Blood Crave

by Jennifer Knight

  “I’m in a vampire lair,” I said.

  “And do you know why you have been brought to my lair?”

  Not wanting to give them any ideas about turning me, I went with my second-best guess. “Because someone told you I know what you’re planning.” I made sure to stare Derek down as I said this, but it was like he couldn’t even hear me.

  Arabella’s eyes twinkled. “Tell me what I’m planning, human.”

  Lucas’s hoarse voice came from behind me. “Don’t . . . say anything.”

  I turned and saw that he was kneeling on the floor. The chains cut into his skin, scorching him, but he was awake, at least.

  “Tell me,” Arabella cooed pleasantly, “or your doggie dies.”

  “I know that you’re planning an uprising against the werewolves,” I ground out. “That’s why all those girls have been dying. Because you can’t keep your younglings in check.”

  To my surprise, Arabella’s crimson lips turned upward in a vague smile.

  “Is that what they’re saying over there in the kennel? An uprising?” Her smile widened, and she stood and walked slowly around the room as though floating. Her dress seemed to be made of shadows; it snaked and coiled along the floor in a long ghostly train. My nerves skyrocketed as she stopped in front of Lucas.

  She put her silken hand on top of his head and petted him like a dog. Lucas jerked his head away, disgust on his face. But Arabella tugged the chains, forcing Lucas to be still as she stroked his hair.

  “Such vanity,” she purred. “Such ego the mongrels have.” She clucked her teeth, petting Lucas all the while. I wanted to jump over there and stab her with something long and wooden. “This is not about you,” Arabella said to him. “I admit that you are partly correct. We have been increasing our numbers quite exponentially, which has caused our dear humans to pay a sad price. But a war against the dogs is not our goal. We would never want to eliminate you. Not at all.” She bent low to Lucas’s ear and whispered, “You know, I have always taken a fancy to a hint of wolf blood. Some say it is bitter, but I find it exhilarating.”

  Lucas’s face tightened as she lowered her head to his neck.

  I started forward. “No!” I yelled, lunging. Calvin was on me before my feet left the floor. He restrained me while I writhed around, watching in horror as Arabella sunk her nasty fangs into Lucas’s skin.

  He didn’t scream, hardly even flinched as Arabella took a long pull out of his throat. She straightened and shivered violently. Blood continued to gush in red rivers down Lucas’s chest, but none of the other vampires looked even remotely interested.

  “Lovely,” Arabella said, licking her lips. She patted Lucas’s head. “You have old blood, dog. Very strong. It’s a shame to see you go. But it must be done. I cannot have you gallivanting around, spoiling our plans.”

  She spun to face me, and I found her pupils had widened completely making her look like a walking corpse.

  “Bitch,” I ground between my teeth.

  Arabella smiled coldly, licking her lips again. “Let her go, Cal, honey. She poses no threat to us.”

  Calvin released me roughly and returned to his spot without a word as Arabella resumed her seat. She sighed and regarded me. “I suppose you wish to know what we are planning, but I’m afraid you will have to wait until after you are turned to find out.”

  Fear shocked through my body. Turned? Here? Now? Was this seriously the reason I’d been brought here? So that they could turn one insignificant girl? What was the big deal about me?

  Arabella seemed pleased by my astonishment. “Atonement must be made for the crimes you and your dog have committed against our kind. Vincent Stone and Silas Zircon were two of my oldest and most skilled subjects. Their lives must be repaid.” She turned to Lucas. “Vincent’s life was accounted for when you infected our dear Derek. But that leaves Silas to be recompensed. I think Faith shall do nicely. I do enjoy the pretty ones. They always come out looking so lovely.”

  My body went numb as Lucas began shouting curses and struggling behind me. I refused to turn around, unable to watch him in pain, but I heard the chains jerk and he yelped, falling ominously silent.

  This couldn’t be how our story ended, with me a vampire and Lucas murdered in front of my eyes. But there was nothing I could do to stop it. It was so frustrating.

  And Arabella’s whole spiel about repayment just seemed, well . . . dumb. Who was she kidding? She didn’t want me for repayment. She wanted me for her army. She had to be lying about the war, trying to throw us off. And I was going to get her to admit it. I at least wanted that much if I was going to be turned against my will. I wanted the truth.

  “I don’t buy it,” I said.

  Arabella quirked her head.

  “This can’t be the first time someone’s killed a vampire in your brood, right?”

  Arabella swelled with indignation.

  “You guys don’t go hunting down humans for repayment every time it happens,” I said. “So why are you doing this? Why me?”

  For a moment Arabella appeared stunned, and after testing her vibe, I felt her panic. She hadn’t expected me to confront her. But she kept her expression level.

  “Vincent at least told me the truth,” I said. “At least he admitted that it was for the army. So why are you making up this whole compensation crap?”

  The vampires hissed at my disrespectful tone.

  “Just be honest,” I spat. “It’s so I can help you win the war against the werewolves.”

  “There is no war!” Arabella shouted. “War with the dogs, as much as it displeases me to say it, would mean the elimination of our race. We are not, and will never be, as strong as the wolf packs.”

  A few of the vampires muttered dubiously.

  “We do not work together,” Arabella continued, glaring around at her brood. “We cannot unite in the way the packs do. And so we will never beat them. The Ancestors know it, and so does every one of you, regardless of whether you choose to acknowledge it.”

  Everyone quieted.

  “So what then?” I demanded. “Why are you building an army?”

  Arabella’s lips pursed. “You’ll have to wait until you have been turned.”

  I let out a frustrated noise. “Why do you want me so badly? So my boyfriend killed a couple vampires. Big deal. I’m sure it’s not the first time it’s happened, so why go through so much trouble for me? You killed a car full of people, got a girl to let you into my dorm room, sent Melissa and then two carfuls of vampires! I’m not that special!”

  “But you are special,” she purred. “Derek here, tells me of your unique gift. You read emotions, do you not?”

  I refused to answer, glowering at Derek instead, who continued to study the floor. Traitor, was all I could think.

  “Tell me,” Arabella commanded.

  I clamped my jaw shut. How could Derek tell them? Even the other vampires kept my secret, but Derek? Derek was the one who sold me out?

  “Tell me,” Arabella growled, “or I will make your doggie suffer terribly on his way to hell.”

  “I do,” I spat. “I can read emotions. But I won’t keep my power if you turn me.” I didn’t know if this was true, but I was grasping at straws.

  “Is that what you think?” She snickered softly behind her hand. “Tell me, how did you come to this ludicrous conclusion?”

  “I—I don’t . . .” I didn’t want to tell her about Yvette.

  “You must never have met Kevin, have you?” She waved a hand empirically and one of the vampires standing next to Melissa came forward. He looked to be in his late twenties, tall and ruggedly handsome with flyaway curly hair and wide brown eyes. He bowed slightly before Arabella as he came to stand beside me.

  Arabella gestured to the man. “Faith, meet Kevin. Kevin, this is Faith. She is like you.”

  I gaped up at Kevin, and he glanced briefly at me, contempt written on every inch of his flawless face.

  He had no vibe.

  It w
as true, then. He had the sense. This was the Kevin. The man Yvette had spoken of. He hadn’t been killed, after all, but turned.

  “His power remains intact,” Arabella said victoriously.

  That was cool and all, but if that was true then why hadn’t they used him to get to me? He could have controlled the entire pack and made them give me up. I turned to face him. “Really? What can you do?”

  “I can read emotions.” His voice was smooth and deep as dark chocolate, but saturated with distain.

  “That’s all? You can’t . . . do anything ... else?” I didn’t want to give anything away, but it ended up making me sound dense. A couple vampires snickered at me.

  “No,” Kevin said. “Nothing.”

  “Oh, well ... cool.” Was he lying? Yvette had said he could control the werewolves, too. So did that part of the power die with his body? Or had he simply lied to the vampires to keep them from using him? It would seem that it was the former because if he was on the vampires’ team now he’d want to help them. Right?

  “So you, see?” Arabella sang. “You have nothing to fear, Faith Reynolds. Your power will remain, and you will become a valuable asset to our army. Kevin here is quite useful when dealing with liars and thieves. We value him greatly.” She waved her hand, and Kevin melted back into the shadows with the rest of the brood.

  So this was all because of my power? I didn’t want to believe it, but the timeline fit perfectly.

  I’d scorned Derek after we kissed, and he returned to the vampires. He must have gotten wind that I was going out with that Harrison guy, grown jealous and angry, and then told the vampires everything. Made them want to turn me even more than they already did. Melissa had come for me the following night. And then when I hurt Derek again on the football field, Kira Wilcox had ended up dead the same night. Derek had access to my building. He could have let the killer in. He could have been the killer.

  I stared at him, willing him to look up at me so I could shout something at him, but he was so, so still. How could he do this to me? Had I really hurt him so badly that he wanted me dead?

  And then it dawned on me.

  No, he didn’t want me dead. He wanted me turned. So that I could be with him and not Lucas. The gravity of his betrayal all but took my breath away. Who was this person I used to call my best friend?

  Vaguely, I realized Arabella was still speaking—not to me, but to one of the vampires. Melissa.

  “I called her,” Melissa was saying. “No answer. I dunno. Maybe she changed and left her phone someplace.”

  “Well, we cannot wait all night for her.”

  “I don’t know what you want me to do,” Melissa said, throwing her hands up. “She didn’t answer. I called fifty times!”

  Arabella’s lip curled. “You know, we bend over backward for this tramp and then she doesn’t even have the decency to show up.” Her nails clacked on the iron armrest of the chair. “I suppose we should just continue without her. It’s taken weeks to get them here, and after tonight it will be impossible to do so again. She’ll just have to understand.”

  Another vampire spoke up. “But what if she doesn’t give us the stuff?”

  “She will. We’re completing our end. And she’ll complete hers. Besides, even if she doesn’t, our Derek is back for good now.” She gave him a fond look. “And he’ll be more than happy to oblige us of anything we ask, won’t you Derek?”

  Derek nodded.

  Arabella smiled winningly and straightened in her chair, clapping her hands together. “Well, then, who would like to do the honors? I know our dear Derek would enjoy it, but as we know, that is impossible for him.”

  “I should like to do it,” Calvin said. “I have been waiting to taste her for quite some time now.”

  Arabella evaluated me for a long minute. Then she said, “So it shall be that Calvin Carnelian turns Faith Reynolds on this night. You have my permission, Cal. Go forth and add to our brood.”

  “Like hell!” Lucas roared. The chains rattled again as he struggled against them, but I couldn’t look.

  Calvin’s pupils began to dilate as he stepped slowly toward me. Involuntarily, I backed up a few steps, and then stopped, knowing that running would be futile. Calvin came to a stop before me, and then my legs gave way. I slumped to my knees. Some of the vampires around me hissed and cackled. Lucas roared, fighting his chains.

  I just stared up at Calvin. My fate had finally caught up with me. I was about to be turned.

  Calvin knelt beside me and took up my wrist, sneering lustfully as he brought it to his mouth to inhale deeply the aroma of my skin. I turned away to face Derek instead.

  His bright blue eyes were on me now, focused completely. They were so blue, almost purple. I turned away, unable to look at him. He couldn’t be the last thing I saw as a human. I wanted to see Lucas, to remember what it felt like to love him and hold him close for those last few seconds of my life.

  I craned my neck around as Calvin’s teeth pressed against my wrist. Lucas screamed and fought against the chains. His eyes were shining like tiny stars, and his body shook violently with the will to change.

  I loved him so much.

  Acute pain in my wrist made me gasp and blink furiously. Then a draining feeling in my arm accompanied by a rush of vertigo. Numbly, I looked around. Calvin was drinking deeply from me like some wild animal, crazed with hunger.

  It was only a matter of seconds now, before the venom seeped into me . . . before I was paralyzed.

  31

  TURNING

  But it didn’t paralyze me. I felt just as wide awake and mobile as I always had. I glanced around, confused as hell and feeling slightly faint. Calvin was taking a lot.

  Why wasn’t I passed out? Why wasn’t I paralyzed?

  I looked into Calvin’s eyes and saw something ... odd. They weren’t Calvin’s eyes. They were lighter, and there was no crave in them anymore. No blackness.

  I looked up at Derek, standing against the wall; to those intense too-blue eyes. Tortured eyes ... trapped eyes. His face was tight as though he was straining against some unseen bonds; veins popped out of his forehead.

  I looked back at Calvin, sucking greedily, and Derek’s eyes looked back at me. Light blue and sweet as a bowl of sugar. It was impossible, but ...

  “Derek?” I breathed at Calvin.

  He winked.

  Suddenly, Lucas changed. There was a massive roar and the boy drinking my blood—Calvin or Derek, I had no clue which—was pulverized to the floor. The room erupted into a frenzy of fangs. The vampires charged Lucas—all except Arabella, who remained, stunned, at her throne.

  I was pushed away by someone and thrown against the back wall, insignificant as ever.

  Then a lot of things happened at once. The boy who had bitten me changed into a slender white wolf. At the exact same moment, the person I’d thought was Derek standing by the wall screamed horribly and fell to the floor. When he stood up, he was Calvin.

  Holy hell.

  Calvin lunged into the fight, which was now Derek and Lucas—both wolves—against ten vampires.

  Arabella leaped out of her seat, screaming, “What in the hell is going on here!”

  I found myself wondering the same thing.

  The vampires descended on my werewolves, stabbing with silver knives and biting viciously. The werewolves’ shriek-like howls filled the room, reverberating until it made my ears ring. But they fought back, ignoring the sting of the blades. They tore vampires from their backs, slamming them to the floor, and ripping skulls apart with their bare teeth. Lucas flung one against the wall, sending the knife she was holding flying at me. I ducked and took up the blade with numb fingers, not knowing what good it’d do me.

  A vampire chick lunged at Derek and sliced his muzzle with her nails. She raised her arm to strike again, but Derek dodged and ripped her chest open. She let out a ragged screech, fell to the floor, and then Derek yanked her head off, killing her. Now, Calvin was there. He had no weap
on, but it didn’t look like he needed one. He leaped over Derek and landed on his back, sinking his fangs into Derek’s side. Derek yowled and writhed around, trying to get at him.

  I clutched my knife harder, thinking that I should help—but Lucas, having thrown off two more vampires—darted to Derek’s aid. Already, I could see his body shaking slightly. He didn’t have much time.

  I watched the fighting continue, so incredibly confused and scared. And bleeding out. I was worried the loss of blood was going to be a problem so I used the knife to cut the bottom of my shirt off and tied my wrist with shaking fingers.

  Arabella screamed like a two-year-old pitching a fit as her vampires got picked off one by one. They weren’t very skilled and, as Arabella had said, they didn’t work together at all. They just darted in one by one and let Lucas or Derek gut them.

  There were only six left when Calvin was killed. Lucas had managed to dislodge him from Derek’s back and throw him to the floor, but Calvin sprang back up immediately and reared back to punch him. Before he could swing, Derek jumped in and snapped his head right off. I heard a high-pitched scream erupt from somewhere in the room, but was unable to tell who it came from.

  I didn’t spend time worrying about it, because just then, I noticed how violent Lucas’s tremors had become.

  Another vampire attacked him, and just as Lucas was about to dodge—he changed.

  Derek intercepted the attack, leaving Lucas to fall to the ground in his human form, panting. But at an earsplitting scream from Arabella, the vampires all froze and Derek’s foe retreated.

  Derek crouched low to the floor, growling warningly at the room. Lucas, seeing me alone by the wall, swiped me up from the floor in an ultrafast movement that left me seriously disoriented. I was now standing in between wolf-Derek and Lucas in the center of the room.

  Everything was silent—nobody moved.

  Arabella stood by her toppled-over chair, fists clenched at her sides, blinking rapidly. She wasn’t looking at us, but down at Calvin. Decapitated Calvin.

  Dead Calvin.

  Slowly, she raised her gaze to Lucas and, to my astonishment, I saw she was crying.