Blood Crave

by Jennifer Knight

  Derek rose and came to stand before me. I just now realized that he wasn’t wearing much—a pair of too-loose blue jeans and a grungy white T-shirt that almost matched the hue of his skin. He should have been frozen in his scanty attire, but he acted as though the cold that bit at my fingertips didn’t affect him at all.

  As he came toward me, I noticed something different in the way he walked, in the gait of his step. He had always been graceful, but now it was like he’d oiled all of his joints; they moved without any hint of effort. His body was more toned than ever, and it looked as if he’d grown a few inches too.

  As frightening as he was, and as different, I had to say: being a hybrid agreed with him. His skin, though unearthly pale, was smooth as untouched snow and his platinum hair fell across his forehead, grazing the very edges of those ice-blue eyes. The lips I’d once kissed when he was human were petal-pink and puckered out just slightly where his fangs hit them.

  Even though I’d practically lived by his bedside for the past month, I felt like I hadn’t seen him in years. I’d never been so nervous around him. His vibe, which I was finally able to read now that his transformation was complete, revealed that he was equally apprehensive.

  Derek stood close to me, just a foot away.

  “I can feel the warmth of your body,” he said. “Even from right here.” He held his hand out in front of my chest, not even coming close to touching me, yet burning me nonetheless.

  “Are you cold?” I asked shakily. Another dumb thing to say, but anything to break the silence.

  Derek shook his head, his eyes never leaving mine for an instant.

  “Can they hear us?” he whispered, nodding to the door where Lucas and the others stood, probably poised to storm in at any moment.

  “I don’t know,” I said honestly. “Can you hear them?”

  “Yes. They’re talking about someone named Rolf.” Derek’s pupils dilated just slightly, and his voice came out cracked when he spoke next. “I can hear your blood pounding, too.”

  I swallowed hard, wishing that I could somehow muffle the sound of my heart throbbing. No need to tempt the poor guy.

  “Well,” I said, ignoring the comment about my blood, “then, I guess maybe they can hear us too.” I paused. “Why? Is there something you don’t want them to hear?”

  “I don’t think the boyfriend would appreciate it,” Derek said, “but I don’t care.” His faced melted into a sad little smile. “I missed you.”

  My heart was careening off my rib cage by now, and Derek had to hear it, which made my cheeks flush—another temptation. I looked away, trying to hide it. I felt like a flashing neon sign that said, eat me!

  Something icy touched my chin and pulled it up. It was Derek’s fingers. The fact that he was touching me, especially against Lucas’s wishes, was about all I could take. Tears began to form and clog my throat. Reluctantly, I met his eyes.

  “What do you feel now?” I asked. “Anything?”

  Derek put his hands over mine and I shivered. “I feel scared,” he murmured. “I feel ... alone. I feel like I’m dreaming, mostly, but overall I’m just happy you’re here. I want to keep you with me, Faith. I don’t know if I can take this if I don’t have you around, even if it means watching you with ... with him.” He clamped his jaw shut.

  Mine clamped shut, too. I had been ready to tell Derek how this was all my fault. To apologize and tell him how bad I felt, how much I wanted to take everything back. But I looked into those crystal eyes, so different from the ones I was used to seeing on his baby-face, yet somehow still shining with that everlasting warmth and love.

  I couldn’t tell him this was my fault. It would crush the last little bit of hope and humanity out of him. He was standing there telling me I was all he had left and that he’d lose it without me. How could I tell him the truth? That I had done this to him?

  It would destroy him.

  So instead, I sidetracked to the second most important thing and asked, “You feel all of that? Really feel it?”

  “Yeah,” he said. “You sound like you don’t believe me.”

  “It’s just that vampires don’t feel things, regular human things. They lose their humanity over time. I was scared you wouldn’t be the same—that you wouldn’t be my Derek anymore.”

  Derek reached up and wiped a tear from my cheek. “I’ll always be yours,” he said. “You have to know nothing will ever change that.” He smiled a little. “Not even death, apparently.”

  I let out a little laugh that was mostly a sob. “I know it now. I can still see you in your eyes.”

  Derek pressed his hand closer against my cheek “You feel like you’re on fire,” he said. “Or am I just cold?”

  “You’re cold.”

  His face closed down. “Because I’m dead. I don’t feel dead.”

  “You don’t look dead either,” I said earnestly. “You look alive. Perfect and alive.” I tried to smile, but the truth was that he looked like a corpse. Felt like one too. I removed my hand from his skin, but he kept his on my face.

  “At least I can be around you. Touch you, if I want.” He rubbed my cheek, spreading the death around my skin. It was so gross. “The boyfriend won’t like that.”

  “He can suck it up.”

  Derek’s eyebrow twitched. “Speaking of sucking,” he said, with a hint of humor in his voice. “This whole blood-drinking thing . . . it’s not really my style. What’ll happen to me if I never drink anybody’s blood? Will I go nuts like a vampire?”

  I was so relieved to hear those words pass his lips. I might have had a hard time accepting Derek’s habits if he’d been spending his nights murdering people to satiate his thirst.

  “I have no clue,” I said. “Nobody knows anything about you. You’ll just have to experiment and find out.”

  “So how long have you known about all this?” Derek asked, narrowing his gaze. “That night we spent in this cabin ... you knew didn’t you? That’s why you were so scared of the dark ... and Julian. Jesus, he changed that night, didn’t he?” He looked around as if the dingy cabin hid more secrets he could now decipher with this new knowledge.

  “I couldn’t tell you,” I said. “The pack would have killed me for it.”

  “I wouldn’t have believed you anyway. But—damn. I knew there was something up with that guy.” He glowered at the door where Lucas stood, probably listening raptly to every word we said.

  “You were right,” I said. “And I’m so, so sorry I got you involved.”

  “I—I can’t say it’s all right, yet,” he said. “Because it’s not. But, I have a feeling that with you to help me through it, one day it will be.”

  “It will,” I promised, though I had no idea if the words were true.

  Derek was silent for a while, probably mulling things over. I watched the strange angles of his face darken and bloom with the firelight, felt his vibe fluctuate from anger to confusion to grief and back to anger again. He was a mess.

  “So, I’m the only hybrid ... thing out there,” he said at last. “Seriously?”

  “It seems that way. Lucas told me once that mixing vampire and werewolf blood is like, the worst of the worst in this world. Vampires and werewolves are eternal enemies. They don’t work together as far as I know. So no one’s really tried mixing their blood into one person before—at least not on record. You’re unique, Derek. And everyone’s scared of you—of what a hybrid race means.”

  A smile spread across Derek’s lips. “Werewolves are scared of me. That’s wild.”

  “You have no idea,” I grumbled dryly.

  Then Derek’s smile faded. “Are they going to try and kill me?”

  I swallowed as my smile died as well. “I really don’t know.” I grabbed his arms even though they felt dead and gross. “Listen to me, Derek. You have to control yourself. All the time. From now on. If you slip up even once and kill someone, and the pack finds out—they’ll hunt you. They’ll find you. And they won’t have any misgivings a
bout killing you.”

  Derek gave me a look as though I was acting melodramatic. If only he knew how serious this was.

  “I’m under control,” he said. “I’m not planning on killing anyone.”

  “Ever,” I said. “No biting. No changing too close to people. No sucking of any blood. Ever.”

  Derek nodded, his eyes still hooded with a scowl. “Got it.”

  There was a knock on the door and Lucas entered.

  I withdrew my hands from Derek’s arms and took a step back.

  Lucas’s eyes flipped to me and shifted silver. I think I actually saw him bite his tongue.

  “Time to go,” he said.

  I went to him and took his hand. He was like a furnace. I didn’t know if that was because I’d just been holding Derek’s icicle arms, or because Lucas was ready to change at any second. All I know is that I liked it. Blood rushing, pulse pounding ... life.

  “Are we going back to campus now?” I asked. And would Derek be coming, too?

  “Nope,” Lucas said. “Rolf called. He’s summoning us.”

  “What’s that mean?” Derek asked.

  Lucas answered for me. “Nothin’ good.”

  Panic fluttered in my chest. “But—we can’t just hand him over,” I sputtered. “Rolf will kill him.” Despite Yvette’s assurances to the contrary, I didn’t trust Rolf. At all.

  “He won’t,” Lucas said surely, already tugging me out the door. Derek followed closely with a look of immense concern on his face. Katie and Julian were trudging along ahead of us, already at the tree line.

  “How do you know that?” I asked. “He’s wanted to kill Derek since he came to the house. How can you just trust him all of a sudden?”

  “Because I do.”

  I stopped walking. I needed a better answer than that.

  Lucas rounded on me.

  “You trust me, right?” he asked.

  I nodded.

  “Then you trust Rolf.”

  “He put you in the silver room,” I hissed. “I can never trust him after that.”

  “Rolf won’t hurt Derek. He gave me his word. If he breaks it in front of the whole pack, he might as well resign.”

  “How do you figure that?” I asked.

  “A pack is based on trust, Faith. I trust Rolf, he trusts me—even though he put me in the silver room,” he said, reading my outraged expression. “If he breaks his word, it’s over for him. Rolf’s been leading this pack for over two decades. He’d never give that up just for a kid who might be a danger to us.”

  I wasn’t convinced.

  “He won’t hurt Derek, all right?” Lucas said. “But it’s one night only. We have till dawn, so unless you want to wait until tomorrow and take your chances, I suggest we get going.”

  Defeated, I cast a glance at Derek’s petrified face and set off toward the car without another word. I could only pray that Lucas and Yvette were right.

  The five of us walked up the slate steps of the werewolf mansion in total silence. Lucas’s vibe was whirling around manically and Derek seemed paler than ever. I couldn’t even begin to think how scared he must’ve been, knowing he was about to enter a house full of werewolves who wanted him dead.

  Inside the massive recessed living room, about twenty pack members and all of the Pack Council were convened. They seemed to have been discussing something controversial—probably us—because a lot of the faces were angry. But angry or not, every single face turned to Derek when we entered the room.

  For almost ten seconds, the only sound was the crackling of the fire and blood rushing through my ears.

  A chair scratched against the wood floor as someone stood up. It was Rolf, looking poised and disconcertingly calm.

  I was instantly suspicious.

  “Lucas,” Rolf said. “Glad to see you are well.” He smiled warmly at Lucas, but I understood the subtext of that snide little statement: I’m glad you didn’t go crazy after suffering that sadistic punishment I gave you for no good reason other than to prove my place as pack master.

  Jerk.

  I glared him down with my most venomous look, but he wasn’t paying attention to me.

  “I am also glad that you have found your friend.” Rolf went on, turning his black gaze on Derek. “Won’t you please introduce us?”

  “This is Derek Turner,” Lucas said, even though Rolf already knew who Derek was. He probably knew more about him than I did, since he was rumored to have connections with the CIA. “Derek, this is Rolf. The pack master.”

  Derek’s eyes shifted to mine, they were lighter than normal—white with black rims encircling them. His wolf eyes. The nerves were really starting to trigger him. I prayed he’d keep it under control. The last thing we needed was for him to change and start trying to rip the house apart.

  “It is an honor to meet you, Derek,” Rolf said. “Please, all of you sit down. We have much to discuss.”

  Something was definitely up. Rolf was acting way too nice, even if he’d promised he wouldn’t hurt Derek. I reached out for his vibe and felt it boiling beneath his blasé exterior. He was frustrated. But why? I tried to get a handle on what specifically was irking him, but before I could delve deeper, something sliced its way around his emotions, cutting me off.

  My eyes flicked to Yvette, who sat next to Rolf. Her steely gray gaze was locked on mine. She knew I’d been feeling Rolf out. I hastily withdrew my feelers and looked away.

  Julian sat on the couch beside Melanie and Katie sat cross-legged on the floor by his feet, eyes bright with anticipation. Derek cast a worried look in my direction, and I grabbed his hand. I heard a few people gasp at this, and I glared at the room, holding tighter. I pulled him to the couch in front of the fire and sat beside him with Lucas on my other side.

  “So,” Rolf said. “He can touch you, after all. He does not have the blood crave? After the other night, I just assumed . . .”

  Lucas answered for me. “He has it. But he can eat regular food, too. If he doesn’t breathe, the crave seems manageable. He hasn’t eaten anyone, anyway.”

  “That is good.” Rolf’s face relaxed somewhat. “That is very good.” He observed Derek levelly. “The dawn is soon approaching, and we do not have much time left with you. I assume Lucas and Julian have told you all that you need to know about your condition—at least for now?”

  Derek nodded.

  “Well, I must admit, that I have questions for you, Derek Turner,” Rolf said. “And some words of caution.” His eyes darkened, and he leaned in, clasping his hairy fingers together. “The Pack Council has decided that your life will be spared as long as you remain under complete control. If you find that the need for blood is too much, we have ways in which you can satiate your thirst without resorting to murder. We urge you to come to us before you lose control. We do not want to kill you. Despite what you might think”—he shot me a scathing look—“that is not our way. However, if you become a danger to our territory, we will have no other choice. The safety of the humans and of our pack is our priority. Is that clear?”

  “Yes, sir,” Derek said.

  That sounded strangely fair, coming from Rolf. I wished I had the guts to ask him what his angle was, but I remained silent. Maybe he was just trying to prove to the pack that he would honor his word and not hurt Derek for tonight.

  Derek opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, but pressed it shut again without saying anything.

  “What is it?” I asked gently.

  “I can go back to CSU now?” he asked softly.

  “No,” Rolf said, leaning back in his chair. “I apologize, but that is simply impossible. You’re in an extremely unstable state right now and being in the vicinity of so many humans will put them at risk. I cannot allow it.”

  Derek’s face fell.

  “Then where will he stay?” I asked, speaking up for him.

  “Here,” Rolf said.

  Alarm bells fired off in my head. Whoa, whoa, whoa. Derek live here? At the mansion
... alone? There was no way that was happening.

  “No,” I said at once. “He needs to come back to school with us.”

  Rolf’s eyes could have laser-beamed through my head and into the wall behind me. “That is not for you to decide.”

  I turned to Lucas, waiting for him to speak up. At first, he looked down at me as though I was being difficult. Then, without even really meaning to, I opened the connection and spoke to him through it: Help me convince Rolf.

  “She’s right,” Lucas said suddenly. But it hadn’t been Lucas’s will that made him stick up for Derek, it had been mine.

  Startled by what I’d done, I let the connection drop. I hadn’t meant to make him do it—just ask him to. But I guess my power didn’t work that way. Heck, I hadn’t even been sure I could speak to him the way I had. Good information for later, but it didn’t excuse what I’d done.

  Lucas shook himself slightly, seeming to come out of a trance. His eyes shifted silver, and I felt the change rage within him like an angry bull. Controlling him that way must have increased my threat and made him want to change.

  I was a total scumbag.

  “I—I mean,” Lucas said, sounding sluggish. “I’ll be there ... and Katie. We’ll be at CSU to guard Derek.”

  But Rolf shook his head with a single jerk. “We need you, Lucas. Now that this mess with Vincent Stone is done with, there is no reason for you to remain at the school. Your duties are here, hunting with your brothers and sisters.”

  Lucas’s jaw shifted. “So put me on Derek’s guard.” His tone was reluctant; he was only saying this for me, but I was grateful. “Me and Katie. We can watch him.”

  “You and Julian are our most skilled trackers,” Rolf said, nodding at Julian. “We need you.”

  “You got along just fine without me,” Lucas grumbled. “And Julian’s still here. Besides—” Lucas’s eyes narrowed and his voice was clipped with contempt. “The Council seems to think the vampires in this area are manageable. There’s no uprising, right?”

  Rolf’s nostrils flared with annoyance. “We see no evidence of an uprising.”

  “Then one tracker’s more than enough to handle any vampire threats. Julian’s here. He’ll do it.”