Bloodgifted

by Tima Maria Lacoba

  I buried my head in his chest and he stroked my hair.

  ‘Who would’ve thought,’ he said after a while, ‘you’re Dracula’s daughter!’

  ‘Oh, Matt don’t,’ I looked up at him. ‘Luc’s my biological father and Judy’s not really my aunt. She’s my mother.’

  He gave a deep sigh. ‘They told me everything, including your possible lifespan. How do you feel about that?’

  ‘What can I do? I have to accept it.’

  Matt’s gaze roamed my face while his hand gently traced the curves of my jaw and chin. I had the distinct impression he was memorising my face. His brow furrowed when his hand slid to my neck. ‘I don’t recall seeing these two freckles before.’

  My heart stopped—Alec’s bite. Matt suddenly held me out at arm’s length and his eyes turned glacial. ‘He bit you. The bastard!’

  ‘Matt! It was part of the ceremony. He had to—’

  ‘Brand you as his possession!’ His voice became as cold as his eyes.

  ‘Please understand,’ I pleaded and gripped his arms. ‘If he hadn’t they would all come after me. It’s my protection. And he was very gentle. It didn’t hurt,’ I lied and prayed I wouldn’t hiccup.

  Matt was breathing hard. ‘I want to kill him!’

  My stomach clenched as I visualised Matt and Alec literally at each other’s throats. I couldn’t let that happen. ‘You now know what I am, Matt. I need him. Compared to the many others I saw last night, I couldn’t have a better guardian. Could you protect me against them?’

  He thought for a while. ‘No,’ he finally admitted. ‘It’s not easy for me to accept something I’ve always believed to be a myth. And it’s right here on my own patch and involving the one person in the world I care the most about.’

  ‘I’m so sorry.’

  There was a long silence between us as Matt grappled with this news. A muscle ticked in the side of his jaw. ‘So, what were they like, these—vampires?’ he said in a resigned tone.

  ‘Beautiful and very powerful.’ I remembered Douglas’s strength as he squeezed my hand.

  Matt looked at me for a second and then drew me into his arms again. ‘Oh Babe, why did it have to be you?’

  Coldness crept over me and I couldn’t answer him. Matt lifted my chin to meet his gaze. A determined look was etched on his face. ‘Laura, I know how different we are.’ That was an understatement! ‘But we can make this work. Your parents have. Judith is human and Lebrettan is… you know, yet nothing has stopped them being together, even if for only a little while. They understand that every day is precious and they’re making the most of it—before Judith dies. Tell me we’ve got the same chance.’

  For a moment I was stunned. ‘Is this a proposal?’

  ‘Yes, I suppose it is.’

  It was so unexpected, I was unsure what to say. Could I do it? Could I risk the future and create another generation of cursed Dantonvilles, or Sommers’ if I married him? As I mulled this over, the spectre of my parents sacrifice appeared in my mind’s eye and I saw history repeating itself, only this time it would be my child.

  ‘Oh Matt.’ I pulled out of his embrace. ‘What about children?’

  ‘They told me about that. If you and I have any kids they’ll inherit that blasted gene.’ He was silent a moment. ‘They think I should do the noble thing and break up with you.’

  My stomach went for a dive. How dare they!

  ‘They’re right, you know. I should—’ he paused when I vigorously shook my head ‘—but I can’t do that, Laura.’ He took me by the shoulders again. ‘We can work around this. I can have a… vasectomy.’

  I stared at him for a second—unbelieving. Matt was willing to do that for me and he made it sound as if it was such a simple thing. It was crazy!

  ‘No! No way, the vasectomy thing. I’m not letting you do that. Forget it.’ I threw my hands in the air. It was all becoming too much and I desperately needed to get away. ‘I can’t discuss this now… I, need some time, Matt, to think a whole lot of things through for both of us. Can we just go home?’

  ‘I don’t want to lose you, Laura.’

  He kissed me again before taking my hand and together we left the front room and entered the corridor.

  Luc and Judy were talking, heads locked together, at the other end of the hallway. They must have been waiting there the whole time.

  ‘Laura, do you mind if I have another brief word with Matthew before he takes you home?’ Luc asked.

  I looked at him curiously then glanced up at Matt.

  ‘It’s okay. Wait for me at the car, Babe.’

  My mother came toward me and linked her arm through mine. ‘Let’s wait outside, dear. It’s a lovely evening.’

  I couldn’t begin to guess what else they wanted Matt to know, but I had reached overload. Judy and I left the house and stood by Matt’s car.

  In an aggrieved tone, I said, ‘How could you have told Matt to break up with me?’

  ‘Laura dear, we don’t want you to suffer what we went through. If you marry him and have children, you know the consequences.’

  ‘But the choice should be mine!’

  She nodded. ‘You’ll make the right decision, dear. I’m sure.’

  ‘Mother, if you think…!’ I stopped as a wide smile lit her face.

  ‘Oh, Laura, do you know how long I’ve waited for you to call me that?’ She threw her arms around my neck and anything further I wanted to say just seemed pointless. I gave up and hugged her back.

  ‘Can I ask you something?’ I ventured.

  ‘Of course, dear.’

  ‘It’s a bit personal.’

  ‘I’m your mother, you can ask my anything.’

  I took a deep breath. ‘Did you ever, um, tremble after being bitten by Luc or even when he wasn’t biting you, when he, for instance… kissed you?’

  ‘Always!’ she laughed. A look of understanding crossed her face. ‘Ah, that explains what I saw between you and Alec in the garden! Did he try to kiss you?’

  ‘Uh huh, and the awful thing is, I kissed him back and my body began to shake.’

  ‘Why is kissing Alec so awful?’ She quietly asked.

  ‘Well, because of… Matt!’

  ‘Does the same thing happen when he kisses you?’

  I shook my head.

  ‘Interesting!’

  Just then Matt walked out and she whispered, ‘Like mother, like daughter. Remember, dear.’

  If that were true, then I would have to keep my distance from Alec Munro. Although how, as he’d be feeding from me for the next half-century, was anyone’s guess!

  Chapter 20

  Departure

  ALEC

  I raced up the kitchen steps and through the house pausing just outside the closed reception room door as I glimpsed Laura, leaning against the car, deep in conversation with Judith. Out of respect, I didn’t eavesdrop. The expression on her face gave nothing away.

  I knocked on the door and walked in.

  Sommers gave me a curt nod as I entered.

  Luc turned from the window where he must have been watching his wife and daughter. ‘Matthew, there is a possibility Laura could be in danger.’

  Sommers’s head swivelled toward him. ‘In what way?’

  ‘There are some among our kind who covet Alec’s position.’ Luc glanced in my direction before continuing. ‘My daughter’s bloodline is unique. It enables my kind to daywalk and there are those who are envious enough to attempt to take her for themselves.’

  ‘Does she know?’

  ‘I explained it to her last night,’ I said. ‘We believed she’d be safe after the Ritual. Now we’re not so sure, so we’re playing it safe. We have two men posted outside her flat for tonight, and until I can arrange a female of our own kind to stay with her inside, you’ll have to do that.’

  He gave me a little smile. ‘I’ve already slept over on several occasions. She won’t be particularly surprised if I suggest it tonight.’

  That
callous remark made me see red.

  ‘This time it’ll be different,’ Luc said. ‘Under no circumstances are you to sleep with her. You’ve been told the consequences should Laura conceive a child. Contraception does not work on a Bloodgifted and condoms are unreliable. You must not take that risk.’ Luc’s eyes lightened and he bared his fangs. ‘Should I smell you on her in an intimate way, I will kill you!’

  Sommers blanched and the fear that emanated from him turned to terror when the door behind me opened and Jake and Cal entered. They said nothing, but stood still as sentries on either side of the door. Sommers must have felt trapped, for he reached for his gun.

  ‘There’s no need for that.’ I snatched it from him before he could loosen it from the holster. ‘Calm down. You’ve nothing to fear from us. We have a common aim here, and that’s to protect Laura.’

  ‘You’re all monsters!’ Fear radiated from him, and coupled with anger and aggression, it placed him in a dangerous position. In a closed room full of vampires, he gave off the scent of prey—with the promise of a hunt and a feed.

  Jake and Cal’s nostrils flared. They took a step forward and I warned them back with a snarl.

  ‘Alec, get him out of here!’ Luc said.

  I dragged Sommers from the room, down the entrance hallway and out of the house. Once outside, he began to recover and shook himself free. Beads of sweat stood out on his forehead.

  ‘If not for her, I’d come back and burn this place down with all of you in it!’

  ‘That’s the second time you’ve threatened me, Sommers. It’s a nasty habit with you.’

  He looked at me with abject hatred and his breath came in gasps.

  ‘Calm down and I’ll let you have your gun back. I don’t want you accidently shooting someone!’

  ‘Bastard!’

  He glanced toward his car where Laura and Judith stood talking, composed himself and held out his hand. I handed back his gun.

  ‘Take her home,’ I told him. ‘We’ll follow at a distance.’

  Chapter 21

  Decisions

  LAURA

  As Matt wove through the city traffic, my emotions were in a whirl. Alec’s face kept surfacing in my mind and try as I might, I couldn’t dislodge it. Even more annoying was the knowledge that some perverse thing in me had responded to his kisses and that particular something wanted more.

  Matt had been pale as the proverbial ghost when he’d left the house, which made me wonder what Luc had said to him. And now, he kept glancing in the rear-view vision mirror.

  ‘Is something the matter?’

  ‘What?’

  ‘You keep looking in the mirror.’

  ‘Just habit.’

  ‘Okay.’ He never did that before. What did Luc say to him?

  After that, Matt remained strangely silent. When we pulled up outside my apartment he cut the engine and turned to face me. Even in the car’s dim light I could see the vein in his temple pulsing. I started to chew on my lower lip.

  ‘Laura—’ he hesitated ‘—we need to talk.’

  Funny, the effect those five little words can have. One moment all is fine with the world and the next it’s crumbling around your ears, and from the hollow note in Matt’s voice, I knew it was going to be the latter. He’d had time to think and maybe reassess what he’d said earlier. Was this going to be his break-up speech?

  I took a deep breath and readied myself for the inevitable, although nothing would alleviate the pain of it. I nodded so he wouldn’t hear the catch in my throat as tears already threatened.

  ‘I never told you, but the day we met I kept trying to spot a ring on your hand, sure some lucky guy already had you. When I answered a question from one of the kids in your class I looked at you. The smile you gave me turned my inside… you know.’

  He leaned over and smoothed the hair off my face. ‘You brushed your hair back off your forehead and I checked out your finger. No ring. I thanked my lucky stars. When you asked us to stay for morning tea my throat dried up. Where I got the courage to ask you out that night I still don’t know and when you accepted I thought I was the luckiest man alive. I went back to the station in a delirium, useless for the rest of that day. All I could think of was you.’

  I blinked. It wasn’t what I expected. ‘You were so patient with the kids, I liked you straight off and nothing has changed for me.’

  ‘It has for me.’

  No words could have hurt more. A punch in the stomach would have been kinder. I swallowed. ‘You’re breaking up with me?’

  Matt frowned. ‘What put that idea into your head?’

  I blinked, again. What was going on? ‘But, you said… you don’t feel the same…’

  He took me by the shoulders. ‘Laura, I love you! And tonight Lebrettan did everything possible to scare the shit out of me and make me leave you. But all it did was confirm my feelings for you, and I’m determined to get you as far from them as possible.’

  ‘They’re my family, Matt! And besides, where could we go where they wouldn’t find us? Be realistic! It just isn’t possible unless we live six months in Alaska and six months in Antarctica in the midnight sun, perhaps?’

  ‘Maybe we could—’

  ‘Matt stop, please!’ I pulled out of his grip and turned to open the door.

  ‘Let’s talk about this inside.’

  I agreed, not because I feared the dark—Alec said I was safe from any abduction attempts, for now—but we needed to discuss this further. I had no intention of leaving, but I eventually wanted kids and with Matt that would be nigh impossible without continuing the family curse. The thought of our child being vampire food filled me with horror and I would do anything to prevent it. But Matt knew that. We really needed to talk this out.

  I was preoccupied with these thoughts when I inserted the key into the lock. At that moment the Serpent Ring glared up at me—and its eyes were black. Too late I recognised the danger sign, and as the lock clicked open I nearly fell when the door was wrenched open from the inside. Something grabbed me and I screamed.

  A blow struck the side of my head, hard enough for me to see lights and send me sprawling onto the hard, wooden floor.

  Chapter 22

  When Things Go Wrong

  ALEC

  I stood at the window and watched the dust billow up from Sommers’s car as it headed for the front gate. For some reason I had an uneasy feeling. I didn’t sense the presence of any other of the Brethren, apart from present company. The Serpent Ring glowed a comforting red, so there was no hint of danger nearby. Laura was well guarded, yet my scalp prickled.

  Just in case the house was being watched, I’d decided to leave two minutes later.

  ‘So you drive to Laura’s block of flats, park your car somewhere out of sight and watch and wait? Is that the great plan?’ Jake asked.

  ‘Simple and stupid!’ Cal was comfortably settled in a deep-blue velvet lounge chair, his long legs stretched out in front on him.

  ‘You have a better idea?’ I could always rely on Cal to give me a direct and undiluted opinion.

  ‘Alec,’ Jake said, ‘that’s exactly what they’ll be expecting you to do.’

  ‘You’re not going anywhere without one of us and that‘s not negotiable,’ Cal said. ‘But on the other hand,’ he considered, ‘we could all be worrying for nothing. It hasn’t happened in four hundred years, nor was an attempt made on Judith. Why Laura, and why now?’ he asked.

  As one voice we answered him. ‘Maris!’

  ‘Bloody woman!’ he growled.

  I turned back to the window. Laura and Sommers were temporarily on their own, at least till they got to Laura’s flat. What if they were attacked on route? Could he handle a vampire attack? Even with a gun he was one weak mortal and our kind have never feared humans. His gun would be useless against them. He couldn’t defend her against one, let alone two vampires. What had I been thinking leaving her alone with him, even for a short period?

  ‘Alec, what�
��s wrong?’ Luc asked.

  ‘We should have stayed close. Sommers can’t possibly protect her from a Brethren attack. All they need to do is waylay them on route and take her.’

  ‘What, in traffic? People everywhere?’ Cal asked.

  ‘No, near her flat. The streets there are quiet and dark. Less people around.’

  ‘Aren’t Sam and Terens on guard duty again tonight?’

  ‘Has anyone heard from them?’ I asked.

  Jake and Cal looked at each other and shook their heads. ‘I thought they checked in with you, Luc,’ Jake said.

  Luc swore. ‘Alec, get going. I’ll get the swords from the gym and catch you up!’

  Without another word I ran out the front door and into my car.

  ‘No you don’t, mate,’ Jake cried. ‘Not without us.’ He and Cal shot into the back seat just as I opened up full throttle and my tyres screeched over the gravel.

  ‘You think they’ll try something?’ Cal asked.

  I glanced at my ring. The serpent’s eyes were slowly turning black. ‘She’s in danger.’

  ‘How do you know?’ Jake asked.

  ‘The Ring. Look!’ I lifted my fisted hand.

  ‘Shit!’ Cal exclaimed. From the rear view mirror I saw him dig his mobile out of his pocket, press a button and listen a while before giving up. He tried again with another number. I knew what he doing—trying to reach Sam or Terens. ‘Damn! Nothing.’

  A niggling image from the ceremony on Monday night now made sense to me. ‘Her scent,’ I said. ‘That’s why Douglas danced with her—to get her scent! Didn’t make sense to me at the time, so I ignored it.’ I slapped my forehead. ‘I let her dance with him, even placed her hand in his; gave them what they wanted, so they could follow her scent to where she lives and lie in wait!’

  I berated myself while negotiating the sharp turns down New South Head Road.

  ‘Oh, hell,’ Jake exclaimed. ‘Look, if it’s any consolation, none of us caught that either. They were masking well.’

  ‘No, you had your suspicions last night and you were right, Jake. I damn well should have done something about it. Letting her go alone with Sommers like that was irresponsible.’