Blood Moon: A New Adult Urban Fantasy Vampire Novel (The Superiors Book 1)

by Lena Hillbrand

He struggled to sit, but lay back quickly after the attempt nearly took his breath. He’d never experienced this kind of pain. Now that the wound was deeper and the fog of pain had cleared away with the fog of the morning, the pain throbbed more sharply than when he’d been stabbed.

  “How…how long have I been here?”

  “A few days. You’re on a lot of drugs that kept you sedated while your healing began.”

  “And the sapiens…?”

  “Ah, yes. Them.”

  “Did they escape?”

  “No, no,” Byron said, laughing. “They’re where they belong.”

  “No, I told one…the young one…” Draven had trouble thinking, articulating, through the pain. He’d had accidents before, cut himself, fallen. Nothing had ever hurt like this. “Can I have some morphine?”

  “Yes, of course,” Byron said, pushing away from the bed and letting his rolling chair move to the door. He stuck his head out the doorway and called to a doctor. After the shot, Draven lay back and tried to comprehend the pain inside him.

  “Am I dying?”

  Byron laughed. “No. You’ll heal up just fine.”

  “When? Why haven’t I healed yet? Why does it hurt so souldamned much?”

  “Draven, you’re lucky to be alive. Somehow those saps had contraband items, and you’re extremely fortunate that the sap who stabbed you had poor aim or insufficient time to plan her move. You would have died if she’d got you a few inches higher and a few inches to the right.”

  “The wood. I’m not healing because the wound is from wood.”

  Draven, like all Superiors, knew the dangers of wood. He’d spent a good number of years seeking and confiscating contraband items from the Confinement and restaurant workers and even other Superiors. Wood was the most dangerous weapon. The law forbade even Superiors from having it anywhere that it could be pilfered by wandering sapien hands.

  Draven’s mind clouded with the drug, and he heard his friend answer from what seemed a great distance.

  “That’s correct.”

  “And the sapiens…they didn’t get away.”

  “No, soldier. You brought them back to the Confinement, and someone found you with the two of them.”

  “Two?”

  “Yes, the two injured ones. They found the third one trying to get back out into the compound, and when they caught him, he confessed everything.”

  “Bring him back.”

  “Back from where?” Byron asked.

  “Blood bank. To Confinement. I promised.”

  “You promised a sap?”

  “Yes…”

  “Of course he said that. But he’s an escapee. You know the policy.”

  “…take him back…I promised…”

  Draven awakened later, alone in the hospital room. Inside and outside, his skin crawled and burned and itched until he wanted to tear his flesh and reach inside and scratch and scratch and scratch. He tore at the bandages, slid his fingers under the edges, and scratched savagely. A woman came, then two men, then two more women, all of them doctors. They looked at him, pulled away the bandages, rolled him over and looked at the wound on his back. He cried out, and his doctor gave him a shot, and he slept.

  When he woke again, Byron and Hyoki sat smoking together, talking quietly in the corner of the room. He didn’t hurt as much. He didn’t itch as much. But he still did plenty of each.

  “Hyoki,” Draven said, looking at her placid face.

  “Yes, I found the lady you’d been talking about, and I let her know what happened to you,” Byron said. “Should I let you be alone?”

  “Not now,” Draven said. “I feel quite weak. Have I eaten?”

  “They tubed some in, but you lost some blood, and you’ll need more in order to heal properly. Now that you’re awake, we’ll replenish you. You’ll be good as new in a few days.”

  “I can breathe again. That’s a relief.” Draven drew a few breaths, as deep as he could, to verify. It hurt, but he could do it.

  “I’m sure. You were very brave, soldier. We found where the sapiens had escaped, and the evidence of the places you struggled with them. It required perseverence to carry them all the way around the Confinement with a stake in your chest.”

  “It wasn’t a stake. It was jagged, like a giant splinter. Have you traced it?”

  “No. We can’t find anything like it. There’s no good way to trace it. The sap who had it, she said she got it from someone else, and we found the one she identified, and he said he got it from someone else, and that sap is now dead, so…” Byron shrugged, but he looked frustrated.

  “Did you remove the boy from the blood bank?”

  “No.”

  Draven looked at Byron, both men stubborn in their resolve. “I could have killed him, or any of them, and been excused for it with this wound, yes?”

  “Yes. You will be rewarded for the live capture and your bravery.”

  “Then return the boy to the Confinement. That’s all I ask, on top of the usual bonus for catching a runaway.”

  Byron studied Draven for a moment and then nodded. “All right, soldier. But we will have him tagged, and if he tries to escape again or is involved in any way with an escape…”

  “I know. Blood bank for life.”

  “You know the blood bank laws well.”

  “I was a Catcher for many years,” Draven said. He knew the laws for other reasons as well, from such a long time ago.

  “I have a question for you, if you’re well enough.”

  “Yes, I imagine so.” Draven sat, noticing as he did so that the pain had dulled considerably. Hyoki finished her cigarette, pocketed the stem, and wandered over to take Draven’s hand.

  “How did you happen to catch these sapiens? What were you doing outside the Confinement in daylight?” Byron asked.

  “Oh,” Draven said, managing a smile. “I wasn’t outside. I was inside, eating in the garden, and I saw them climbing over.”

  “And you didn’t stop them?”

  “I was eating,” Draven said, wishing his mind were a bit clearer so he could lie a bit better. His story bordered on the truth, but didn’t exactly qualify. “I wasn’t paying attention. When I finished, I saw them on the wall. The human tried to stop me, and I threw her away and went after them.”

  “You went around the Confinement to the outside and found them?”

  “Ahhhhh…no. I scaled the wall.”

  “You did?” Byron looked mildly surprised. “I hadn’t thought you were strong or practiced enough to do this.”

  “I’m not. I did not think on it, I simply pursued them. Is this bad?”

  “It’s not good. We can’t have dishonest Superiors climbing over the wall and stealing livestock. If you can do it, a man like Ander could easily climb in and take back the saps we confiscated from his restaurants. He’d feel entitled, since he paid for them.”

  Draven’s mind flashed to Cali. If Ander could climb over... Ander had owned Cali at Sap Heaven. “I hadn’t thought of that,” he said.

  “Was it easy for you to get over?”

  “I…I’m not certain, sir. I did not consider the difficulty. I thought only of the escapees,” Draven said. “I didn’t know they’d be armed.”

  “It was a brave but humanoid thing you did, going after them. And bringing them in after you’d been stabbed. A Catcher would have brought them in the next night if you’d let them go. No one would have blamed you for walking away.”

  “I needed the money.”

  “I hope it was worth it. You would have healed much sooner if the wood had been removed immediately.”

  “Should I have pulled it out, then?”

  “No. You would have bled too much. You should have gotten help immediately.”

  “Next time I’ll know. Or hopefully not.” Both men laughed. Hyoki frowned. “I wanted to ask for one more thing,” Draven said.

  “Anything, my brave friend.”

  “I’m not partial to the canned stuff. Can you br
ing me a sap or two?”

  “Yes, of course. And we’ll check to see if the one you threw survived.”

  Draven jerked upright and a bolt of pain rammed through his chest. He’d thrown Cali from him and hadn’t checked to see that she lived. If she’d fallen on the rock they’d been sitting on… Surely she hadn’t.

  Still, he knew he could kill a sapien with one blow, however unintentional. How hard had he hit her? He tried to remember but couldn’t.

  He struggled to speak through the pain. “Yes, please do that. I…put my shirt on her, but I did not stay to see that she lived. Certainly a sapien found her in the garden that day?”

  Byron shrugged. “I’d assume so. No matter, it’s just a sap. I’ll make sure it’s noted that you prevented an escape. That’s one of the perks to being an Enforcer. I’ll make sure you’re not charged with killing her, and I’ll waive the fine. It happens to the best of us. Saps are fragile and sometimes we use more force than we meant to. Right, soldier?”

  “Yes,” Draven said slowly. He could think of nothing but Cali. He’d done it so he might buy her, and if he had killed her instead… He didn’t care about the fines, or being charged with killing a human. He just needed to know he hadn’t. “Byron, sir?”

  “Yeah, soldier?”

  “Please let me know as soon as possible if I killed her. She is number 8813871. I would very much like to know.”

  “All right. Why is this so important?” Byron asked. He had noted Draven’s urgent tone.

  “I know it’s not important. I’ve just never killed one before. I’d like to know, is all.”

  “I will check, and I’ll send your lovely woman back with a sap for you. Is this satisfactory payment for your courage?”

  “Thank you, sir.”

  Hyoki bent to kiss him. “You are so brave, Draven. When you’re well again, I have other payment for you. I hope you find it satisfactory.”

  He smiled. “Thank you, Hyoki. I would like to talk to you further then, as well.”

  “I’ll bring back your sap. You just sleep, get better.”

  They left and Draven sank back on the bed, drained from the visit but unable to sleep when he tried. He couldn’t stop thinking he’d killed Cali.

  33

  Cali exploded out the doors of the bunkhouse, running blindly towards the gardens. She veered a little, shot a glance at the eating hall. She could hide there. But the girls could find her there, too. Her feet pounded the hard, dusty earth. She didn’t look back—she didn’t have to. The footsteps of Ruth and the others came hard on her heels. Still behind, but not for long. Legs pumping, arms pumping, blood pumping, she ran.

  She shot around the corner of the fence and scrambled to unhook the gate. That’s when she glanced back, as her fingers jerked the fence open. The girls chasing her had always lived in the Confinement. Some of them had been her friends as she grew up. But for the past three years, the girls had worked in the garden all day and slept all night. Cali had sat waiting for Superiors to come to her table most of the night, slept half the day, and did some light cleaning. They had all the advantage of strength and health that Cali had lost.

  One look at the faces of the girls and adrenaline surged through her. She charged through the gate and screamed encouragement to her legs inside her panicked mind. Go go go, run run run, faster. Faster than Ruth and her friends who would give Cali a good pounding if they caught her, and for no other reason than to show her they thought themselves better. She didn’t care if they were better or not—she hadn’t come back to prove anything. If they wanted to be better than her, she’d let them. She wasn’t trying to mess up anyone’s order. If only she could get to the section of the garden where all the people had clustered for the midday meal.

  Cali heard girls closing in, felt them drawing near, but she didn’t dare look back. And then they had her. One of the girls pushed her, and she dove forward, trying to regain her balance, and went sprawling on the hard-packed dirt. She scrambled up, catching herself on her hands, but before she’d gained her feet, Ruth slammed her back to the ground. Cali struggled, twisting around under the blows of the three girls.

  Fighting was nothing new in the Confinement, although more often boys got into it. More often the boys got carried away, too, hurt someone in a real way, a way that lasted a few months, or years. Or forever, in a few cases. Girls minded the Superior rules more often, the rules of the Confinement. They all knew who they belonged to—the Confinement—and the Confinement said no fighting allowed. Fighting risked a life, and that was one whole body full of blood that a Superior couldn’t come along and suck out.

  The people in the Confinement didn’t like fighting much either—not amongst the others. Everyone seemed to think it was okay when they did it. But no one wanted to lose a pair of hands to work in the gardens or help with the food or the clothes or any of the other duties that kept every pair of hands busy all day long. So the fights—especially planned ambushes like this one—had a kind of control to them. They’d hurt her, but they wouldn’t kill her. To avoid getting in trouble by Superiors and maybe even humans, they’d leave her face alone and hit her soft places so as not to break bones.

  Cali scratched at Ruth, leaving big red welts along her chest and neck and arms, but it didn’t do much good. Ruth was bigger, stronger, meaner, and backed by two other girls. Cali yelled for help, twisted back and forth under Ruth, kicked at the girl holding her feet. The other girl held her arm and pounded on her shoulder and chest. That was the best place to hit someone in a fight—the best place to hit a girl, anyway.

  Ruth sat on Cali’s hips and punched her in the stomach so hard Cali couldn’t breathe, and then the girl got her chest on both sides, over and over, pounding away at those two great punching bags that sprouted up on her chest like they were meant for that particular torture.

  “You think you can run from us, huh?” Ruth said. “You can’t get away now, spoilt little restaurant girl. What you think, you think one of your bloodsucking boyfriends is gonna come to your rescue? Where are they now, huh, Cali-girl? Where’s your Jonathan now?”

  The girl holding her arms—Mona, Cali thought—started rubbing dirt in her face and hair, and Cali thrashed her head back and forth, squeezing her eyes and mouth shut to keep the dust out.

  “You think you’re such big stuff now you been out in the real world, don’t you? But it don’t do you one bit of good here, does it? Trying to run away from us. Who do you think you are? We run this place, not weak, pale, sickly restaurant girls. Look at her, she looks like she’s turning into a Superior she’s so white. Only way I know you ain’t is cause I’m beating your ass right now.”

  “Oh, look, now we made her cry,” Mona said. “Look at that. She don’t just look about as nasty and white as a premature puppy, but she’s a crybaby, too.”

  The fight had ended by the time someone came to see what the fuss was all about. They dragged the girls off Cali and she stood up, wiping her filthy hands on her filthy face and her filthy shift. She hugged her chest and bent over to cough while one of the older women patted her back. Right at the last, Ruth had gotten in a good blow that hit Cali right in the neck, and she couldn’t quit choking from it.

  “You girls are nothing but a bunch of no-good bullies,” one of the older women scolded Cali’s attackers. “Now go on and get yourselves cleaned up and leave this poor girl alone. I know she ain’t done nothing to you.”

  The girls all gave Cali their haughty looks and went off to get cleaned up. A minute later, Gwen and Poppy pushed through the little group that had rescued Cali.

  “Shit, girl, look at you,” Poppy said. “Barely back here and already you got in a fight. Come on, we’ll take you to the shower and then we can come back out and finish up in the garden.”

  Cali went with her sisters, trying to stop choking and stop her eyes from leaking. After a couple minutes, her legs regained their usual strength and stopped shaking, and she let go of the supporting arms her sisters offered.
They went into the shower area and Gwen went to get Cali a clean shift.

  “I’m going to be one giant bruise tomorrow,” Cali said, groaning as she lifted her arms to pull off her shift.

  “I know, those girls are brainless,” Poppy said. “But they’ll probably leave you alone now that they proved their point. They just want you to know not to mess with them, that they’re the scary ones.”

  “My chest hurts so bad I’m surprised it’s still there. It feels like a giant hole of pain,” Cali said, trying not to grumble but not quite able to shut up about it yet. What was Ruth’s problem, anyway? If she wanted Jonathan so bad, she could have him. His bragging annoyed Cali, anyway. And she had no desire to take Ruth’s place as the scariest girl around.

  “Now you know how it feels when you have a baby and first get your milk in,” Poppy said. Gwen came back and waited for Cali, who stood scrubbing the dirt out of her hair. During the day, the showers shut off, and only one could be turned on. So Cali had to take a shower in the lone functioning stall at the end of the hall, and the little trickle of water hardly did more than make her hair muddy instead of just dusty. But she got her face and hands almost clean and settled for that. In the evening, the Superiors would turn on the water and everyone could have a real shower, and she could wash her hair then.

  She pulled on the clean shift and followed her sisters back to the garden. They just acted like nothing happened, like people fought all the time. And then Cali remembered being around for lots of fights before. As long as nothing serious happened, no one paid much attention to little skirmishes.

  But Cali hadn’t seen a fight the whole time she’d been at the restaurants. Too many Superiors around, maybe. Or no time. The only time she even talked to the other girls had been when they did chores and cleaned, and only little arguments broke out then, never fist-fights. Fighting at the restaurants was a huge infraction. The owners wanted their humans to look fresh and clean and tasty, not bruised and battered and scraped up. At least at the first restaurant she’d worked at. The second one, the nasty one, they probably didn’t care if their saps got in fights or had babies or anything. But at that place, everyone had been way too exhausted to fight.