Acquainted With the Night (9781101546000) (16 page)

“Okay.” Good, she'd found her voice. And her limbs were moving more freely. She placed her hand against the scarf. It felt hot, but it wasn't the wool—the heat was coming from the wound. She was burning up. Jude propped her against the wall and stood over the Bulgarian.

“Is he dead?” Caro flattened her palm against the scarf.

Jude nodded.

But surely he was mistaken, because a moment later, the Bulgarian started convulsing. His hips bucked on the stones and blood ran out of his mouth. Her blood. She could smell it. Vomit spurted out of her throat. She wiped her mouth, tasting bile and chocolate. Part of her hand still felt numb. What if she never got the feeling back?

What were the odds of getting bitten by a human? She remembered what Mr. Velikov had said about her uncle's wounds—some had come from a person.

“Fucking vampire.” Jude yanked out the stake and wiped it on the man's sweater.

The Bulgarian stopped convulsing and lay still. Blood spread out from his body, running along the cobblestones. Caro looked at the stake, then at Jude.

“H-how did you learn to do that?” she whispered.

“I was in the Forces.”

“I thought you w-were a biochemist.”

“I did a stint in the Royal Marines—it's a family tradition. Look, we'll talk later. Let's go!”

“Wait, check that woman. She might be alive.”

Jude stepped over the dead Bulgarian and squatted beside the woman. He pressed his fingertips to her wrist.

“Is she alive?” Caro asked.

“She's not breathing. And her pupils are dilated.”

Caro had to see this for herself. She struggled to her feet. A pins-and-needles sensation shot through her limbs as she took small, cautious steps. The neon lights flickered over the woman's neck, turning the flesh gray around the edges.

“Why did he bite her?” she asked Jude.

“He's a vampire—or he was.”

“He was a man.”

“We'll debate this later.” Jude glanced around the alley.

“No, let's talk now.”

“We can't stay. Others will come.” He grabbed her arm.

“What about the woman?” She tugged in the opposite direction. “Should we call the police?”

“Police?” His eyebrows shot up. “Every policeman in Kardzhali Province is looking for you.”

“We can't just leave her.”

“She's dead, Caro. She's beyond help.”

“There are two dead people in this alley. I can't walk away.”

“You still don't get it, do you? They're undead. And it's not safe to hang around. She could turn.”

“Turn?”

“Into one of
him
.” Jude pointed at the Bulgarian.

“And if she doesn't?”

“Either way, she's dead.”

“How do you know?”

“I'm a vampire expert. And I know better than to call the police or wait for the woman to rise up and attack—and she will.”

“You're heartless.”

“No, just practical. I'm going back to the hotel. If you stay, you'll need this.” He held out the stake. A drop of blood slid off the sharp tip and hit the ground.

“I don't want it.” She stepped backward, tucking her free hand behind her back. Her fingers still tingled a little.

“Have it your way.” He reached for a loose piece of newspaper, wrapped it around the stake, and limped out of the alley.

She followed him into the hotel, past the restaurant, where the empty tables spread out in a dizzy pattern. A thin waiter leaned against the wall, smoking a cigarette and chatting with the sous chef. Caro pulled her hair into a rope and draped it over her neck, trying to hide the bite marks.

“You needn't bother,” Jude said. “They're stoned.”

The elevator appeared to be stuck on the fifth floor. They went up the stairs to their room. She dabbed the scarf against the wound.

“Do I need disinfectant?” she asked.

“Won't help.” He set his backpack on the floor.

She stepped over to the mirror and lowered the scarf. She'd expected to see two jagged holes, but the wounds were much larger. Serrated tooth marks curved into two half moons, one set above the other, with a circle of unblemished flesh between them. He'd bitten into her the way a normal person would bite into an apple. The bleeding had slowed, and a thin scarlet line zigzagged down her neck.

“He just nicked you to get the blood flowing,” Jude said. “Be glad he didn't take out a chunk.”

He squatted next to his backpack and tossed the metal stake inside. It clinked against something. Caro peered down. The bag was full of stakes.

“How'd you get past customs with those?” she asked.

“I bought them in Kardzhali.”

“Don't tell me—Bulgaria is just loaded with vampire hunter boutiques?”

“You've got to know where to shop.” He winked. Because of that wink, she almost relaxed. Then she glanced inside his bag. It was packed with survival gear, too: a multitool, granola bars, water purification tablets, maps, multiple passports, and a waterproof poncho.

Caro lowered the scarf and felt the wounds. They felt dry. The bleeding had stopped. “When I ran off, how did you know to bring a stake?”

“The last time I was in Momchilgrad, it was bustling. Tonight it was empty, except for a few dodgy characters. They had the characteristic pall of a vampire.”

“But it's November. Everyone is pale this time of year.”

He shrugged. “I carry those stakes for a reason. I don't take chances. I wanted to be prepared.”

“For what? In case you ran into a vampire?”

“We did.”

“But I didn't see fangs. Vampires have fangs. This man didn't.”

“Fangs are part of the mythology. But they do have prominent teeth. If you'd bothered to look at your attacker, you would have noticed. His incisors were larger than normal.”

“Bothered to look?” she cried. “Of course I did. Do you realize how crazy this sounds?”

“I didn't believe it, either. Not in the beginning. I wrote a paper about it. I thought it would create a stir—and it did. Right after my article was published, I was attacked by vampires.”

He broke off and looked down at his feet. “I was left for dead in my laboratory. They set it on fire. A night watchman pulled me out of the building. One of the vampires tracked me to the hospital, hoping to finish me off. It's a long story. But that's why I went into hiding. You can imagine my surprise when your uncle stumbled across my article two years later.”

“Why would he read something like that?”

“I've asked myself the same question. I'm almost certain that he knew about vampires. I don't know
how
he knew. I assumed that he'd found something during an excavation and was curious about the science behind vampirism. However, I wasn't sure how
you
fit into it.”

“He'd never believe something this ridiculous!”

“I didn't seek him. He came looking for
me
.” He stepped closer. “Let me see your neck.”

“I'm okay.” She flattened herself against the wall. “It's stopped bleeding.”

“Caro, I won't hurt you.”

“No, you've just got a bag filled with bloody stakes. And you like to stick them into people. Don't try to deny it. You killed a man.”

“So did you.” His eyes met hers. “That makes us even.”

“I want you to leave. Now.” She nodded at the door. “Get your own room. And take your stakes with you.”

“I'm not taking orders from you. I'm staying.
You
leave. Here, take a stake. But don't wander around.”

“Keep it.” She lifted her bag and started toward the door. She hadn't brought much money, but it wasn't the cost of the room that worried her—it was the empty lobby.

“Before you leave, you need to see something.” He switched off the light, walked to the window, and pulled back the curtain. Then he pointed at the boulevard.

Caro eased over to the window. Five people walked down the middle of the street, two women and three men.

“So?” she said. “They're taking a stroll.”

“It would seem that way, but look again.”

She leaned closer to the glass. A brown-haired woman wore a nubby cream suit, the front covered with dark, chocolate-like stains. The other woman wore a flannel nightgown. A tall, rangy man tripped and fell forward onto the pavement; the woman in the nubby suit stepped over him and kept on going.

“What's wrong with them?” Caro frowned. “And don't tell me they're zombies.”

“They're not,” he said. “They're prey. They've been attacked by vampires. The blood loss has left them disoriented. They'll be finished off tonight. Or maybe tomorrow.”

Caro folded her hands. One week ago, her biggest problem had been dealing with her crazy job. Now her uncle was dead, his body was God knew where, and the Kardzhali police thought she'd murdered a man. All that and she was stuck in a town with vampires.

“Isn't there another explanation?” she asked. “Like what you said before—porphyria?”

“It's vampirism.”

“I've been bitten once. In the horror movies, it takes three bites. So I've got two more to go and I'll turn into one of
them
?” She'd aimed for a sarcastic tone, but her voice sounded shrill and panicky.

“It's not the number of bites. It's the number of stem cells that pass from the vampire's body into yours. And how your immune system reacts.”

She shuddered. Best-case scenario: Something was making people act like vampires, and a crazy man was trying to protect her. Only she'd been bitten.

“It takes a little while to adjust your thinking,” he said. “You'll get there. I have faith.”

She sighed. “You're sure I won't turn?”

“Positive.” He patted her arm.

“I'd like to hear more about these stem cells.”

“Remember my mice? Vampires are packed with stem cells, too. Their saliva is a particularly rich source. One bite will contaminate a human's blood with vampiric stem cells, but it won't be enough to cause vampirism.”

“You sure?” She touched her neck. “Because I feel horrid.”

He pressed his hand against Caro's forehead. “You do feel warm. And you may experience flu-like symptoms for a day or two. Then your immunity will kick in.”

Caro stepped closer to the window. “What about those people in the street? Didn't they have immune systems?”

“It takes repeated exposure to vampiric stem cells to weaken a human's immunity and set off a transformation.”

“Then they become vampires?”

“Yes. Although the condition can be inherited, too.”

“Vampires can have babies?”

“It happened with laboratory mice. At least, some of the time.”

“So whatever this is—are you saying it's contagious?”

He nodded. “Through saliva and blood.”

“Like hepatitis?”

“Hepatitis isn't contagious through saliva. Though I wouldn't want to kiss an infected person.” His brow tightened. “Vampirism isn't a virus. The condition is caused by unique stem cells. They grow at an extraordinary rate. Faster than cancer cells. My research was terminated before I could learn more.”

His hand shook a little as he rubbed his forehead. “Do you know anything about microbiology or histology?”

“I know a test tube from a turnip. But that's it.”

His lips tugged into a smile. “All right, lass. We'll skip the science.”

“But I want to know how vampirism can be inherited.”

“When the aggressive, vampiric mice reproduced with normal ones, their offspring had an abundance of stem cells. Not as many as their vampire parents, of course, but well above the norm.” He opened his hand and studied his palm. “Interestingly enough, I determined that the vampiric offspring had the genotype for R-99, but their phenotype wasn't expressed.”

“Phenotype?”

“It means the nonaggressive offspring had the R-99 gene, but vampiric characteristics weren't expressed. In other words, the phenotype-negatives—let's just call them baby vampire mice—healed a bit quicker than the normal babies and ran faster in their wheels.” His smile dimmed a little. “I've confused you.”

Caro nodded. “You lost me at
phenotype
.”

“Actually, it's simple, I'm just explaining it poorly.” He scratched his head. “Let's try again, shall we? What if two blue-eyed people get married, and their firstborn has brown eyes?”

“The wife had a lover?” Caro was teasing, but Jude's eyebrows went up.

“No, no,” he said. “It means the brown-eyed child has the genotype for blue eyes, but the blue color isn't expressed. The child's eyes are brown.”

“Got it.” Caro nodded. She didn't like how he was watching her, so she said, “What happened when the baby vampire mice got into sunlight?”

“Nothing. The phenotype-negatives weren't sensitive to sunlight and weren't aggressive. They didn't bite. Didn't drink blood. Didn't regenerate. But they retained strength and agility. Their rapid healing was due to the vampiric stem cells.”

Caro turned back to the window. People were still walking down the boulevard, and shadowy figures moved behind them. The woman in the nightgown staggered and fell down. On the opposite side of the road, a man with thick black hair walked over and lifted her arm, then he dragged her across the asphalt to a weedy lot.