Rapid Pulse (Violet Memory Book 1)

by Odette Michael

  Suddenly, I was caged on the ground beneath him, the breath knocked out of me. I fought for air while his blazing eyes scorched me.

  “Never forget you also felt that I want to kill you! Trust me, Kara. Nothing would make me happier than to rip open your throat and drink every single drop of blood in your body, so shut up before I indulge in that temptation!”

  I stopped trying to breathe. I quivered underneath him, noticing again just how cold his body was.

  I closed my eyes. It was easier this way. I didn’t want those glowing emeralds to be the last thing I saw when I died.

  I waited, feeling his heart beating against me. It was so much slower than my own.

  His weight disappeared. I opened my eyes and saw him standing over me, his face like stone. I stood up, new fear flooding into me. Too much had happened for me to think about it before, and it scared me senseless to even comprehend it.

  “I need to know something,” I whispered.

  “What?” he said flatly.

  I swallowed hard. “Since you’ve bitten me and now that I’ve . . . drank from you . . . will I turn into what you are?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “To become like me, you have to die with vampire blood inside your body, and the vampire whose blood you drank must have your blood inside their body when you die.”

  I blanched. “Why?”

  Once again there was no emotion in his features. Except his eyes. If you looked closely enough, you could see the slightest hint of annoyance. “Why what?”

  “Why does it happen that way?”

  He sighed, looking toward the sky as if my question required great energy to answer. “That’s just the way it is and always has been. Vampires have been around as long as humans have, but it makes humans feel better to think they are the ones on top of the food chain. Most continue to deny our existence despite the evidence.” His eyes settled on me like weights, his lips turning up at one corner sadistically. “It helps them sleep better at night.”

  That cruel smile. Those predatory, unreal gems that were his eyes.

  I ran. I knew I wouldn’t make it, knew it was a wasted effort, but I would never respect myself again had I stood there any longer.

  I sprinted maybe ten feet toward the woods before I collided into him. His hands wrapped around my shoulders like vices. His nostrils flared, and he growled low in his throat.

  “What is wrong with you?” he hissed, shaking me.

  I tried to get out of his grip, but his hands felt like cement. “Let go of me!”

  He shoved me away from him, surprising me that he actually listened.

  “Are you stupid?” he scoffed before pointing toward the woods. “Elias went that way, so you think running from me in that direction is your best option?”

  I shook with anger. “Excuse me for wanting to get as far away from you as possible!” I shouted.

  Now he looked truly baffled, actually sputtering his next words. “Elias will torture you before drinking from you, and believe me when I say he will not leave you alive the way I did!”

  I was beyond anger now. There were no words for the white-hot fury flowing through me.

  “Well, thank you so very much for sparing my life, good sir.” I bowed before him mockingly. “It’s not as if you were going to let Elias drink from me before realizing I was on death’s doorstep! And it’s not like me being here is your fault or anything!”

  Gabriel only stared at me, his eyes like a tiger before it struck. One of his hands was in a trembling fist. I immediately felt ill. I was actually standing there provoking a vampire who had already almost killed me twice.

  Gabriel was right. My anger was making me stupid.

  I slumped down to the grass. “I’m going to get turned into Kara soup,” I mumbled incoherently into my hands.

  The night air filled with tinkling laughter. I jumped and scrambled around on the ground toward the sound and saw the most beautiful female I’d ever seen appear out of nowhere.

  She clapped her pale hands before covering them over her red lips. Her hair was platinum blonde and straight as a razor blade, cut just above her shoulders. Her eyes were bright brown and glowed just like Gabriel’s. Her tall, perfect body was sheathed in a violet dress that nearly exposed her breasts and was so short it barely covered the tops of her thighs.

  There was nothing human in the way she moved, nothing human in the flawlessness of her appearance. All my anger and courage evaporated and turned into the one emotion that now seemed to dominate me.

  Fear.

  The lady stopped in front of us, still giggling. I was so afraid I scarcely noticed when Gabriel’s leg touched my back.

  “Oh, Gabriel,” she breathed through laughter. “What a scene! I must say, tonight you’ve both given everyone the entertainment of the decade, that is for sure!”

  “Is that so, Emma?” Gabriel replied, his tone beyond boredom.

  Emma smiled at me like a cat. My stomach churned with butterflies, and bile rose in the back of my throat.

  “You’ve been so distracted with this little human that you didn’t even notice me watching! Or the rest of us, for that matter.”

  She gestured behind us. I looked to see pale figures with glowing eyes watching us from the windows, golden firelight at their backs. Some crouched on the railings of the balconies, unnaturally still. Others perched on the branches of nearby trees; some leaned against the mansion walls, and some were even on top of the roof. All of their unblinking eyes were liquid fire.

  My heart stopped in my chest. I thought I’d known what fear was, but now . . .

  The world tilted. I dry heaved twice, fighting with all my strength to not be sick. I covered my mouth with my hands, biting my palm so I wouldn’t scream.

  Gabriel made an unamused sound behind me before gently placing his hands on my shoulders. Even though I dimly knew that it was him, a cry escaped my mouth.

  His lips went to my ear, his voice almost too low for me to hear. “Shh, Kara. Stay behind me, and no sudden movements. Do you understand?”

  I nodded.

  “I am going to get you up now. Do. Not. Run.”

  Emma watched us, a mixture of amusement and something akin to scorn on her face as Gabriel lifted me up by the shoulders. He moved me slowly, carefully. Finally, I was behind him, and I grabbed a fistful of his T-shirt. Gabriel was the lesser of the evils at the moment, and I had no choice but to choose to believe he wanted my blood enough to keep me alive.

  “Come on!” Emma scoffed. “Where is your courage now, girl? Earlier you were afraid, no doubt, but there were moments of bravery we all admired!”

  Silken laughter radiated all around me. I sucked in a breath, holding his shirt tighter.

  “Enough, Emma,” Gabriel snapped. “And yes, I heard your presence, but I was trying to keep her from doing anything foolish.”

  “Why so protective, Gabriel? Is her blood that good?” I peeked around Gabriel to see that she had moved closer, and her eyes were on my bloodstained sleeve. “If so, I will be careful to not kill the girl. Just let me . . .”

  I felt Gabriel’s body harden. “She is mine alone. No one is to touch her.”

  The very air seemed to sigh, and one by one the glowing eyes disappeared. Streaks of black melted into the woods, the mansion, the shadows.

  Emma tossed her head, rolling her eyes. “Fantastic, Gabriel. Why did you have to claim her? But it’s me we’re talking about, so if I’m thirsty enough and she happens to be nearby . . .”

  I couldn’t see the look on Gabriel’s face, but Emma held up her hands in surrender, her face somehow paler. “I’m only kidding. Lighten up a little.”

  She turned to leave, soundlessly moving toward the mansion before speaking over her shoulder. “If you’re going to keep her, I suggest you provide her with a change of clothing if you want everyone to leave her alone. Also, you might want to feed her. Even a human could hear her stomach growling a mile away.”

  Gabriel looked back at me
with surprise on his face, as if it had never occurred to him I needed food.

  I let go of his shirt. “I’m not a goldfish,” I huffed automatically.

  Emma stopped in her tracks, turning around slowly. Her eyes fixed themselves on me, her small smile hollow.

  My heart skipped several beats. She didn’t have to say anything; her eyes said everything. She was going to find a way to hurt me . . . soon.

  I wanted to stand my ground, but there wasn’t much fight left in me. I was so afraid. I looked away, my curls covering my face.

  My hair and clothes flitted softly. When I looked back, she was gone.

  Gabriel shook his head. “You really do not think before you say or do things. Maybe that works around humans. Around my kind, it is asking to be killed.”

  I didn’t reply. My body was buzzing with adrenaline, still in fight-or-flight mode, and I had one leg set to run.

  He looked down at my leg. “Don’t even try it again. You are just embarrassing yourself.” He tilted his head toward the mansion. “Come with me.”

  He walked away from me without a backward glance, as if expecting me to follow like a lost puppy. The anger returned, and I embedded the soles of my worn Vans into the ground.

  He stopped. I heard him sigh softly.

  “Kara.” The tone was a warning.

  I pushed away what remained of my pride. “Let me go,” I pleaded, barely whispering the words.

  He turned around, his hands in his jean pockets. Like Emma, he didn’t even have to speak. Those glowing orbs cut me like ice.

  Tears burned my eyes. I pictured Grandma in my mind, so frail and lost. Hazel eyes set in a wrinkled, kind face. All my pets I had at home. “Please,” I begged. “I have a grandmother. She can’t take care of herself. I’m all she has. Please . . . just let me go. I promise, I won’t say anything to anyone about what happened to me or what you all are. I promise! Just let me—”

  Suddenly, he was beside me, pushing me forward toward a set of doors in the mansion.

  “It’s too late,” Gabriel said in an emotionless voice.

  I shook my head and struggled against him, fighting his hands that held me with unnatural strength. “Let go of me!” I screamed.

  His pupils dilated, completely covering the green. His hands moved from my arms to my shoulders, picking me up and holding me to eye level. I kicked out at him, screaming those four words like a mantra.

  He shook me. “Shut up and listen to me! If I let you leave, my claim on you ends. Do you understand? Elias or any vampire can then come to you and kill you! Dozens of vampires have the scent of your blood now. You will be dead in a matter of hours.”

  My cries faded. I looked at him, swallowing despair in the back of my throat.

  “But you’re going to kill me anyway,” I murmured. “Maybe not tonight. But soon. You said you wanted to. I . . . felt that you wanted to.”

  His pupils darkened further. “Of course I want to kill you.”

  My heart palpitated. His eyes went toward the sound, then to my bloodstained sleeve. Now that the excitement had died down, there was nothing to distract him from the red liquid inside of me.

  I thought quickly. I had to get his mind off of my blood.

  “Why didn’t you let Emma drink from me? I wasn’t dying that time.”

  His nostrils flared, his lids fluttered. His fingers tightened on my shoulders.

  “Gabriel, why did you claim me?”

  His eyes flicked to my face. “I do not know. Now sleep.”

  Darkness engulfed me.

  Chapter 5 Three Options

  “Wake.”

  My eyes snapped open.

  Groggily, I looked around as someone set me down. I was in a white and silver bathroom. I started at my reflection in the mirror over the sink, hardly recognizing the wild-eyed girl staring back at me. Both sides of my neck were scarred with fang marks.

  Then I realized who I was leaning against.

  I screamed and whirled around, but Gabriel didn’t even look at me as he left the room. I edged closer to the cracked door.

  “Thanks for this,” Gabriel said to someone.

  The door opened suddenly, making me jump back. I clutched the counter, tensed for the new threat. A stranger with glowing, black eyes stood in the doorway.

  Glowing eyes. Another vampire.

  She was at least a few years older than Gabriel, maybe twenty-two or twenty-three. Her ebony hair was in a thick braid that fell to her waist. Her skin was flawless, tan with a reddish tint, but it somehow was still pale. She was heartbreakingly beautiful and looked like a model even though she only wore a plain green sweater and skinny jeans.

  What was the point of screaming? Running? I sighed and slid to the tiled floor. It looked like Gabriel wanted to share me after all, but then I realized she was holding a change of clothes. On top of the clothes rested a hairbrush, an unopened toothbrush, and a bottle of water.

  “Hello, Kara. My name is Inola. I have brought you a few things that will hopefully make you more comfortable.”

  I eyed her suspiciously. “I didn’t realize I was staying at the Plaza.”

  She pursed her lips, looking like she was trying not to laugh. “Gabriel mentioned that you speak bluntly without thinking. You are either very brave or very foolish.”

  I shrugged. My emotions were starting to go numb a little. Everything felt distant, like it was happening to someone else.

  Inola held the water bottle out to me. “Here. You should drink this.”

  I shook my head.

  “It is only water.”

  I took the bottle and uncapped it, sniffing the contents. Just water. I drank it all, gasping in between gulps. Inola took the water bottle from me slowly, and I watched as she went to the sink, setting the clothes down on top of the marble counter and filling the bottle with tap water. She approached me again, keeping herself as far away from me as possible as she handed me the bottle once more.

  I drank greedily. Inola stayed in a corner of the room and watched my every movement. It wasn’t long before the numbness receded, letting fear trickle in. I took off my bloodstained jacket, wondering if she would pounce on me like a cat.

  “I’m not going to hurt you,” Inola said softly.

  “Pardon me for not believing you,” I snapped, dizzy with hunger. I threw the soiled jacket toward her. “Here. Maybe you can lick it clean.”

  She actually snickered. I looked at her in surprise. Her eyes shone with genuine laughter, not the cruelty I’d become accustomed to.

  “I do not desire your blood, Kara. I thirst only for my husband’s.”

  My cheeks burned. I wasn’t sure I wanted to know that.

  She pointed to the clothes. “These look about your size, right?”

  I sat up straighter. “Are those pajamas?”

  She nodded. “Yes. Dawn is nearing. I know it will be hard, but you will adjust to sleeping during the day.”

  “Wait a minute,” I said, standing up. “I’m confused. Gabriel said ‘now sleep’. Wasn’t I just asleep?”

  Inola busied herself with opening the package containing the toothbrush. “Gabriel Controlled you to sleep so he could get you inside safely without you trying to run away, and so you would not be as afraid. Although he has claimed you, if you had taken off and ran into another with all that blood on you . . . Well, a claim can fade in one’s mind when blood lures.”

  “What exactly does it mean that he has claimed me?”

  “Sometimes a vampire likes the taste of a human’s blood so much that they want it all to themselves. In our coven, we enable what is called a ‘claim’. A vampire’s claim on a human is just how it sounds—only that vampire can drink from them. No other vampire may harm them. That means, Kara, that you are Gabriel’s. If another vampire tries anything at all with you, the laws of our coven would allow Gabriel to kill them if he wished to.”

  I wrapped my arms around myself. “But Gabriel can kill me, can’t he?”

&nbs
p; She looked at me sadly. “If he so chooses.”

  I trembled, wishing for the numbness to come and control my senses once more.

  Inola gestured to the tub. “Why don’t you take a hot shower? When you are done, I will have some food ready for you. I will also answer any questions you have, all right?”

  My fingers tightened on the water bottle. “Why are you being kind to me?”

  Inola went to the door, a serene smile on her face. “Because I claimed my husband, Thomas, when he was human. His situation was much like yours. And we both learned that things do not always turn out the way you think they would.”

  I was appalled. Disgusted.

  “I could never care for Gabriel!” I hissed. I grabbed a fistful of my red-gold curls and bared my neck at her. “Look what he did to me!”

  She didn’t look bothered. “Gabriel is not human. Vampires are not always the sugarcoated beings you read about or watch on the television. You cannot expect human actions from him or any of us.”

  I stared at her hotly.

  “I will answer your questions and try to help you adjust. So will Thomas. For now, clean up. And don’t think of running. I will be right outside the door.”

  She left me alone, the door closing with a soft click. Angrily, I kicked off my shoes, making sure they flew into the door. Satisfaction coursed through me as I stared at the quivering wood. I picked up a bottle of shampoo and was about to throw it at the mirror, but stopped.

  I thought about what Gabriel had said. That I didn’t think before I said or did things. That it would get me killed. Would he kill me over a broken mirror? Inola had just told me not to expect human actions from him. From any of them.

  Yes. He would kill me over a broken mirror.

  My goal was to escape, not to get killed. Defeated, I locked the door, stripped, and crawled into the oversized tub, too hungry to appreciate the lavishness of my surroundings. I turned on the water as hot as it would go and sat down in the spray.

  I missed Grandma, craved those rare moments when she remembered me. I missed nerdy Miles. From what I’d heard of his voicemail, he was doing well and was excited about going to Stanford University. And Lila. Sweet, careful, perfect Lila. My best friend since kindergarten was leaving the United States to attend the Royal College of Music. She was an amazing violinist that made you tear up because she played so passionately.