (The Blood Chronicles Book 1)

by Vicki Cross

  “I can handle myself,” I warned before bringing the glass to my lips. She watched me take another swig before shrugging her shoulders.

  “Breakup?” she suggested.

  I wasn’t sure how she knew or if I could actually call Shay’s disappearance a breakup. Felt more like my heart was being ripped out my chest. I’ve broken up with women before, this was certainly different. I could see Sue listening in closely as she washed a few of the dirty glasses.

  I shook my head no and took another sip.

  “Well if it makes you feel better, you can’t be as worse off than me.” She sighed.

  “Yea, why is that?” I questioned.

  “I don’t know. You ever tell someone you loved them only for them to not say it back? The worst feeling in the world. But the best part, is I know that he loves me…he’s just too afraid to admit it. Claims that he has to protect me.” She swallowed down her whiskey before wincing a bit as it made her way to her belly.

  I smiled at her façade. Shay couldn’t hold her liquor well either.

  “That’s the problem, everyone thinks that got to protect ya from something. If I get hurt, then I can deal with it. But shit, at least let me get hurt before you tell me what’s good for me.”

  She nodded in agreement and then slid her empty glass towards Sue. “Another please.”

  Sue gave her a quick smile before pouring the drink.

  “I’m Lucy, by the way.” She replied extending her hand out to me. I shook her hand and gave her a polite smile. “Jude”

  “Well nice to meet you Jude. I’m actually not from here. I was actually looking for someone.”

  “Anyone I could you find. I’m the Sheriff in town,” I state proudly.

  She shakes her head no before responding. “No, it’s quite alright. I was actually looking for an old patient of mine. You see, I run a clinic in Jackson and well…,” her voice trailed off and she quickly filled the silence with another drink from her glass.

  “What kind of clinic?” I question before pushing my empty glass away.

  “Oh just an internal medicine clinic. I’m a doctor by trade.”

  I give her a once over. I certainly didn’t see her as a doctor but perhaps in scrubs in a white coat, I might think differently.

  “I know, I don’t look like it,” she says if she could read my mind. “I actually graded high school early and went to college. Finished that in 3 years and was on to medical school.”

  “So what you’re saying is that you’re smarter than me?” I teased.

  She lets out a humbled laugh and shakes her head. “No, not at all. Just that we’re all called to do different things in this world.”

  “You believe that?” I question.

  Her smile widens and she tucks a lose wavy curl behind her ear. “I do,”

  “Then I wish I could be like you.”

  She shrugged her shoulders and started to tap her fingers on the edge of the bar.

  “I wouldn’t.” she warned. “It’s weird, sometimes I think I see him when I leave the clinic. Like he’s watching me.” Tears start to fill her eyes and I could see she trying to hold them back.

  “Well sounds like you have a stalker on your hands. Want me to arrest him?” I joke in an attempt to clear the air.

  She lets out a low giggle and raises her wet lashes up at me. “No he’s harmless.”

  “Doesn’t seem like it, if he’s making you upset.” I hand her a napkin and she quickly wipes away the tears.

  “I think it’s me. I think he’s afraid of what it would be like. What it could mean for him.”

  “Why is that?”

  She shrugs again. “We’re too different,” I suppose.

  She didn’t realize just how much I understood her pain. Shay and I was too different, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t love her, and that I couldn’t be the man she needed.

  I cursed under my breath. “To hell with that. When you find him, make him see that you need him and that he needs you.”

  She giggled placing her hand oved mouth as if she didn’t want anyone to see her smile.

  “I suppose you’re right.”

  “Of course I am,” I replied as I dug inside my pockets. I place some money on the bar to cover both our drinks before grabbing my keys and raising to my feet.

  “Her drinks are on me,” I say to Sue.

  Sue nods and takes the money off the bar.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Lucy replies.

  “It’s ok, I want to,” I tell her.

  “Jude, let me get someone to drive you home.” Sue calls out as I stumble towards the door.

  “I can drive him home, if that’s alright with you?” Lucy volunteers. She looks at me and I’m not sure why but I nod my head in agreement. I’m not as out of it as she thinks, but I’m happy to get home safe. We walk to her white sedan and I climb in on the passenger side.

  Everything is blur as I tell her where I live and she drives me home. All I see are the trees passing us by in the night and I can’t help but think of Shay. Damn I wanted her so badly in my bed. I wanted her to be there waiting for me.

  When we made it to my house, the porch light was on and she walked me to the door.

  “Well, thanks for the ride home,” I tell her just as I push the door open.

  “No problem, Sheriff.” She winks and I walk in.

  “Are you good to drive yourself back home?” I question.

  She laughs. “Well, not good enough to drive back to Jackson tonight but I’m staying at a motel just up the road.”

  I lean in the door way and she extends a hand. “It was very nice to meet you Jude.”

  I grasp her hand and shake it politely. “You as well, Lucy”

  Her smiles widen and she says “Please call me Lou, all my friends do.”

  “Well then, it was nice to meet ya Lou.”

  She waved goodbye as she headed back towards her car. I had the slightest feeling that we would be seeing each other again.

  Chapter 12

  Shay

  His blood is all over my hands and I can hardly see through the haze of tears flowing down my face. I’m panicking. It’s too much blood. My mouth is watering and I want to taste him. I’m shaking and everything seems to be going so fast. I look down and can see my knees are wet from the grass. There are little water droplets everywhere. It rained a few hours ago. The smell of the wet grass and Jude’s blood fill my nostrils.

  Jude’s body is still. He’s on his back and I can see that he’s not moving. He’s dying. I know it. I can feel him slipping away. I call out to him but he won’t move. He’s going to die. I shake him and plead with him to open his eyes and look at me but he can’t hear me. He’s too far gone now. I can feel myself begin to panic. I’m not sure what to do. I want to help him. He needs to live. I love him too much to let him die like this. I look into his eyes and I think I can see life but is flickering out and he will go soon.

  It’s dark outside. The clouds are heavy over us and there are very few stars above. I wonder if Jude’s God will save him. I wonder if he believes in it enough that he will be saved. I’m crying more now. The tears won’t stop flowing and I want to die. I won’t go on without him. I know this to be true. I won’t leave him. I couldn’t control our fates in this life, but I won’t leave it up for chance in the next. I will go with him.

  I look up at Sebastian, and he’s telling me something. I can’t hear it. The noise of the gun is still ringing in my ears. Sebastian is scared, I can see it in his face. He wants me to run. He wants me to leave him. I can’t. I won’t leave Jude to die. Not like this. I can feel my tears dripping from my chin and on to the wet grass. I wipe my hands to rid myself of the blood. It’s so tempting. I want to taste. The temptation is so strong. My fangs slowly show themselves as I stare at him.

  Suddenly, I’m being pulled away from him. I’m kicking and screaming but I’m still moving. There’s an arm around me, and its Sebastian’s. He’s taking me away. I know
he’s talking but it is still so muffled. I try to speak, but I can’t find my voice. I want to stay with him. I want to save him. I cry out to him as I’m still being pulled away. He’s fading away from me. He’s gone.

  “Shay,” a deep voice echo’s around me. “Shay wake up.” It is Sebastian. I open my eyes slowly and I can see him. He’s holding me to him. My lashes are wet and I try to gather my surroundings. He tilts my chin to him so I can look him the eyes. I run my tongue along my teeth and I can feel my fangs.

  “What happened?” I say as he releases his hold on me.

  “I was downstairs, and I heard you crying and screaming. I knew something was wrong, so I came to wake you.”

  I sit up in the bed and I can see that my pillow is wet from my tears. Suddenly, I remember blood being on my hands and I quickly look down to check.

  “Jude…he’s dead” I cry in disbelief. I jump out of the bed and try to steady myself. I’m weak from not feeding. “I have to go to him. I have to find him.”

  “Tell me what happened?” he states. I can feel his worry but I’m pacing back and forth and I try to recount the events of my dream or vision.

  “Jude. He was dead. I saw him. He wasn’t moving. There was so much blood.” I crash into his chest and he steadies me.

  “Slow down.”

  I look up at him and I can’t help but cry. I want to see Jude. I need to know that he is alive. “I have to know that he’s alright.” I say. My voice is muffled by his shirt but I know he can still hear me.

  “You were only dreaming.” He replies.

  I shake my head and step away. “You don’t know that. He could be some place dead.”

  “What did you see?” he asks in an attempt to calm me.

  I put my hands over my face and sit down on the bed to regain my thoughts. “We were in the woods-,”

  “We?” he confirmed

  I nod and continue. “Jude was on the ground, and I was beside him. His blood was all over me, especially on my hands.” I looked down at them as if the blood was still there. “He wasn’t breathing…at least I think he wasn’t. I wanted him to wake up. I begged him.” Tears start to form in my eyes again and I start to cry again but due my best to continue. “For some reason his blood makes me hungry and I have the urge to-,”

  “To bite him,” he finishes.

  “Yes. For some reason you start to pull me away. I’m screaming at you to stop and let me stay with him. But you won’t listen.” I look up at Sebastian and I can see he is listening intently, but I can feel the anger inside of me building up.

  “What else did you notice?”

  I focus back on the dream and clear my throat. “I can’t hear. I-I think the noise of a gun because I only hear the ringing in my ears.”

  “You saw no one else?”

  I shake my head no and wipe away my tears.

  Sebastian doesn’t say anything and I begin to worry if he thinks I’m crazy. Maybe I was. Maybe I’m being punished for leaving him. I pull my legs up to my chest and rest my chin on my knees. But if I was right, and my dream was a vision, then I had to make sure none of it happened.

  “You need to feed.” He tells me as he walks towards the door. “You have been asleep for nearly a week.”

  “A week,” I repeat in shock. It never took me that long to rejuvenate. It has been a week since my night with Jude. My stomach turned and it made me feel sick. I haven’t been able to contact him, which means he knows I am with Sebastian. The realization ate at my mind. I wanted to talk to him, to tell him I had no choice. He had to know I wanted to say goodbye.

  “You haven’t fed in weeks.” He reminded me. “It a wonder you haven’t passed out.”

  I nodded in agreement. I needed to hunt.

  “We will go hunting,” he added, as if he could read my mind.

  I paused and chewed my lip. The thought of hunting with him seemed a bit intimidating. I wasn’t sure why.

  “Okay,” I agreed.

  I look about the bed and notice that only side had been disturbed. It was clear that Sebastian hadn’t joined me which gave me a bit of relief. But my mind was still focused on Jude. He was pulling me away from him, and I couldn’t help but feel anger.

  “Get ready,” he orders as he heads out the door.

  “Wait!” I call out.

  He stops and turns back to face me. “Would you leave him?” He knows what I’m asking. It is a simple question but I had to know the answer. “Would you leave Jude there to die?”

  He doesn’t look at me. Instead he turns his back on me and says. “If given the choice Princess. You’re always my number one priority.”

  “But-,”

  “No!” he shouts as he makes his way back to me. “You think I am the monster. But we all must make sacrifices. I’m am trying to save our kind from those that wish us dead. In order to do that, I need you alive.”

  I chew the bottom of my lip and try to hold back the pain and anger that I am feeling. “What are you giving up? What are you losing out on to be with me?”

  Sebastian runs a hand through his hair and I can tell he is holding something back from me.

  “Tell me,” I urge. “You want me to devote myself to your cause. Then tell me why”

  He shifts his weight to one side and looks me up and down before answering. “We are being hunted down like dogs every day. I believe my father is working alongside the human hunters to bring me down and destroy what I’m trying to build. You want to stop the human bloodshed…so do I.”

  “I do” I agreed.

  “Then trust that I am not the monster you believe me to be.”

  I swallowed hard and nodded to let him know I was listening.

  “I thought your father wanted us to be married?”

  “He wanted me to betray you. Once you were bound to me, and I had your clan on my side, I would force them to hunt down humans and continue using humans as our main food source.”

  “What changed your mind?”

  He paused for a brief moment, and I could see that there was more. “I realized that hunting humans was wrong. I no longer wanted that life, and my brother Eli was the same. My father found out that I meant to betray him and he’s seeking revenge by any means.”

  The thought sickens me. How could Sebastian’s father be so cruel. “How do you plan on stopping him?”

  “By killing him before he can hurt anyone I care about.” Something in that statement tells me that he’s seen what his father would do and I can’t help but wonder if Lou had anything to do with it. Either way, if Sebastian meant to what he said, then perhaps he was right. Maybe he isn’t the monster I think him to be.

  “Now you know the truth. If you want to save Jude, then you must help me kill my father and by that you must agree to bind yourself to me. I will not force you. But if you leave, then I cannot promise him or any other human or vampire you care about will survive the storm that is soon to come.”

  “You would let me leave?” I question in disbelief.

  “You’re not my prisoner, Princess. You can either help me or get out of my way.”

  I didn’t answer him. Instead I swallowed hard and let the words sink in. I could leave and go back to Jude. I wanted that more than anything. But Sebastian was right, we’re being hunted down and if we didn’t fight back soon, both of our clans faced being extinction. But if I stayed, I must commit to the binding.

  Chapter 13

  Shay

  The choice was hard to make. But I knew I was making the right decision. I didn’t love Sebastian but I knew he was right. If I walked away now, he and everything we both wanted may disappear. His father would win and every human that I cared about would die. My decision was clear, I was going to go against my heart and go with what I knew to be right. I was going to bind myself to Sebastian.

  I came down the stairs wearing the pair of jeans and white t-shirt that Sebastian left out for me. They were surprisingly a good fit, and I had the strangest feeling that they belonged to s
omeone else. I couldn’t help but wonder if they belonged to Lou. I wondered if she ever spent nights here. It was clear from the time that he called me her name that she meant something to him. It was more than just a friendship bond, she mattered to him.

  The door to Sebastian’s office was shut but I could still hear four distinctive voices beside his. They seemed to be talking about an attack plan, but as I neared the door their voices went quiet. They knew that I was listening and that I was about to enter. Before my hand could reach the door to knock it was pulled open slowly.

  “Hello Miss Dansfield,” a man who looked very similar to Sebastian greeted me with a smile. As I entered the room I saw Sebastian sitting on the couch with three others sitting around the coffee table as if they were conducting business. The empty chair to the right of Sebastian felt as though it was meant for me.

  “Hello,” I responded finally after giving the men a once over. They all smiled at me and by their yellow eyes I knew they were apart of Sebastian’s clan. Sebastian waved me closer and I patted the seat next to him.

  “Sit,” he coaxed and I was quick to oblige. I wanted to show him that I had made my choice and fighting with him would no longer do.

  Sebastian gave me a small grin before addressing the men before us. “Gentlemen, I would like to introduce you to future wife and queen, Shay.”

  My stomach turned into knots at the mention of being his wife and queen. It took everything I had to not bolt and run.

  “Congratulations,” the men replied.

  “Well, it looks like you all know who I am, but I’m afraid I can’t say the same about you,” I responded.

  The man that resembled Sebastian stood up out of his chair and introduced himself. “Shay, I am Sebastian’s brother Eli. I am in command of the Huntsmen army.”

  I nodded and smiled and he continued. “This is Gabe,” he points to the man with a long brown pony tail whose eyes watch me closely. Something in me doesn’t like the way he looks at me but I pay it no mind. “He is my first Lieutenant and next to him is Daniel. Daniel is our top ranked soldier. He leads most of the men in practice and prepare them for the fight to come.”