Blood Bound

by R. J. Blain

  “I carved them.”

  “You carved them?” The surprise in Emerick’s tone forced me to stare at him, and he arched a brow at me. “With what?”

  “A pocketknife. I found one, so I went into Central Park, climbed a tree, and carved stakes from branches I took from some of the taller trees. I like keeping a few on me at all times. It kept me busy.” One stake took most of a night, sometimes several nights, to carve, and the process never failed to tire me. “I picked old trees because the wood seemed to hold up better.”

  “There’s a reason for that. And your method of killing? Why did you choose it?”

  I shrugged. “Desperation, I guess. I was thirsty, the bastard had killed some woman in an alley, and it made me mad. So, I stabbed him with the stake. That’s when I found out piercing a vampire with wood paralyzed them. I’d pierce them with a stake, drain them of blood, and then finish them off. I didn’t know what was needed to make sure they stayed dead, so I decapitated them.”

  “With your pocketknife?”

  “I didn’t have anything else.”

  “Well, they do say desperation is the mother of invention. It never fails to amaze me how resilient someone can be when backed into a corner. You truly know nothing about being a vampire, yet you managed to stalk and hunt some of New York’s most dangerous fugitives, all without knowing how close to death you yourself came. Any one of those vampires you killed could’ve easily killed you.”

  “You act like this is a problem for me.”

  “Dying is always a problem.”

  “It would be a mercy for me.”

  Emerick cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing and the violet gleam darkening to a rich brown. “Tell me why.”

  “Becoming a vampire wasn’t part of my plans. I planned to grow old and die. If humans were meant to be immortal, we would’ve been born immortal. Then there’s the whole drinking blood thing. Honestly, that bothered me more than an unfortunate case of immortality.”

  “You’ll find yourself embroiled in many arguments and debates about the nature of vampires, the gift or curse of immortality, and the reason we are as we are. You became a vampire after living a life of prejudice against us, then.”

  “That’s right.”

  “I expect you had an unpleasant time adapting, then. No matter. Things have changed. Should you hunt fugitives, it will be because you want to and are paid for your work, not because you’re fighting to survive a life you didn’t choose for yourself. While hunting fugitives isn’t typically my brood’s trade, I won’t deny you’ve developed skills, skills that will make you invaluable when a brood wants a fugitive destroyed. You’ve made a name for yourself.”

  The last thing I wanted was the attention of vampires, but that I’d earned a name intrigued me. “What name?”

  “The Silent Stalker. For at least six months, no one saw you. No one heard you. No one witnessed you leave. No one knew where you’d strike next. It was five or six kills before we realized you hunted fugitives and had an agenda. What we didn’t understand, at least then, was your choice to drain your victims. The blood of unwilling prey tastes rather vile.”

  “Animal blood is better?”

  “Substantially. I hire psychics to induce a pleasant state in the animals when slaughtered. As we can’t use drugs on the meat or blood we’re going to consume, psychics bypass the animals’ ability to feel pain or fear. This keeps their blood pure and ensures they’re killed in a humane fashion. Healthy, happy beasts taste better. It costs more to raise them, but I’d rather spend more on their meat and blood than the alternative. You don’t know what good blood tastes like, do you?”

  “No. I don’t.”

  “Typically, I start new members of the brood on animal blood until their thirst settles, but as you’re already beyond that stage, you will drink from me tonight. I can handle you if your thirst becomes overpowering, but you drank well last night, so I doubt you’ll need much to sustain you tonight.”

  My brows rose before I could control my expression. “You want me to drink from you?”

  “While you don’t remember this, you drank your maker’s blood. It’s part of becoming a vampire. You’ll experience part of the ritual again, as it’s how I’ll steal you from him. There will be pain at first, and that’s when you’ll have your chance to hurt him. After, as his hold on you weakens, I will turn that pain into something more pleasant. Another win for me, as he will know I’m making you enjoy becoming part of my brood.”

  “Define pleasant.”

  “Enjoyable. If you’re concerned about sex, no. Compare it to a very good massage. I’ll finish the ritual right as the sun is rising. As soon as it’s done, you’ll sleep. You might sleep through most of tomorrow night. That’s not unusual. Per your request, I will take my time during both phases. I will warn you, however, that he will want to reclaim you. Masters such as I don’t like losing vampires to a rival.”

  “Will it bring him to us?”

  “Indeed. Until he’s identified, I have no way of knowing when he’ll show, but he will. You would be his ultimate prize. You’ll be the ultimate prize of any brood.”

  “Even yours?”

  “Especially mine, and I have no intention of losing you to another vampire. It took me months to find you. Were you a man, I would still fight to keep you within my brood. Someone who can hunt fugitives is priceless. Should you wish to continue your hunt, I will give you everything you need to succeed, and I will pay you over the official bounties. I will also help you claim the bounties of those you’ve killed. A simple matter.”

  “What bounties?”

  “Did you think we’d allow such monsters to roam the streets unchecked? No. We’ve been hunting them. Both the human police and preternatural entities have issued monetary awards for many of your victims. You’re entitled to the awards, which will be trivial to prove, especially as I secured a recording of your last kill linking the method used in the other killings with you. You’ll be questioned and asked to identify your victims. They’ll seed in people you haven’t killed to catch you in a lie, but I’m sure you can identify when and where you killed your victims.”

  “Down to the street and the hour,” I admitted.

  “Good. That’ll be useful. There’s one last matter we need to discuss, and I expect it’ll be uncomfortable for you.”

  I flinched. “My name?”

  “Your name,” he confirmed. “As a new vampire, you have the chance to begin fresh and become a new person. But, if there’s something of your past life that may haunt you, it is my job to ensure that such matters do not harm the brood. I can help you secure a new name and identity, but I need to know who you were. I’d rather hear it from you than begin our relationship with unpleasantness, as it would be my duty to find the truth. You might be able to hide it for a while, but it would make things more difficult on you.”

  “And you won’t tell anyone?”

  “Not a soul, living or dead. Not without your consent.”

  “You might regret that,” I warned.

  “I presume you came from wealth. You aren’t uncomfortable in my home. Most are afraid of damaging even a stool. You had no care you shed dirt across the floor. You used my bathroom as though you owned it, wore one of my bathrobes as though it was yours. You’re comfortable here. That speaks of exposure to wealth. You could have been a secretary for someone, perhaps, a CEO who exposed you to it.” Emerick smiled and watched me, his eyes half-lidded. “I think I’ve found myself a treasure, however.”

  “I wasn’t a secretary.”

  “Then what were you?”

  “A corporate lawyer.”

  “Well, you’ll fit in well with my brood, then. I’ve always a need for good lawyers. Assuming, of course, you’re a good one.”

  “I had to be.”

  “That sounds promising. We can discuss your specialties in corporate law soon. I think you’ll be able to settle well in my brood. We’ll have to verify your law degree and
bar license, of course.”

  “I need to fill my continuing education hours, which were due a few months ago. I’m also behind on my dues.”

  “Death puts a damper on such things. I’ll make the arrangements you need, assuming you’re willing to tell me your name and other relevant information. Undeath, for the record, doesn’t exempt us from paying taxes.”

  “Penelope Francis.” Saying my name left a bitter taste in my mouth, and I sighed.

  “That explains much. You’re the missing heiress of the Francis fortune. Of all the speculations I’d heard, you being turned into a vampire wasn’t one of them. I have no idea how you managed to hide for so long right under everyone’s noses. There’s been quite the search for you. It hasn’t been called off yet, either. It seems your father is very determined to have you back. That makes sense, as you know everything about his business interests. Am I correct?”

  I needed to make a decision, one that would change my life yet again. If I revealed what I knew of my father’s plans, he would become my enemy. Being a vampire already made me his enemy. Betraying his interests to Emerick would secure his enmity.

  Keeping silent would put my fellow vampires in even more danger.

  Some choices weren’t choices at all.

  “Such as his plans for Harlem, the legal loopholes he discovered to allow him to go through with it, and that it’s highly suspect a hater of vampires would want to build a mecca for the preternatural?” Any other day, I might’ve been ashamed at the bitterness in my voice.

  “Something along those lines, although you’ll find us vampires are far savvier than your father might wish us to be.” Emerick swept his hand out to take in his entire penthouse home. “Why would I give up a beautiful home in SoHo to live in Harlem under another man’s rule? He doesn’t want to sell the properties he’s building. He wishes to rent them. Perhaps lesser vampires will be interested in his offer, but he’ll find his efforts won’t bear fruit unless he’s willing to do full sales.”

  As Emerick already knew my name, I saw no harm in revealing more. Perhaps tossing my eggs all in one basket would bite me down the road, but he could’ve staked me. Going with my current choice would cost me later, I was certain, but he’d offered the one thing I needed above all: a chance for revenge.

  Lifting my chin, I replied, “He makes more money in a rental situation, and there are little protections for the preternatural in leasing and renting situations. That’s part of what he was having me work on. He wanted to find those loopholes. Once exposed, which would be after the signing of the leases, it’d take a long time to push corrections through the rental board. The idea is nice, but the implementation will turn Harlem into a luxury concentration camp of sorts.”

  “That’s along the lines of what I was suspecting, although I think the reality is worse than my suspicions. What can you tell me about these loopholes, how can we close them, and what would happen to tenants foolish enough to sign one of his leases?”

  “Before I continue, I’d like to make it clear by telling you this, I do become my father’s enemy.”

  “Becoming a vampire likely made you your father’s enemy.” Emerick’s eyes flashed violet. “Unless he wanted to have you turned so he could use you as a poster child for his new estates. Ladies are prized among vampires due to rarity. You’re not quite the fare most vampires prefer, but you might’ve turned a few heads even in the old days.”

  I scowled. “Do I turn your head?”

  “You had my undivided attention when you proved yourself a capable hunter of fugitives. I had wanted you from the instant I realized one person had been behind those slayings. I’d initially thought you were a man, but I’d already been determined to bring you into my brood. But for you to be a woman? You’re far more than a beauty capable of turning heads. Any master worth his salt wants a woman like you in his brood.”

  “Or any woman at all,” I muttered.

  “If I wanted any woman at all, I’d go charm someone from a brides brood and pay her mistress a ridiculous fee for taking a member away from her. I’ve paid it a few times. I’ll pay a lot to keep my vampires happy, but I’ve found the brides don’t do well outside of their fold for many years. There are women in my brood, but they’re reclusive and often choose to stick with their husbands. That’s how they were brought up. Socially engineered, if you will. My brood has problems of its own, of course. But most of my vampires marry human women if they decide to marry at all. Few are willing to risk their wives for a slim chance of her immortality, and fewer still want to lose her to the brides, and the brides try to insist a mortal marriage isn’t valid into immortality.”

  “If you’re trying to make me dislike these brides, you’re on the right track. Has it occurred to you that maybe modern women would find that sort of suppression a fate worse than death?”

  Emerick frowned. “No, it hadn’t.”

  “If that’s disclosed before the attempt, well, maybe there’s your problem.” I pointed at myself. “I sure as hell would rather die than become some man’s bride up for sale in a brood of women who seem to exist for no other reason than to be sold.”

  “That doesn’t explain why you were successfully raised. By your own words, you’d rather die.”

  “I don’t remember what happened.”

  “I’d presume trauma. That would be logical. Whatever happened to you was so damaging you don’t remember it. I try to make the transition as painless as possible for my vampires, but death leaves its mark. Your memories would reveal who made you, but I have no way of knowing what price you’d pay for those memories. I say let it be. When I bring you into my brood, your master will come for you. You don’t need those memories to find him. You just need to cooperate with me.”

  One fear, one question, rose over the others. “Can he take me from your brood once I’m in it?”

  “It’s possible. I have ways of deepening the bond between us, but that comes at a price, one that’s not easy to undo.”

  “What price?”

  “You would run the risk of being bound to me and my brood permanently.”

  “How much of a risk?”

  Emerick shrugged. “Flip a coin.”

  “Better to be with a devil I know than one I don’t. It’s not like I asked for this cursed life, and if I have to choose between you and some freedom and the man who made me, I’d rather gamble on you.”

  “You won’t regret it,” he promised.

  I already did, but I’d spare him from my whining and give him a chance to prove me wrong. “How does this binding work?”

  Emerick exhaled, and he looked me over before his gaze settled on my throat. “Your maker bit you on the throat and drained you to death there. You likely can’t see the scars when you look in the mirror, but I can. When a vampire is made, there is always a mark. It’s a three-step process. The first step is challenging to take you from him. I will bite you where he bit you, and I will drain you of blood. You’ll be weakened to the point of helplessness. This is the stage in which you will fight me. Once you’re no longer capable of fighting against me, I’ll be able to secure my hold on you and break your maker’s hold on you. For the next stage, you will drink my blood, which will allow me to bring you into the brood and strengthen your bond with me. Unlike your maker, who was lazy and went for your throat, you will get to pick where you bite me. As a general rule, vampires use the wrist, as the marks can be covered. As you get older, you’ll learn to see the marks.”

  I lifted my hand and touched my throat. “You can see where he bit me?”

  Emerick reached for me, moving my hand aside so he could rest two fingers along the side of my neck. “He did it here. I believe he’s a younger vampire, inexperienced with raising new vampires. They’re shallow, which will make it easier for me to break and ultimately erase. Erasing the marks happen after I’ve claimed you, and I can take care of that after we’re bound.”

  I liked the sound of ridding myself of my maker’s mark on me. “
Shallow? What do you mean?”

  “His fangs weren’t very long, and he didn’t penetrate your skin as far as he could have. He went for your jugular, likely because he couldn’t reach a deeper vein. You don’t have to bite deep to pierce the jugular, and it’s a good way to drain a victim in a hurry. The carotid is also a good choice, but the young ones always go for the jugular.”

  “You’d think I’d remember something like that,” I muttered.

  “Don’t be hard on yourself. You may never remember, and it’s entirely possible you’ll panic when I bite you. You may fight me instinctively because of that trauma. I’m prepared to handle it, but it won’t be pleasant, not at first.”

  “There’s a pleasant part of this process?”

  “Surprisingly, yes. After you bite me and drain enough you’re no longer weakened, I’ll stop you if you don’t stop yourself first. That’s when the next phase begins.”

  “Which is?”

  “Deepening the bond between us. I’ll bite you again and place my mark on you. I’ll have you pick somewhere you’re comfortable with but isn’t easy to spot. It can be beneath your clothes, beneath your arm, anywhere you’d like, really. Beneath your hair is a good choice, as your hair is thick enough to hide the mark. This will make it harder for another vampire to attempt to take you from me.”

  “Will I have to bite you again?”

  “No. The binding process is somewhat lopsided on the surface. You could, if you’d like, bite me in return, but my final bite is sufficient, as it’s a matter of consent. In this case, my mark won’t stick if you’re unwilling, so bites need not be exchanged to deepen the bond. Your portion of the ritual, such as it is, is consenting to my bite. The magic takes care of the rest. Most will assume I only bit you once, and I would encourage you to sustain that belief.”

  I breathed a relieved sigh. “Okay. And after that? Is there anything after that?”

  “Yes, there is. I will bite your throat one final time to erase your maker’s mark completely. There’ll be a physical scar, but it won’t be a magical one anymore. The physical scars will fade over time. In most, it takes maybe twenty years, but I’ve seen the scars fade as soon as three or four years. It depends on how the bond between us develops.”