Marked by Courage

by W. J. May

  “What is it?” she asked, when she arrived.

  “You’re drinking tea?” he asked skeptically.

  “Why not?”

  “I suppose it never occurred to me to eat normally.” He frowned. “Interesting. What about the other hunger?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Are you starving… you know, for…” his tone lowered to a whisper, as if the word was a terrible one that no one should say out loud, “blood?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know. I mean, I’m thirsty, but it’s not driving me insane.” She stared at his surprised eyes. “Is something wrong?”

  “I’m not sure,” he said slowly.

  Katie didn’t know how to respond. Wasn’t he supposed to be the expert?

  “Look. I’ve been…researching.”

  “That doesn’t sound good.” It actually sounded worse than her not being starving.

  “That’s because it’s not.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his head. “Or very good, depending, I guess. It took a while to dig up the old legends, and, frankly, I would be inclined to believe that none of them were true unless I saw your eyes for myself. The Internet is a strange place.”

  “You don’t need to tell me twice. Where were you looking on the Internet?”

  “You know there are people who know about us.” Her father almost smiled. “Although maybe it would be better to say, they know about some version of vampires. They believe in vampires, anyway, even if they think we’re all like Dracula or those Twilight people. It’s hard to know how much is new and how much is passed down from old legends, but I found some stories of people with purple eyes, as far back as the Roman Empire.”

  “Really?” Kallie sat on his couch, frowning. “And they weren’t discovered?”

  “Actually, I’m beginning to wonder if the Romans knew what they were. There are tales of the soldiers with purple eyes being sent off to take on whole battalions, all on their own. And it’s all like that, Kallie. I don’t understand it; you don’t seem to be like they describe. They talked about them seeming to be on fire inside. You seem normal. You know, for a vampire.”

  Kallie gave a snort of laughter and sipped her tea.

  “So here’s the thing.” Her father crossed his arms over his chest. “Part of me says this is some strange accident and that you’ll turn into a Red soon enough. And if that is, you should say goodbye to Liam while you still can.”

  Kallie looked down at her phone, where she had felt a text vibrate sometime back: Home safe. See you soon? She closed her eyes on a wash of pain. She did not want to say goodbye to Liam forever. “But another part of you thinks it’s real.”

  “Yes. And Kallie, if you are one of those Hybrids, it would be best if you went away.”

  “Why?” She looked over at him sharply. “What do you mean?”

  “Liam told you about them harvesting my blood because I’m pure. Yours is stronger. If they got a hold of you…” He shook his head. “I could never forgive myself. You need to get in touch with Petra, and arrange for her protection.”

  “I’m not sure I should do that.” Kallie shook her head, swallowing. “Liam thinks—yes, I know you don’t trust him, but hear me out—he thinks maybe she’s working with the rogue Reds. I don’t know if she’s playing both sides, or what, because some of them wanted to hurt you to get back at her, but he swears she turned on Caleb. I can’t trust her just yet.”

  “Then just go.” Her father’s voice was harsh. “Go now, Kallie. I’ll explain it to your mother. I’ll keep it secret. No one will ever find you. Go north, into Canada. There’ll be plenty of game there. Go before they can catch you. Take Liam with you.”

  “I’m not going.” Her voice was harsh. He was desperate if he was suggesting she take Liam along. “I’m not going anywhere. I did this to protect you.”

  “Which would have worked, except now you’re more valuable than me. Kallie, please, listen to me, you need to go! If you asked Caleb or Liam, they’d tell you the same. Your mother would tell you the same, too.”

  “Mom’s half the reason I can’t leave! They’re going to come after her once they know they didn’t get you. Aren’t they?”

  He flinched.

  “I just need to figure out what’s going on,” Kallie said fiercely. “And then I can fix it and we can all be safe again.”

  “It’s not that simple. You can’t just fix things. Not centuries-old problems!”

  She jumped up, a sharp ‘Sss’ sound escaping from between her lips. “I don’t give a crap about the war between the damn Reds and Blues! I just want to figure out how to keep us safe so we can go back to our lives. Back to normal.”

  The pity in his eyes was instantaneous. “Except you and I will still be vampires.”

  “Except that. But we can find a way to live with that. Without them draining you every month…”

  “Without that, I might be very scary, indeed.” Her father’s voice was bleak. “Kallie, I’m a machine now. I’m like some twisted… I don’t know. I know that they made me weak. If I were stronger, what would I be?”

  “We’ll deal with that when we come to it,” Kallie said. She understood that her father must have tried to make his peace with the beatings he received, with the abuse and the pain, but she could not let him try to talk her into keeping things the way they were. “Please, Dad. I need to stay.”

  “I know,” he said softly, the sadness in his voice unmistakable.

  Chapter 9

  The pebble struck her window a few hours before dawn, and Kallie sat up the instant it hit, her heart thudding. She looked at her phone just in time to see a message flash over the screen.

  I’m outside. Are you in your room?

  Kallie crossed to the window and opened it, beckoning Liam up and standing aside as he leapt through the opening. He landed lightly and turned, giving her that daredevil grin that made her insides turn all topsy-turvy. She grinned at him despite herself. “I’m glad to see you’re all right.”

  “I told you I would be.” He smiled. “I told you I was.”

  “Last I saw, you had six rogue Reds after you. For all I knew, you looked like you’d gone twelve rounds with Rocky Balboa.”

  He laughed. “I’ve missed you. How…” His face darkened, but he pushed onwards. “How’s Caleb?”

  “He’s fine.” She looked away a bit too quickly, and knew he saw the blush in her cheeks. If she was supposed to be dead, how could she blush?

  “You don’t need to pretend,” he said quietly. “I can smell him on your lips.”

  Her fingers went to her mouth before she could deny it. “Liam…”

  “Don’t.” His voice was harsh. “It’s not my place. It just makes me want to—” He broke off.

  “Kill him?” Kallie said wryly.

  “Pretty much.” Liam sat heavily on her bed. “I tracked down Petra.”

  “What?” He’d been busy. She stared at the darkness on his face. “Something tells me this isn’t good news.” Kallie sat in her desk chair, wary of sitting next to him right now. Something about her, and him, and a bed, all seemed like a very bad idea.

  What was she turning into? She flushed. Five weeks ago, she hadn’t had a boyfriend. She had been a nineteen-year-old virgin without any prospects, and she’d been a good girl. A really good girl, certainly not the kind of girl who wanted to make out with multiple guys in the same night. She swallowed hard.

  “It’s not good news,” Liam said. If he noticed her surge of desire, he said nothing. “I found her at Red Dragon.”

  “That’s where she always is, though.”

  “And who else is always there, sometimes holding prisoners?” Liam raised his eyebrows. “The rogue Reds.”

  “Oh.” Kallie put her hand to her mouth.

  “Exactly. So it’s their hotbed, and she’s unharmed. Which isn’t all that damning on its own, to be fair. They could easily be trying to pull a coup. They might know that she isn’t sure who’s a Rogue, et cetera, et
cetera.” He waved his hands. “But I told you about that spell, and it’s…well, I didn’t tell you everything I knew about witch training. It requires a lot of spells that kill most people who try them, for one thing. But for another, it requires that an existing witch takes another under her wing, and lets them into their very mind.”

  “You can’t be serious.”

  “Yes. The amount of trust that takes is immense. Anyone who’s reached that stage is already skilled, and very dangerous. If Petra’s been training someone, she knows absolutely everything that’s going on in their head, and they know everything in hers.”

  “So what are you saying?” Kallie’s mouth was dry.

  “I’m saying that the one they think will be the Hunter, the witch? She’s one of the rogue Reds. The old lady, if you remember her.”

  Kallie swallowed convulsively, remembering the woman clearly. “So Petra knows. But what if she’s just Petra’s plant in that group?”

  “If she is, it means that she went along with it while they tied your father to the ground and left him to burn to death,” Liam said brutally. “And it means that Petra knows it, too. Now, I can see a leader sacrificing some things to throw their opponents off the scent, but if she would let your father die like that, I’d say to be wary of having her as an ally in any case.”

  Kallie could only nod.

  “Kallie, I’m sorry.” When she looked over, his face was full of pity. “I know this wasn’t what you wanted to hear.”

  “It’s the truth. It’s more facts that might add up to anything.” Kallie threw her hands up. “When did it get so complicated?”

  “When Petra became a witch that whole factions of vampires need to fear,” Liam said flatly. “This all goes back to her.”

  Kallie looked away. She couldn’t argue with that.

  “Kallie…” He was staring at her. “I don’t know what to tell you to do anymore. I helped you get Caleb out, but where do you go from here? He’ll only go back to Petra.”

  “I told him not to trust her,” Kallie said quietly. “He said he wouldn’t let anything slip.”

  “That’s somewhat of a relief.” Liam’s voice said he was remembering just how Kallie had persuaded Caleb, and Kallie raised an eyebrow at him.

  “Something else you want to say?”

  “You know how good we are together.” His voice was full of yearning. “You know what’s between the two of us. I can’t just give up on that.”

  “I don’t want you to.”

  “Then, what?”

  “I don’t know!” Kallie looked away. She had to, or she would join him on the bed and she would do things that she wasn’t ready for. Now was the worst time.

  “Kallie.” His voice was low.

  “What?”

  “Come here.”

  She said nothing, but her fingers tightened on the arm of the chair.

  “I’ll…it’s only a kiss.” His voice was rough, but she could hear the caring in it. “Only a kiss, Kallie, I swear. I messed up once, and I nearly lost you. I’ll never do that again.”

  She looked over at him, meeting his blue eyes. There was a need there that shook her down to her bones, and she shuddered at the feeling of her own need. What humans called instinct was a pale, weak thing. She had felt desire for him when she was human. Now her body whispered for her to go to him, to be safe in his arms. He was a protector; that she knew. Her protector. He would never hurt her.

  She was on the bed before she had time to think, leaning in for him to kiss her. His lips were soft, his fingers creeping up to the nape of her neck. She felt the desire in him but he was as good as his word; though he shuddered with it, he only kissed her, lightly and gently until she melted into his touch.

  They drew away at the same time, Kallie looking away and Liam sinking his head into his hands. She saw his fingers clench in his short dark hair, and reached out to touch his back. It was such a normal human gesture that her heart ached. This was the sort of thing she had always envisioned having with a boyfriend, and then with a husband.

  But now she could not think of any way she would ever have that. If she chose Caleb, she would side with her father, but she was afraid she would go to war with Petra over the heart of the man she loved. If she chose Liam, she might someday be able to leave the tangle of conflicting loyalties that was the Reds—but her father would never be able to sit at the same table with Liam. He would not be able to come to her wedding.

  And no matter who she chose, she would have to give the other one up. It was too much. Kallie felt tears in her eyes.

  “What is it? Kallie, please, I didn’t mean to make you cry.” Liam shook his head. “I’m so sorry. I…I should never have kissed you. I won’t again.”

  “It’s not that.” Kallie looked over at him. “I kissed you just as much as you kissed me.”

  “I’m not sure that’s true.” Liam reached out one trembling hand to tuck a lock of hair behind her ear. “You’re so innocent, Kallie. I want you so badly, and I know the best thing for you is for me to go.”

  “What?” The word was a cry. “No.”

  “Kallie, think for a moment.”

  He was going to say it all aloud, and that would make it true. She closed her eyes and shook her head, but he did not stop talking.

  “This is a beautiful dream, and the fact that you have those eyes…it gave me hope I shouldn’t have had. The fact is that you’re a Red. No, don’t argue with me. Your father is a Red, and you were turned by a Red so that you could help your father. So what am I, Kallie? I’m a complication, and you don’t need that.”

  “Liam, please.” Anger was coiling in her chest. “Don’t make me choose.”

  “This is the opposite of that,” he told her seriously. “Kallie, if ever you need my protection, if ever you need my help, I will come to you. I’ll never stop working to take down the rogue Reds. We’ll still be on the same side. But when I told you that someday the world would make you choose, well, I really believed that. And you’re kind, Kallie, you’re so much kinder than this world. You’ll never forgive yourself for choosing either side. So this is the one gift I can give you: I’m going to leave.” He shook his head slightly. “I may hate the bastard’s guts, but Caleb’s going to keep you safe. Try not to… it’ll be easier if you try not to contact me.”

  “Liam.” She was crying now and didn’t care. It felt like her heart was breaking.

  “Kallie, I can’t live with seeing you torn apart.” He stood.

  Her hand went out before she could stop herself, locking around his, and she looked up at him. “It’s worth being torn apart to have you in my life.”

  “It isn’t.”

  “It is. I’ve told my father and Caleb that they don’t have to like you, but they aren’t to try to talk me out of trusting you. With you it’s easier, because you trust them.”

  “I trust them with your safety.” He looked predatory for a moment. “That’s not quite the same thing.”

  “It’s the same thing for now. Liam…” Her throat closed with pain. “Don’t leave now. I have four people in the whole world that I can trust. Don’t make it three.”

  “I wanted to help.”

  “I know. And it means more to me than I can ever tell you.” She stood, aware of how close they were and of the pulse beating desperately in her veins. “Don’t go. Please.”

  A pause that felt like the end of world finally ended with a long breath from Liam. “I won’t,” he whispered quietly.

  “Good.” She buried her face in his shoulder. “And Liam?”

  “Yes?”

  “You keep talking about protecting me, but we both know your family—the other Blues—are in danger. If they need help…”

  Something in him changed. She couldn’t tell what, but it was as if a fear released deep in his chest, and she heard him let out a slow breath. “Are you up for a trip outside?”

  “What? Why?” It was a few hours before dawn. Where did he want to go?


  “I think it’s time you meet them,” he said seriously. “And I think they may know more about your eyes than your father and Caleb do. They may be able to help.”

  Chapter 10

  Kallie slipped down to the basement to tell her father she was going out; he did not ask where she was going, and she could tell from the curl of his lip that he smelled Liam on her. She did not offer an explanation, uncomfortably aware that it was best if he didn’t know anything about where she was going and what she was doing. She had found herself in the middle of spats between her friends before, but she had never expected to find herself in the middle of a war that the participants couldn’t help engaging in.

  Something plucked at her as she left; a strange yearning for what might be. Was she never going to understand what it meant to be a vampire if she was not forced to pick a side? What would it be like to be forced into confrontation with those she loved? She swallowed hard. She already knew what it felt like to be driven to hunt. That was enough for her.

  At the top of the stairs, she paused and typed out a quick message:

  Hope you’re sleeping well. Going out, back in a bit.

  She considered, and then added:

  No danger. Promise.

  It wasn’t going to reassure Caleb all that much, she knew, but it would at least keep him from coming out after her… hopefully. He needed to heal. She joined Liam outside, shrugging into a coat out of habit before realizing that she didn’t need as much warmth any longer. Liam saw her notice and laughed.

  “You have to be careful. You just don’t get cold anymore, and then the next thing you know it’s midwinter, and someone’s asking you how you can possibly not be shivering.”

  Kallie grinned as they walked to the car. “The voice of experience?”

  “Yeah.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t ever as bad as I thought. I mean, who’s actually going to guess, even if they realize how weird it is?”