Blood Casino: Vampires & Vices No. 1

by Nina Walker

  Vow––the word shocks me back to the present. I look at Adrian. He’s driving the boat. The wind blows his dark blond hair behind him and his biceps flex when he makes a turn. I have vowed to help him, haven’t I? Not Hugo. Maybe that’s why Adrian is going along with this. Maybe the blood we already exchanged will somehow bind me to him instead of his brother. He might be playing the both of us. What if I wake up as Adrian’s child, after all?

  My stomach hardens. If I had food in my belly, I’d throw up. These brothers are truly evil. I’m nothing but a toy for them to fight over.

  After a while, the boat slows, and Adrian drives it to the shore. Hugo picks me up like I weigh nothing and I grit my teeth when his arm gets too close to my upper thigh. He smells of expensive cologne and alcohol and blood. I don’t want to smell him, I’d rather smell the water and the dirt and the cold air. He carries me off the boat and into a wooded graveyard. There are no underground graves here this close to the water. The tombs are above ground, ranging from dark gray stone to cream limestone, with inscriptions too old and weathered to read. Moss covers many of them. The moon is bright enough to see by, but the vampires have no issues either way. They can see in the dark. Soon I will too. The thought makes me whimper.

  “Have you already prepared the grave?” Adrian asks. It’s the first I’ve heard from him even though he trails behind us like a dark shadow. I meet his eyes. They glow like two little blue orbs in the darkness. I murmur pleas for help against the fabric gagging my mouth, but he only watches.

  “I have,” Hugo replies. “Why are you not fighting this? It wasn’t long ago that you were defending your little Angel.” He snickers. “Yes, I’ve heard your pet name for the girl. Maybe I’ll call her the same.”

  Adrian rolls his eyes. “You know I don’t like to take children. I thought I wanted Eva but she betrayed us. There’s no way I would turn a hunter into my child. I’m surprised you’re willing to after she killed some of your family. If I were in your shoes, she’d be dead already.”

  Hugo tightens his arms around me. “Then I guess that’s where you and I differ. I will always take a new child. My family bond is stronger than most. She will be loyal after the change.”

  “Because she’ll have to be,” Adrian challenges. “But won’t you always wonder if she’ll hate you?”

  “She’ll love me,” Hugo snaps. “Children always love their fathers, even when they hate them. Now come on, it’s this way. I had to get farther from the river to find a place I could dig.”

  Hugo moves like liquid smoke through the crowded graveyard and I’m carried along with him. Adrian levitates and flies above. I wonder if it’s a talent that makes Hugo jealous. I would be. We arrive at a spot with a pile of disturbed dirt. Hugo walks me right up to the hole and tilts me so I can look inside. There’s a coffin at the bottom. The lid is already open and a white silk lining glistens up at me.

  I shake my head and try to yell through the fabric but it’s useless.

  He sets me down on the cool grass and unbinds my limbs. “You need to be able to claw yourself out of the coffin or it won’t work.”

  He stares into my eyes and says, “If I remove this and you scream, I’ll be forced to put it back on.” He unties the gag from my mouth and I cough, sucking in the foggy air. I don’t scream. Nobody would hear me anyway. “After I bite you, you will have my venom in your bloodstream. It might hurt at first but it will feel good soon after, so don’t be afraid. After that we will exchange blood, and then I will bury you. In three nights you will rise as my child and I will be here to greet you.”

  I shake my head. No. Please, no.

  “Shh—don’t worry, child. Once it’s all done, you will be thanking me.” He runs a calloused finger down my face and wipes away a tear. I bristle under his touch. “And you will love me.”

  What does that mean? Love? Does it mean I will want to be around him like a daughter and father, or that I will want to be with him like a lover? He’s older and scary and awful, and this can’t be happening. It can’t.

  Adrian hovers above us, viewing the dreadful scene like a voyeur, like it’s nothing he hasn’t seen a million times before. He almost looks bored. I hate him for that look, maybe even more than Hugo.

  “Let’s begin.” Hugo’s fangs extend once again, but this time he lunges for me and they sink into my neck. I do scream, I can’t help it. The pain is blinding and white hot, but my eyes flutter closed and it soon transforms into utter and complete ecstasy. The warmth of it washes through me like a salve to a wound. I’ve never done drugs, but perhaps this is why people get addicted. I could get lost in this. Forever. It’s a cruel kind of beauty and I want more, more, more…

  Hugo releases me and sucks in a greedy breath. Vamps don’t even need to breathe but he does it for show. “Virgin blood. Mmm, it’s been a while since I’ve had some as sweet as yours.” He licks his lips. “I must be careful or I’ll kill you.” He wipes the red from his face and turns to Adrian. “I would offer you a taste but we can’t have her blood bond confused with the wrong master. Sorry.”

  He’s not sorry. It’s a taunt. Adrian may have exchanged blood with me, but he never bit me, so my earlier theory is out. This really is happening with Hugo.

  “I would never give my venom to a traitor,” Adrian says nonchalantly, but I can see the crazed look in his glowing eyes and wonder if it’s from a thirst to taste my blood or something else.

  I start to cry again. “Shh––Eva. It will be okay.” Adrian’s voice is smooth and easy. “Sometimes you lose when you play a game of high stakes.”

  There it is. That word. Stakes. He knows.

  Adrian lands on the grass a few feet from us and sits back on his heels. “Are you going to get this show on the road or are we going to be here all night?”

  Using his fangs, Hugo rips into the pale flesh of his wrist. Crimson liquid gushes down his arm. “I have to admit, it may make me a sick bastard, but this is my favorite part of the process. I love knowing part of me will always be with you.”

  He extends his wrist toward my mouth and his eyes move heavenward. This is my chance, what I’ve been waiting for, and what Adrian alluded to with his comment.

  Adrian’s bluff.

  My ace.

  I gather my courage, tap into weeks of training, and slip my hand under the fold of my dress. The long thin wooden stake I’ve had strapped to my upper thigh has been waiting for me this whole time. Adrian always warned me not to bring this around the vampires, always said they’d kill me if they found it. He demanded I stop. Good thing I didn’t listen.

  The stake is cool salvation in my palm and I grip it with all my might. I spring forward and sink it directly into Hugo’s chest. It slices through the ribcage and into his spongy heart. He gasps and looks down at me, shock seizing his body. He never expected to be bested, not by me. But it’s not just me, it’s Adrian. He knew the stake was there the whole time, his satisfied smile says it all.

  “No. . .” Blood seeps from Hugo’s mouth.

  “You should have known this could happen, Father. I am a hunter after all.” I’m a sarcastic bitch. Adrian laughs. I push Hugo off of me, and he crumbles into ash.

  It’s over.

  I stand and brush myself off. The pile of Hugo-dust blows away with a gust of wind and I watch it go with relief. My legs are shaking. His venom is still racing through my body. It makes me feel stronger, more powerful, better, but I want it gone. I imagine it racing through my veins like a dirty virus and hope my body can fight it off soon. I press my fingers to the bite on my neck. There’s blood but the wound has already healed over thanks to the venom, sealing away that last shred of Hugo into my body.

  Adrian hovers above me and that damned satisfied smile plays on his face. “See, my brother was wrong. I am rather patient.”

  “You’re sick, too.”

  He doesn’t care. He’s barely even listening. “I’ve wanted to do that for ages, but I couldn’t. My maker forbids us from killin
g our siblings or ordering our progeny to do it.” He laughs. “It does make me sick, I know, but I thank God you walked into my casino. You are my Angel.”

  I glare. “How dare you speak of God. You’re vile.”

  He stills and his eyes narrow. “You have no idea.”

  “You wanted him dead and risked my life in the process. You allowed him to bring me here and get this far so that I could kill him for you.” I’m boiling over with anger and have nowhere to direct it but at Adrian. “You played me. I almost died!”

  “You’re alive. Don’t be so dramatic.” He nods toward the stake, his demeanor returning to business-as-usual. “Please, let’s dispose of that. It’s evidence and I’d rather not have it around, though I admit I would love to keep it as a souvenir of Hugo’s demise. It would be my most-prized possession.”

  I scoff. I don’t want to get rid of the only weapon on me, but if Adrian was going to kill me, he would have done so already, not to mention, what if one of the vamps was able to smell Hugo’s blood on it? I shouldn’t have the murder weapon on me, that’s like Crime 101. So I do as Adrian wishes and walk back to the river and toss the stake in. “Can we go home now? I’m so done with vampires.”

  “Hmm, does that mean you’re going to give up hunting?”

  “Yes,” I bark out. I would be happy to never see another bloodsucker in my life. But even as I say it, I don’t know if I can give up hunting or abandon my friends.

  “You’re such a liar.”

  “Takes one to know one.”

  He laughs and lands gracefully in the boat as I climb inside. I sit in the chair across from the driver’s seat, the same one Hugo just occupied. It’s cold and I’m still shaking. I tuck my legs up into my dress again and try to banish Hugo from my memory.

  Adrian drives us back to the city slow enough that we can hear each other over the engine. The story he plans to tell the queen and the others is that when we arrived at the graveyard, hunters showed up and killed Hugo while we escaped. He will insist that I am not a hunter myself, that Hugo wasn’t able to prove anything or get me to admit to anything. He’ll say that he was going to gift me to Hugo out of pity for all his recent losses and because he’d decided he didn’t want to take a child after all. But since Hugo died, Adrian invited me to continue on as his fledgling.

  “As if I would agree,” I snap.

  “Well, wait,” he continues. “I haven’t gotten to the best part. You see, after such a terrible ordeal, you were spooked by the hunters, and decided to go on living your life as a human. And I, in all my infinite mercy, decided to grant your wish.”

  I scoff. “Good. Consider this the end of our relationship.”

  It’s a great story, but this is the oldest vampire on earth we’re talking about, and I’m a little skeptical our story is going to land. “And you think Queen Brisa is going to buy that? What if she orders you not to lie?”

  “You let me worry about Brisa.” He sighs happily and rakes his hand through his hair. “She’s busy with other matters and Hugo has been out of her favor for quite some time. The vampire court is full of problems, and this will mean little to any of them. She’ll be upset about Hugo’s death because it’s one less child for her, but that anger will be directed toward the hunters and not us.”

  “Oh great,” I scoff, “so just send her after my friends. Wonderful.”

  “She doesn’t know about your little gym under the bank. I’m the only one who does and I won’t be telling her.”

  “I hope you’re right. I still think she’ll just order you not to lie to her. If I were her, I’d do that all the time.”

  His fingers dance over the steering wheel as he looks at me for a long moment. “Oh, and do you want to be the vampire queen, now, Angel?”

  “Ew. Never.”

  He nods. “You’re right, she can order us about, and she does it quite often, but I’ve built a tolerance to her over the years. My words are very easy for me to control. It’s actions against her will that are hard to take, especially something as final as killing one of her other children when she’s told me I couldn’t.”

  I fold my arms and sit back. “Interesting.”

  “What’s interesting?” His pale face glows under the moonlight. “You’ll forgive me, but I’ve been around too long to find much interesting anymore.”

  “Your worldview is truly sad.” I deflect the question. “It’s a wonderful world if you know where to look. It would be even better without vampires, no offense.”

  “I’ve lived long enough to know with certainty that this world is rather bleak.” He narrows his eyes. “Now tell me, what’s interesting?”

  “Just that you hate your maker even more than you hated Hugo.”

  He leans back. “Ah––that. Yes. I love her and I hate her. It’s a rather complicated relationship that mostly errs on the side of loathing.”

  “For her or yourself?”

  He stills in that vampiric way of his and doesn’t answer. I change tactics. “You called me on my bluff back there. You knew that even though I said I’d stop bringing stakes around vampires that I would still do it. I think it’s time I call you on a bluff, Adrian.”

  “Oh? And what’s that?”

  “We don’t actually have a blood vow.”

  “Hmm. . . what makes you think so?”

  “You wanted me to believe it was real so I would spy for you, but I haven’t done a thing we agreed upon and nothing has happened to me. I’m supposed to take your word for the blood vow, that it will somehow kill me if I don’t comply.” I sit up straighter. “But I believe it was all a fabrication.”

  “Hmm. . .”

  “What are you thinking? Am I correct?”

  “I’m thinking that Hugo was right, you would make an excellent vampire. It’s too bad you hate us so much, not that I blame you.” He sighs and shakes his head. “I’m also thinking that you are smarter than most humans I’ve met because you’re right. There never was a blood vow. Bonds forged in blood only exist between vampires themselves.”

  “I knew it.” I pump my fist. “I can’t believe you played me like that. Wait, scratch that, I totally can.”

  “The deal still stands if you want it. You give me information about Leslie Tate and what’s going on in his organization, and I’ll break your mother free of her gambling addiction.”

  I go quiet and think about the offer the rest of the boat ride home. I consider it from all angles. “What is Leslie Tate?” I finally ask. “Cameron is convinced he’s some kind of demon.”

  “Hmm, if we work together, maybe I’ll tell you.”

  Should I work with him? There’s reasons to do it, plenty of reasons. But when we get to the dock and see the ferry with all the people still on there, still partying and reluctant to leave, I know my answer. I never want to be in bed with vampires, literally or figuratively.

  “I’m out,” I say at last. “I can’t betray my friends for my mother, as much as I want to. I just can’t be that person.”

  “And why not?”

  He ties the boat to a post and we climb onto the dock. I’m a bloody mess, but it’s dark and there’s nobody else out here. They’re all still on the boat, gambling their souls away. I stop and turn, taking in his beautiful face and hoping it’s the last time I see it. “Because I want to be better than vampires. Not physically, not mentally, I’m talking about morally, Adrian. I want to be a good person.”

  “And vampires can’t be good?”

  “You know they can’t.” Even the times he’s tried to help me, the times he’s brought feelings out in me, or been on my side, he’s still used me in his games.

  Hurt cracks through his hard exterior. It’s nothing I’ve seen on his face before. “You’re right. I’m a lost cause. Best to stay away from me.” And then he levitates into the moonlit sky and flies away.

  Chapter 32

  In the days since Hugo bit me, I’ve become a different woman. All of my senses are heightened in the best possib
le way. I feel invincible and so, so alive. If this is what vampire venom can do for a human then I’m certain people would do just about anything to get their hands on it. It’s no wonder the vamps are so adamant to keep this a secret. Every day this week I’ve woken up thinking the venom will have dispersed but every day I feel as invincible as the day before.

  I stroll through City Park, marveling at the enhanced colors, the cleaner scents, and the brighter and warmer sun. It’s as if I was wearing a filter over my senses all these years and now that it’s been taken off, I don’t ever want to go back.

  This is my favorite park in New Orleans. It’s filled with tree-lined paths, grassy knolls, ponds, bridges, and artistic statues. The place attracts tourists, families, photographers, sunbathers, and just about anyone looking for some peace and calm in an otherwise lively city. The Spanish moss trees here are my favorite, and it’s one of those that I’m heading over to now. I chose this sundrenched area in a public spot and picked a time in broad daylight to have this meeting with my friends. I can’t risk any vampires or their human minions overhearing. There’s no way a vamp could be out here and a human wouldn’t be able to get close without notice.

  All week at our practices I’ve been avoiding talking to them and it’s eating me up inside. I can’t do it anymore. I have to be honest and explain everything from start to finish if I’m going to lose some of this guilt and hopefully get the guys’ help. They might hate me after what I’m about to confess. Part of me fully expects that they’ll never speak with me again and the idea of losing Felix is killing me the very most.