Blood Crave

by Jennifer Knight

  “I don’t really want to get into the details,” I said. “But I just want you to know that I’m sorry, and that I hope we can still be friends. Or at least try to be.”

  Heather’s smile was warmer than the coffee in my lap. “Sure,” she said. “I understand. Things happen. I just wish you’d told me what was going on at the time. I was worried about you. I couldn’t even get you on your phone.”

  Because I’d been ignoring her calls. I’d just had no energy to lie to her, and no idea how to tell her the truth. I still didn’t.

  “Sorry,” I said again.

  She shrugged. “I’m just glad everything’s okay.” She hesitated. “Everything is okay, right?”

  Something inside me wrenched at the thought of what might have happened to Derek last night, but I managed to keep it off of my face. I nodded.

  “Good.” She smiled wanly and took a small sip of her coffee. “This is excellent,” she said.

  I nodded silently again as I composed what I’d come here to say. Asking Heather to give me another chance had been the easy part. Now came the real issue.

  “So,” I started, not knowing how she’d take this. “About last night.”

  She averted her eyes, looking out onto the yard.

  “Heather, you should really be careful,” I said gently. “I’m not your mom or whatever, so I can’t tell you what to do, obviously, but, it worried me to see you so . . . upset.” And high.

  “It was just fun.”

  “But do you even know those girls? They could be trouble.” They could also be involved with murdering vampires. Damn, I wished I could tell her!

  She remained silent. I knew my argument was lame, but I didn’t know what else I could tell her without revealing the truth.

  “Pete is garbage,” I said. “He’s lower than low.”

  “I know,” she mumbled.

  “So why are you letting him have this power over you?”

  “Because I still love him.”

  “You love garbage?” I asked, letting a little levity into my tone.

  She snorted. “I guess so.”

  I sighed and slung my arm around her shoulders. She leaned into me, sniffling and smiling at the same time. “We’re both messes,” I said.

  “How are you a mess? You always have everything so together.”

  “Ha!” I laughed and shook my head into her shoulder. If only she knew.

  “I feel so stupid,” Heather said. “That I let him get to me that way.” She groaned and covered her face in her hands. “Thank you for having Katie stay to take me home. Who knows what could have happened otherwise.”

  I shrugged. “So you won’t see them again?”

  She pulled away, wiping her eyes with her gloves. “God, no. If my parents ever found out, seriously, they would send me to a nunnery or something.”

  I giggled.

  “Plus,” she continued. “You know with the serial killer still out there, we should all be extra careful, not extra stupid.”

  Heather stood and tossed her empty coffee in the trash beside us.

  “Well, I have to go buy my books for this semester,” she said, pulling her gloves on. “Do you want to come? We can talk about dickhead boys—like Pete—” She smiled ruefully and I puffed a laugh. “And then go shopping for new clothes. I don’t know about you, but I need some heavy-duty boots for this arctic weather.”

  I’d planned on spending the rest of the day with Lucas, but suddenly, spending it with Heather sounded like the best idea in the world. I’d wanted more normality in my life, and here it was.

  When I returned to Lucas’s room—carrying several shopping bags and a smile I felt down to my soul—it was almost dusk. He was at his desk registering for classes. When I told him where I’d been, he seemed genuinely happy that I’d taken time to be with Heather. Secretly, I think he liked my little human things. Not-so-secretly, I did, too.

  I joined him at the desk and registered for classes with him. We tried to arrange our schedules so that we’d have some of the same classes—all in the late afternoon so we’d have the mornings to sleep.

  I decided to take a photography course in addition to all of the math and history and other boring crap I was forced to take. Lucas registered for it too, even though he didn’t care much for photography. I think he was mostly concerned about keeping me in sight.

  Afterward, we sat on the floor playing Slap Jack and waiting for the night to come, when I thought of something that had been bugging me since Calvin had said it. “Lucas, what does ‘pet’ mean?” I asked as I put down a king of diamonds. I decided to just blurt out the question without preamble with the hope of startling the answer out of him.

  But werewolves, as I’d learned, weren’t so easy to scare.

  He threw down a three of clubs and paused, looking up at me. “You mean a vampire pet?”

  “Yeah,” I said and tossed my card.

  “Some vampires are assigned humans to quench their thirst. They call them pets.”

  “What do you mean, assigned?”

  “The monarchs will give humans out to their subjects if they do something that pleases them.”

  “And the vampires force the humans to stay and be bitten? But won’t that kill them?”

  “They have ways around biting,” he said. “Sometimes they siphon the blood out with needles, sometimes they cover their teeth, or use their nails to make the incision. And yeah, sometimes they just kill them.”

  “That’s so horrible,” I said, rigid with disgust.

  “Yeah, well. You asked.” Lucas slapped the pile again, drawing the cards up into his hands.

  “So how is a pet any different than a blood bitch?”

  Lucas flicked down a four of clubs. “Well, first off, blood bitches don’t give blood to the vampires. And blood bitches are free agents. They can come and go whenever they want—for the most part anyway. But a pet is like a slave. They’re stuck with their vampire for as long as they want them.”

  I listened to the music playing in the background, taking in a soft rock melody I’d never heard before. “So are there any werewolves that drink vampire blood?” I asked.

  Lucas’s face shadowed. “Are you crazy? It tastes like shit.”

  I felt my eyebrows shoot up with a smile tugging on my lips. “What? You’ve tried it?”

  “Not tried it. When you’ve killed as many vampires as I have, it’s only natural that their blood’s gonna get in your mouth. It’s disgusting and wrong. Our blood isn’t meant to mix. But even so, there’s no reason for us to drink it. Vampire blood doesn’t give us any abilities like it does for humans. And it doesn’t make us high no matter how much we ingest, and believe me, I’ve had a lot.”

  “Ew. Remind me not to kiss you anymore.”

  He leaned over and pressed a kiss on my lips so swiftly I hardly knew it happened.

  I smiled at the roguish look on his face. “So no werewolf blood bitches?” I asked.

  “I’m not gonna pretend like it doesn’t happen. But it’s rare and usually only occurs when both parties have something to gain. Like a trade-off kind of thing. And no blood is exchanged, since we don’t have any use for it. They trade other stuff. Well, werewolves aren’t allowed to kill humans, right? So the vampire might say, okay I’ll murder this dude for you, if you go out during the day and get this thing for me. Get it?”

  I nodded. “But, that’s not allowed is it? Rolf wouldn’t let you guys work with vampires.”

  “Damn straight he wouldn’t. Any werewolf that’s found aiding the vampires is sentenced to death.” He slapped the deck and gathered up the cards.

  “Calvin said something about me last night,” I said cautiously.

  Lucas looked up, alarm written all over his face. “What’d he say?”

  “That I was special like his pet.” I dropped a card and slapped it, taking only two measly little cards into my pile.

  “Oh, he was probably referring to your otherness,” he said, relaxing.r />
  “They can sense that stuff?”

  “Some of them.”

  “So Paula had a gift then,” I said. “Maybe she was like me!” But as quickly as the excitement came, it passed. “Oh, no. I could feel her energy. With Yvette I can’t read her vibe. And anyway, she’s dead now.”

  “Might’ve been a telepath,” he said offhandedly. “Mind reader.”

  “Those exist too?” I said, equally nonchalant. Nothing surprised me anymore.

  “Sure,” he said. “Met a few in my time. Granted, that was mostly in the seventeenth century, but still. They must still exist. You exist, right?”

  I looked down at myself as though checking to see. “Seems like it. And besides, I can sort of read minds. Like, when an emotion is really strong, I can sometimes hear a thought behind it, or figure out the reasoning.”

  “Okay, so what if I try to send you a thought. Can you hear it?”

  “I don’t know. Sometimes I get complete thoughts, but I don’t know if you could send me one. Try it.”

  Lucas met my gaze levelly, expression calm and intent, but masked, which made me really want to know what he was sending me. I let the sparks between us fuse, hoping I’d be able to hear something, but all I got was a whiff of curiosity and amusement. I pushed deeper, willing myself to hear something.

  Frustrated, I shrugged, breaking off the connection.

  “We’ll keep practicing,” Lucas said. “What about the blocking thing we talked about? We haven’t even tried it.”

  “Try it now.” Maybe this I could do, at least.

  “I, ah . . . don’t really know . . .”

  I’d never seen Lucas flustered, but it was terribly cute. “I don’t know how you do it either,” I said. “With Derek it feels like a wall in his head. Completely impenetrable. Maybe just visualize a brick wall, or something.”

  “I can do that.”

  I sucked in a deep breath. “Ready?”

  “Yeah.”

  I ignited our connection and felt Lucas’s emotions consume me like a category five tornado. Determination. Confusion. Disappointment.

  Nice try, babe.

  I released the connection, wondering if he’d heard me.

  “Damn,” Lucas grumbled. “Do it again.”

  We did the exercise over and over again for fifteen minutes straight. Finally, on the last time, Lucas managed to keep me out. It was a weak form of the block in Derek’s head. More like a chain-link fence than a brick wall, but it kept me out and I let the connection drop.

  “Yes!” Lucas shouted triumphantly, flinging his card across the room.

  I laughed. “Pretty good.”

  “Pretty good? That was an impenetrable wall if I ever saw one—felt one. Whatever.”

  I laughed again, shaking my head. “You’re right. It was impassible. I never could have gotten in if you hadn’t let me.”

  He sent me a skeptical look. “How’d Yvette and Rolf figure this out, anyway? What a pain.”

  “She probably tried to make him do something and he didn’t want to so badly that he blocked her out of instinct. Yvette said it takes practice.”

  “Yeah, well, at least they’re the only ones who know about this, right? Could you imagine the whole pack blocking you out while they were changed?”

  I nodded, but felt a frown between my eyebrows. “I don’t know if Yvette is the only one who knows, though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Remember Kevin? The other dude with the sense?”

  Lucas nodded.

  “Well, the vampires kidnapped him and probably tortured all of his secrets out of him before they killed him. There might be some of them who know how to block me.”

  “But you can’t control them, anyway so don’t worry about it.”

  I wasn’t so sure. I didn’t like the vampires knowing about my powers. Even if I couldn’t control them, the werewolves were susceptible, and I didn’t want this blocking info to get out.

  “Let’s try it again,” Lucas said.

  “No, let’s forget it for now. I’m tired.” Really I was just keen on talking about vampires some more. “So about Paula,” I said.

  “Back to this . . . ,” he grumbled and crossed the room to collect his cards.

  “Yes. Back to this. Melissa drank like, all of Paula’s blood. If she did have a power, does that mean Melissa will get them now?”

  “How the hell would I know? Do I look like a vampire?”

  I ignored him and worked it out in my head. “Well, I guess not,” I said, answering my own question. “Vincent had some of my blood, and he couldn’t use the sense or control you.”

  We were both silent for a while as Lucas continued to destroy me at Slap Jack.

  “You know when I first started feeling them?” I said softly. “The vibes, I mean?”

  “Hmm?” Lucas slapped the pile, leaving me with one lonely little card left.

  “It was right after the surgery when I had to remove the bullet.” I looked up at him and he put his hand on my thigh, right over the scar. He knew the bullet I meant. The one my stepdad sent flying into my flesh in a drunken rage. “I was lying in the recovery room,” I said, “all doped up on morphine and Derek walked in. As soon as he got close, I felt this warm energy smother me. It was so sweet and bright ... like something golden, I don’t know. I told him about it and he just smiled at me and told me I was loopy from the drugs. I believed him at first, but the vibes stayed even after the drugs wore off.”

  I glanced up and saw that Lucas was nodding like this all made perfect sense. “You were thirteen right?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Most supernatural abilities manifest at puberty. It was probably a coincidence that it happened after your surgery.”

  I put down my last card, and Lucas slapped it up. I slumped, defeated, and he gave me a smug smile as he reshuffled the deck.

  I looked out the window and saw the ashen sky smothering the sun. “It’s close to dusk. We should go up to his room to wait for him.”

  “Why don’t you just call him?” he suggested stiffly. He stood and tossed me my cell phone.

  I gulped and pressed the speed dial, hoping against all the hope in the world that Derek’s mellow voice would sound through the receiver.

  It didn’t.

  Instead, I heard the bold, slightly accented voice of Calvin Carnelian.

  15

  JUST A PULL

  “Derek Turner’s phone,” Calvin said, sounding a lot like a hotel receptionist. I expected him to ask me if I wanted a mint on my pillow next.

  “Where’s Derek?” I asked.

  Lucas’s gaze was like a razor blade slicing through my throat as he whipped around on me. My breath caught.

  “Oh, is this Faith?” Calvin asked, seemingly overjoyed to hear me. “How sweet! Derek is lucky to own a pet so eager for him that she cannot even wait for him to wake.”

  I sneered at the phone and opened my mouth to say something snotty, but Lucas motioned for me to be calm. Although I could feel the spark of anger he felt at hearing Calvin’s words.

  “Can you please tell him to call me when he wakes up?” I asked in the nicest voice I could muster.

  “Certainly,” Calvin said. “Anything else you wish me to relay to your master?”

  Again, I started to say something bitchy, but Lucas put his hand on my knee.

  “Just tell him I’m waiting for him in the courtyard.”

  “It shall be done. Farewell, Faith Reynolds.” He hung up, leaving me staring at the receiver and wondering how he knew my last name.

  Lucas and I went downstairs into the snow to wait for Derek. It was freezing and I let Lucas wrap his coat around me and button it up. Snowflakes buzzed around our heads like gnats, landing on my head and cheeks.

  Before long, a silver car pulled up beside us. Lucas unbuttoned me from his coat and clasped my hand.

  “That’s them,” I said, recognizing the car.

  “Stay behind me. If
anything goes wrong, run inside and don’t let anyone in. In fact, maybe you should just wait in—”

  “No,” I cut him off firmly. “I want to be here.”

  Lucas made a low annoyed sound in the back of his throat and pushed me behind his body.

  I watched from around his waist as the back door of the car popped open and Derek emerged. His face was flushed, and he wore a giant smile, fangs glistening. He leaned down and said, “See ya later, guys.”

  He shut the door and strutted toward us as the silver car buzzed off.

  Lucas relaxed slightly, but remained stiff—as though he was holding himself back.

  “Hey,” Derek said lightly. “What’s up?”

  I stepped around Lucas. “How was your night?”

  “Great!” Derek said. “The vampires are really cool. Way nicer than the werewolves, no offense.”

  Lucas shot me an I-told-you-so look.

  “Derek,” I said. “What are you talking about? They practically kidnapped you!”

  “Yeah, but once I showed them that I wasn’t lying, they were really, really cool. They took me to their house—lair, whatever—which is basically this huge underground mansion that looks like a dump from the outside, but is really sweet inside. And everyone was so—”

  “Ugh, Derek!” I yelled. “Vampires are not cool or nice or sweet. They’re evil, bloodsucking murderers!”

  “Not all of them,” Derek said. “Some of them are nice. Melissa is so—”

  “No, they’re not,” I cut in. “They just want to get you on their side.”

  “Side? What side?”

  “There’s an uprising about to start and they want you because you’re powerful and unique.”

  Lucas put his hand on mine and shushed me, probably because I sounded slightly hysterical.

  “Yes,” Derek said to Lucas. “Thank you. She’s being crazy, right?”

  “No,” Lucas said. “You’re crazy if you think the vampires are your friends.”

  Derek scoffed. “Whatever. You guys don’t know what you’re talking about.” He began walking away. I started after him, but Lucas held on to my hand, preventing me from moving.