Pulse. Part 10

Kalina and Stuart spent the next week in something approximating happiness. They fell quickly into a routine a after school they would visit Maeve in the hospital for an hour or two, then head to the vast expanses of land behind the Greystone Manor, where Stuart would teach Kalina how to fight. It was a romantic kind of tutelage a punctuated with kisses and laughter between bouts of serious fighting a and by the seventh day the routine felt so natural to Kalina that she could hardly believe it had only been a few days since she had first met him.

Jaegar, for his part, had not been seen since that night in the parking lot. He had vanished, for better or for worse, leaving Kalina with little more than the memory of his kiss and a feeling of hot anger in her heart. She did not miss him; nevertheless, she could not stop herself from wondering about his whereabouts, and hoped in the end that he would stay away for as long as he could.

The first step had been to reveal the secret of the vampires to Maeve. Kalina had been dreading the conversation a she imagined Maeve's look of horror when Kalina revealed that the thing that attacked her was of the same breed as the thing that she herself was dating, imagined that Maeve would accuse her of madness. But when she sat down next to Maeve's hospital bed one Wednesday afternoon, she found the words came easier to her than she'd expect.

"Maeve," she said softly. "Do you have any idea what attacked you?"

Maeve shook her head miserably. "That's the thing," she said. "It was a person. I mean a it wasn't an animal; it didn't look like an animal. It looked like a human being. Only...it had fangs. And it bit me."

"That's strange."

"And the weird part is a it didn't feel like just some weird psycho trying to bite me for whatever reason. Whatever attacked me didn't feel human! It was fast a so fast!

And strong. Strong enough to fight off an entire cheerleading squad. And its eyes a I remember it was like being a deer in the headlights, you know? I couldn't move. Even if I wanted to, I couldn't move away."

"I know," said Kalina softly.

"Do you think I'm crazy?" Maeve's eyes widened. "I know it sounds crazy, but..."

"But what?"

"Okay, you have to promise not to judge me, okay."

"I promise." Kalina squeezed her hand.

"I think a I think whatever attacked me a was, like, a vampire or something." She covered her face with her hands. "I know, it sounds stupid. It's so crazy a I don't even know why I'm saying it. I mean, I know vampires don't exist, it's just a fairy tale..."

"You were attacked by a vampire," Kalina said gravely. "I'm certain of it."

Maeve removed her hands from her face. "How?" she asked.

"Because," Kalina said. "Vampires do exist. And some of them live in this town. And I talked to one of them."

"You talked to a..."

"They're not all bad!" Kalina said hurriedly. "The one that attacked you was one of the bad ones. But there's good vampires, too a ones that don't drink human blood a ones that are safe."

"What do they look like?"

"Like regular people," said Kalina. "Only...prettier. And they don't have to just come out at night, either. They can come out at any time of day a if they're wearing this special ring with Life's Blood in it. It hurts them, but they can do it if they have to. And then they're faster than normal people, and stronger, and if they stare at you long enough they can control your mind."

"And I thought I sounded crazy."

"Maeve," said Kalina. Her voice was heavy with the seriousness of her words. "I need to ask you a favor. I need you to promise not to tell anybody about this."

Maeve sat up in her hospital bed. "Promise," she said. "Cheerleader's honor."

"Stuart's a vampire."

"What?"

"Stuart's a vampire. And so was Aaron. And so was Jaegar a that's the vampire who attacked you. He's Stuart's brother, but the two of them have been feuding for centuries since Stuart's good and Jaegar's a well, he really isn't."

"Stuart's a vampire?" Maeve's mouth gaped open like a fish. "And so was Aaron?"

"I know it sounds like a lot to take in...but whatever happened to you that night you were attacked a that was a vampire. Because the vampires have moved back to town, and made this place a whole lot more dangerous."

"How do you know you can trust Stuart?"

"I just know, okay?" Kalina's voice grew sharp, even defensive. "He's not like Jaegar. He doesn't drink from humans."

"Yeah a and what about that vampire who attacked me, huh? I'm sure he didn't drink from humans either!"

"It isn't like that!"

"A vampire's a vampire!"

"No a that's not true a listen." Kalina's voice rose. "If a person attacked you, you wouldn't blame another human for it, would you?"

"No, but..."

"Then why blame another vampire?"

"It's different!" Maeve was shaking. "I saw what I saw! Those creatures a they're not human, Kalina. They're dangerous."

"Stuart saved your life!" said Kalina. "He gave you some of his blood while you were sleeping to help you cure faster. Thanks to him, you're almost better already!"

Maeve stopped. "Why did he do that?"

"Because you're my friend."

"How long have you known about this?"

"Only a few days."

"Hey Kalina?"

"What?"

"I'm really tired now. I think I need to a just ponder this for a bit. Do you mind coming back tomorrow?"

By the next day, Maeve had seemed to reconcile herself to the prospect of vampires, and to Stuart in particular. A good night's sleep and some serious considerations had calmed her nerves. "But never go anywhere without a stake," she said. "I don't care how cute or nice he is a just keep it in your purse. Just in case."

And that was her final word on the matter.

Meanwhile, Stuart had helped Kalina learn to fight a if not as well as he a then nevertheless well enough to defend herself from his blows. He showed her the full range of vampire powers a from flying from treetop to treetop to rushing past her in a single gust of wind, from compulsion a he had to be very careful in this matter, for while she understood the necessity of recognizing the warning signs of compulsion upon her she was reticent to give up her control a to hand-to-hand combat.

"All this served me well," said Stuart. "For many centuries."

"What did you do all that time?" said Kalina, retying her sneakers after a long and physically draining bout of karate.

"I fought, mostly," said Stuart. "My father, Jaegar and I. We were all mercenaries in the army of a Roman general, Octavius."

"A vampire."

"Yes, a vampire. He was perhaps the strongest vampire I knew. And the most dangerous. I pity any human that he encounters."

"Why did you fight for him?"

"A vampire has to make a living somehow," Stuart said. "And we can't exactly open bank accounts or get normal jobs. At least, we couldn't, in those days. And our skills were out of date. Who wants someone handy with a broadsword once gunpowder was invented? But Octavius took us in. He gave us something to do."

"Did you kill people, then?"

Stuart flushed. "Other vampires," said Stuart. "Octavius had different troops for different devices. Jaegar often served as an a.s.sa.s.sin a using his skills to murder humans, hired by humans. He was involved in several of the Renaissance quarrels a he killed a Borgia or two, I know that much. I chose to fight more fairly. We involved ourselves with disagreements between vampire clans. I was killing my own kind, true, but it felt less like murder."

"You said Vampire Wine was only invented during the Renaissance. What did you do before that?"

Stuart's face darkened. "Please don't ask me that," he said. "You already know the answer. Animal blood only has some of the nutritional properties vampires need to survive. I...did my best to kill as few as possible."

"I'm sorry."

"It is a difficult thing," said Stuart. "I killed in order that I might live. It was cowardly a in a way. Jaegar always said it was different for vampires a for we were killing food, part of the food chain. I admit I was too cowardly to let myself starve to death. I feared what would happen afterwards a what G.o.d's plan was for vampires. Especially vampires who had killed. And choosing who would live and who would die a when I was forced to feed. It is a choice I hope you never have to make, Kalina."

"I'm not afraid," said Kalina. "It's not your fault."

"It was my fault," said Stuart. "I cannot forgive myself for that cowardice a what stopped me was technology, not my own morality."

"So, if Vampire Wine weren't available..."

"I don't know what I would do," said Stuart sharply. "But I'll tell you one thing. I would get as far away from you as possible. The location of Father Botticelli is one of the most closely-guarded secrets in the vampire community for this very reason. If some ill were to befall him a we would be lost."

"Couldn't you just turn another priest?"

"No vampire with enough soul to drink Vampire Wine could do that to another human being," said Stuart.

"But if it saved the lives of all those other humans you'd have to eat otherwise..."

"It's not worth it," said Stuart. "Changing another a it is worse than death. A clean death sends the victim to the afterlife. But vampires a they last forever."

"Let's stop talking about this," said Kalina. Something in Stuart's tone scared her. There was a darkness in him that she could not reach, could not touch a she approached it with a mixture of pity and fear. She wanted to help him wash away his guilt, to redeem himself, and yet she could not deny that there was something thrilling about his danger, his capacity for terrible things. Every time he kissed her, and she knew that he was straining against his temptation to consume her totally, she felt the same rush of adrenaline she felt whenever she was doing a particularly strenuous somersault on the cheerleading pitch.

"Let's not talk," she said again, wrapping her arms around him and kissing him.

His lips collided with hers; his mouth opened into hers. He pushed her down upon the sofa and began unb.u.t.toning her blouse; she opened the b.u.t.tons of his shirt and felt her lips press against the smooth expanses of his chest.

They did not stop; they could not stop. Their bodies were tangled into each other a their limbs at angles across the surface of the couch. They had both by now stripped to their underwear, and Stuart's arms were tight upon her back.

"We have to stop," he whispered, and she gave a little moan in reply.

"Just a second," she said. She knew it was dangerous; danger was part of the thrill.

"You know what I'll do..."

She kissed his shoulder.

"d.a.m.n it!" With a searing noise like the sharpening of a knife, his fangs had revealed themselves a betraying his desire. "Oh a G.o.d a I'm sorry, I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay." She cupped his face. "Let me see them."

"I don't want you to..."

"It's okay," she smiled at him. "It's part of who you are."

She examined the fangs. They were long and sharp, white like ivory. "I want to know all of you," she said.

"Don't be so sure of that," said Stuart before he pulled himself away.

A few days later Kalina mentioned to him the matchbox Aaron had given her, and Jaegar's detective-like reaction to it. "Nox," she said. "Is that anywhere important?"

Stuart's face darkened. "The Stromboli Brothers," he said. "They sell our Vampire Wine. They're our main San Francisco client."

"I see."

"But Aaron had no reason to spend too much time there a normally I handled the..." Stuart looked up. "I was in San Francisco at the time a why would he have "But Aaron had no reason to spend too much time there a normally I handled the..." Stuart looked up. "I was in San Francisco at the time a why would he have gone himself to the Stromboli Brothers without contacting me?"

"I don't know," said Kalina. "Can I guess the next step is heading to San Francisco?"

The following day, Kalina and Stuart loaded up the car for a weekend in San Francisco, to head to Nox. Maeve had long since made a full recovery, thanks to Stuart's vampire blood, and she urged Kalina to go. "I'm better than ever," she'd said.

"Well, off we go!" said Kalina. "You know, I feel like a detective."

"Very good," said Stuart.

A car drove up past them before they had made it out the driveway. A happy-looking pair in athletic shorts a a man and a woman, leaped out.

"Hi there!" said the man. "We're a couple of hikers a just here for some trailblazing from Texas. Any of y'all got a map?"

Stuart stiffened as Kalina searched in her purse. "I've got my GPS if you want to..." She almost opened the door before Stuart grabbed her wrist.

"Oh, shi..."

Before she could recognize what was happening, Stuart had bolted out of the car, and was engaged in violent combat with both vampires. She could see a haze of blood and claws; screams and shouts filled her ears.

"Stuart."

"Don't get out of the car!" he called.