"He didn't need the ring?" How was that possible? Could it be because I had had turned him into a vampire with my royal blood which had my sun blessing? No, that didn't make any sense. I had been stripped of the blessing when I had turned him.
Hailey shook her head. "He didn't know why he didn't need it, but he let me keep the ring."
I nodded, trying to figure out why he wouldn't have needed the ring. I didn't know much about everything that was involved with turning someone by blood. I had done it accidentally. I mulled over every detail of his transformation in my mind, trying to find the answer.
"Did you hear me?" Hailey asked.
I looked at her. "What?"
"Sorry. I know I totally threw a ton at you. I should probably let you take it all in. I was just asking if you wanted to go hunting tonight. I need something soon, before I lose self-control. I've been nervous about hunting alone, so I put off talking with you until, well, it's nearly too late. I gotta hunt."
I hated to admit it to her, but I really needed to hunt also. "Sure, I'll go with you." I shrugged my shoulders as though it were no big deal. "Where do you want to meet?"
"How about here at school? We could leave our cars here."
"Right, because that wouldn't stand out. We have to be inconspicuous. Let's meet at the park and ride near the freeway. There are woods nearby where we can easily dispose of them when we're done."
Her eyes widened. "You mean…? No. No way. I'm not killing anyone."
I rolled my eyes. "I forgot. You've been hunting with Kayla and her friends. The snackers."
"I remember Tanner saying that you don't like snacking. It isn't going to be a problem is it? I really don't want to kill anyone."
"Look, Hailey, I don't sip on people in their sleep. Where's the thrill in that?"
"Who said I was looking for a thrill? I—"
"Oh my gosh. Are you listening to yourself? You're Hailey Adams. You're all about thrills and excitement."
The corners of her mouth twitched as though she were fighting a smile. "You have a point there. Can't we find a middle ground? Is there a way to hunt without killing?"
"How exactly would that be hunting? When do you see a tiger hunt its prey, only to let it live?"
"Well, like, we could maybe hunt and then drink just enough to let them live. You know, like a human volunteer, but then make them forget. I mean, really. We have these mind-control powers; we may as well use them."
I glared at her again. "You know about the human volunteers? Did Tanner tell you that he was mine before I turned him?"
She smiled. "No, he didn't tell me that, actually. He just told me about them."
Wonderful. I'd just given her more information than she already had.
"Did he like it?"
I smirked. "He loved it."
She grinned. "I believe it. He loved when we drank each other's blood."
"I told you I don't want to talk about him," I snapped, standing up.
"Wait, I didn't mean to—"
"Meet me at the park and ride at seven. No later, or I'll leave."
"Hey, I didn't—"
"Seven," I said, and walked toward the building, fuming. Even though I had moved on, it was clear that I still had residual feelings for Tanner. That was what had made it so difficult to stay friends with him after I'd chosen Cliff. But now I had Tobias, and I didn't need to think about either one of them anyway.
Seventeen
As I sat at the library, working on a history project, my mind kept wandering back to my conversation with Hailey. I couldn't stop trying to figure out how Tanner had been able to walk around in the daylight without his ring. It shouldn't have been possible. My mind wouldn't leave it alone, taking everything I could remember and using as if it were a puzzle piece.
I was missing at least one vital piece, and I hated unfinished puzzles. They drove me crazy, and since this involved vampires, it made it even worse. I couldn't focus on anything else as I attempted to figure out how the pieces fit together.
At some point, my mom texted me to see if I was going to be home for dinner. I looked at the time, surprised to see how much time had passed, and how little I had actually accomplished. I packed my things up, frustrated and knowing that I needed to drop the puzzle. It wasn't as though it had any bearing on my current situation. I was still in Delphic Cove without any vampires—any royal vampires. Hailey was a common vampire. Also, Tanner was still dead as far as I knew. Figuring out why he didn't need the ring wouldn't bring anyone back into my life, although it did give me new hope that Tanner could be brought back from the grave once again though.
When I got home, I couldn't stop my mind from going over all the details, again and again. I tried to put that part of my mind in the background to focus on whatever my family was talking about, but it wasn't working as well as I had hoped.
After dinner was over, I announced that I was meeting someone from school for tutoring. I didn't want to mention Hailey's name unless I had to. Everyone knew that we didn't get along, and I didn't want to deal with the cross-examination.
"Be careful out there," Natalie said. "I was just talking with my friend Sammie, and she said she slid on some ice not too long ago."
Something in my mind clicked. I had figured out the missing piece of the puzzle.
"Alexis? Did you hear me?" asked my sister.
I looked over at her. "Yeah, sorry. I'm so focused on a…project. I'll be careful, thanks. I did notice it was a little slick when I was driving home. Everything's starting to freeze."
"Are you sure you need to go?" asked my mom, as she was putting the plates into the dishwasher.
"Yeah. I'm tutoring someone, and she really needs my help." At least that wasn't a lie. Hailey needed help if she was going to start acting like a real vampire.
"Don't stay out too late," my dad said. "Everything is going to freeze the later it gets."
"I know, Dad. Don't worry. I'll be safe."
Once I was out in my car, I was both excited and disgusted by what I had figured out. When Natalie had said her friend Sammie's name, I realized that Samantha, my evil vampire cousin, had been there around the time that Tanner had died the first time. She was over two hundred years old and would know how to turn someone with blood—with her royal blood. She had dated him for a year before I met Tanner, for the purpose of getting to me, because she wanted me dead. She had to have turned him; that was the only thing that made any sense at all. It explained why he wouldn't need the ring, and why he would have given it to Hailey.
As I drove to meet Hailey, my car slipped several times on the ice, but I had the reflexes of a vampire, so I was able to get the car going in the proper direction with ease. When I pulled into the lot, I saw Hailey's car right away and parked beside her.
She got out when I did. "I thought you said seven and no later."
"Right. So I wouldn't have to wait. Thanks for being on time." She had made my life miserable for years. I finally had the upper hand, and I was going to take full advantage of it. At least for a while.
Hailey made a face, but didn't say anything. "So where are we going?"
"We're going to have to go somewhere inconspicuous if we're going to do this in a way that we both find acceptable. When I hunt, I want to hunt. I've let plenty of people go, using mind control to make them forget about ever seeing me. So that's going to be our middle ground, since I refuse to bite into sleeping people. That's…I don't know what it is, but it isn't natural."
"As long as we don't kill anyone, I'm happy to learn how to hunt."
"That's why we have to be inconspicuous. We're at the edge of town where there aren't a lot of people, especially now with the snow. We don't have to worry about just our prey seeing us, but anyone else. The last thing we need is for someone to give a description of us to the police. In the future, we'll meet late at night and we'll run to other towns. It's faster and we'll be less likely to be recognized."
"Why don't we leave our cars here and run
now?"
"Because I don't feel like dealing with it right now, that's why. My parents are expecting me back relatively soon and I want as little chance for hang-ups as possible. You're new at this, so we're going to stay close to home."
She nodded, but then giggled.
I sighed, hoping to get the point across that I was annoyed. "What's so funny?"
"Sorry," she said, obviously trying to stop laughing. "It's just funny that you're supposed to be an important vampire princess, but you're worried about your parents being mad at you for getting home late."
"First of all, I'm not supposed to be an important princess, I am one. Not only that—well, I'm not going to get into all of the details, but suffice it to say that there's never been one before like me. Secondly, my human parents have no idea that I'm a vampire. They're probably worried about me driving in these conditions. I don't want to worry them. In fact," I said, pulling out my phone, "I'm going to text them right now to let them know I arrived safe."
"Good idea," she said, no longer smiling. She pulled out her phone and began texting also. "Where are we going?"
"I was thinking that we'd start by looking behind the mall."
"Really? Do you know what kinds of people hang out back there?"
"Yeah, I do. But we're not going to start with pretty, clean people. If you can show me that you handle this well, then next time we can go somewhere more public and just lure away those we choose."
"Wait a minute. Does this hurt them?"
"No more than drinking from a sleeping human hurts them. They might feel light-headed, or even have a headache, depending on how much blood we drink. But if we don't take too much, they'll be fine. I assume you know when to stop?"
"When the flow slows down."
"Exactly. Now if we're lucky enough, we'll find two people alone. Then we won't have to worry about taking them anywhere. I need to see you using your mind control to make sure you can do it right."
"Oh, I can, believe me. When I found out that I could control people's minds, I began practicing right away on everyone."
I rolled my eyes. "Why am I not surprised?"
"Well, if this goes well, next time we'll try an actual chase. You'll be surprised at how good fear-tainted blood is. You might get a taste of that tonight, but since we're probably not going to chase anyone, it'll only be a teaser."
"Okay. Let's go already."
"Don't let yourself get impatient or you'll probably make mistakes."
"All right. I get it. Let's go."
Rolling my eyes again, I started walking.
"Should we run?" she asked.
"No. We're not going to suddenly show up in front of someone today. Maybe next time, when we're going for the element of surprise. We're going to act natural and assess the situation before we react. Got it?"
"But next time we get to have fun?"
"It sounds like you're excited about moving away from the sleepers."
"Not that I have choice, but yeah, I am curious."
We walked a little ways in silence, surprisingly enough. As we got to the mall, I whispered for her to follow my lead. We sneaked around to the back and found several people sleeping close together, and as luck would have it, there were two guys awake. I made eye contact with Hailey, who looked horrified that we'd be walking toward the filthy people.
I walked toward them. I could hear her following me, grumbling about how gross they were. I knew she wouldn't be complaining as we drank their blood, especially if we were able to make them fearful. My mouth watered at the thought, and I could feel my fangs preparing for action.
The two homeless guys looked our way.
"Hey girls," said one, "don't you know that it's not safe to be out here at night?"
"That's what I've heard," I said, continuing to walk toward them. I heard Hailey let out a gasp, but she kept following me, close behind.
"You really should go back to your nice, warm homes."
"We will," I said, stopping just a few feet away. "When we're ready."
One of the men sleeping sat up. "What's going on? Why are they here?"
I stared into his eyes. "You just stay there."
His pupils shrunk. "I'll just stay here."
"Good choice," I said, and then turned back to the other two. They looked a little concerned since their buddy had just obeyed my suggestion.
"What's going on?" asked one.
"We just want a little snack," I said, looking directly into his eyes.
"Look around, princess. We don't have the kind of food you're looking for."
"Funny. I see exactly what I'm looking for."
A look of concern registered on his face, and the slightest scent of fear drifted into my nose, making my mouth water even further. I wondered if it was his fear, or Hailey's.
"What snack are you after?" the other guy asked.
"Step closer and I'll tell you."
He smiled, showing his yellow teeth. If it hadn't been so long since I'd had fresh blood, I probably would have been put off by the sight, at least a little. But that night, I didn't care. The sound and smell of all the pumping blood around us was calling to me. It sounded like a song, in fact.
"Go," I hissed to Hailey, before I bit into yellow-teeth's neck. The blood flowed into my mouth, and although it was a bit sour, I didn't care.
He started to protest, but then said, "I like that."
I drank it up until the flow slowed. I didn't want to stop, but I had agreed not to kill anyone. I sealed up his wound with my tongue, and then grabbed his face, forcing him to look at me. I stared into his eyes, until his pupil's became small. "You never saw either one of us."
"Never saw you two."
"Good." I shoved him for good measure. I looked over at Hailey to see that she was drinking from the other guy. I moved for the guy who was awake, but sitting.
He didn't get up, but everything about him told me that he was scared, including the smell of fresh urine. I plugged my nose so as not to smell that and then I bit into his neck. The blood that flowed into my mouth was so delicious that I drank it more hungrily than before. I had never tasted such fear-soaked blood. I couldn't stop myself when I felt the flow slow.
"Hey! Stop!" Hailey yelled from behind. "He doesn't look good."
I ignored her and continued to drink. I wanted every last drop.
"He's about to pass out!" Hailey shrieked, voice squeaking. I could feel her hands around my shoulders, pulling. I tried shirking her away, but that didn't work, and she pulled me off.
I turned to her, teeth still extended and blood dripping down my chin. "What do you think you're doing?"
"You promised! No killing."
I shoved her aside, anxious to drink more of the heavily fear-soaked blood.
She ran at me and hit me, shoving me out of the way. "You have to stop!"
"You really don't want to get in my way, Hailey."
"Snap out of it! Look, he passed out. Just leave him alone."
"Look. My teeth marks are still there. I have to seal that up—we can't leave behind any clues that vampires have been here."
"I'll seal it up."
"Oh, no you won't! I always finish what I start." I moved toward him.
She stepped in front of me. "Not this time."
"Why don't you go drink from one of those sleepers over there? You do this your way, and I'll do it mine. No one's going to miss one homeless man. No one. Move."
She shoved me. "No. We agreed."
"I said move." I pushed her back.
"And I said no."
We stared each other down, neither one backing down.
"What's wrong with you, Alexis?"
"He's not going to be missed, and I want the rest of his blood. Maybe if you have a taste, you'll understand."
"No. He's already lost enough. Let's go."
"I'm still hungry."
"How long has it been since you last fed?"
"With my memory, who knows? Move aside."
/> "If you're so hungry, why not take me somewhere else and show me how to really hunt. We could probably find a couple of people, and really give 'em a scare. What do you say? Think of how much more blood you'd be able to get."
I stopped, unable to think of anything beyond getting more blood. "We could find some that isn't so sour. Even Scaredy over there had a stark aftertaste."
She nodded slowly. "Exactly what I'm talking about. Let's find some really tasty blood."
I nodded and walked toward the front of the mall. Hailey caught up with me and we walked side by side. As we rounded a corner and a street light shown down on us, she gasped.
"What?"
"Your eyes! I've never seen such a dark shade of red."
"Get used to it if you're going to hunt with me. I'm full of surprises."
She continued to stare at me as we walked through the parking lot. I ignored her, distracted by my mouth watering for more blood. I had let myself go too long in between feedings. I was acting like an animal, and I knew it, but I didn't care. The only thing that mattered was getting warm, sweet blood.
I scanned the horizon, eyes focused on the glow of blood in the distance. With my normal vision, I could see well in the dark, better than most other vampires, from what I had been told, but when my senses were heightened with the blood lust, I could see it from miles away.
"What are you doing?" Hailey asked.
"Hush." I waved my arm in her direction. Something caught my eye at the edge of my line of sight. "Two and a half miles due East."
"Huh?"
"Follow me," I said, rolling my eyes. I burst into a run, vaguely aware of her right behind me. I was intent on my next victim's blood. I stopped about a block away from a park. There were a few college-age guys playing Frisbee in the snow, wearing shorts.
"Remember, we're not draining anyone," Hailey whispered.
"That shouldn't be a problem considering how much we've already had. Follow my lead. I know you'll be able to handle it."
"Thanks."
"We're going to flirt. You've got that down to science."
The Transformed Box Set: Books 1, 2, 3, 3.5 Page 110
