Blood Legacy (PULSE Vampire Series #6) Page 2
“Which is why I’m not suggesting they come out here,” said Kalina. “I’m suggesting we go there. I want to leave tonight, Justin.” It wasn’t just the box, Kalina knew. She had to get away from this town, away from all these memories of her past…a past that didn’t want her any longer. “I can fly to Ulan Batuur and find out where Octavius has gone to from there. Or I can try to reach him with telepathy…”
“Can’t you reach Jaegar?” Justin asked, but Kalina said nothing, flushing suddenly. She hadn’t been able to reach Jaegar telepathically since Stuart had turned – it was clear to her that Jaegar had chosen to cut off their communication. Now she didn’t even know where he was…
“Listen, Justin,” Kalina began. “I just want you to know that I know that this is something I have to do alone. I’ve risked your life too many times, and it’s not something I want to do again…”
“Nonsense,” said Justin. “You’re my little sister, and where you go, I go. Besides, if what you say is true, and if I have Life’s Blood in me, then I’m much safer being around a girl who knows her way around a stake than sitting here on my own…”
“You have a point,” Kalina admitted. But she hated the idea of bringing Justin any closer to danger than he was already. Already she had nearly lost him, and the thought of losing him for good made her feel nauseous.
“Come on, sis,” Justin said. “We have to go. I only have one condition for you.”
“What’s that?”
“We fly the normal way. Cramped seats. Uncomfortable twelve-hour flights. I love you, but I do not want you doing that vampire-drag with me half-way across the ocean. Makes me sick.”
“Careful,” said Kalina. “Now that you have Life’s Blood in you, who knows? You might be able to start flying yourself.”
Justin looked a little green at the thought. “I hope not, sis,” he said, “because I’m pretty happy with normalcy.”
They packed their bags, and as dawn was setting out over the horizon, they headed downstairs, suitcases in tow. Crickets had just finished their night song; crows were welcoming the morning. Kalina breathed a sigh of relief. They were going – she’d get away from this town, away from Stuart, away from her feelings of confusion. Anything was better, she thought, than being near Stuart, seeing how much she had hurt him. She needed time to cope with her decision.
But then she sensed him – her smell preceding her sight. She sniffed the air, and hunger flooded through her. Stuart’s car was pulling into the driveway, stopping so short that the tires screeched.
“Hey, slow down!” Justin called out.
Stuart emerged from the car. Kalina rushed to him, only to see that he was bleeding profusely from a gash on his right shoulder. Before she could think about what she was doing, Kalina was at his side – speeding like lightning across the front yard – her mouth upon his wound. The taste of him, the feeling of his blood upon her tongue, was unlike anything she had ever tasted before; her skin was warm with desire, her whole body trembling with pleasure.
Stuart was moaning softly as her fangs entered his skin, his eyes closed and his eyelids fluttering with longing.
“Kalina, what the hell?” Justin was standing at the doorway.
Kalina came back to herself. She stepped away in shock, covering her mouth as her cheeks blushed bright red with shame.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered. “I don’t know what just happened. I saw the blood and I wanted to…” She wiped her lips with the back of her hand, looking with horror as bright red streaks came away on her knuckles.
“Did you just…” Justin was gaping at her.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Kalina snapped.
“But you just…”
“It’s a thing.”
“You’re not a…”
“No!”
“But you just…”
“I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” Kalina couldn’t help shouting at Justin. Not being able to control her bloodlust was embarrassing enough, but to lose control like that in front of Justin? Stuart, meanwhile, was looking at her with adoration. Her instincts towards him had only made him love her more. How could she bear such kindness? And yet, as she stared at him, her former love was mingled with her present hunger. She had made her decision – she didn’t want to be with Stuart. But as long as he was before her, his blood so sweet, like chocolate or fine wine, how could she remember that choice? She wanted nothing more than to sink her teeth into him, to devour him whole.
She looked intently at the floor. “I wanted to heal you,” she said glumly.
“It’s okay,” said Stuart. “I’ve been there. I’ve felt that hunger before. Whatever happened to you – you’re not a vampire. You’re fine in sunlight, for starters. It’s probably just some weird Life’s Blood effect – you can still eat human food, right?”
Kalina nodded. Cheeseburgers weren’t quite as tasty as they had been a year ago, but she could certainly force them down.
“Then it’s probably not a full-force craving. Just a weird holdover from the vampire part of you. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t hard…” Stuart patted her hand.
“Stuart, you came just in time to say goodbye.” Kalina took a deep breath. She hated to hurt him more than she had to. “I’m going back. To Europe, I mean. Or Asia. Wherever Octavius and Max are. This…thing that’s happening to me – with the hunger and all. I need to deal with it, and I need to deal with what’s going on.”
“I see.” She could see the flicker of disappointment in Stuart’s eyes. Had he been hoping that she’d take him back. “Then that’s what you have to do.”
He took a step back, and Kalina’s blush spread across her face.
How could she bear causing him so much pain?
Chapter 2
Kalina had managed to regain her self-control. While she couldn’t tear her eyes away from Stuart’s pulsing, gaping wound, she had at least managed to keep her fangs firmly within her mouth. She looked down at the ground as intently as she could, not wanting either Stuart or Justin to see the slight protrusion of her lips where the fangs now poked out.
“You’re not going to eat me, are you?” Justin was asking in a small voice. “I mean, this hunger you have…”
“I think it’s only for turned vampires,” Kalina lied. “Definitely not for you.” This was mostly true – to her relief, Justin’s blood smelled far less delicious to her than Stuart’s. If she was going to want to eat somebody, she reasoned, at least that somebody wasn’t her brother. “But Stuart, your wound...” She made a concerted effort not to let herself look at it directly. “How did you get it? Are you injured?”
Stuart said nothing at first, but only coughed and colored slightly.
“Stuart, what is it?” Kalina pressed.
Stuart sighed. “It looks like being a human again after so many years has a couple of disadvantages. One of them being that I can’t fight off vampires as easily as I used to.”
“You were attacked?” Kalina raised an eyebrow. She’d heard of resentful vampires seeking out the ones turned human by Life’s Blood. Back when the Consortium was fully operational, Octavius had been able to sort out former Carriers and their vampire loves with new lives, new identities, hidden from the possibility of vampire attack. But she and Stuart had no such luxury.
“It was…strange,” said Stuart slowly. “Feeling like that. Like prey. I was so used to feeling powerful, feeling strong. Preying on others. Now, for the first time, I know what it feels like to be hunted like an animal.”
Kalina slipped her hand in his. “Now we both know what it feels like,” she said. “To be in the other one’s shoes.”
“I fought them off as well as I could,” said Stuart. “I may not have vampire skills, but I have six hundred years of experience. And that counted for something – although I didn’t quite get away unscathed.”
“I’m sorry,” Kalina said. “I shouldn’t have left you behind. I should have made sure you were safe.”
Kalina sighed. She hated the idea that her virginity was implicitly tied into the scent of her blood – that every one of the lascivious vampires who came to try to taste her could smell whether or not she’d had sex. The idea disgusted her. She didn’t want to give up her power to turn vampires, but she wasn’t sure she liked the rules of this particular deal. Clearly whoever created Life’s Blood had quite an antiquated view of women, she scowled.
“I guess I still smell like fresh meat,” Kalina sighed. “I swear, at this point I’m almost ready to just get it over with so vampires stop sniffing around me like…”
She looked up at Stuart and Justin, who were staring at her with shocked faces. “Never mind.”
“It wouldn’t matter, anyhow,” said Stuart. “I smell of you now. The Life’s Blood that you gave me is in my blood. Your lingering scent is enough for any vampire to track me down.”
“Well, we can’t leave you alone…” Justin strode over and patted Stuart on the shoulder. “You need protection. And you know, I’m a Carrier now.” He stuck his chest out proudly. “Not a real one, of course – but Max put her Life’s Blood in me.”
Stuart instinctively sniffed the air, then stopped, confused. “I can’t smell it anymore,” he admitted. “You just smell like dirty laundry to me.”
Kalina bit back a small smile.
“Can we book another ticket, Kal?” Justin turned to Kalina. “Take him with us? He’ll be safe there.”
Kalina hesitated a moment before answering. She knew as well as Justin did that they couldn’t just leave Stuart alone – not if he was still a target for vampires looking to drain him of the few drops of Life’s Blood he had in his system. But she’d been so looking forward to a fresh start – to getting away from the confusion that dulled her brain and yet heightened her senses. She’d needed time away from Stuart – to think, to come to terms with herself. She hated this physical attraction to him – the sheer force of her desire of his blood – that mingled with her knowledge, deep down, that she could not love him the way he deserved to be loved. The knowledge of her heart warring with the knowledge of her blood.
But that, it seemed, was not to be. “Of course we can,” said Kalina, gritting her teeth. “But what about your dreams, Stuart? What about seminary? Staying here?”
“It’s not safe,” said Stuart, “and in any case – whatever you’re doing, I can’t not be a part of it. I…care for you too much to let you risk your life without my help.” His voice was shaking, and Kalina’s heart ached for it. It was so clear that he loved her, even now; the force of his adoration floored her. How could she bear it? This longing, this desire…how could she bear the guilt of not being able to love him in return? Oh, why couldn’t she just be normal, settle into normalcy, forget Jaegar, forget Octavius, forget the desires that scrambled her brain and set her blood afire.
“Book a ticket?” Stuart raised an eyebrow. “But why ever would you do that? We can take my jet.”
“What?!” Justin nearly leaped out of his skin. “Private jet.”
“It’s amazing what a few-hundred-year-old investments can do. That’s a lot of time to collect interest.” Stuart grinned modestly. “I’m lucky enough to be able to live out the remainder of my days with a small fortune – well, a large fortune, rather. I’ve never wanted to spend it before – after all, when you’re supposed to be alive for all eternity, you want to make sure you don’t run out, so I’ve been living on the investment income. But now I probably haven’t got more than eighty or ninety years ahead of me – if that – so I might as well get to spending it!”
“It would appear that Stuart and Jaegar bought up some cheap property when they first arrived in America almost two hundred years ago,” said Kalina to Justin. “Bought it for almost nothing at the time. Now, of course, that property happens to be located in New York City…”
Justin’s eyes opened wide. “How come Jaegar never told us about the jet? We had to fly commercial last time we went to Mongolia.”
Stuart couldn’t resist a smile. “Being the boring, organized one has its advantages. Jaegar spent all of his share of the profits on women and luxury hotel rooms. Me, I invested wisely. I’ve been running the business for years.” He couldn’t help turning to Kalina. “It’s not all bad being a nice guy,” he said. “We get things done.” He took Kalina’s hand in his. “My sweet,” he said, “I may not be a vampire any longer, but I hate the idea that I might be useless to you. I want to do whatever I can to make you happy, and that means putting my resources at your disposal Physical, financial, or otherwise. Whatever you need to make your life work – I’m here.”
Justin pulled out his phone, his fingers twiddling furiously. “So I’ll just cancel those economy class tickets, shall I? I wonder if they do full refunds…” He went over to Stuart. “Well, I can’t say I’d have minded having you for a brother-in-law! Do you know the interest rates on my student loans?”
“Justin!” Kalina turned bright red. She knew Justin was just trying to lighten an awkward situation, but his making light of her romantic indecision made her embarrassed. It was hard enough having to make these decisions without being constantly reminded of them.
“It would have been nice,” Stuart conceded. He did not look at Kalina.
“He was always my favorite, sis,” said Justin blithely, completely oblivious to the fact that his words made Kalina want the floor to open up and swallow her whole. “You can’t beat a total gentleman who’s willing to charter you out on a private jet.”
“Guess you can’t!” Kalina rolled her eyes. She loved her brother, but he sure could be clueless when it came to matters of tact.
“Protecting you, standing by you – even cooking for you! Hell, I enjoyed those meals. I hope you still cook, Stuart.’
“Justin…” Kalina’s voice sounded a warning note.
“I’ll still cook for you,” Stuart was responding with a genial smile.
“I feel a certain sympathy for you, Stuart,” said Justin. “I know what it’s like to be the nice guy.”
“From one nice guy to another,” Stuart slapped Justin on the shoulder, “I thank you.”
“I get it, Justin!” Kalina couldn’t stop herself from shouting, her cheeks turning bright crimson. She was about to say, “Apparently I picked the wrong brother. Got it. Everybody should just move the hell on!”
She stopped herself before the hurtful words came out, covering her mouth with her hands. She had never lost her temper like this before – especially not with Justin or with one of the men she loved. Apparently this new vampire nature came with a new vampire temper.
“Uh, sorry,” she said.
She’d have to learn to control that, too. A few months ago, she’d have laughed off Justin’s jokes as the lame attempt at lightening the mood they were. But things were different now. She felt a deep guilt at not being able to love Stuart the way he loved her – and being reminded of just how good he was, just how kind, how special, only made everything harder. Why couldn’t she just love him – just settle down and stay with him and forget the way Jaegar made her tremble, the way Octavius made her swoon.
Stuart walked them over to his car. “The Rutherford Airfield is only a few minute’s drive from here,” he said. His face was happier than Kalina had ever seen it. Although in his eyes she could still discern the sadness he felt at her loss, Stuart nevertheless seemed more full of genuine joy as a human than he had ever been as a vampire. That sad, haunted look in his eyes – the look of agony as he constantly struggled to repress his desires, to forget what he had done – had vanished.
He bowed slightly, a smile spreading over his face. “My chariot awaits, m’lady.” It wa
s just a joke, but as he spoke Kalina saw through the traces of the modern-day Stuart she had come to know. This was the human Stuart – hundreds of years old – once a valiant knight on the battlefields of Medieval England. Years of vampire savagery had not made him forget the chivalry of his age; he was no less noble now than he had been then.
Kalina smiled back. Whether or not he was her true love, she knew, she was sure lucky to have him in her life.
“Hand me down, m’lord,” she teased back, her heart lightening just a little. She would always care for Stuart, she knew. She couldn’t write him out of her life just yet.
Chapter 3
“Wow!” Justin’s mouth hung agape as they looked around the luxurious private jet. It was larger than any jet Kalina had ever seen, with plush leather seating and even a private sleeping compartment. Stuart had filled the mini-bar full to bursting with fine wines and exquisite delicacies – a hunger born out of centuries of not eating human food – and he immediately started tearing into an enormous plate of French cheese, Belgian chocolates, and Italian grapes. “When I was growing up,” Stuart explained, “we had bread and perhaps meat a few times a year – if we were lucky. Food was something to sustain us, not something to enjoy. And then I was turned… But now, it’s incredible! All these varieties of food – all these options. I could eat meat every day if I wanted! Well, not on Fridays, of course…”