by Myers, J. L.
“It was a risk to disrespect The Council,” Uncle Caius added. His eyes glazed with a look of distant memory. “But I couldn’t leave your mother to die like that. So with only moments to spare I tore you from her womb and infected you all with my blood. Even then, death could have claimed each of you. Only half of those infected live, while the others reject the change and die.” Pride stole the glaze from his eyes. “But you were both fighters, so strong, so determined to live.”
“But why is this bloodlust,” Dorian’s voice caught over the word, “only occurring now?”
I remembered Mom and Caius speaking cryptically, after discovering me gnawing into the bloody steak. You knew there was a chance even after all we did, Caius had said. “You did something to us,” I stated accusingly.
“I begged him to,” Mom cried, wrapping her arms tight around her waist. “I was eternally grateful for our second chance at life, of course I was. Still I would never have chosen this life for either of you.”
“Up until now,” Uncle Caius said, releasing my hand to move back to Mom’s side. He patted her shoulder in an effort to calm her down. “The ancient remedy I gave you and Dorian staved off the transformation, culled your thirst. We hoped it would halt the turning process completely. Though we have all witnessed it tonight. The effects are diminishing. You should expect your thirst to become stronger, and your strength and speed to increase.”
“You may also develop an allergy to the sun, like me,” Mom interrupted.
Caius cleared his throat and Mom looked up. There seemed to be a warning in his eyes. “We do not know that yet, Lamayli.” With a sigh he looked back to Dorian and me. “In the end, you will both become full-fledged vampires. It is only a matter of time.”
A wave of dread washed down my body. This is only the beginning? I had already lost control once. I thought of the disappearing boy again. If not for him, I would have killed Joel. It was only a matter of time before I did it again.
Kendrick cleared his throat and squeezed my hand. “Ms. Lamont, Lord Bathory,” he said looking at my mom and uncle, “there’s something we need to tell you.”
Instantly my stomach lurched. The metallic taste of Joel’s blood reared up my throat. I knew what Kendrick wanted to say. He was going to tell them. Tell them I’d attacked and almost killed a guy from school. Shallow breath caused my lungs to ache. I couldn’t bear for them to know. Couldn’t bear to see their staring expressions, seeing the monster I was fast becoming. “Kendrick, don’t!”
He squeezed my hand again, which did little to calm the nerves searing through my body. “It’s okay,” he whispered. “They’ll understand.”
Throwing Kendrick’s hand aside, I jumped to my feet. “Understand!” I shrieked. With a single bound I cleared the coffee table, smacking my knee before backing up to the wall. My body cast a menacing shadow. It grew so large that it covered Dorian and the framed, family portrait above his head. “How will they understand that I almost killed the freaking quarterback!”
Floored by my own lips’ betrayal, my hands shot up to cover my mouth. My eyes scoured the room. Dorian sat as still as a statue, eyes wide and face a sickly shade of green. Kendrick looked ready to step in and restrain me, with one arm braced against the coffee table.
Within my chest my heart was leaping. My hands curled into fists at my sides. The need to bolt was drowning me, but I couldn’t move. Fear kept me frozen stiff.
Mom rose to her feet and walked slowly toward me. With shaky arms outstretched, she looked like she was attempting to soothe a wild animal. Uncle Caius stood watching, not quite on edge, but in quiet preparation. It was clear nobody was about to let me flee.
The feel of being caged like an animal shattered my fear. Mobility flooded back to my limbs. I went to run, but Mom’s arms, so gentle and yet so strong, curled around me. “It’s alright, Amelia. It wasn’t your fault. All these things you’re feeling are normal. Being a vampire does that, everything’s heightened.”
Screaming and grunting, I thrashed against her. Mom’s grip held tight, never giving an inch. Long minutes passed and still I was trapped. With exhaustion smothering my need to escape, the weight and conviction of her words began to sink in. I suddenly stopped struggling and hung my head. “Mom, I’m sorry. I didn’t hear…”
“Shh,” Mom soothed, loosening her grip around me. She ran a hand down my back, smoothing my long, blond hair. “It’s alright.” When she released me, I saw her face. It wasn’t filled with the sorrow and fear of earlier, but the strength and resolution of a woman now in control. “Amelia, I promise you can learn to control this.” She turned to face the others. “You will experience this, too, Dorian. And we will all get through this, together. But not here.” Radiating control with her shoulders drawn back, Mom moved back to her seat beside Caius. “We need time and seclusion, and the removal of temptation until you are both in control. We leave for the cabin, tomorrow.”
CHAPTER THREE
“Just a minute, Amelia,” Mom’s voice jarred me to a standstill on the porch.
Sheltered by the roofline’s shadow she produced a small cylindrical tube from the pocket of her designer sweats. After waiting up all night so she could see us off on our first day of school, she was ready to sleep through her first day. It was preparation for her new position at the Portsmouth Vampire Council, which began each weekday after twilight.
I snatched the tube from between her fingers and lifted it to eye level. “Nasal decongestant?” I questioned incredulously. “I just want to be invisible. But everyone is already going to be looking at the weird new girl. Now you want them to think I’m a dweeb too?”
“It’s menthol.” Mom shrugged. “I thought it might help distract your sense of smell.”
With a groan, I let Mom hug me. Then I retreated to the car, shoving the nasal tube into the glove box. There was no way in hell anyone was going to see me using that thing. Dorian was already in the driver’s seat, warming up the engine, as he always did.
“We’re not ready.” I glared at the opulent French mansion—our new home—shrinking in the rear-view mirror. Apparently Uncle Caius had a lot more money than I’d realized.
It was a double-story, with a mixture of stone and beige-rendered walls, soaring windows, and high ceilings inside. Acres of green land surround its walls, back-bordered by a thick shelter of oaks. There was a stone-bordered gate that fronted the property, offering a scenic view of the rolling swells of Rye Beach. Just watching the mansion shrink as we drove away made me long for the cabin. There I had felt safe, from myself. This mansion was too big, too cold. It could never feel like home. It could never feel safe.
The move had been inevitable. Kendrick had brainwashed Joel into believing he’d been attacked by a rabid dog. Being a Pure Blood, his ability to compel was stronger than any turned vamp’s. Still, Mom and Uncle Caius were worried that me being anywhere near Joel would break the compulsion and endanger our secret lives. So they weren’t about to take any chances. Our destination had been decided with a job offer. Uncle Caius wanted Mom on the Vampire Council in Portsmouth. With a little encouragement, she’d agreed. It was one of many sub councils that operated around the world in service to The Armaya, the epicenter of vampire legislation and politics. As the only surviving Pure Blood of his lineage, our uncle held a seat there on The Armaya’s Royal Vampire Council. After that our move had been arranged to the small, sleepy town of Rye, bordering Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
More than six months had passed at the cabin. It was hundreds of miles from our old home in Anchorage, and hidden amongst the wilderness of the Alaska Range. As Caius had predicted, Dorian began the transformation soon after our retreat. I couldn’t hide my relief at his fading fear of me. We were one and the same, cut from the same cloth, and now we shared a secret. The thing we had become.
“We are ready,” Dorian countered. “And you heard Mom. We passed all the tests successfully.”
With an irritated breath, I turned and stared out t
he window as manicured trees fronting oversized, gated properties passed by. Yesterday Mom admitted to the tests she had planned to assess our self-control. I had been beyond pissed. Still, no amount of arguing could change her mind. Now Dorian’s laid-back attitude was beginning to grate on my nerves. I clenched and unclenched my hands. “So we didn’t attack and kill a few delivery men. So what? How does that compare to a classroom full of blood-pumping human bodies?”
“Amelia,” Dorian said, glancing in the vanity mirror backing the sun visor. He ran a hand through his thick, dark hair to re-shape it. “We’ll be fine.” He looked at me sideways and smiled. “You know, you’re stronger than you give yourself credit for.”
I crossed my arms over my chest, doubting Dorian’s faith in me. How could he truly believe that after everything that happened?
When we first relocated to the cabin, Mom and had taught us to hunt. We started with herds of Caribou, graduating to more challenging prey like packs of wolves, and even the elusive mountain lion. Kendrick, between frequent snowboarding breaks, had come hunting too. But I had detested the whole process. How could honing our predatory instincts make us safer around humans? But as my natural desires took over, I became thrilled by the chase, my muscles snapping into action and my fangs ready and waiting. After each hunt, each kill, the thrill would dissipate, replaced by a body-shaking guilt. My speed, strength, and lust for blood proved beyond any and all doubt that I truly was a monster, and I always would be.
I took reprieve from one fact alone. Vampires weren’t immortal. Our lifespans were extended, but I wouldn’t forever be this bloodthirsty creature, a killer. One day I would die.
I pulled my New Student packet out of my bag and began memorizing my three-week class rotation and the school map. The last thing I wanted was to have to ask for directions.
A moment later Dorian turned off Ocean Boulevard onto the private, gated entrance of our new school, St. Volaras. It was the best private school in the area, holding over five hundred students. The size of the student body alone only unnerved me further. Today would be an assault of temptation from unknowing victims. And, if I did lose it, there would be countless witnesses that no amount of compulsion could cover up.
Dorian revved the engine of our turbo-charged Audi Cabriolet. He dropped back to second gear, following the line of high-end cars through the student parking lot. The A5 was a joint birthday present from our uncle Caius. It was a reward for coming so far in our ability to restrain.
Every part of me hated the car and everything it represented, everything it reminded me of. I glared at Dorian, knowing he’d revved the engine to draw attention. I hated that he was so confident and self-assured, when all I wanted to do was remain invisible.
Dorian ignored my glare and pulled into a spot rearing the lot, before jumping out of the car.
I sat without moving, wishing I could just disappear. Then Dorian poked his head back through the driver’s side door. “You can’t stay here all day.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “Wanna bet?”
“C’mon,” Dorian said, rolling his eyes. “Don’t make me drag you to class kicking and screaming.”
Although his tone was joking, I didn’t doubt his threat. He was set on the idea of a normal life, and wasn’t about to let me mess that up for him. Cursing him under my breath, I snatched my bag from the back seat. Outside I yanked my hoodie over my head. It was my favorite jacket, black cotton with a detachable hood. If it had been made of leather it would have been perfect for riding a motorbike.
I got out of the car and froze. Students littered the parking lot. To me they resembled herding bovine, blissfully unaware and ripe for the picking. I groaned, picking up a scent that was all too familiar these days. Human blood. In the cool morning air it was faint, but still distinct.
“If I were you, I’d wipe that look off your face.” Dorian stepped in front of me, blocking my view of a group of preppy-looking girls. “People are beginning to stare.”
I looked away from the clustering students, refocusing on Dorian’s piercing silver-blue irises. They were now the same color as mine, and from what we’d been told, a consistent vampire trait. “What look?”
Dorian smiled, lips parting to reveal the points of his fangs. “That crazed, I’m so starving I could eat you, look.”
My jaw dropped then quickly clamped shut. I couldn’t even control my expression? There was no way I could do this!
“Yes you can.” Dorian clearly knew me too well. “Look, Amelia,” he said more seriously. “We can have a normal life. You can. This is just the first step. Will you just try, for me? You know I can’t do this without you.”
With a deep breath, I planted my hands on my hips. I knew Dorian was using emotional blackmail, but I caved anyway. “Okay. But if I kill anyone, I’m blaming you.”
Dorian roped his arm through mine and yanked me forward to walk alongside him. “Your murder is my condemnation. Got it.”
As we headed to the main building, I held my breath. My sight rose above the heads of surrounding students. The building was three levels of brick, with rectangular windows and tall glass doors. Dorian was already checking out the surrounding female members of the student body. I wasn’t beyond counting bricks for a distraction. Before I could begin, someone darted in front of us.
The boy’s scent—if you could call him a boy, with his over-developed muscle mass—reached my nostrils instantly. It was fiery and sweet, and somehow different from any human’s I had ever picked up on. The urge to extend my fangs pulled at me from within. I swallowed, struggling to push the sensation back.
The boy edged forward. His tan face was frozen with a threatening scowl, and his hands curled into fists. “Go back to where you came from,” he snarled through tight lips. “You’re not welcome here.”
Dorian instinctively tensed and released my arm, ready to take action. But before he could even utter a word, the boy turned and stalked away.
Dorian shrugged his shoulders “What was that about?”
A startling realization struck me. “He could tell. He knows what we are.”
Dorian laughed, pulling me aside to let passing students through the main doors. “You take paranoia to a whole new level, sis.”
Certain belting him would draw attention I held back the urge. Instead I settled for a piercing look that I wished could kill, or at least inflict torturous pain. “I’m paranoid?”
Dorian waved his hands in a half-assed surrender. “C’mon, you know I didn’t mean it like that. That jerk is probably just a dumb jock, pumped up on steroids.”
I wasn’t convinced, but Dorian was already past the incident and busy catching the eye of a pretty girl. He glanced down at his watch. “Classes start in five. So go, get settled. I’ll see you at lunch.” He pushed me through the glass doors winking, before backing away in the opposite direction. “You’ll be fine. I promise.”
I sucked in a quick, deep breath and held it. My lungs ached in protest. Students swarmed the foyer. I pushed past them, bounding up the stairs to the second floor. Psychology was first up. I shot through the door to room 2.6, taking a vacant desk. It was by one of a handful of windows that lined the far wall. With my lungs contracting and on the verge of forcing me to breathe, I dumped my bag on the desk and threw open the glass barrier. Poking my head out into the cool autumn air, I sucked in a much needed ragged breath.
Whispers about the ‘new girl’, were hot on every student’s lips. Vampire hearing, lucky me! This day just kept getting better. They thought I was strange, a total weirdo. And who could blame them? I was acting like a freak!
Shrinking back into my seat, I kept my head down with my hoodie sheltering my face. My long hair hung as a solid barrier between me and them. The scent of fresh blood intensified as more and more students filled the classroom. There was nothing I could do in this setting to dull it. But I could drown out their chatter.
I pulled my iPod from my backpack, plugging the earbuds into my ear
s. It was jam-packed with music from all my favorite bands: Red, Skillet, Three Days Grace and Lifehouse, just to name a few. It used to have pop music too, but since discovering my darker side my taste in music had followed suit, and the urge to dance wildly in the privacy of my room no longer felt uplifting. In spite of that, I smiled. The cover was new, glossy purple—my favorite color, which in the right dark shade was nowhere near being girly pink, ick! It had been a parting gift from Kendrick who’d uploaded the new Three Days Grace album. My heart squeezed, wishing he were here.
Still able to scent the students, I stifled a groan. My arms coiled around my waist, nails pricking my sides and breaking the skin. The distraction helped, just enough to keep me cemented in my seat, until the classroom door opened again.
In an instant, the energy in the small room shifted. I removed my earbuds. The gossip on everyone’s lips had faltered.
Then it hit me. The same unique, fiery, sweet scent of blood I had encountered not five minutes earlier. No…not him again.
Against my better judgment, I brushed my hair behind my ears and dared to glance up. My world froze. Any remaining chatter became irrelevant as I stared on. Standing in the doorway was not the boy who had threatened Dorian and me. This boy had similarly colored satin-black hair, styled into messy, loose spikes. His charcoal V-neck shirt acted like a second skin, clinging to reveal a sculpted torso. The light from fluorescents bolted to the grated ceiling bounced off his bronzed arms, offering shadowed definition to his protruding biceps and numerous…scars? Nudging recognition tickled at the back of my subconscious. I couldn’t rip my eyes away. I’ve seen him before.
The boy caught sight of me as he entered the room, and stalled. His honey-glazed eyes, rimmed with iridescent green, widened.
