Blood Curse (Misty Cedars - Vampire Edition)

by Adrienne Blake

  A snapping twig made him stop. Raising his head, Noah sniffed the air. Ah, at least that was a scent he recognized. First one paw, and then the next, Noah moved slowly. Perhaps he'd been seen, perhaps he hadn't. But he'd seen them, and the wolf's eyes narrowed. He hunkered low to the ground, crawling almost on his belly, his legs bent, his focus on the target. Noah was close now, so close, just a little further.

  With a great push, Noah leaped through the air, his front legs extended, his jaws open, ready for the kill....

  6

  Breakfast

  Holly hadn't slept a wink before the first light of dawn crept into her room. She remembered twirling as a child, and how it felt as she threw herself down on a sofa, lowering her head to the floor and letting the blood rush to her head. The giddiness had made her feel sick then, and she experienced this again now as the gentle sunlight kissed her pale and dying limbs. Closing her eyes brought some relief from the pain, and only then, at last, did she sleep.

  When Holly woke again the sun was high in the sky and gleamed through a narrow gap in the curtains. She covered her eyes. She felt sick again, and turning, snatched her hand to her chest as a stray ribbon of bright sunlight fell upon her bed and grazed her skin. She felt instant relief as she snatched it away. Great. Holly looked nervously around her, longing for some place dark to hide in. She recognized her symptoms at once. Photophobia, the curse of the undead. The story books had not been wrong about that.

  And the hunger. Would it ever be satisfied?

  Well, she thought, there was no use just lying there, writhing about trying not to feel sick. The sun wasn't about to stop shining any time soon. Holly blew a big fat raspberry and kicked away the quilt and climbed out of bed. There were sunglasses in the glove compartment of her car; maybe they would help ease her suffering.

  She dressed as quickly as she could, pausing to look for Noah in the kitchen, but he wasn't there. In fact, the whole house felt strangely empty. It was kind of late. Maybe he'd gone out or something, to do whatever it was a shifter did in the regular hours of the day. Holly tried to imagine what on earth that might be, but her mind drew a big fat blank.

  She paused at the front door. With a sigh of relief that her car was mostly in the shade, and keeping as much as she could to the shadows, she maneuvered carefully over to it, careful not to let the sun directly touch her skin. But she would have to be quick. With every passing second, the sun was rising higher in the sky and would soon flood the inside of the car with light.

  A light coating of dust covered her typically shiny Alfa, and she was grateful to see her keys dangling in the ignition. For a second, she thought about jumping in and taking off. But just for a second. There was still so much she needed to know, and only Noah could help her. She half slid into the passenger's seat and retrieved her glasses quickly out of the glove box. She slipped them on.

  "I see you're up, then."

  "Yeah," said Holly. She climbed out of the car and when she turned round she saw Noah just returned. He cradled a small bundle of something in his arms and wondering what it was, she stepped closer to take a look. She stopped dead in her tracks when she realized what he carried was a lifeless fawn.

  She stared for a moment, not quite understanding.

  Noah said nothing more but stopped and stared at her intently. After a moment the penny dropped.

  "Wait, what? You expect me to eat that?"

  Noah shrugged. "You've got to eat something."

  Repulsed by the horror of her new world, Holly shook her head. "No fucking way. That's just disgusting!"

  "I'm all outta steak."

  "Groooooss! I'm not eating Bambi!"

  Still, at the mere sight of the deer, she began to salivate, and there was no denying the gnawing hunger in her belly. She took a step closer to Noah and the dead deer. How sad the poor thing looked, how limp and unresponsive. But her hunger was more than a match for her compassion. She reached over and placed her hand on its head. It was still warm, and Noah was right, she desperately needed to feed. Why waste it if it was dead anyway? The poor thing had died for her. Perhaps the bigger sin was to let its sacrifice be for nothing.

  Noah, who had been watching her intently all the time, tried to encourage her by lifting the fawn a little higher, making it easier for her to sink her teeth into and eat it.

  Carefully, Holly lowered her lips to the poor beast still cradled in Noah's arms. Even as she did so, her own blood raced through her body, and her incisors felt strangely hollow and pushed through her gums. She ran her tongue over her teeth, and wasn't really surprised when she felt their sharpness. Or should she call them fangs, now?

  She caressed the fawn's neck, softly feeling for its jugular. And when she found it, she brushed the fur, hoping she had the strength to penetrate the hide to get to the sweet red stuff below.

  Holly's first nip was clumsy, barely breaking the skin. She got more fur than flesh for her trouble. Wincing, she picked the harsh hairs from her teeth before trying again.

  Her next bite was more determined, and immediately punctured the flesh. Holly took a long draught of its savory juices. The warm blood coated her tongue and filled her mouth with the most delicious flavor her lips had ever tasted. She reveled in it, drinking faster and deeper, yet never quite satisfied.

  But then Holly remembered Noah was watching her, and she stood up straight, feeling a little guilty and self-conscious. A small amount of blood trickled down her chin, and she wiped it away, blushing.

  "I'm sorry," she said.

  "Don't be," Noah replied. He held the little animal out toward her again. "Drink some more."

  Holly nodded and stepping forward, prepared to take another bite. Just as she leaned across to take her fill, the little deer suddenly jolted, startling them both. Noah lost his grip, and the freckled fawn fell to the floor. After a little shake, it got its bearings and staggered quickly away, running into the nearby woods.

  "Oh my God, I thought it was dead already!" cried Holly, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

  "I wasn't sure what would tempt you, so I just knocked it out a bit. I must say the little devil woke up more quickly than I thought it would."

  "You knew?"

  "Of course I knew! I know the difference between a live and a dead beast in my arms. After the change, so will you."

  Holly didn't want to think about that now. In the second before they had laughed together, it was a singularly human moment, but with one comment, Noah had forced reality home again. She kicked the soil under her feet and turned back to the house in search of a dark room. Noah followed her inside.

  "I didn't mean to upset you," he said, joining her in his lounge.

  She pulled the pair of curtains closed shut and sat with her back to the window. Noah sat beside her.

  "So what do I do now? Just wait to die. No, I mean to be undead? Did you bring me here just to see it happen?"

  "I couldn't very well just leave you there to let Micah finish you off."

  Holly sighed.

  "But what if you had? If he finished me off, would I be a fully turned vampire by now, without any of this fear and discomfort?"

  "No. You would most likely be dead. As I mentioned, he doesn't want competition for his food supply. If too many mysterious deaths show up, questions would be asked. Unless he was looking for a mate, and then maybe."

  "I see."

  But did Noah really do me a favor, she wondered? And if so, why? What was in it for him?

  No, of course he was right. But the question still remained.

  "So, what now?" asked Holly. "What should I expect next? How long before—before...." She could not bring herself to say it this time.

  "It's different with everyone, depending on your metabolic rate, but I'd say just a few more days. You already have a palette for live blood, and before long, you won't be able to walk in sunlight. That's the last of it."

  "What kind of life, –err, existence, will I have?"

  "Well, you're
welcome to stay here of course, or there are places to be found around here. Most don't like to be too far from a food source, and though you can leave the valley, you will always have to return."

  "Why?"

  "Vampires must stay close to the earth where they were, err, born. The alternative is to scoop some up in a jar and spend eternity in a coffin. Somehow that doesn't seem your style."

  Holly smiled weakly and thought of her Alfa parked outside. Perhaps not.

  "Do I have to eat people? I mean, the deer blood was pretty good. Perhaps I can survive on animals?"

  "Some do - at first. But in the end, you all become what you have to be. You can only deny yourself for so long."

  Holly lowered her head into in her hands.

  "So this is going to be my fate for all eternity? Just fucking great. But I've done nothing to deserve it. Damn it, I must have driven that road a million times before, and nothing ever happened. Why me? Why now? What the fuck did I do to piss that Micah fella off so much?"

  "Nothing. He would have felt nothing for you. You were just food that strayed into his path."

  "Great, now I'm a fucking hamburger. Some cosmic joke." She sat up straight. "I guess whining isn't going to get me anywhere. Is there nothing I can do to turn this around?"

  Noah stretched his legs and thought for a moment. His silence seemed an age to her, but it couldn't have been long. He linked his fingers through his hands and, sitting forward, looked like he had something to suggest. But for some reason, he was reluctant to begin.

  "Well?"

  "I have heard our blood is incompatible, that if a changing vampire drinks the blood of a shifter, there's a... I guess you could call it a chemical reaction, like pouring water onto burning oil...."

  Holly sat up a little straighter. "One that will save me?"

  "No. Not quite. It will kill you. But you won't become undead."

  Holly slumped again. "Oh."

  "If you're killed before you're undead, your soul won't be damned for all eternity. The undead are lost souls. They can never be redeemed."

  "Oh. So a vampire can't kill a shifter?"

  "Oh, sure they can. I'm as mortal as you are... were. Just not by a bite."

  "Great. And you can't think of anything else?"

  "Well, it's a part of the same legend actually, so again, just how truthful it is I cannot say." Noah was silent again for a moment and Holly slipped to the edge of the sofa, her knees almost trailing the floor in anticipation of what might be her only hope. She could only contain herself for so long.

  "Well? Tell me."

  "To be honest I have my doubt if it's anything at all. I don't want to get your hopes up."

  "But the alternative for me is to do nothing, or become undead. Please, Noah, I hear what you're saying, but I need to try something. Call me old-fashioned, but I don't want to be damned forever."

  "I guess I can't argue with that. Well, I do know that most vampires were eradicated in the mid-nineteenth century in Europe, but a few fled, hiding on the passenger ships bringing the indigent Europeans over to the New World."

  Noah paused to gather his thoughts.

  "Go on."

  "Legend has it that when you're bitten, you remain under the thrall of the one who bit you."

  "The thrall?"

  "Yes."

  "But what does that mean?" asked Holly.

  "It means you're connected. If you want to use crude modern language, you're kind of a sub to his dom. Your will is subject to his, and if he's close enough, he can make you do whatever he wants."

  That made Holly sit back. The idea of being under the will of any man made her skin crawl. "You mean, I'd be like, hypnotized? He could walk me off a cliff or something?"

  "Technically. That is, until he dies."

  "What then?"

  "Well, in theory you're released, and if you're released before you're undead, then you can die naturally."

  Holly froze. "So solution two means I'm still dead?"

  The corners of Noah's lips turned up. "Well, yes, but with one essential difference."

  "Oh, what's that? I get to pick my own flowers?"

  "No, don't be daft. The blood of a shifter will kill you in this phase. But, if you're dead? And your vampire is also dead? Then my blood can, in theory, restore you to life."

  "A normal life?" That sounds... almost magical, she added, amazed by such a possibility.

  "Yes, so the legend goes. I've never tried it before, obviously."

  "Well then." Holly rose from the sofa and adjusted her glasses meaningfully. "Then there's only three other things I need to know."

  "And what are they?" asked Noah.

  Holly put her hands on her hips and stared at the closed curtains as she tried to imagine the valley beyond them. "Just this. One, how do we find this sucker? Two, how do we kill him?"

  "And the third?"

  "How soon do we start?"

  7

  Murderous Intent

  "There are several reliable ways to off a vampire," Noah said. "One, the most celebrated, a good old fashioned stake to the heart. Or we could stick a clove of garlic under his tongue. Or expose him to sunlight. You'd know all about that."

  "Not funny. What else?"

  "Well, you could sprinkle him with holy water, though it's kinda hard to come by that these days. Or there's my personal favorite, decapitation. That works like a charm every time."

  Holly looked over Noah's shoulder at the computer screen in front of him. "Are you seriously telling me you're getting all this off the Internet?"

  "When I last checked my bookshelf, I didn't see any 'How To Slay The Undead' instruction manuals."

  "But you live in this valley. I thought if anyone knew shit about killing vampires, you would." Holly hated hearing herself rag on Noah; after all, the poor man had just saved her life - sort of. But the clock was ticking, and in just a few days, all traces of Holly George would be gone forever, and she would become undead.

  Noah scratched his head. "Well, how we kill Micah is not our chief worry right now. We have options. We'll find a way if we get the chance. No, the tricky part will be finding him. He's never seen by day. He strikes at night, then disappears again."

  Holly sat in a spare chair beside his desk and stretched out her long legs as she tried to think. When she looked up, she saw Noah checking them out, and self-consciously, she crossed them under her seat. He was fully dressed, for a change, but despite the checkered shirt and loose-fitting Levi's, he was still a strikingly handsome guy. She stole a peek at those gentle brown eyes of his, but then checked herself. Now was certainly not the time.

  "What happened after he attacked me? Did you bite him at all when you fought?"

  "I wish I had, but no, he was too quick for that. If I had, it would have been game over as I explained earlier. And it's a good thing he didn't bite me."

  "Oh, why's that?" asked Holly.

  "A vampire bite won't kill me, but it'll knock me out, for sure. I wouldn't have been able to save you."

  "I see. So what, then?"

  "We tumbled a bit in the dirt, but then he flung me off him. You have no idea how powerful one of those things are until you're hurtling twenty feet through the air, I tell you."

  Holly put her hand to her throat, remembering the vice-like grip Micah had on her. She nodded.

  "By the time I was right-side-up again, he was in his car and revving the engine. Then I saw a pair of high beams drive right at me, and I just managed to roll out of the way in time, or he'd have run me down, and we'd both be dead."

  "I see. Did you notice which direction he went?"

  "He carried on straight, and never turned back again. That's all I know. You have to remember it was dark, and my prime concern in the heat of the moment was you."

  Noah's hand was still on the mouse and gently, she put her hand on top of his. "Thank you," she said softly. "I guess I should have said that before. But I really appreciate you being there to rescue me."

/>   Noah smiled and though his body stiffened, he didn't remove his hand. "You're welcome."

  In that moment, something passed between them. A spark? A connection? Holly couldn't say what it was, but she felt it clearly. The moment lingered a little too long, and embarrassed, she withdrew her hand gently.

  "You said, I think, you sensed him?"

  Noah turned his focus back to the monitor in front of him. "Yes. I have a specific territory in this valley. It's a wolf thing."

  "Do you think, if we got close to where he lived, you would sense him then? Outside of your territory?"

  "I guess so. Maybe."

  Holly stared at a spot on the wall as she mulled this over. "Are there other shifters here?"

  "A few."

  "You know them all?"

  "Kinda. We sorta stick to ourselves you know, another wolf thing. We're mostly loners."

  "I see. But if he's picking different spots in your valley, they would sense him, too?"

  "Sure, I guess. What are you getting at?"

  Holly shrugged. "I dunno. A pattern maybe?"

  "I see. It would take some time to talk to everyone, this is a big freaking valley and time is the one thing we don't have. I just wish I knew where he slept. It has to be in the valley, just has to be."

  Holly nodded, but then a thought occurred to her. "Maybe we're looking at this the wrong way. Does it really matter where he sleeps? To find him, we have to find out where he feeds, and we have one big fat clue about that."

  "Oh?"

  "Well, as we both saw when he attacked me, he was disguised as a policeman. He can't have just magicked that uniform and car out of thin air."

  "You think he's a real cop?" asked Noah, skeptically.

  "Sure, why not?" asked Holly.

  "Well, for one thing, he can't leave the valley for very long. How would he have gone through that rigorous training? And even if he found a way to survive elsewhere, the sunlight would kill him. Nah, I don't think he can be a real one."

  "Hmm, you have a point." Holly knotted her brows and turned her thoughts inward. "Rented the uniform then? And the car?"