by A. M. Hudson
“Well, what laws?”
Eric rested his arm along the back of the bench, facing me as I stared forward. “A law that protects humans so that no vampire is allowed to hurt, touch or change the lover of another vampire. Ever. And the consequences will be dire.”
“What? What consequences?”
“For most things it’s usually a seven-day burial or starvation. Only serious offences warrant torture. But Arthur wants touching another vampire’s mate to be ruled a crime—one punishable by cruel and unusual methods. You know we feel pain more intensely than a human, right?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, try a year of torture. You never die, never get any peace.”
“That’s awful.”
“It’s horrible—and they know exactly how to build on the intensity, so you suffer unendingly.” He shrugged then. “But how else do you make blood-hungry, powerful beings behave? You hurt them.” He nodded, breathing in through his teeth and rubbing the tops of his thighs. “Pain is a very good motivator.”
“If they can catch you. Can’t you just run or hide?”
“Ha!” Eric shook his head. “They will catch you. You can only run for so long, Amara.”
“Have you ever been punished like that?”
Eric laughed. “No—but David has.”
“What?” My hand flew to my lips. “Why?”
“He never told you?” Eric’s brow pulled together.
“No, he never really told me anything.”
“Let me guess—he gave you the ‘top secret’ spill.”
“Yes.”
Eric laughed louder. “It’s not true. Ideally, humans aren’t supposed to know about the Set, but we’re free to tell you if we want. It’s just on our own shoulders if you spill.”
“What do you mean by ‘on your own shoulders’?”
“We have to kill you.”
“Then why wouldn’t David ever tell me anything? I would never have told anyone?”
“Wouldn’t you?” Eric gave a sceptical brow arch.
“No! I mean...I thought about it. But I wouldn’t have.”
He shrugged. “Maybe he wanted to protect you from the truth then—about himself.”
“What truth?”
“I dunno; his past—his job—his overall personality. Put it this way, David’s done some pretty awful things, Amara. And that’s by vampire definition. I don’t know what you knew about him or how he was with you, but before he became the ‘new David’, he was the most ruthless punisher on the Council.”
“Wait, he did the punishing as well?”
“Oh yeah—he was vile. I’ve heard stories from vampires saying they’re sure they saw the white light when he was torturing them. And then there was Pepper.”
“What did he use pepper for?”
“Not the table seasoning, dummy. Pepper was his girlfriend.”
“Oh.” I looked down. “Well...what happened to her?”
“He never spoke of her?”
“No. He told me once that he had a girlfriend who was taken away. Was that her?”
“Probably. Pepper was taken away, so, I guess it could’ve been.”
“Well...what happened? Why did they take her away?”
“They didn’t. He did.”
“What?”
“Yeah. She broke one of our most supreme laws, and he sentenced her.”
“Why did he do it?”
Eric shrugged. “He was appointed judge of her hearing.”
“And he actually did it—to someone he loved?”
Eric cleared the laughter from his throat. “David is the law. You break the law, he will punish you. Doesn’t matter who you are.”
“Well, what law did Pepper break?”
He leaned his elbows on his knees, his jaw jutting out slightly. “She turned a child.”
“What, made a vampire child?”
“Yep.”
“Why?”
“Natures instinct, to procreate—women and babies, you know—she wanted a kid, so she went and got one.”
“Oh, my God.” I covered my mouth. “But vampires can’t die, so...it’s just…”
“Just living out eternity.” He leaned back then and placed his arm over the chair. “We call them the Immortal Damned.”
“They? There’re more of them?”
“Hundreds—cursed to spend eternity as a child. They lose their parents, their childhood. They can never go to school or be normal. The Council keep them locked up in a cell. It’s the worst kind of hell—especially for the babies.”
“Babies?”
“Mm-hm.” He shrugged. “So anyway, Pepper changed a young boy, and the Council found out. David was torn apart—as any boyfriend would be—but he had a duty to uphold. He looked her in the eye, and he made an example of her.”
“What sentence did he give?”
“Two years first grade torture followed by five hundred years imprisonment.”
“But that’s horrible! How can he do that to someone he loved?”
“Sentencing wasn’t the worst, Amara. He was the one that did the torturing.”
I covered my mouth with a shaky hand. “That doesn’t sound like the David I knew.”
“Well, the David we all knew wouldn’t shirk his duties because of a human.”
“Well, it’s not my fault he loved me.”
“Isn’t it? Things were going well for Councilman David. His uncle expected him to go far—until you came along and ruined his life with feelings.”
“What’s so bad about feelings?” I said with a certain amount of insult.
“Nothing. We all have ‘em. But it’s the feelings for you that caused the trouble.”
“Why, because I was kidnapped by his brother and he couldn’t get revenge?”
“No. It started before that. Apparently, Arthur had a hard time even making David return to duty. Had to knock some sense into him.”
“He would have returned if he could’ve brought me with him.”
“What, as a human?” his tone rose high with incredulity.
“Yeah.”
“They’d have killed you on the spot.” He gave a small shake of his head, as if that were a really dumb thing to say. “No humans.”
“Why? You’re with a human now.”
“Not living with one, and I’m not a councilman.”
“So?”
“So, they have different rules.”
“Why?”
“You know, if I tell you this, and you blab, I do have to kill you. It’s no joke.”
I nodded.
“Okay, fine. Your funeral. So, you want a background narrative, or shall I just answer that one question?”
I laughed. “Umm…narrative.”
His eyes narrowed to thought. “Okay…narrative. Here we go. So, once upon a time.” He stopped and laughed. “Nah, I’m kidding. We’re too dark for fairy-tale beginnings. Um, where to start? Okay. Well, see, vampires on the Council live distinguished lives. They have, in some ways, fewer rules than us minions, but their rules are stricter and more enforced. They’re expected to maintain the Set for two years, which is intense, laboured work—no human contact. At all. Ever. Aside from food. But when that time’s over, they can take two years to be human—live wherever they want, do whatever and eat whomever they want. Even though we don’t care much for humans, the human lifestyle, all the glamour and fun, is something we all desire. A trait we carry on from our roots, I guess. Being on the Council offers you the most freedom. It’s a much respected, very sought after position that takes vile and disgusting acts to get in to. David had to work hard to earn his place there.”
“So—do the ‘minions’ have limits on how long they can be with a human?”
“Not an actual limit. If they hear about a vampire and a human being together too long though, the Council usually steps in. But, really, who’d want to be with a human? Your species don’t really fascinate us. We use you for our own guilty pleasures, but tha
t’s about it.”
“David didn’t do that.”
“Whatever. I don’t care either way.”
“I do.”
“You need to get over that. He’s not coming back for you.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Don’t I?” He glared at me. I hated the look of cocky certainty in his eye. “Amara, if Councilman David comes back, he faces...well, it doesn’t matter. He won’t come back here—not for a human. You’re just not worth it.”
“Then I’ll just have to find him.”
“Right, and, if the World Council can’t find him, what makes you think you will? Look, I don’t mean to sound harsh, but...get over him.”
“I can’t.”
“You just have to.”
“No, I don’t.”
Eric groaned. “Stubborn, aren’t ya?”
“So I’ve been told.” I hugged my bag and stared forward.
“Okay, I’m telling you this for your own good, girl.”
I cringed at the tone he used. “Please don’t.”
“I am anyway, okay?”
My shoulders tightened a little.
“Thing is...David is, at the very least, a strong man. When he makes up his mind...” Eric shook his head. “If you only knew what it took for him to gain his position on the council—how much he had to sacrifice—then you’d understand that him throwing that in, just because the law prevented justice for him, is no small feat.”
“So?”
“So, if he left that behind, with the deep-seated knowledge of what would happen if he did, and he didn’t bother to take you with him, then his defection was not for pain of the heart, but for the principle.”
“Huh?”
“He cares more about the failure of justice than that he couldn’t be with you.”
“Oh.”
“Do you understand now, that he’ll never return for you?”
“I always understood that, Eric. I just don’t want to believe it.” I sat thinking about everything for a second. “Do you think he’ll come back if Arthur changes the laws of how vampires interact with human-mates?”
Eric shook his head. “I think Arthur’s plan is futile. You can’t change the past, can’t restore Councilman David’s faith in the system. And new laws won’t see Jason punished for what he did to you.”
“It should,” I scoffed.
“Why?” Eric jostled about with a curt chuckle. “It was a taste of David’s own medicine, if you ask me.”
Hmpf! “So, what will these new laws mean, then—what will change?”
“Everything,” he scoffed. “See, Arthur can’t change the fact that a human’s death means nothing to a vampire, but he at least wants your species to be considered protected. There are too many of these cases where vampires are losing loved ones because of random or revenge attacks. I guess you could call it a Human Rights movement.” He found that funny, but I had other things to worry about.
“And all this is purely to bring David back?”
“And to prevent more cases like yours.”
“So, if the law hasn’t passed yet, why aren’t you allowed to kill me?”
“While he’s running them through the Council, we’re obliged not to knowingly kill a human who belongs or belonged to another vampire. So, technically, I could kill you, if I wanted to bad enough.”
“Oh. So—” I touched my neck. “Do you—want to, I mean, bad enough?”
Eric grinned and touched his fingertip to my shoulder. “I’d planned to kill you, yes. Right after Emily and Spence went to bed. Even asked Spence to give us some ‘time alone’.”
My heart raced with a sudden rush of tension. “Does Spence know what you are?”
Eric shook his head. “He just thought I wanted to bone you.”
“That’s so creepy.”
“Bird’s gotta fly, vampires gotta eat.”
“Well, you won’t be eating me.”
“Imagine how disappointed I was when I realised who you were.”
“But you knew I had contact with vampires. Didn’t you figure I belonged to someone already?”
He shook his head. “You’re not Marked. If you belonged to someone, you’d be Marked.”
“I belonged to David.”
Eric shrugged. “Too bad. He didn’t Mark you. Fair game.”
“Then why didn’t you kill me.”
He shifted awkwardly. “Not because you belonged to someone once, but more because of who you belonged to.”
“You scared of David?” Two imaginary hooks pulled my lips into a wide, sharp grin.
“I’d be a fool if I wasn’t.”
I shut my mouth tightly, trapping a throaty laugh. “So, you only have to stay away from those who are Marked?”
“At this point, yeah. It’s a courtesy to avoid ones that aren’t.”
“How civil of you.” I rolled my eyes. “And...what the hell is Marking anyway?”
“I guess it looks like what humans call a tattoo. It’s a tiny black dot just at the side of the neck.” He ran his fingertip down the curve of my shoulder. “It appears there, so when a vampire goes in for the kill—he sees it.”
“How—” I breathed, steadying my embarrassingly loud heart, thumping for the feel of my body being touched again. “How does he know just by seeing a dot?”
“For you, the Mark will be pale, almost green-black, but for us, when your blood runs warm and your body’s calling for the kill, it glows blue.”
“Wow.”
“Yes, it’s magical.”
“Yeah,” I said distractedly.
“Hey, Amara?”
“Mm.” The tickly sensation of his finger twirling a strand of my hair made it impossible to concentrate.
“If they pass this law, I’ll Mark you, okay? That way you’ll always be safe.”
“Okay... But, how do you place a Mark on someone?”
Eric smiled, his eyes becoming smaller. “You bone them.”
My breath came only on my lips—silky and short, not reaching my lungs. “Just by bon...I mean, making love?”
He leaned in and pressed his lips close to my ear. “Just by making love.”
I cleared my throat. “So, does every person who’s made love to a vampire have a Mark?”
“Yes.”
“Why? How?”
“We carry a life force in our veins—” he leaned down slightly until my averted gaze met his, “—all of our veins.”
My eyelids fluttered with the thought of Eric being that close to me; his lips on my neck, his hands around my waist, not one bare shred of skin unaffected, our bodies completely touching, his life force...inside of me. “So, your...seed leaves a Mark?”
“No, not that, but—” He laughed, covering his smile with the back of his hand. “Well, we don’t really know. Some have theorised that when we orgasm—males and females—we share our life force with our partner. I guess it’s like, well, when a human has intercourse, they exchange fluids; you can get diseases, get pregnant, but if you mate with a vampire, you get Marked.”
“Gross.”
“No, it’s not. It’s beautiful. You absorb that force, that energy, and for some reason, it shows—like a birthmark on your neck—right over your carotid artery.”
I shook my head and took a deep breath. I need to bring the conversation down a notch. “So, no one knows where David is?”
“Nope.” Eric sighed and leaned back, squinting against the hot sun that before now, I hadn’t noticed. “But now they know where you are, they’ll just watch you. After all, it’s bound to be only a matter of time before he comes by to check if you’re still breathing.”
“They didn’t know where I was? You told them?”
“Of course—it’s intriguing news. We all thought you’d moved to Perth. We’ve had scouts out there hunting for David.”
“Hunting? Why hunting?”
“Like I said—” Eric’s eyes narrowed and he looked away. “Arthur wants him ba
ck.”
“Well, it’s silly of them to think he’ll come back here. You said it yourself, David won’t come back to see me.”
“What’s this, then?” He lifted my face and looked at my pout, half leaning away. “I thought you were so sure he would.”
“I never said that. But I just didn’t need you diminishing my already shattered hopes.”
Eric blinked a few times, as if it helped him to think. “So, you actually still love him?”
“I always will,” I said tugging away from him.
“Even after he nearly got you killed?”
“That wasn’t his fault.”
“Yes, it was. He riled Jason up.” Eric’s voice became an octave higher.
“No. Jason got himself riled up. Jason attacked me. It was not David’s fault.”
“But...he left you, told you he’d never come back, left you to die at the hands of a brother he knew was out to hurt him.”
“He didn’t know Jason would do that.”
“Didn’t he?”
I looked at Eric and said “I don’t think he did” then looked away, biting my teeth together in my mouth.
“You know, you fascinate me.” He shook his head, studying my face; “You hate Jason for hurting you, yet David, who did the same to Jason’s girl—you love? You love him unconditionally.”
“David is nothing like Jason.” I turned so my knees faced slightly away from him.
Eric breathed out and shook his head, running his hands through his hair. “I just don’t get you, girl. You make no sense. Councilman David—” he leaned forward and dropped his voice as a couple passed on the sidewalk, “—is the bad guy here. He ridiculed and tortured his own brother his entire life. Rochelle was only one story.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. In the greater scheme of things, what Jason did was justified.”
“Justified? Hurting me is justified?”
Eric softened. “I’m sorry. I think it is.”
I looked away again.
“Amara, you know nothing about our world—you know nothing about David. You should get your facts straight before you make assumptions,” he said as he slumped back in the chair.
“It’s not an assumption to think it’s wrong for someone to kidnap and torture another.”
