IM02 - Hunters & Prey (17 page)

“Feeding humans our blood. I don’t see the problem,” Lysander said after a few silent moments. “They will die.”

Fallon gasped hearing this. She coughed and sputtered, puffs of smoke escaping her mouth like old Indian smoke signals.

“Vampire blood and human blood don’t mix,” Lysander said. “I’m surprised your order is even considering doing this foolish experiment. They will most likely kill more humans than they save.”

“Now you understand some of my misgivings about this experiment.”

“I fail to see the threat here,” Lysander said.

Santino leaned in closer, dropping his voice. “What if the humans didn’t die? What if they lived on? Our blood would make them strong. Strong enough to fight a vampire, but not held back by limitations of sunlight.”

The café became eerily quiet. Only the sound of the door opening and closing as the patrons left broke this sudden silence.

Lysander’s hands folded together in front of his mouth. His lips pursed and his eyebrows lowered in deep concentration. “That is impossible. There is no middle ground,” he said after a few moments pause. “You are either vampire or human. What you are proposing would kill a mortal.”

“Wait, why would they die?” I asked. “Isn’t that how you turned me? You fed me your blood. I remember it. I don’t understand. Wouldn’t it just make a human super strong?”

Lysander turned to me. “Do you remember me saying that sometimes it doesn’t work?”

My memory shot back to the night I had been turned. I remembered the terrible searing sensation of Lysander’s blood streaming through my veins. After blacking out, I had woken up confused and disoriented in a cold shower. The water had been refreshing as it poured down on me. I remembered Lysander’s voice speaking from behind a white shower curtain.

He did say something like that. ‘It doesn’t always work.’

I nodded.

“Vampire blood is—for lack of a better term—poisonous to the human body. It uses human blood as fuel. That is why we must drink it to maintain our immortal bodies. When vampire blood enters a human body, it takes over, changing the organs. The more human blood there is in your body, the more damage is done in the transition. If the transition is not done just right, the body is destroyed rather than changed. That is why we drain our potential children to the point of death before attempting the transfusion.”

Fallon stamped out her cigarette then turned to her coffee and gulped down the contents of her cup.

Lysander continued, “The human body holds approximately ten pints of blood. A human’s blood pressure will bottom out and the heart will stop when about half of that is removed. It is just before that point we introduce our blood. The right mix must be found to ensure the transition. If there is too much human blood in the body, that blood will boil, organs will deteriorate, and the heart will be destroyed. The heart is the most crucial organ. That is one of the few that remain functioning after the transition. Without it to circulate blood, the human would die, rather than turn.”

Fallon gasped. No doubt the matter of fact way Lysander spoke of human death bothered her. She fidgeted in her seat and brought a hand up to cover her mouth.

Still, Lysander continued without missing a beat. “If the right balance is struck, the vampire blood can circulate through the body, changing everything in its path quickly. The key is keeping the temperature low and removing most of the fuel that is the human blood.” He looked at me. “That is why I put you in a cold shower afterwards. I needed to keep your core temperature down to help facilitate the change.”

“So what happens when Quentin gives humans our blood?” I asked. “They would burn from the inside out and die, right?”

The café manager wandered around us, setting chairs on top of tables, loudly performing his closing routine.

Lysander turned to Santino. He spoke in almost a whisper. “That is what should happen. How is he prolonging their life?”

“I’m not completely sure. After I refused him my blood, he stonewalled me from the project. He sent me on errands while he bled the rest of my men dry, using their blood for his experiments.”

“Why not just kill you?” I asked.

I expected Santino to be put off, or at least react in some way to my casual comment about his death, but he didn’t give me the satisfaction. He smiled at me as he spoke.

“I’m too well-known in Rome. My death would be put under a microscope by the organization, and Quentin would lose his freedom to operate.”

“I see. So why not just kill Quentin?” Lysander asked.

“Don’t think I haven’t considered that. I cannot kill a human, Lysander. I am honor-bound to protect them. I pledged an oath. I will answer to God eventually, and I must have a clean slate. He needs to be brought to justice, though.”

“Still a man of the cloth, eh? Even if that cloth is stained with innocent blood?” Lysander asked.

“Why do you think I sought you out?”

“Just kill him and be done with it. I am sure your God will forgive you,” Lysander said.

“It’s not so simple to kill him. He is telepathic, like we are. He knows things before I do them. I know he has been able to read my mind for some time now. Also, he is immune to our influence. He’s some special breed of human with real mental capabilities. I’ve tried, unsuccessfully, to contact Rome on many occasions. He has found ways to stop me each time.” Santino looked agitated. His lip twitched nervously. “The superiors of our order must be the ones to administer his punishment.”

“What else do you know of this project?” Lysander asked.

“Based on what I could gather, he uses a combination of drugs in his injections of vampire blood: something to slow the blood pressure, an opiate to numb the pain, and vitamin supplements. I don’t know what else might be mixed in. He never allowed me to get close to his notes. I don’t know what prolongs their lives.”

“Interesting, but they are still on limited time. Once vampire blood is introduced into their system, it will eventually burn through all of their human blood. It will change them, their organs will cease to function, and their bodies will stop making blood. How long can they be expected to live?”

“I don’t know. He only just started running his most recent test. I’m assuming as long as he keeps feeding them our blood, they will continue to function on some level.”

“And how strong are they?” Lysander leaned in, resting his elbows on his knees and his chin on folded hands.

“Strong enough to fight me, and drugged enough not to care what happens to them. They become completely mindless, like aggressive zombies.”

Lysander pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head slowly.

The sudden sound of smashing glass stole our attention. Our heads all spun in unison to face the shattered window. A large hulking creature of a man climbed through. His hair was matted and stuck to his face. A line of drool dripped from the corner of his mouth.

Fallon screamed. Lysander and Santino both shot out of their seats in an instant, blocking us from this new threat.

“You trapped us, Santino.” Lysander snarled, throwing his shoulder into Santino’s chest. “Very clever.”

Santino didn’t budge. “I assure you, he is not mine. Quentin must have sent him. He knows Alyssa has escaped.”

The hulking creature stopped and looked straight at our group. Though his eyes were bloodshot and fierce, he looked at Santino as if he recognized him.

Opening his mouth wide, the zombie-like creature let out a shrill cry. Fangs stuck out at odd angles from his mouth.

“This one is only recently… infected. He still has some of his mind left,” Santino said cautiously. “These things have been terrorizing the city when they are let out. I’ve had a mess of a time cleaning up after them. Leave now. I’ll deal with it.”

“No. I will take care of this one myself,” Lysander growled, lunging forward at the creature.

A screeching sound filled my ears as the two bodies hit the floor together. Lysander moaned as the creature raked its clawed hands across his face, ripping open his skin. I cringed and took a step toward the fight. Santino caught me and held me back.

“We need to help him,” I shrieked.

“No. He’s right. He needs to handle this one. It’s the only way he will understand.”

Lysander grasped the creature and chucked him across the room, sending him crashing into an old wooden coffee table. Lysander barely had time to catch his breath. The creature was back up on its feet in seconds. He grabbed an old rocking chair and flung it at Lysander. In a blur of motion, Lysander ducked. The chair flew across the room, barely missing him and then shattering as it hit the commercial stainless steel espresso machine.

The café manager stuck his head out from behind the back kitchen door. “Holy shit. What the fuck is going on here?” Mike’s eyes were wide. He walked over, joining us, watching the scene as Lysander and the creature fought, trying to rip each other to shreds. They were a blur of motion and splattered blood.

Santino turned to Mike and punched him, knocking him down to the floor with a dull thud.

“I thought you said you didn’t harm mortals,” I yelled, taking a swipe at Santino. He grabbed my hand and held it still, as if I were a child and had no strength of my own.

“I said I don’t kill them. I have to protect our secret just as you do. He’ll be fine when he wakes up.”

I jerked my arm out of his grip. “
If
he wakes up,” I corrected.

The unmistakable sound of bone cracking caught my attention. I turned just in time to see Lysander snapping the creature’s neck. He stood over the now lifeless body. Four bleeding scratches on his face began to heal, the skin knitted itself together, and in a few moments looked smooth and unmarred as if nothing had happened. He brushed his blood-soaked hair away from his face and returned to us.

“Imagine one of those breaking into your home during daylight,” Santino said calmly as he surveyed the scene. “Not affected by the sun, no need to feed to keep up their strength, only one thing on their mind. For their limited time, they are the perfect killing machines.”

“Why are you so opposed to them? Isn’t it your job to kill our kind?” Lysander asked, a little out of breath.

“Yes, but not at the expense of other mortals.” Santino walked over to the corpse and looked down. Disgust played across his face. “If they go willingly to their death in battle, that is one thing, but they aren’t even told they are signing their death certificate when they are given the blood. I don’t wish to say this any more than you wish to hear it. I’ll need help to destroy all of them and bring Quentin to justice.”

Lysander let out a loud sigh. “I will bring this news to my clan, and we will decide what to do. If you will excuse us, we will go now.”

“I would rather go with you and present it to your clan myself.”

“I’m sure you would, but I am not about to divulge our safe home to you. You and I are still enemies, no matter who else we may fight. I will meet you back here, tomorrow night. You will have our decision then.”

CHAPTER 12

*****

L
ysander drove us back toward home in the quiet suburb of Henderson. Although his SUV was large and comfortable, the silence and anger swirling around inside the vehicle made it feel small and oppressive. I sat in the passenger seat, shooting glances between Lysander and Fallon who sat in the back seat, picking her nails.

Lysander’s face was an implacable mask, but he couldn’t hide his seething anger from my vampire senses. Though I could feel it, I couldn’t tell if it was the encounter with Santino and the knowledge he had just learned that fueled his anger, or if it was the situation with me and Fallon that sat at the forefront of his mind.

He stared straight ahead at the road, jaw clenched, nostrils flared, fingers wrapped around the leather steering wheel.

I wanted to say something to him, but I was afraid of what he might say in return.

Fallon was the one who finally spoke up, breaking the silence. “Thank you for coming to get us,” she said pleasantly.

“No offense, Miss Fallon.” Lysander’s voice was calm and monotone. “But my concern is for Alyssa, not you.”

“Well, that’s pretty rude, Lysander,” I said.

“Again, no offense meant.” He didn’t turn his head to acknowledge me, but kept his eyes firmly locked on the road. “I am sure Fallon is a wonderful person, but she is just that—human. Which makes her a liability to our clan.”

“I resent that remark.” Fallon’s voice rose to a sharp pitch. “I’ve done nothing to you guys.”

“She’s my friend—”

“Yes, you’ve said that many times, Alyssa.” Lysander turned his piercing gaze to me for a brief moment. “But you have yet to grasp the point that vampires and humans cannot be friends. The sooner you understand that, the better.”

“I don’t care about vampire law,” I huffed.

“This isn’t about laws; it’s a fact.” Lysander’s voice remained calm and emotionless. It infuriated me, the casual way he spoke of terminating my friendship. “Tell me, Alyssa, what do you eat?”

I groaned. I knew he was going to bring this up. “Blood. But we—”