Blood Crave

by Jennifer Knight

  “But your power is useless against the vampires.”

  I ground my teeth and looked away.

  “It’s okay to have weaknesses,” Lucas said softly. “You taught me that.”

  I looked up at him again.

  “It’s okay to need people,” he whispered. “If you need me, it doesn’t mean you’re powerless. It just means you need help.” He shrugged and smiled. “And it’s okay. Because there’s gonna come a time when I’ll need your help, too. And I can promise you this, Faith: I won’t be too proud to accept it.”

  I swallowed hard to keep the tears back and nodded. “Okay,” I whispered.

  He relaxed. “Now will you please go back to CSU where it’s safe?”

  I sighed heavily and shrugged. “I have no choice.”

  Derek and Katie returned an hour later, both flushed and windblown, and looking too happy to be allowed. By that time, the pack had already left for the raid, leaving only me and a scattering of human guards and children in the mansion. It was getting close to nine p.m., which meant we’d never make it back to CSU before the curfew. Meaning we’d have to either sneak in or get a pass from one of the many policemen standing by at the entrances to the campus.

  I was in no rush to get back to school and deal with that. Katie and Derek seemed content to stay a while, too, since neither of them had come in from the back porch yet. I debated on joining them, but they both looked a little too hyper for my taste. I was in the mood to be angry, not make doggie bathroom jokes.

  I shoved off from the sofa and began making my way into the kitchen. With the werewolves gone, everyone else had scattered into their private quarters, leaving me alone on the bottom floor, which effectively creeped me out; the mansion was spooky at night without the rowdy werewolves to fill the silence.

  I went into the kitchen, hoping to find some leftover brownies or something. The lights were off, but I couldn’t find the switch in the darkness, so I rushed to the fridge to light the room. I rooted around inside it, finding nothing appetizing. Glass bottles clinked together, tinfoil crinkled as I pushed it out of the way and—

  I straightened, ears pricked. I couldn’t bring myself to turn around, but I stood stock still, listening for the sound I was sure I’d heard.

  There it was again. I stepped away from the fridge, and it closed behind me with a small thud, plunging me into total darkness. I swallowed hard, trying to be brave. I’d heard someone moving around in the back hall. It was a distinctive kind of scraping sound, like bare feet on hardwood. It had started then stopped. Waited. Then started again.

  Now whoever it was had stopped, probably realizing I’d heard.

  I edged around the counter toward the knife block. Why would someone be sneaking around in the mansion? Spying on me? No, that was too narcissistic. Maybe they wanted to get to Derek? To kill him for last night’s disaster?

  Slowly, I pulled a chef’s knife from its sheath and held it by my side. It had only made a soft whooshing sound, but if the person sneaking around in the hall was a werewolf, he’d have heard it and known I was armed.

  I waited in the corner between the island and the back counter, trying to become invisible. Part of me tried to play this off as paranoia, but there was this irrepressible feeling inside me that insisted whoever was in the hallway was there with malicious intent. Cautiously, I reached out with my power to try and find the being in the hall.

  It was a faint vibe, but it was there—

  I frowned. It wasn’t a werewolf. That made me relax my hold on the knife somewhat. He or she was human. And he or she was hiding. From me. I strained to hear the person’s exact thoughts, but I must have been too nervous. All I got was a name.

  A name that froze my heart to solid ice.

  Calvin.

  21

  FAIR WARNING

  I couldn’t stifle a gasp. But I immediately regretted doing it. I barely got a second’s warning in the vibe before he was exploding out of the hall at top speed—a mammoth of a man with agility that shouldn’t have been possible. He darted around the countertop and was almost on top of me before I could scream. I dashed out of his grip and rounded the island, throwing a stool down behind me. He tripped over it, and I sprinted for the back door—the only place I could think to go.

  It was locked. I tugged on it, crying out, but it didn’t budge. I spun to see the man crawling toward me as he got up. Panicking, I chucked the knife at him and tried to squirm away past his bulky body. He dodged the knife as though this was just a game of dodgeball and then lunged for me. He caught my foot as I made to jump around the island again, and we both hit the tiled floor. My head slammed into the tile, dazing me, as the man got a good tight hold on my shoulders. He straddled me, weighing about as much as a full-grown horse might and pressed the knife I’d thrown at him against my throat.

  “Shut up, shut up,” he whispered.

  When your attacker says to shut up, that’s usually a good time to scream.

  I inhaled deeply to do just that when he took the knife and slashed my cheek.

  I gasped and he replaced the knife to my throat.

  “Next time I’ll make it scar,” he said.

  “Fuck you,” I snarled, half crying.

  “Not interested.”

  I squirmed beneath him, but that did pretty much nothing. This guy was a tank. He was probably one of the men who’d taken Lucas down to the silver room, but I couldn’t catch a clear glimpse of his face to be sure.

  “What do you want?” I demanded.

  “I want to tell you something.”

  “And you need a knife to do that?”

  “I need a knife so you won’t scream. I was going to try and do this telepathically, but you’re still too new.”

  “What?” I asked. “What do you mean? Did you talk to Yvette?”

  “No. My brother.”

  “Kevin,” I whispered. By now all I could do was whisper, since he was sitting on my chest.

  I saw his silhouette nod in the darkness.

  “I had suspected you were one of them for a while,” he said. “But when Lucas came out of that room with his sanity, I was certain. Listen, Faith, you must know something. It’s about the uprising.”

  “What?” I asked breathlessly.

  “Rolf will not listen to me because I am human, and nobody here trusts me, so I need you, Faith.”

  “Why doesn’t anyone trust you?” I could make a few guesses based on my current situation, but I wanted to know more.

  “That is a story for another time. What you need to hear, you must hear quickly and then convince Lucas to take action.”

  “Okay . . . so tell me.”

  “The vampires want Derek. They want him badly, and they will do anything to have him.”

  My stomach plummeted. “Why?” I croaked.

  “I know not. But they want him. Faith, there is talk of kidnapping him, or keeping him hostage. Of keeping you hostage so he will comply with their wishes. My insiders can keep their plans at bay for now, but it will not last forever. You have to leave here. Go someplace where the vampires cannot find you.”

  I gasped for breath. “I can’t leave. My whole life is here. Lucas is here.”

  “Do you not think Lucas will follow you anywhere?”

  “He needs the pack to stay sane, I can’t ask him to—”

  “So you would rather your best friend die? Or yourself?”

  I struggled again to get away, furious. “Who are you? What do you even care about us?”

  “I am closer to you than you think,” he rumbled. “Please, Faith, heed my words.”

  Heed his words? What a loser. “What am I supposed to do with this information? I can’t leave. I won’t.”

  “Then for Heaven’s sake, at least take precautions. You cannot run amok through the night and not expect evil to find you.”

  “I don’t run amok anywhere; I have protection. And I’ll tell Lucas and Derek what you said about them wanting him for something, but
beyond that there’s nothing I can do. In case you haven’t noticed, I’m just a human.”

  He slid the knife slowly away from my throat and said softly, “Some of the bravest people I’ve ever known have been human. Your mother among them.”

  “My mother?” I asked. “What do you know about my mother?”

  But he ignored me and said, “Just because you are human, doesn’t mean you are inferior. It just means you must be careful. So be careful, Faith. I’ll be watching.” And with that he was gone, vanished like a ghost.

  “You slimeball, what do you know about my mother?” I screamed to no one. “Tell me, damn it!” I rolled over and slammed my fist into the ground, effectively shutting me up. I sat back on my haunches, cradling my hand to my chest. Suddenly, the light popped on, and I heard voices coming in from the living room. It was Derek and Katie, the dynamic doggie duo, complete with wagging tails and drool slathering from their grinning mouths. Man, I was not looking forward to spending two hours locked in a car with those two. I loved them, yes, but chipper was so not me at the moment.

  Derek all but stepped on me as he made his way to the fridge.

  “Oh—what the hell? Faith?” he asked, stooping down. “Are you okay?”

  “No,” I whispered. “I am not okay. Some dude just attacked me and held a knife to my throat.”

  “Oh, my God,” Katie whispered and did a quick sweep around the room. “I don’t smell anyone weird. Who was it?”

  “I have no idea. I couldn’t see him.” Derek helped me up onto a stool and held a damp cloth to my cheek to staunch the blood flow from the wound my attacker has given me. Derek noticed my swollen hand and quickly got a bag of frozen peas.

  “Did you hit him?” he asked.

  I swallowed. “Yeah,” I said, not wanting to go with the truth, which was much more embarrassing.

  “Way to go,” he said and winked at me. “Well, are you sure you’re okay? What did he want?”

  “I’m fine. And he said he just wanted to tell me something—something about you, actually.”

  “What was it?”

  “He said that the vampires need you. And that they’ll do anything to get you to work with them. He said that they’d use me to get to you.”

  Derek appeared worried for a moment, and then he frowned. “Wait—how did this guy know all of this anyway? Maybe he’s screwing with you.”

  “I thought that, too,” I said. “But he said he had an insider. And something in the way he said everything ... I don’t know. I believed him.”

  “So what does this mean?” Katie asked, handing me a glass of water.

  I took it gratefully, realizing as I did so that my hands were shaking.

  “Well, I’d say Derek has to stay away from the vampires, but since he’s got to spy on them for the pack, it’s not an option.”

  Derek nodded gravely. “I’ll just be careful. Besides, I’m sure this guy is just trying to scare you. It’ll be fine.”

  I gave him a flat stare. “Famous last words.”

  Over the next two weeks, I barely saw Derek at all. The more time he spent with the vampires on spy duty, the less he hung out with me and Lucas. But it was my personal opinion that Derek wasn’t hanging out with them because he had to—he did it because he genuinely liked them. No. Scratch that. He was crazy about them—their money and charms drew him in like blood through veins.

  The only thing Derek didn’t seem to like about the vampires was their diet. And not just that—he couldn’t really judge them when he had the same needs—but the way that they took it. Their sick little pets.

  That didn’t stop him from accepting more of their fancy gifts, though. Cars, designer clothes, an expensive phone, and a watch that cost more than my spring tuition were just a few.

  Since my mystery attacker had said the vampires wanted Derek for their uprising, I could only assume they were giving him these things to woo him. They wanted him on their team, and they were doing a fine job of luring him in. It seemed that with each gift, Derek released less and less information about the goings-on inside the lair.

  He’d been required to give nightly updates since the last full moon, but lately, the information was scarce. In fact, Derek fought us tooth and nail on the very existence of an uprising.

  It was after they’d given him VIP concert tickets to see Paramore—one of my favorite bands—that I finally confronted him about it.

  We were walking to his room after one of his oh-so-fantastic nights with Calvin, Melissa, and Silas. It was close to five a.m., so I wasn’t in the best mood anyway, but when he pulled out the tickets, it was like he rubbed my nose in his smelly socks.

  “There are two tickets,” Derek said. “We can both go if you—”

  “I don’t give a crap if you have a thousand tickets!” I exploded. “Can’t you see that this is all a ploy? They’re being way too nice to you!”

  “What?” He let out an exasperated noise. “Can’t you just be happy for me? I have some friends again. I’m not going to apologize for wanting people to talk to besides you.”

  “I’m not asking you to. I understand you wanting to have friends, but if you’d open your eyes, you’ll see that you already do have friends. What about Katie? She’s been calling me and asking where you are. She says she hasn’t heard from you in weeks and you barely speak to her in your classes.”

  Derek’s jaw tightened, and he looked away.

  “Did you guys have a fight?” I asked.

  “No,” he said. “Katie is just ... the werewolves aren’t like me. I don’t fit in around them.”

  My heart sunk. I think part of me knew it was true.

  “You just have to spend some time with them,” I said, as I put my hand on his arm. “They’re actually really nice ... some of them.”

  “They only want me to spy for them,” he said dismissively. He shook his head with an eye roll. “For a second that night ... for a second, I actually thought they wanted me around. Me, not my powers. I thought helping them might be my way to finally connect with the pack. But then Rolf made it clear that he’d have me killed if I didn’t help. He said that because I have the crave on the full moon, I’m too dangerous to have around. But if I proved useful, they’d be willing to take the ‘appropriate cautionary measures.’” He sneered.

  “You see, Faith, they’re all like Lucas. They can’t stand to be around me, want nothing to do with me because I’m not a pureblood werewolf. I’m just a dirty mutt to them. And I know you think I haven’t but I’ve tried to connect with them, feel something when I’m around them, but it just doesn’t click. The only time I feel anything like them is when I change. Then ... like when I run with Katie.” He swept his hand through his hair and sighed. “Man, it’s like we’re the same person. Like we have the same heartbeat. I’ve never felt closer to anyone in my life.” His smile was far away as though he saw some unseen vision I could never understand. But in a breath, it disappeared. “Then I turn into me again, and it’s gone. I can’t connect to anyone.... I’m like one of them. A vampire.”

  Derek sniffed bitterly and flopped down on the bench outside his building. I stood between his feet with my hands in my pockets. He was so desperate to connect to someone that he was latching onto the only people who were nice to him, regardless of the fact that they were murderers. I had to make him see that they only wanted to use him as a weapon in their uprising and that siding with them would pretty much mean the end of civilization. I’d tried repeating my mystery attacker’s warning, but he didn’t seem to believe that guy. Frankly, I wasn’t sure if I did either, but I didn’t want Derek around the vampires anyway, so I’d use whatever ammo I had.

  “Have you heard them mention anything about their plans?” I asked. Since the massive raid had been a total bust, the pack was more desperate than ever for info. If they didn’t get it, I worried they’d come after Derek. He didn’t like when I pried into what he called “his business” but I didn’t have a choice anymore. It was either ann
oy him or risk the pack’s fury.

  Derek dragged his hands down his face and regarded me flatly.

  “I haven’t heard anything. But that’s because there is no uprising, Faith. You’re being paranoid, I’m telling you. The vampires aren’t interested in the werewolves aside from staying away from them.”

  I kicked his shoe absently. “What if there is an uprising, but they’re just not telling you about it because they want to use you?”

  Derek made an aggravated sound that sounded suspiciously like a snarl and stood.

  “Using me for what?” he asked. “Half the time I don’t think they even want me around. They think I’m a freak. They tell me every night what a wuss I am because I don’t kill people to satisfy my crave; they laugh at me when I get upset and tremor. They don’t want to use me; they probably want to get rid of me.”

  Derek started walking toward his building.

  “Derek!” I shouted after him.

  He blurred through the door, leaving me looking around to make sure nobody saw him moving at the speed of light.

  I thumped down on the bench, reeling. He was like a bratty child, fit to explode at the first sign of upset. I supposed it was the split magic affecting him again, but that didn’t make it any easier to deal with. And worst of all, he seemed hell-bent on staying with the vampires.

  I kicked a pinecone across the yard, cursing to myself.

  Why was he being so stubborn? So—I puffed a laugh. So like a werewolf.

  It was clear he was not going to listen to me or my mystery attacker’s warnings, so that meant I had to somehow prove that the vampires were, indeed, using Derek for their upcoming revolution. But how can I prove it to him?

  The answer came to me in a rush of terror and, oddly, excitement: I had to make them admit it. Which meant I had to get closer to the vampires and work it out of one of them. I could use my gift the way I had with Lucas when we interrogated that vampire in the barn so I’d know what information was true and what was false. Plus, now that I was getting better at picking out actual thoughts from peoples’ heads, sneaking out information would be even simpler. I could even get info out of them for the pack.