Matters of the Blood (28 page)

"I know, Adam. Is there no other way to tell?"

"If I could have seen his body, I could tell. There would be a sort of latent potential."

"So he could become vampire?"

Adam nodded. “Yes, if fed from often enough and then drained to the point of death. He'd have to feed from one of us, as well."

Oh yeah, the whole big sucking thing, guess that wasn't a myth, either.

I shook my head. “I saw his body, Adam. I don't know if..."

"You saw it?"

"Of course I did, both Tucker and I were there. That's why I know there were fang marks and no blood,” I said. “I didn't just take Carlton's word—and he didn't recognize the marks."

Adam looked thoughtful. “Earlier, you were able to sense Andrea on my porch. Can you perceive all power?"

"I've always been pretty good at scoping out others, except..."

"Except what?"

"In England, with you, even here, before ... I never clued in."

"I've been at this a very long time, Keira. Most vampires don't bother to shield their power here at the ranch. I still do. There were a great many years where my life depended on my passing as human, even to other vampires.” He took my hand. “Had I known sooner what you were, I might have ... Never mind. Time past. You're here now."

I shut my eyes briefly and let out a small sigh. No regrets. It wouldn't have made sense to fret about what could have been, what might have happened years before.

Adam continued. “I was wondering if you would have been able to sense if your cousin had been turned."

"Good question. Maybe.” I tried to remember the sensations I'd felt when I'd viewed Marty's body. I'd felt uneasy, and tense, but nothing specifically supernatural. Even if I'd known my cousin was playing fang hag, we were never close enough for me to ask him if he reciprocated the blood suck.

"I didn't feel anything unusual. But that doesn't mean it wasn't there. I'm not too sure what I'd have to sense. We'll just have to wait, I guess."

"And find out when he rises at the morgue?"

"Damn.” I hadn't really thought of that. “He's at Bexar County and they're backed up because of a flu outbreak among the staff. They're not going to be able to do the autopsy for a few days yet, and that means they won't release the body before—"

"I'll take care of it,” Adam said. “I'll send out one of my people tonight. If your cousin has been turned, we'll bring him back. If not, we'll leave him be."

"Your people?” I asked. “You keep making that sound less like
employees
and more like, you know,
minions.
"

"Minions.” He laughed a little. “Well, to borrow a phrase, you're not wrong, exactly. That's, well, that's part of everything I want to talk to you about, the reason I've had to pretend, to hide my power. I was going to tell you, Keira—"

"Yes,
do
tell her.” Niko's voice floated through the now-open door, derision coloring the words, the “I double-dog-dare-you” implicit in his tone.

Andrea stood next to him, saying nothing. She turned her head and stared when he spoke. The two of them came into the office, Niko striding over to the desk and perching on its edge. Andrea standing just behind him, ever the bodyguard.

Adam flinched a little, his muscles tightening. He ignored Niko for the moment.

"Andrea, where's Evan? I need him to take care of something."

"He's gone out. Said he needed to do something. I suppose he's patrolling."

Adam nodded. “Fine. When he comes back in, tell him I need to see him."

"Patrolling? What's up with that?” I asked. “He hunting vampire slayers?"

The three vampires ignored my facetious question. Niko stared at Adam, the look of challenge still on his face. Adam simply stared back, his own expression neutral, but wary.

"She already knows,” Andrea said. Niko glanced at her but kept his comments to himself. He still wasn't able to keep the quizzical expression from his face.

Adam stood, watching Niko but addressing me.

"I'm the leader of my people, Keira. We've been a community for a long time. Since long before the war that changed everything."

"Could you be a little more specific? Which war would that be?"

I wasn't being flippant. I might only be thirty-seven, but my father, my uncles and my elder half-brothers had personally witnessed several human conflicts and had even fought in some. None of them looked much older than me, or even Adam. To my brothers Duncan and Cullen, “the” war meant the First Opium War. Ciprian tended to think in terms of the Restoration. I wasn't even considering what other members of my family considered their “Great War,” I didn't want to.

"I suppose that's a fair question,” Adam said. “The Second World War."

"Was that when you...” My voice trailed off. I wasn't exactly sure how to ask the question. When he died?

"No, I've been around for longer than that.” He shook his head, his hair hiding his expression. I could hear the pain in his voice. “That's just when the blood and the killing became too much. When I vowed to make changes in our lifestyle. It wasn't my first war, just my last."

"Why that one?” I asked. “What makes it any different from all the others?"

I tried to see his face behind the curtain of hair. I thought I knew the answer but I wanted to hear it for myself.

He looked at me, a film of misery sliding across his eyes, echoes of horror reflected in their depths. “Wars had come to be all the same. Only the weapons changed. All I cared about was the survival of our people, no matter what I had to do to ensure it. But this time, this war ... it was more than even I could take.” He paused, swallowing hard, as if the words hurt his throat. “I saw things there that no living or dead soul should ever see. Even when our people hunted humans, we were never that cruel."

"That would be my point,” Niko broke in. “We aren't cruel. We simply hunt for food. We can hunt animals, not humans."

"But we still follow the laws, Niko.” Adam warned.

"Whose laws, Adam?” Niko's derision sliced through the tense atmosphere. “We've always had our own laws."

Adam's expression hardened as he stood and looked at Niko.

"We still do, Niko. We still do. You'd be wise to remember that.” I heard the underlying threat in Adam's voice.

"I remember who—what—I am, Adam. Do you?"

"Enough to remember I am master here. I set the laws. We. Do. Not. Hunt."

I got up to stand between the two men. Damn it, I was doing way too much of this lately. First Adam and Carlton, and now these two. Were all males perennially twelve years old?

"Stop it,” I said, “What in hell is going on here? Some sort of vampire politics?"

"In a way.” Andrea's drawling voice held amusement. “We've been having a little difference of opinion lately."

"This ranch is an experiment, Keira,” explained Adam. “I bought it so we could set up a lab, do research. I wanted my people to be able to exist in the normal world, without having to hunt, to feed from humans. To stay safe."

"Okay,” I said. “I have to ask now. I know you can eat regular food, but surely, that can't be enough."

"It's not,” replied Niko. “We have to have blood to live."

"We're attempting to develop synthetic blood proteins,” Adam said. “Right now, we mix natural animal blood extracts with wine, which substitutes..."

He didn't have to finish the thought. Substitutes for the real thing. I wondered if it was like trying to convince yourself that you were eating chocolate when, in fact, it was only carob. Not a nice idea. Commendable, maybe, but as far as I was concerned, neither satisfying nor sensible.

"Where do you get blood?"

"That's why the animals,” he said. “We draw blood humanely."

"He doesn't even let us hunt them, do you, Adam?” Niko asked. “Not even to thin the herd. Even your little human girlfriend here thinks that's stupid."

"You think I'm human?” I was amused at the idea. So Niko couldn't tell.

"You're not one of us,” Niko sneered.

"Well, you are right about that,” I agreed.

"So, what are you then?” I could tell he didn't believe a word I said.

I shrugged. “I'll tell you in a few weeks."

His eyebrows rose.

"I'm not being facetious,” I said. “I won't know for sure until then. But you can rest assured, I'm not human."

Niko laughed. “If you believe this, Adam, then you're more of a fool than I originally thought."

The redhead turned his gaze back to me, his grin more a leer than anything else, as his eyes traveled from my face, down my body and back again to catch my gaze. It was a slow, lingering appraisal; the lewdness was nearly tangible. As he'd done on the dark road in front of my car, he grinned and gave a brief bow, then turned back to look at Adam.

"Not that I blame you, Adam,” he sneered. “Ms. Land Rover here seems to be a pretty tasty treat."

In a motion nearly too fast for me to see, Adam sprang forward and gripped Niko's neck, lifting him from the floor with ease.

"Never speak like that again, Nikolai. You forget yourself."

The growling words rolled throughout the room with a rumble of power, thundering in every corner and echoing in ricocheted sound. Andrea had unobtrusively slid to one side, putting herself between me and the two men, as if to shield me.

"Don't move,” she whispered. I stayed where I was, stunned into immobility by the sudden attack.

Electric power rose from each vampire, waves of color, light and force crashing together, building, merging and knocking against each other with the force of a hurricane-tossed sea. Both men remained preternaturally motionless, the struggle for dominance concentrated into this silent battle of wills, the redhead still dangling from the other man's grip, Adam still holding Niko at arm's length.

"We've got to stop them,” I whispered to Andrea, trying keep from drawing the men's attention.

"Be quiet. You don't want to get involved in this."

"In what?"

Andrea didn't answer me.

The tension hummed and sang with energy, building layer upon layer, wrapping the room in power, rising from the floor, covering the walls, pressing against the carved tiles of the ceiling, looking for an outlet, only to crescendo with a nearly audible crash as, with a flick of his wrist, Adam tossed the other man across the room. Niko's limp body smashed into the dark wood panels, coming to rest in a huddled heap at the base of one of the tapestry hangings.

The thick silence hung heavy as a nun's veil, as if the very air muffled even the sound of our breathing. Andrea remained standing in front of me, but I could still see Adam clearly. He stood staring at the crumpled bundle that was his wildlife manager, lips set in a straight line, eyes still flashing brilliance. All pretense of humanity had left his face. Instead of looking like he'd put on a mask, it was as if an obscuring film had been erased, allowing the unearthly beauty to shine. His fists were clenched so tight that his fingernails cut into his palm, drops of blood beginning to drip between his fingers.

I started to move, but Andrea moved with me, still trying to shield me. I grabbed her arm with all the strength I was capable of, and shoved her out of the way. With a look of surprise, she stumbled, then caught herself.

"What are you?” she asked.

I could have made some sarcastic remark, but decided to skip it. Right now, I wanted to go to Adam and see if I could help him. I didn't waste a lot of thought on Niko. He was a vampire, it was unlikely he was dead or even seriously injured.

Adam's face was frozen in a stare, his eyes unfocused, his expression set in a grim look.

"Adam?” I moved a little closer. “Can you hear me?"

"He's fighting it.” Andrea's voice came from behind me and low down. I turned for a quick look. She'd crossed the room and was squatting next to Niko, who'd begun to stir.

"Fighting what?"

"The hunger, the bloodlust,” she answered.

Niko groaned and stretched, moving with a slow jerky motion as if making sure everything worked. His voice hissed from his broken mouth. “Even he can't stop it now."

Before I could say anything, Adam's body convulsed in a shudder and he dropped to a low crouch, his hands covering his face.

I knelt in front of him. “Adam, are you all right?"

He groaned, shaking his head. “I can't..."

I reached for him, laying my hand on his. A rush of energy slammed into me, stronger than I'd ever felt before. The roiling hunger ate at my belly, bloodlust screaming to be released. Adam shuddered again and dropped his hand, his eyes widening as he leaned in toward me, needing to feed. I tried to scoot back, to stand, but in a flash of movement, his hand whipped around and grasped my wrist. I couldn't break his hold. Our gazes met again and I froze.

I took that gaze, let it capture mine, called to whatever power I had inside me, and let Adam's need sink into me. His head lunged forward, fangs bared, reaching for my neck. Ripping my hand from his grip, I grasped the sides of his face, holding him back, pressing my forehead to his, whispering calming words. If I could divert him, channel that energy into something else, maybe I could soothe him.

Flashes of scenes skipped across my brain, my memories mingling with his ... my first sight of Adam standing solo at a party ... the unparalleled sweetness of fresh blood pumping out of a soft hairless neck, filling my belly ... the taste of Gideon's death magic and my own fear ... emaciated living human skeletons behind razor wire, clinging to what was left of their humanity, eyes dead in breathing faces, skin stretched over brittle bones like old canvas. Then the overwhelming hunger. I watched as my hands, his hands, filthy, skin cracked and peeling, reached out, grabbing the scrawny neck of the woman and feeling my fangs sink into her throat. As we let her dying body drop to the dirty floor, her eyes blinked, gratitude at her release replacing despair. Hot tears ran down my cheeks as I saw what Adam had seen, felt the anguish, the guilt. He'd been there, inside the death camp, feeding on the already condemned. Adam's tears merged with mine as the thrumming energy subsided, the hunger easing, draining away, replaced by grief and sorrow.