Bloodgifted

by Tima Maria Lacoba

  His brows knit together as he stared at me. ‘You know who it is.’

  ‘Give me a day or so.’ I needed evidence. ‘Can you get me a read out of the saliva in the victims wounds?’

  ‘It’s one of your lot after all, isn’t it?’ He looked at me accusingly.

  ‘I’m not sure.’

  ‘They’re in the case file. Why, can you get me a match?’

  I sat back and thought for a second. ‘Possibly.’

  ‘This happened on my turf, Munro and I want him.’ He leaned across the table and his eyes narrowed.

  ‘What will you do when you have him? How are you going to hold one of my kind? We’re many times stronger than humans and no jail can hold us. Iron bars are like paper and bullets are useless. A cornered blood drinker is a very dangerous creature. You’ll lose a lot of men.’

  He swore under his breath, but I hadn’t finished yet. ‘What happens when daylight comes? You know the old myths, one touch of sunbeam and you’ve got a pile of ash without a suspect. How would you explain that to your superiors?’ I watched as Sommers expression changed from frustration to exasperation.

  ‘Even if you somehow manage to convince them these murders are being committed by a real vampire,’ I continued, ‘do you honestly think they’ll release that information to the public? Imagine the panic, the media circus. You know very well that won’t happen.’

  The city authorities would do anything to hush this up and expect those involved to keep their mouths shut as well. Sommers could wave his career, let alone his promotion, goodbye.

  ‘Shit!’

  ‘Couldn’t have put it better myself.’

  He threw me a filthy look, so I knew I had him in a corner.

  ‘I’m going to ask you to let me handle this. If it’s one of my kind, I’ll find the one responsible and deal with them,’ I offered.

  From the look on his face, Sommers hated the idea, and I didn’t need to sense the subtle chemical changes in his body to know that. This was not how things were done in his world—not an accepted investigative procedure and he was not in control.

  ‘Why should I trust you?’

  ‘You want to do this another way?’

  He regarded me for a while and looked to be weighing up his options. ‘Okay, we’ll try your way first.’

  ‘I’ll find the one responsible because I’m the only one who can do it.’

  He removed a notebook from his pocket and proceeded to write down a number. ‘You can reach me on this,’ he said, ripped the page out and slid it across the table to me. ‘But if we find another blood drained body, I’m coming after you.’

  ‘Don’t threaten me, Sommers.’ I leaned closer to him. ‘Or you might just find yourself suffering from pernicious anaemia!’

  He paled. ‘You son-of-a-bitch!’ Then without any further hesitation he slid his chair back and walked out.

  I had a feeling we would meet again, quite soon.

  I left the café and made my way to the nearest florist where I picked a single long-stemmed crimson rose with a matching silken ribbon tied around the stem. Carefully tearing a slip of paper from my pocket notebook, I wrote a brief message to Laura and tied it to the stem. Now all I needed was to drive to her flat and leave it at her door.

  I parked in front of her block of units and walked through the main corridor, stopping at the first door on the right. I didn’t sense her presence inside, but her perfume permeated the corridor, a delicious floral with a hint of musk. It was the same one she had worn last night. I inhaled deeply as her face appeared in my mind and I realized I was looking forward to seeing her again.

  After leaving the rose at her door, I went back to my car and within fifteen minutes I was back in my city apartment. Weakness had spread further and my body was shaking. Bright light, which streamed in through the harbour-facing windows, and which I had enjoyed these fifty years, now hurt my eyes.

  After lowering the outside shutters and downing a bag of Judith’s blood I kept in the fridge, I finally dragged my body up the stairs to the loft. Without bothering to undress, I dropped into my bed and let the regenerating sleep take me.

  Chapter 9

  My Girl

  LAURA

  After turning my back on Matt and Alec, I went in search of a suitable dress for the Ritual on Monday night. The walk, together with the banal business of shopping, gave me the much-needed time to think and adjust to my new role as a walking blood bank to creatures I once believed existed only in fiction. Every now and then, as I scoured the boutiques and tried on countless numbers of gowns, my eyes focussed on my neck as I imagined two puncture marks there.

  Each time it made me shiver, but what I found more disturbing was the image of Alec Munro’s mouth on my neck. It didn’t so much fill me with fear as with a growing sense of thrill.

  What was wrong with me?

  I shook my head, checked myself in the mirror and walked out with a lovely pale, silver-blue silk dress with delicate shoulder straps and a pair of peep-toed silver shoes. Since I didn’t have a matching evening bag, I went looking for one of those, too. By the time I got back to my flat, it was around six in the evening and Matt hadn’t rung or messaged. That worried me. Unless he popped around I would have to spend Saturday evening on my own. I couldn’t begin to imagine what happened between him and Alec after I’d left.

  As I walked down the corridor to my front door, my eyes caught something on the ground—a single red rose with a note attached. I bent down and picked it up.

  Dear Laura,

  Looking forward to Monday night.

  Will come for you at 9pm.

  Alec

  ‘Can’t get out of it now,’ I said aloud, hoping no one was within earshot. I raised the flower and inhaled its sweet scent, wishing Matt would give me flowers occasionally.

  I unlocked my apartment door and heard a movement from the living area. My first thought was burglars. But what did I have worth stealing? I dropped my bags and removed one of my shoes. It had a pointy heel and hopefully could cause some damage. I then peered into the room.

  ‘What are you thinking of doing with that shoe, Laura?’ a cool male voice asked.

  It had come so unexpectedly from the direction of the sofa that I squealed. ‘Matt! What are you doing here?’

  ‘We swapped keys, remember? And for your information, I’ve been here most of the afternoon waiting for you to come home. Where have you been?’

  The temptation to throw the shoe at him was overwhelming, but I controlled the urge, lowered my arm and switched on the light instead. Matt was comfortably settled on the sofa, feet up on my coffee table looking pretty annoyed.

  Well, that wasn’t my fault. ‘I do have a mobile you know. Why didn’t you call?’

  ‘I prefer to see you.’ Neither of us had yet moved.

  ‘I told you I was going shopping.’ I pointed to the bags now abandoned on the floor.

  Matt got up from the sofa and made his way toward me. I swallowed. He must have gone home to shower and change, for he wore a clean, tight fitting, light-grey T-shirt that showed his every muscle. He took the shoe from my hand, dropped it, drew me tightly to him and lifted my chin to meet his mouth. For the next few minutes I forgot what day it was with his lips firm on mine, caressing, teasing, demanding, from one side of my mouth to the other and back again.

  ‘My girl,’ he murmured and caressed the back of my neck before his hand gently removed the band around my ponytail to let my hair fall freely over my shoulders and down my back. Interweaving his fingers in its thickness, he pressed my mouth more forcibly to his.

  I stood on tiptoes, reached up and slipped my arms around his neck. His hair felt a little damp as I twirled some of it around my fingers.

  ‘In a better mood now than you were this morning?’ I asked.

  ‘Yeah. I wasn’t happy finding the bed empty when I woke up.’

  ‘Thought that might’ve been it.’

  He resumed kissing me and after a whil
e said, ‘By the way, were you thinking of doing something violent with that shoe?’

  ‘Uh huh!’

  He shook with laughter before lowering his head to kiss me again. ‘Laura, what if I really was a burglar?’

  ‘I’d hope my scream would scare him off.’

  ‘I’m going to install a burglar alarm in here.’

  ‘To keep you away?’

  He laughed again and went back to nibbling my lower lip.

  I enjoyed his kisses, although it seemed as if he were trying too hard. Ensuring I was his? Just then my stomach reminded me it hadn’t eaten anything other than the coffee I drank at the cafe.

  ‘Have you eaten yet?’ I asked him.

  ‘No, and by the sounds of things neither have you.’

  ‘You like stroganoff? I’ve got some in the freezer. Cooked up a whole batch the other day.’

  ‘Love some.’

  While I reheated our meal, Matt got the dishes out and set the table. ‘I’ve got tickets for the footy Monday night. Starts at seven thirty. Pick you up after work?’

  Oh crap! ‘Matt, I can’t go. I’ve got to attend a special ceremony that introduces me to… them.’ I couldn’t say the word, “vampire.” ‘It’s always held on the first full moon after the Bloodgifted comes-of-age.’

  Matt looked like thunder. ‘The same night?’

  ‘If I don’t show, they’ll come after me and Alec won’t be able to protect me from them all.’

  ‘Oh, hell!’ He slammed the dishes down and cracked one.

  ‘Hey, that’s my only dinner set, Matthew Sommers!’

  He swore under his breath.

  I brought the stroganoff to the table and ran my arms around his waist. ‘It’s only one night. The next takes place fifty years from now. You can survive without me for one night.’

  ‘How you getting there?’

  I hesitated, then said, ‘Alec’s picking me up.’

  Matt’s face darkened even further. I placed my finger on his lips as I could see he was about to protest. ‘Alec Munro’s my chauffer and my guardian. That’s all. Trust me?’

  ‘It’s him I don’t trust!’

  I reached up and kissed him.

  ‘Okay, I’ll go with Jonno.’ Jonathan Besser was Matt’s partner. ‘If Munro makes a pass at you I’ll personally rip his teeth out!’

  I laughed and reached up to kiss him again. When we sat down to our meal I related what Alec told me about the Ritual, deliberately omitting the, if-he-loses-control-while-feeding-I-die, bit. It was best Matt didn’t know about that. He’d go ballistic.

  ‘What?’ Matt was unhappy when I also explained my prearranged “feeding sessions” with Alec several times a week. His eyes frosted over. ‘I’ll be coming with you. No way in hell is he getting you on your own!’

  I sighed. ‘Matt, he needs me so he’s not going to do anything stupid. It’ll only be an hour, at the most, and he’s driving me there and back.’

  Matt huffed and shook his head. ‘I hate this! I hate this whole damn thing!’

  I left my seat and sat on his lap. ‘I know, but there’s nothing either of us can do about it. Look at it as the price for my protection.’

  ‘I can think of another way.’ His eyes narrowed. ‘Eliminate the lot of them!’

  My blood chilled. ‘Matt, you can’t! There’s too many—over two hundred in the city alone.’ The thought of him turning into a vampire hunter and going after Alec and Luc horrified me. He could be killed, but what struck me more was that I cared for Alec’s safety. I cupped Matt’s face in my hands. ‘Promise me you won’t do anything rash. Let me handle it. My family’s been doing this for over a thousand years and as you can see, we’re still here. Please, don’t interfere.’

  He looked at me long and hard before finally letting out a resigned breath, although the stormy look in his eyes didn’t entirely disappear. ‘I won’t make any promises.’

  ‘I’ll take that as a yes.’

  ‘You can wrap me around your little finger, you know that?’ He slapped me lightly on the bottom.

  ‘Liar! You always do whatever you want and somehow get me to go along!’

  He laughed, rose with me in his arms and headed for the bedroom.

  ‘Matt… I can’t!’

  ‘Why? Is it that time of the month?’

  ‘No, it’s not that. But if we make love, I’ll conceive for sure. Aunt Judy told me last night.’

  ‘I’ve got protection.’

  ‘You want to risk it? If I fall pregnant now, our child will carry my gene, and… well, you know what that means.’

  Matt stared at me a while then put me down. ‘When can we have sex?’

  ‘I don’t know.’ I leaned back against the wall and hoped he wouldn’t press me.

  ‘This is ridiculous! First the game and now this! When will it end, Laura?’

  ‘Let me check with Aunt Judy. She might know a way around.’ There has to be a way, I thought. Surely my aunt and Luc haven’t abstained all these years?

  ‘And if not?’

  ‘I don’t have the answers. This is new to me too, you know.’

  He let out an exasperated breath. ‘Okay, fine. I take it fingering and tasting isn’t off limits?’

  ‘Not at all. You may touch and taste all you want, Detective Sommers!’

  A slow smile spread across his face, highlighting his dimple. ‘You do taste delicious, Miss Dantonville!’

  I laughed as he picked me up—caveman style, over his shoulder—and carried me into the bedroom.

  Chapter 10

  The Ritual

  LAURA

  On Monday night Alec arrived promptly at nine. When I opened my front door there he stood, looking absolutely gorgeous in a black tuxedo—what, no long black cloak?—dazzling smile and a bouquet of flowers. His lavender eyes widened as he handed me the bouquet.

  ‘You’re a vision, Laura,’ he said.

  I glanced down at my dress then back at him. ‘Thank you.’

  He took hold of my hand and brought it to his lips; his eyes never left my face.

  ‘Let me put the flowers in water before we go,’ I said. Alec followed me in. Well, there goes another vampire myth. Vampires don’t need to be specifically invited in.

  ‘Nice apartment. How long have you lived here?’

  ‘About eleven years.’

  I’d bought the unit after finally persuading my parents I needed a place of my own. The problem was, most people believed I was in my late teens and too young to live on my own. Even the Real-Estate agent didn’t take me seriously till I produced my driver’s license, which showed my age as thirty-nine.

  I arranged Alec’s flowers in a crystal vase and placed them in the centre of my dining room table. The mix of daisies and pink roses, interspersed with bunches of greenery, were lovely. I inhaled the delicious scent and heard a snap. Alec had broken off a rose bud and slid it into the comb that secured a section of my hair.

  His hand then slid down the loose strands while his eyes travelled slowly over my face, down the length of my body and back again. It was so sensual I wasn’t sure whether he was trying to seduce me, or whether this was normal vampire behaviour. But whatever, it made my toes curl.

  ‘You treat all Ingenii like this?’

  He chuckled. ‘Only showing my appreciation.’

  ‘I’m flattered.’

  His gaze held mine and it took some effort for me to break away. I collected my purse from the sofa. ‘Where are we going?’

  ‘Vaucluse. The Ritual is being held there.’

  Rich part of town, big houses, I thought. ‘Will there be a lot of people?’

  ‘Several hundred.’

  My breath caught in my throat. He turned me around to face him, his hands firm yet gentle on my shoulders. ‘I won’t let anyone touch you and I’ll do my best to make my bite as painless as possible.’

  I shuddered. ‘I was bitten by a dog once and it hurt like hell.’

  Something flickered in his
eyes. ‘If that dog were still alive I’d kill it!’

  I gasped. Was he serious? ‘There’s, no need… really. It was a long time ago.’ I was horrified at the thought and made a mental note not to buy a pet for the next fifty years—just in case!

  ‘What about your bite?’

  ‘Vampire saliva contains a type of anaesthetic which deadens the pain, when we choose to use it. I will tonight.’

  He’d better! ‘And you won’t lose control?’ I tried to keep the tremor from my voice.

  ‘I won’t. Promise.’ He smiled, offered me his arm and led me down to his car—a blue Mercedes Sports.

  ‘Do all vampires drive pretentious sports cars?’ I asked and waved my hand at the vehicle. I needed to focus on something other than this coming ceremony.

  ‘You want to take the bus?’

  ‘You got something against my proletariat sensibilities?’

  He chuckled and opened the door for me. ‘Laura, your family lives in Earlwood, not exactly working class.’

  ‘True, but I can sympathise.’

  ‘The Mercedes is more fuel economic on petrol than most small cars, and better mechanically…’

  I laughed. ‘Are you trying to justify yourself? Any excuse to drive a hot sports car,’ I teased as I buckled my seatbelt.

  Alec lowered his head, shook it, but when he looked back at me his eyes were smiling. ‘Okay. I surrender. Can I drive now?’

  I flashed him a smile as he started up the engine and it really purred. I’d never been in a sports car. This was a new experience for me and I was going to make the most of it.

  ‘How fast does it go?’ I started to play with the shiny buttons on the dashboard.

  ‘Not so fast that your boyfriend will arrest me.’

  ‘He’d enjoy doing that.’ I stared out at the city lights as Alec wove through the Monday night traffic.

  ‘I’m sure he would. How long have you known each other?’

  ‘About four months.’ Really, we were still getting to know each other.

  ‘Enough time to form an attachment,’ he said quietly.

  It was hard to tell whether he meant that as a rhetorical statement or not. When I didn’t answer straight away he glanced at me.