“So, most Moroi have relationships with—”
“Other Moroi,” Sam cut me off. “Monogamy is really a human construct. Most of us don’t live within the confines of human social ideology.”
Martin agreed, “We usually live in groups.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Wait a minute. Are you all like swingers or something?”
They laughed and told me it was difficult to explain.
“So, how many vampires are there in the world?”
“Over two hundred million.”
“Wow! That’s so many!” I couldn’t believe it. “Are any politicians vampires?”
The two looked at each other as if they were sharing an inside joke.
“No,” Martin answered.
“We like to pull strings from the shadows,” Sam said with a laugh.
There were so many things to learn. I also found out that as a rogue vampire, I was supposed to register with the Global Council. They said I could do that in New York, and they gave me a business card for Chronos Corp. Chronos Corp was apparently many things—an investment company, a biomedical group, a vampire clan, and an office for vampire leadership.
“Won’t I get in trouble?”
“Nah.” Martin spread cheese on a cracker. “But you will if you don’t register right away.”
That was some food for thought. I told the guys that I was planning on going back to the city over Easter, and they said that was a good idea.
I'd kept Iona’s phone off and hidden behind some books in my room since her soldier invaded the estate. I was planning on telling Owen everything but changed my mind. I knew this was hypocritical, keeping my run-in with the other clan secret, but that was behind me, over and done. My life had turned into a series of rationalizations, but there was no turning back now.
Besides, I was already considered a rogue vampire. Why bring attention to myself for something that I wanted nothing to do with?
I just wanted peace. I just wanted to live a normal life—for once.
I fell asleep around eleven-thirty and awoke just before two in the morning. I pulled on yoga pants and a hoodie before stepping out the back door, traitor phone in hand.
Jogging the driveway until I was out of view from the house, I picked up my pace. I ran until I came to the county road, where I slowed down. It was trash day, and many people had dutifully pulled their bins out to the street for pickup.
Glancing around, I heard nothing out of place. The forest was quiet with its blanket of snow, and the stars glimmered up above the dark mountain road.
I pulled out the phone and crushed it between my hands before ripping it in two.
Then I undid the bear latch on a garbage bin and threw one piece inside. Running down the road a few more miles, I dropped the other part into another container.
I thought I heard a branch snap in the woods. Looking around, I couldn’t see anyone in the forest. Then I heard a crunch and the soft thump of snow falling from a tree.
Stop being so paranoid!
I began to jog back toward the house. Everything’s going to be fine.
My conscience pricked me a little, but I couldn't think of any scenario where this cellphone helped anyone.
Besides, the other clan rendered our deal invalid when they came into my house, threatening my people. Moreover, we had vampire guards now.
Chapter Seventeen
It had been several weeks since that terrible Christmas day, and I'd decided that it was time to talk to Owen.
I couldn't live in the same house and not be with him.
I knocked on the study door, and it swung open a few inches. There he lay sprawled out on the couch, glasses still on, pen in hand, notebook on the floor. Another delicately folded flower lay on top.
Carefully, I guided his glasses off and plucked the pen out of his hand before covering him with the throw blanket from the back of the couch.
He looked sickly and thin.
Dark circles rimmed both his eyes, and I could tell he hadn't been taking care of himself.
A sharp spike of anger flashed through me as I thought of the predicament he found himself in. Here was a brilliant scientist, who'd been taken advantage of by a large corporation of vampires!
I knew the plague was bad, but was it really so urgent that he needed to work day and night?
Or was he in this shape because of me? My breath caught in my throat, and my heart sank in my chest.
I was already in love with him. So, what did it matter if my pain was now or later? At least if it were later, I would have more time, more memories, more laughter with him in my life.
If we were going to be together, then I needed answers. Answers about Chronos and answers about him.
While Owen slept, I pulled the lever on the bookshelf, walked down the stairs and entered the lab. The cages to the side were still filled with mice. They squeaked as I neared to look them over.
An entire group of mice was separated in a special sealed-off container marked with biohazard signs. They were unnatural, and I realized that they were vampire mice. I wondered how one went about making a vampire mouse?
Apparently, Owen knew how to do this.
As I pondered this thought, I heard Owen awaken, and I walked toward the steps to the lab. He stood at the top, dark hair on end, eyes blinking.
"We need to talk about this." I pressed my lips together and pierced him with my gaze.
"All this is confidential, you know that." He ran his hands through his hair.
"I'm involved in this now. I live here. I…" I love you. "I… care for you and the children. I should know what I'm risking my life for."
I watched as different emotions seemed to war in his mind and across his face.
Finally, he reached a decision and came toward me, after pulling the lab door closed.
"It's complicated, but…" His jaw clenched and unclenched.
"Why is it so important for you to do this?" I reached up and tried to smooth some of his dark waves. "Why have they kept you working nonstop for days?"
He leaned on the edge of his desk. "There's a blood disease that's killing people. Well, killing vampires. It's been called the Moroi plague."
Resting against the desk, I asked, "Did you create the disease? Did Chronos?"
Shaking his head, Owen sighed. "No, I don't think so. Chronos is trying to stop the plague." He pulled up a chair and motioned for me to sit. "It's really rare, but there are a few diseases that affect vampires." Owen looked around his lab. "This is my specialty, which was rare until the plague hit a few years ago."
"It kills vampires?"
Owen nodded and wiped the sleep from his eyes. "It's got a high mortality rate for your kind if you contract it. In fact, it's pretty much a death sentence. I think it was engineered. Chronos Corp believes it was engineered by humans to kill them into extinction. So, the short answer is that we don't know who created it."
"Does it affect humans?" I chewed my thumbnail.
"Yeah, but it's not usually lethal."
"Why aren't more people working on this?"
"There are. There are hundreds of people, vampire and human, working on the disease. Several different labs." He raised an eyebrow. "But, I've made the most progress." The corner of his lip curled up. "I created a vaccine."
"That's amazing! I thought that took years or even decades."
"This one has taken years. It works in non-vampire mice." He stood and walked toward the cages. "And it's recently been shown to work in humans." Adjusting something on the cage, Owen looked back at me. "But I want something that will work in vampires. Vampires would be more likely to need the vaccine. I mean, there are over seven billion people on earth. There is no way we could even vaccinate enough people to lower the spread of the disease."
"You said it didn't necessarily kill humans, so what does it do to them?"
"It looks like the plague." My clueless expression must have given me away, so he continued, "Flu-like symptoms, fever, h
eadache, chills, abdominal pain… but most recover."
He pointed out a group of rodents, in a particular sealed glass tank. "Those are infected vampire mice."
I peered through the glass. The rodents were inactive with black boils peeking out from their fur.
I frowned. They looked terrible. "Oh, no… Can you heal them?"
He heaved a heavy sigh. "No, as of right now, my current vaccine didn’t work. They’ll probably die." He dropped some small treats into the cage near the vermin, using round holes with built-in yellow gloves.
I stepped back. "Is this safe?" I pointed to the glass separating us from the mice.
He tapped the barrier. "Yeah, it's just an extra precaution. The disease is only transmitted by blood. But I'm thinking about giving myself the vaccine."
"What if you have it?" I asked.
"The disease? I don’t. I can test you if you want, but I doubt you have it."
My paranoid mind wouldn't let me rest. "What if I have it, and don’t know it?"
He looked at me warily. "Where do you get your blood from?"
I swallowed. "Umm…"
"I can test you if you're worried…"
I thought of all the vials I drank from.
He pulled a small package out of one of the boxes on a shelf. "It takes just a drop of blood."
I gave him my hand, and he poked my finger with a sharp before squeezing my skin to create a bubble of blood. Then he touched a paper strip to the drop. We watched as it was absorbed by the end of the tester.
"Is that it?" I asked as we watched it begin to work.
He nodded.
This was Dr. Bennett in action.
"You don't have it."
"Oh? Thank god!"
"Yeah, it would've changed color."
I sagged in relief.
Then he turned back to me and asked again, "Where are you getting your blood?"
I averted my gaze and worried my bottom lip. "Well, that's kind of personal."
Owen's hearty chuckle made me smile, "I think we're past personal." He raised an eyebrow at me.
I pouted and then sighed. "Mostly cow blood from a local butcher, but… sometimes…" I felt a blush beginning to make its way up my face.
He motioned me to continue. "Yes… and?"
"Homeless people, by the river," I blurted out.
He thought for a moment. "Okay, the local animal blood is probably fine, but I would suggest you not drink from homeless people. They could've traveled from an area that's infected."
"I'm fine, I never get sick."
"Yeah… it's better to be safe than sorry." He cocked his head. "I have more testing strips, to test the blood before you drink it." He gave me the small case. "You can have them. I have tons."
I took the box from him, and our fingers touched. "Thank you. Are you sure you can spare these?"
A cocky grin spread across his face. "I invented them, and now they're mass produced."
"Well, I'm impressed! I knew you were brilliant, but an inventor, too!"
He just laughed at me, our fingers still connected on the plastic case. My eyes went to his lips, and I placed my other hand over our touching fingers.
"I miss you," I confessed to him. "I wish we could go back to where we left off at Christmas."
His face grew serious. "Me, too."
"You know, I can't change what I am."
He fiddled with the sharp before throwing it away. "I don't want you to change. I just can't imagine my life without you in it." His bright amber eyes looked into mine. "I wish you weren't Moroi, but it's you I fell in… for… not what you are."
The plastic case dropped to the floor as I put my arms around him. His mouth covered mine, and I clung to him, breathing him in, tasting him, savoring his warmth.
After a moment, I pulled away. "Don't hurt me again."
"I won't." His brows drew together. "But it's not just me that's involved. I have to think about my kids, too."
"I know." I licked my lips and shook my head. "I would never hurt them. You have to know that."
"I know." He kissed the top of my head before tilting my chin up toward him to kiss me again.
Later that night, we ended up sitting before the fire in his bedroom, his arms around me as we watched the flames dance behind the grate.
"Tell me how this happened to you." Owen made my skin tingle by running his fingers down my arm. I knew he was asking how I was turned.
I hesitated before answering, "I was twenty-three…"
I told him everything.
How I was an ambulance driver in Belgium, and then got sick after turning. I told him about the wise woman who recognized what I was and gave me blood, to the moment I jumped from the window of the asylum.
"I can't believe you were married to such an asshole."
"Yeah." I snorted, "what a keeper, that one!"
"You know, you have a bit of a British accent when you talk about your past."
"I do not!" I swatted him with a pillow.
"No, it's true." His eyes were wide with honesty.
I laughed and shook my head. "I have a perfect American accent!"
"And sometimes, you sound either too Southern or New Yorkish!"
I gasped. "I lived in New York for years!"
"Really? I'd like to know what it was like when the Empire State building was built," he teased.
"I lived in England then."
His chest rumbled. "Okay, I don't really know a lot about New York history. What about 9/11? Were you there then?"
"No…" I admitted.
"Well, so where did you live after you left your husband and before you lived in the Big Apple?"
"I lived in Los Angeles, sometimes with my friend Isa."
I began to tell him the story about Isa, about how after we left England, we lived together as a family. "My last identity with Isa was Emilie Edwards, her granddaughter."
I turned in his arms at this point and watched as the spark of recognition flashed behind his eyes. "You devil! That's why you were writing all your checks over to her!"
"So, how did you get this identity?" He traced an invisible line down my lips with his fingertip. "I mean, even Chronos Corp ran a background check on you, and it all came up as authentic."
My mouth twisted. "That's not a fun story."
He raised an eyebrow.
"Elizabeth was a real person. She was my downstairs neighbor in New York." I felt my lower lip tremble, and tears filled my eyes.
Owen's expression softened. "You cry more than anyone I've ever met!" He then laughed and kissed my hand he was holding.
"I know, I can't help it." I thought about finding Lizzy in her cramped kitchen. "It was horrible. I found her in her apartment…dead." I told him about the dog. How the barking had gone on for over an hour, and I had decided to come down and give my neighbor a piece of my mind.
"When I opened the door, there she was… there was so much blood."
"That's terrible." His voice was soft.
I shook my head. "At least she'd had a good time before she went… She'd had someone over. They'd been drinking.“ I turned to look up at Owen. "Do you know how she died? She broke a glass and cut herself on the back of her leg. It was an accident. A stupid, stupid thing to happen!"
"Yikes!" He sighed. "So, was it you, or her that applied for this job?"
"Her, poor girl." We sat in silence for a moment. "She was such a young thing."
"Wait a minute, so here I thought I had hired a tutor with a graduate degree in Education from Columbia. What a sham!" He threw his arms up in mock anger.
I laughed. "I have a degree… from a few decades ago… UC Berkley."
"So, what's your real name?"
"You're going to be disappointed." I smiled wryly at him. "Emilie."
"Really?"
"Edwards was my maiden name, and I just kept becoming my own daughter with the same name until Isabel died."
"That's not very inventive," he teased me.
"I'm practical." I raised my eyebrows at his judgment. "What would you change your name to?"
His eyes looked heavenward, "I don't know, but don't you ever want something different?"
I wrinkled my nose. "I like my name. It's a perfectly good name."
He smiled mischievously at me before shaking his head. "It just blows my mind that you've lived through World War I and World War II! I just think of all the things you've seen. Do you have a favorite decade?"
I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. "Not really. I mean, I guess I kind of fantasize about my human time. That pre-World War I era. That would be my favorite, but people are people. There are new gadgets now, and new advances, but people have always been the same."
This time, he shook his head, his expression childlike. "So, tell me about how you got mixed up with vampires." I pinned him down with a severe look.
I could tell I broke the spell with that question.
He rubbed his chin. "It was Sarah, my wife. She worked for them and helped me get my first research position."
"That's terrible. Did your wife know what she was getting you into?"
His nod was somber. "I think she did, but the pay was great, and the company's made of mighty people, wealthy investors willing to fund our research."
"Did you know right away that they were vampires?"
"No. I remember her making these vague references and subtle hints. I actually didn't know that the Moroi existed until she was pregnant the second time."
I was interested. "How did you find out? What happened?"
"Sarah was expecting, with the second implanted fetus. I was angry because Becca looked nothing like me." His voice had taken on a venomous tone. "Now I know the reason. The embryos were edited by Chronos Corp."
I blanched slightly. "What? Why?"
"I still don't know. I've tested both kids for everything I could think of, but there's nothing. They're human. So, I don't know. At least they really are my biological children… for what it's worth."
Crimson: Secrets and Lies of a Living Vampire (Shades of Red Book 1) Page 13
