Pulse. Part 13

"Jaegar," she leaned in.

"What?"

"If...if I wanted to a you know, would you?"

"Do you want to?" His eyes took on a mysterious shimmer.

"That's not the question a I'm just asking... if..."

"Am I a red-blooded vampire or not?" said Jaegar. "Don't ask such ridiculous questions. Especially when they're so tantalizing..."

He reached out for her; she pushed him away.

"I don't want to," she said sharply. "I just a wanted to know."

"Not satisfied at home?"

"It isn't like that!"

"Not getting what you need a as they say on the cover of women's magazines?"

"No a it isn't that..."

"What, then?"

"I want to drink your blood," Kalina said, simply.

"What?" Jaegar rounded on her.

"I saw a I saw the effect it has...when a human and vampire share blood. And you can't drink mine. And I'm injured a you said it yourself a and vampire blood heals. Well, I want to try yours."

Jaegar considered her, amused. "What a very forward request! Some vampires would have you killed for such audacity."

"Will you do it or not?"

She couldn't explain what it was she felt. She only wanted to know what it was Maeve and Stuart had known, to know what it was that was denied her.

"Very well," said Jaegar. His teeth flashed in the lamplight. "If you insist." He held his own wrist to his mouth and bit in deeply into the flesh. She could see the dark veins open up, and the blood fall in a gentle trail down his forearm.

"Do I just..."

"Do what feels natural."

She took his wrist and pressed it gingerly to her lips.

"Like this?"

"Like this?"

"Your body will tell you what to do."

"I don't think it's telling me..." She stopped. She had inhaled the scent of his blood a vibrant, deep a like musk and vanilla, as dark and aromatic as Arabian coffee. Her mind closed instantly. Rational thought evaporated. She could not think; she could only feel a feel a desire to consume as strong and overpowering as anything she had ever felt. She felt the taste of his blood on her tongue; she felt his flesh cold and tantalizing on her lips. And then she was sucking it down, tenderly, at first, and then in ecstatic gulps, and she was aware of nothing but the taste of him in her a and the taste filled her mouth and her throat, the lining of her stomach, the s.p.a.ce in her ribcage, burning in her blood, flowing down to her fingers.

He pulled away. "That's enough," he said.

She looked up. "My G.o.d," she whispered. "That's amazing." Something between guilt and ecstasy flooded her.

"Any more and you'll hurt me."

Rationality returned to her. "Oh, G.o.d..."

"Kalina." His voice had grown soft now, even kind. "Are you all right? Was it...all right?"

"I don't know," she said. "It was intense."

"When a human and vampire feed off each other, it creates a kind of psychic connection. So don't be surprised if you feel something...drawing you a at first."

So a there had been something between Stuart and Maeve a even if they themselves had not been aware of it! Her heart leaped in her mouth.

"I know," she said. "Stuart...he had to feed from my friend a from Maeve. He gave her his blood a and then he had to drink from her when he was attacked..."

Jaegar's kindness vanished. His face darkened with jealousy. "I see," he said. "So you wanted to even the score." His voice grew cold. Kalina flushed. "I don't see you complaining," she said. "Anyway, the pain in my leg has gone."

He couldn't help but laugh. "You're a feisty woman, Kalina. You're wasted on my brother. You're strong."

"He's strong," she said. She thought of him with Maeve and gulped.

"Strong enough to resist doing all sorts of things I'd be more than happy to oblige with doing..." He stopped. "I won't ask you again," he said. "And, despite what you may think of me, I'd certainly never force you. I used compulsion on you, yes, before I came to know you. I've used compulsion on many women in my past. But I don't want you like that. I like you best like you are now a your strength, your pa.s.sion, your life. I like a woman who isn't afraid to stand up to me. I need a woman like that."

He touched her hair lightly. "I will never use compulsion upon you; I promise you that much. Vampire's honor. But, on that matter...You know where I stand. But a if you ever change your mind a now that you've tasted vampire blood...you know where to find me."

"I'm dating your brother," Kalina said quietly.

"Are you?" He sighed. "Yes, for now a let's get you back. I'll drive."

He drove her back the following evening. She had texted Justin a told him she was staying with Maeve. She made no such contact with Stuart or Maeve, although she received a series of text messages from them. She knew she'd have to say something a as they pulled up to Greystone Wineries, she couldn't imagine what. Stuart raced out to meet them the second he saw Jaegar's car. "What the h.e.l.l are you doing here?" he hissed to Jaegar. "Haven't you ruined enough already?"

He caught sight of Kalina and stopped. "Kalina a are you all right? I called a couple of times, but you didn't pick up." He took her hands in his. "G.o.d a Kalina a I'm so, so sorry." He pressed them tightly to his lips; she thought of the taste of Jaegar's blood, and could not look at him. "I promise you a nothing happened a nothing would ever have happened." He looked up. "Jaegar a what the h.e.l.l have you done to her?"

"It's fine," said Kalina. "He helped me a I crashed my family car; he helped me get better..."

"He helped you get..." He turned to face Jaegar. "You didn't! Tell me you didn't!"

"She asked! Besides a looks like you already found someone willing to drink your blood."

"That's not the...Kalina, did you?"

"You told me it would help a if a human is injured," Kalina said, instinctively on the defensive, "It was fine when you did it to Maeve! It was fine when she did it to you!"

"That's different!" Stuart sighed. "With Jaegar? "

"I do have a habit of my beating you to women," Jaegar said lightly. "Like Marilee, for example."

"Don't you mention her name!" Stuart's voice had become a roar. "Don't you dare mention her name a after all you've done! After what happened to Father!"

"Time to face the facts, little brother," said Jaegar. "You'll never have what I have. And I believe you'll find your girlfriend feels the same way."

"I do not! " said Kalina, hotly. But they could not hear her. They were lost in an argument that had gone on, without her, for centuries.

"I want you out of here!" cried Stuart.

"I just saved your girlfriend's life. If she even is your girlfriend."

"I am, " said Kalina.

Stuart could not resist any longer. He struck Jaegar clean across the face, his rage giving him strength. In his eyes, Kalina saw the power that he had so long been resisting, the dark force he had tried so hard to suppress. In its elemental fury his pa.s.sion was stronger, even, than Jaegar's a he had starved it for so long, that it came out in the full force of its hunger.

Jaegar fell back, stunned. "You're stronger than I remember, little brother. But don't get too c.o.c.ky. Remember, I am still your elder. And your better." He shoved Stuart back down to the ground.

Kalina had enough. "Fine," she said. "You guys fight it out! But when you're done a come find me! I'll be inside!"

And with that, she stormed into the house.

chapter 16.

The first thing Kalina saw when she went back inside the house was the man sitting in the chair. He was extraordinarily handsome and reminded Kalina of the broadshouldered half-naked men on the covers of romance novels. He was in his mid-to-late 20s, tall, with long, jet-black hair and a deep tan a far darker than a normal vampire. His muscles were strong, even sinewy, hidden beneath the perfectly tailored folds of an Italian suit. He looked rich, powerful; he sat in the armchair like a man of bearing, perfectly poised, waiting for her. His long fingers were touched together in a steeple; his eyes were piercing and gray, the color of a sword's blade.

"I've been waiting for you, Kalina," he said.

"How did you know my..." she stopped. Vampires knew everything. And from the cruel glimmer in his eye, she had a feeling that he was one of them. "Never mind. What do you want?"

He had to be a vampire a there was no way anyone else could sneak past Stuart and Jaegar unnoticed, even in the midst of their fighting. They guarded that house with their lives; it contained all their secrets.

"I warn you, I have a stake."

"What a way to treat an old family friend!" He gave her a look of shock. "Really, where are your manners?"

"Where's your letter of introduction?" she shot back. "I don't talk to strangers."

He looked her up and down; she could feel his eyes burning into her.

"So," he said softly, his lips curling around the words. "You're the girl causing all this trouble around here. All the little Greystone boys up in arms over you. I haven't seen this much fighting since Helen of Troy. Now, that really was a war."

Shock spread across her face.

"Oh, you know I'm only joking. The Trojan War was before my time. Not by much. The Battle of Actium was more my style."

"Ancient Rome..." Her voice trailed off. "Octavius!" Stuart had spoken to her many times of Octavius, of his band of mercenaries. He was the one responsible for turning Stuart, Jaegar and their father into vampires a recruiting them into eternal life in exchange for eternal servitude a the one who had saved them from the Black Death, but who in the end had not been able to save them from themselves.

"I thought you released them," she said. "For good service a what do you want with them now?"

"Who says I want them, now?" said Octavius. He inhaled deeply, his nostrils alighting on her scent. "Life's Blood," he breathed. "I love it when a woman smells as good as she looks. It's a good guide to how she tastes..."

Kalina took a step back.

"Delicious," he p.r.o.nounced.

Kalina tried to search for Stuart or Jaegar out of the corner of her eyes, but she could catch no glimpse of them. Her heart began pounding in her chest. Were they still fighting? Or had something...happened. No, she couldn't think about that now. She tried to remain calm.

"What are you doing here?" she asked him, trying to muster up more ferocity than she felt.

"What am I doing here?" Octavius sighed. "Why, my dear, I am here merely out of simple curiosity. So many vampires have been hunting for years, searching for that very special virgin who carries Life's Blood. It's been centuries since we've had another like you, my dear. Those rings your two lovers wear a some of the most precious gems in the business. Some vampires, like your precious Stuart and that dear boy, Aaron, wish to become human again. Others have more ambitious goals. They want to become invincible. That taint of evil that comes with it a well, it is a price one might pay."

Kalina kept her eyes steady on Octavius. "And which category do you fall into?" she asked. She had a feeling she already knew the answer.

"Oh, years ago, when I first became a vampire a this was during the time of the first Caesar, a great, great man, if a proud one a I would have died to become mortal again!" He laughed at his little joke. "I was still a human, you see, in many ways. I still loved my fiancee. Drusilla, she was called. And she was beautiful. And I was meant to marry her a and the night before I was to crown her with orange blossoms and carry her over my doorstep...I grew turned."

"I'm sorry," said Kalina.

"Don't be. She killed herself after the shock of my...condition. She did not bother to stay, to listen to me a to hear what I had to say; for I loved her then, despite what had happened to me. She merely took the coward's way out. And I learned then that there is a great difference between humans and vampires. Humans are cowardly. Vampires are brave. Vampires are predators. Humans are prey."

"And now you are a full vampire?"

"My heart is hardened," said Octavius. "As well it must be. And now I serve without mercy. Without regret."

Kalina couldn't help gulping.

"Maybe for a pretty thing like you I might change my ways," said Octavius, with a wry grin. "But you seem to be deciding among enough Greystones already. Oh, I'm not all bad. I don't think I'm bad at all. My opponents would say otherwise a but I do what I believe is right. Under my laws. My rules."

"I think I have enough suitors already," Kalina said, her voice trembling. "And don't try to use compulsion on me a I know that trick!"

"Compulsion is for vampires too young to have mastered their...more natural charms." Octavius smiled. "I know you're attracted to me a don't be shy. I'm a vampire; it's in my nature...to attract."

"And to destroy?" Kalina said, deflecting the question. Her hormones were out-of-control enough already; she didn't need to be in a room of powerfully seductive vampires to make it worse.

"Oh, I've done all that," said Octavius. "I have turned hundreds of men a perhaps even a thousand a into vampires. I've crushed them of their lives, stolen their potential to be human, what their lives might have been: births, marriages, deaths, children, love, sunlight a without a second thought. And after thousands of years on this Earth, can you imagine how many humans I've taken to satisfy my thirst? Can you even guess?"

"I'd rather not," said Kalina. She thought it was rather time to chalk him up wholeheartedly to the "bad" side of the column, all things considered.

"And I've been searching for you a or for someone like you a for ages. I even told the Greystone Brothers my suspicions a that a carrier of Life's Blood was to be born in this area. How else do you think that s...o...b..ring young boyfriend of yours first found you?"

"Aaron? What does Aaron have to..."