Blood Crave

by Jennifer Knight

  “I’m not going,” I said firmly. I stood facing the darkened window, refusing to look at him.

  “You have to go,” Derek said from behind me.

  “I don’t have to do anything,” I said acidly. “I signed up for night skiing, not hot tubbing.”

  “We’re going skiing tomorrow night. There’s not enough time before dawn tonight.”

  I spun around. “And that was vile out there, by the way. God, she was sucking his blood right there in the living room!”

  Derek stuffed his hands into his pockets. “Melissa’s still kind of young, and she needs more than most.”

  “I know that, but it’s not an excuse! She could drink donated blood.”

  “That stuff tastes like plastic. I don’t blame her for wanting the fresh stuff.”

  “You don’t blame her?”

  “Aw, Faith, do we have to get into this? I thought we were here to have fun.”

  I dug my fingers into my eyes, trying to reign in my temper. “Okay,” I said. “Sorry. That was just ... gross.”

  Derek’s mouth tightened, and I realized I’d hurt his feelings.

  “Sorry,” I said again.

  He just shrugged and flitted into the bathroom. He emerged seconds later in a pair of light blue Lacoste swim trunks and a bare chest.

  As I was busy gaping at his rockin’ bod, Derek tossed something at me.

  “What’s this?” I asked.

  “Bathing suit. Duh.”

  I untangled it and saw that it was a black Victoria’s Secret bathing suit with barely anything in the butt department.

  “No way,” I said. “I’m not going.”

  “They’ll be insulted if you don’t.”

  “Like I care.” I turned away from him.

  Then Derek came up behind me, putting his cold hands on my arms. “Please, Faith? I just want to have a good time this weekend. It’s been so long since we’ve been able to just be together without any drama. I miss us.” His hands traced lightly down my arms, coming to a stop at my wrists. He bent his mouth close to my ear, giving me chills. “I’ll make sure the others behave. They listen to me.”

  Because they want to use you, I longed to say. But I’d been defeated. I was always a sucker for his sweetness.

  So I put on the tiny swimsuit and forced myself to go out onto the balcony with Derek strutting along beside me.

  The hot tub was inset into the lacquered oak planks of the deck, making it flush with the floor. The view behind the balcony was the dark form of Keystone Mountain, so close it blocked out the sky. Blue and red lanterns hung along the balcony and cast us all in a creepy purplish glow. Wine glasses filled with dark liquid dotted the edge of the hot tub and music played in the background. It might have been romantic if I hadn’t been scared out of my mind.

  The vampires were already inside the roiling water of the hot tub, and I was willing to bet that none of them had any clothes on.

  Not that I was about to look.

  Not that I noticed Calvin had the pecs of a Greek god.

  Or that Melissa’s bathing suit was twice as tiny as mine, and it was hanging over the edge of a wooden chaise lounge.

  Thank God for bubbles.

  I sank in next to Derek and tried to become as small and insignificant as possible, which was, sadly, not as easy as I had hoped. Across from me, I tried not to watch Melissa sexually molesting her pet.

  “Hey, Calvin,” I said, nudging his arm.

  He turned with a giant smile on his face, and for a moment, I was distracted by his supreme cuteness. Damn vampires. . . .

  “Do you know Vincent Stone?” I asked.

  I felt Derek go rod stiff next to me.

  “Why yes,” Calvin said pleasantly. “I know him quite well. Lovely fellow, Vince. A smidge vengeful over some feud he had going with a werewolf, but I hear that’s all done with.” He frowned, looking off into the distance as if trying to recall something. “I wonder what’s become of him now.” Then he shook himself and said, “Why is it that you ask?”

  “Because I was curious about whether he ever got punished.”

  “Punished? Well, whatever for, dear Faith? Vince never committed any crime to my knowledge.”

  “I heard he did.”

  I was being careful not to outright accuse their friend of murdering girls in Denver, but that was exactly what I was trying to get at. If Vincent wasn’t the only one killing girls—and it was pretty obvious that he wasn’t because he was dead and girls had been murdered afterward—then I wanted to know who else was.

  “What did you hear?” Calvin asked.

  Derek’s foot stomped on mine, and I winced, tears springing into my eyes. I looked down and pretended to sneeze.

  Derek cut in while I was enduring the severe pain he’d caused my baby toe.

  “She heard he’d never registered when he came to Colorado,” Derek said. “I told her.”

  Calvin smiled tightly. “You tell your pet a lot, Derek. That may not be the smartest move considering her ties with the dogs. One might deem that as treachery.”

  “I don’t cross information,” I said. “What Derek tells me stays with me.”

  Calvin dipped his head into a bow. “A loyal pet. Such a rare exception.”

  “But that’s not what I heard about Vincent,” I said before Derek could stomp on me again. “I heard he didn’t hide his, ah . . . prey properly a time or two and that he was going to be punished for it.”

  Calvin narrowed his eyes and scratched at his ear, internally debating something. Silas, listening in to our conversation, seemed totally bored, while Melissa, on the other hand, had mounted her pet and was doing ... something to him under the water. I didn’t think she was listening.

  “Where did you hear this?” Calvin asked.

  “I kind of figured it out. I knew Vincent. We went on a few dates.” Technically not a lie. “I know what you’re talking about when you say he was involved in a feud. It’s all he ever talked about. Except once. Once he told me he was turning people. A lot of people. He said that girls were harder to turn because of their souls or something. With all those dead girls on the news it didn’t take long for me to figure out it was him, and to figure out that he would be punished by his superiors.”

  Calvin’s expression was completely masked as he listened, so I tested his energy to see whether I was getting anywhere. He knew I was angling, but he couldn’t tell why. I heard a few stray words, traitor and lying among them.

  I focused on the water and played with the beading on my bikini top, trying to go for sexy little vampire pet, rather than werewolf informant. “I—I just wanted to know if something bad happened to him,” I said mournfully. I risked a look at Calvin and saw that his gaze has softened.

  He scooted closer to me and wrapped his frosty arm around my shoulders. “Regrettably, I know not what happened to Vince. He was an excellent vampire, quite a few years my senior, if I recall. I shall send word out to our neighboring sectors for you, if you like. Perhaps he would return if he knew your concern for him.”

  “Ugh, no way,” I said before I could stop myself. Derek stomped me again and I let out a noise that sounded like a trampled Chihuahua. I sniffled trying to pretend like I was crying. “I mean, no—no,” I fake sobbed, secretly rubbing my toes. “No, don’t bother him. He’s such a busy, busy man.”

  Calvin rocked me side to side. “Ah, the love of a loyal pet is such a beautiful thing. It is such a shame so many of you have to die.”

  I sniffled and shivered underneath Calvin’s icicle of an arm. I shot the evilest of all evil looks at Derek and mouthed the words, “I hate you.”

  “Tell me, Faith darling,” Calvin crooned, “what does it feel like to be bitten by a vampire? I must admit, I am quite curious. Sadly, I cannot remember the experience for myself.” He leaned back, tracing his chilly finger over my shoulder.

  “I’ve never been bitten by a vampire,” I said, evading.

  “Oh yes,” Calvin said. “But
Derek has bitten you. He told us.” He threw an approving smile at Derek, like one a father might give his son when he won a soccer game. “A viran’s bite cannot be so different from a vampire.”

  “It—it feels like a bite,” I said reluctantly. I didn’t want to admit that it was pretty much the best feeling in the entire world.

  “Oh, come now,” Calvin coaxed. His voice was soft and slippery as butter. “You must be more descriptive than that.”

  I glanced around nervously and saw that the entire hot tub had gone silent. Only the bubbling of the water and the soft lull of music floated through the air. They were all staring at me, even Derek.

  “I was mostly just scared,” I muttered.

  Derek looked away, shame raking through his vibe.

  “Of what?” Calvin pried.

  I bit my bottom lip, wishing the subject would change. But the vampires seemed genuinely interested in this. It was so weird. Maybe they got off on talking about it.

  “I was scared that—that he would take too much and kill me.”

  Derek’s profile crumbled into a grimace, but he remained silent.

  “And when he pulled,” Calvin said eagerly. “What then? Only fear, or was there ... something else?”

  I drew in a shuddery breath. It was like they knew I was holding something back. But how could they know that?

  “It wasn’t bad,” I admitted finally.

  “Good?” Derek asked.

  “I don’t want to talk about it.”

  Melissa’s face ripped into a grin. “The dog girl likes to be sucked!” she shrieked wildly.

  I glared off into the distance, hating Melissa. Hating Calvin. Hating myself because her words were true.

  Calvin splashed Melissa, and she quieted, stroking her pet’s wrist as if she was about to start drinking from him again.

  “Do you?” Calvin asked. “Do you like it?”

  Derek cut in, saving me.

  “She doesn’t want to talk about it,” he said. “Lay off.”

  Calvin straightened and a sound bubbled in his throat as he glowered at Derek.

  Derek didn’t back down, and soon Calvin dissolved into his debonair self. “I think it is clear that the experience was not displeasing. I daresay she might have enjoyed it, but that remains to be seen.”

  Melissa scoffed. “Does it matter? That whole thing is so idiotic anyway. You men and your libidos.”

  I frowned. “What do you mean?”

  Melissa licked her pet’s wrist obscenely and said, “The male vampires have this ... other need. You know the one I’m talking about?” She leaned in and winked slyly.

  Oh . . . that need.

  She smiled. “Something to do with how the magic reacts to the testosterone or whatever. They keep their sexual desire and we don’t.” She waved her hand around idly as if that was all irrelevant, but I found myself thinking that was totally unfair. Why should the male vampires be the only ones to have sex?

  “But anyway,” Melissa continued, “that particular need is too closely related to the blood crave, so it’s too hard for them to do it without killing every girl they f—”

  “Melissa!” Calvin cut in, standing up suddenly. “That is enough.”

  “What?” she said. “It’s true. You all just can’t get over it. Like it’s such a big deal. The feel of a freshly deceased corpse around your lips is twice as good as any of that.” She rubbed her teeth along her pet’s arm and he flinched. “As if any human would want to do it with you if they knew the truth anyway. What human wants a dead guy to sleep with?”

  Calvin sat down again, his back stiff.

  “Melissa,” Silas warned, his deep voice rolling through the night.

  She snickered viciously. “And they don’t want us,” she went on, looking at me with a coy smile on her flawless lips. “The girl vampires, I mean. Like we want them either.” She made a gagging motion with her finger. “They only want the warmth of a human body so they can feel close to the living again.”

  Calvin looked as though he was about to rip Melissa’s head off. “That’s not true,” he ground out, though his vibe proved to the contrary.

  “Methinks thou dost protest too much,” Melissa sang.

  Silence stretched through the hot tub until finally, Calvin turned to Derek, seeming to have quelled his anger with Melissa. “Have you given any thought to what we spoke about the other night?”

  Derek’s throat moved as he swallowed.

  “I . . . I’m still thinking,” he said after a long while.

  “Well, you’d do well to speed it up,” Calvin said briskly. “With our numbers growing so rapidly, the death toll on the humans is becoming increasingly noticeable. We don’t have much time left.”

  Whoa. Were they talking about the murders? And what did Derek have to do with that? I was about to ask, when Calvin and Silas began an exchange in some other language, which ended in Calvin shouting, “The Ancestors won’t do a thing, Silas! They encourage it!”

  “Ancestors?” I jumped in. “Who are they?”

  “Hmm,” Calvin hummed speculatively. “It seems the dog girl is not all-knowing after all.”

  “I never said I was,” I said. “But I am curious. Are they, like, your sires?”

  “In a way,” Calvin said. “It is said that the Ancestors are the very first vampires. That their blood began the vampire race as we know it today. They are indeed ancient, but there is no way to tell if they are the first. Vampire lore says that we are all connected, that we all came from the Ancestors—hence their name.” Calvin’s tone was skeptical and I got the feeling he didn’t believe.

  “You don’t think so?” I asked.

  Calvin let out a puff of laughter. “Hardly.”

  “That’s treason,” Silas said at once, his dark eyes blazing. “They are the one true authority.” He turned on me. “No one crosses them.”

  “They’re lunatics,” Calvin said dismissively. “Don’t look at me that way, Silas, you know what happens when we age. Soon we will all meet the same fate as the Ancestors. We will lose ourselves entirely. It is a fate we must all accept. But pretending like the Ancestors are above that end is naïve. They have lost all ability to think or rationalize. Yet those of you who follow the old ways still think they’re competent rulers.”

  “They are competent,” Silas argued. “Their word is law.”

  “And when was the last time they made a law, hmm? Last I checked they remained sequestered in their palace in Florida, eating tourists.”

  “Florida?” I asked, thrown. That was the last place I would have expected. I would have pinned them for Romania or Iceland or somewhere chilly and barren.

  Calvin turned back to me as if surprised I was still there. “Indeed. Vampires don’t care for the cold.”

  I let out a skeptical sniff. “So what are you doing in Colorado? It’s freezing here.”

  “I said we don’t care for it, not that we won’t endure it. Many do, but the older we become, the harsher it is on our bodies. With the Ancestors’ ages raging from two to three thousand years old, naturally, they would choose to live in a warm climate. With Florida’s tourist sites, they get many victims coming right to them. They hardly even hunt anymore—just wait for their prey to come to them. They are mindless shells.”

  “Treason,” Silas mumbled.

  “Maybe,” Calvin said. “But Arabella agrees with me. This scheme they’ve cooked up is ludicrous. It will never work. We don’t have nearly enough numbers, and we never will what with the precautions we have to take for the younglings. We have to find a way to—”

  “Stilte!” Silas said suddenly. He continued speaking in whatever language that was, and I turned my power on high to try and get a clue to what they were talking about. Calvin’s emotions burned hotter and hotter until I was sure the tub was filled with lava, and then it extinguished abruptly.

  “Fine,” Calvin mumbled. “But you know I’m right. And so does Arabella.”

  “You are sad
ly mistaken in that,” Silas said. “Arabella’s only use of the stuff is for the younglings.”

  “She would tell you that because of your support of the Ancestors.”

  “And she would tell you the opposite because you doubt them. She manipulates everyone. Do not be so foolish to think she cares for your opinion.”

  “She’s my sire,” Calvin hissed. “She cares for me more than any other being.”

  “Foolish,” Silas repeated softly.

  The hot tub fell silent.

  That was weird. What stuff? What younglings? And who was Arabella? I was so acutely curious over what had been said there—or not said—that I almost brought the subject back up.

  But I never got the chance.

  There was a gasp from Melissa’s end of the tub. I looked over and almost puked. Melissa had punctured her pet’s wrist with her teeth and was sucking greedily from the wound. Horrible scarlet blood leaked out of the corners of her perfect mouth and snaked through the hot tub, turning the water frothy and pink. Calvin and Silas glanced at each other and then shrugged. They pounced on the body to enjoy the feast as well.

  I vaulted to my feet and tried very hard not to scream. Derek stood and yanked me out of the tub. I struggled against him, afraid that he would bite me. He started to scoop me up, but then Calvin unlatched from Melissa’s dead pet. He turned to us, blood dripping down his chin.

  “Leaving so soon?” he asked.

  23

  ULTIMATUM

  Calvin was on us in a millisecond and then I did scream—a high bloodcurdling scream that even made my skin crawl. Derek’s body vibrated with the change, and he held me so closely I swore I was melting into his body.

  “No,” he said forcefully. “No one bites her but me.”

  I didn’t know if I agreed with that exactly, but I was definitely willing to negotiate right then.

  Calvin’s eyes were black with the crave. “Just a pull,” he said. “The man was sour. He left such a nasty taste.”

  “No one touches her!”

  Melissa stepped out of the pool—totally naked—and skipped over, clapping her hands like a two-year-old at Toys“R”Us.