Blood Gifts Read online

  Blood Gifts

  by Kara Lockley

  Copyright 2015 by Kara Lockley

  All rights reserved.

  www.karalockley.com

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 1

  Karina watched her friends dancing on the dance floor of the club, and stirred her diet soda with her straw, moving the ice around idly, as she leaned against the bar.

  It was a Saturday night, typical. She loved the music and the flickering lights of the club, but she hated to dance. Mostly because she couldn't dance. So she'd watch from the bar as Leanne and Nina danced. Not that they'd spend the whole night dancing, but they'd be out there for a while. Nina was tall and thin and blond and pretty, people definitely stared. She sort of danced like a willow tree blowing around in the wind, no matter how fast the song. It was funny. Leanne was average height, cute, brunette, hair cut into a mod sort of bob. She was slightly overweight. She moved around in a ferocious sort of dance, but it looked good, somehow she knew what she was doing out there. But Karina? When she danced she just always ended up hopping around for some reason. Awful.

  Karina was surprised no one had asked her to dance in the last five minutes. Maybe it was mostly regulars tonight. People were bold in clubs, though. There were people who kept trying. She scanned the crowd with her dark blue eyes, stirring her half gone soda. Suddenly her eyes caught another pair staring back at her through the crowd. Whoa. Super sparkly blue. Were those contacts? A very handsome man with short black hair and bright blue eyes was staring at her. She couldn't bring herself to look away. She blinked and he was gone. Like he was never there. She glanced around to see where he went, but could not find him. Then she inhaled. She realized she'd forgotten to breathe while she was staring at him. Wow. Smooth.

  She decided to get back on her barstool and sit at the bar for a while. She glanced at herself in the mirror behind the bar. Light brown hair, long, to just below her shoulders, surrounded her face. It still looked neat and tidy, from a lack of dancing. She sighed. In the mirror she seemed to be blushing. Was that from staring at the man across the room? Her mascara had run a little bit on the left side. She realized a tear had run down her face. She wiped it away quickly, and the mascara smear it had left. Whoa. It was like the man had affected her on levels she hadn't even been aware of. She looked like a lost little girl in the mirror. She had always looked younger than she was. She was 27 now, but looked about 15 in the mirror. Pretty, but young. It made people not take her seriously. It was kind of annoying.

  She decided she'd better take a closer look at that mascara issue in the ladies room mirror. She hopped off the barstool again, and she was wobbly on her feet suddenly. She'd worn three-inch heels with her jeans and muted blue gauzy tank top. She was always attempting to get her thin 5'6" frame to reach the heights of Nina's 5'11", but no shoes could do it. She'd only worn them tonight because she was the designated driver. If she'd had even one drink she would have sprained an ankle in these. But not sober. Why was she so out of it tonight?

  She took one last swig of her diet soda before leaving it at the bar. She made her way across the crowded room to the restrooms. But on the way someone grabbed her arm. Gently, almost a brush, then warm fingers slowly closed around her forearm like a hug. She glanced back to see who it was. It was him.

  She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. He took a step towards her. He was tall. She found herself staring up at him. He put a finger to her lips and mouthed, "Shh..." Or maybe he said it, but she couldn't hear. The club was loud. Pulsing music beat with her heart.

  Then he did something even more unexpected. He gently cradled her face in his hands and leaned down and kissed her. A warm sweet quick kiss. And she didn't stop him. Why did she not stop him?

  Then he pulled away and walked away from her, glancing back once with a small friendly smile on his lips. He disappeared into the crowd. Then she inhaled again. She really had to remember to breathe. She quickly got a hold of herself and wobbled on her spiky heels to the ladies room. There were a few women in there, so she pretended to be adjusting the barrette at the top of her head, and wiped away the stray mascara. Her eyes were glassy with tears again. What was up with this guy? He was cute, sure, but did she have to lose it every time she saw him?

  She got her lip gloss out of the little black purse she carried and absentmindedly put some on. Just to have something to do instead of stare at herself in the mirror. So the other women wouldn't think she was nuts. Not that they were all entirely sober.

  Nina suddenly walked into the restroom, caught sight of Karina and said, "There you are!" a little too loudly, and waved her arm flamboyantly in the air. She was a happy drunk. "You have some explaining to do," she said as she pointed at Karina and ambled quickly into a stall to pee. Karina laughed.

  Then Leanne walked into the room, very deliberately, like she was trying to remember how to walk. "Karina," she said with a happy sleepy smile and made her way over to her. Then Leanne threw her arms around Karina for a big hug. She squeezed her tight and rocked her back and forth. "You're so great!" Leanne said. Also a happy drunk. Karina laughed.

  "Have we had enough fun for the night?" Karina asked.

  "Yes!" Leanne said. "Especially you with your kissy face man." She let Karina go then as she wandered back to a stall herself. Apparently, to throw up.

  Nina danced out of her stall and came over to Karina's sink to bump her out of the way with her hip. The other sinks were taken. Nina washed her hands and she hummed along with the song currently playing loudly in the club. She dried her hands and then winked in a drunken enunciated way at Karina. Eventually Leanne came out of her stall and washed up as well. Then they headed out of the bathroom together.

  Karina led the way holding Nina's hand, and Nina held Leanne's hand. Kind of like children crossing the street. She made her way through the club to the door, pulling the others behind her. She could hear Nina muttering, "Where is he? Where is he?"

  Once out in the cool summer night air, they could hear each other better.

  "Who was that?" Nina asked. Leanne nodded.

  "I don't know," Karina said sheepishly.

  The other two looked appalled.

  "Well, what's his name?" Leanne asked.

  Karina shrugged.

  "Dammit, woman, how will you find him again?" Nina asked as Karina helped her into the passenger side of her old little white sedan.

  "It's a pretty small town," Karina said. "He'll show up eventually somewhere."

  "It's not that small," Leanne said as she allowed herself to be helped into the back seat. "But with his laser eyes, he sure can't hide, right?" She laughed at herself. Karina chuckled.

  Secretly Karina was hoping all of this would be hazy enough to be forgotten once her friends sobered up. It's not like she could explain what had happened. She never did things like that. She wasn't a free spirit or anything. Or promiscuous. Or even drunk. Why on Earth had she done that? Maybe it had something to do with breaking up with Brad. That had only been a month ago. They'd dated for a year. That was what she would tell her friends tomorrow when they were sober, anyway. But
in her heart she knew it was more than that. It was something different. Magical. Special. Well, that sounded silly to her even in her head.

  She drove her friends home, managing to not answer any of their questions about the man. Then she drove herself home, deep in thought. Replaying the kiss in her head till her eyes got glassy again.

  Chapter 2

  Karina took her makeup off, her barrette out, put her pajamas on, and crawled into bed. It was 1:30 in the morning. She curled up under the covers and fell asleep. She dreamed of the blue-eyed man. They were at the club, everyone in the room around them became a blur, and he was speaking to her. "You won't remember this later," he was saying quietly. "You won't wake up until I'm gone." He kept repeating it. She opened her eyes.

  Was she still dreaming? She was in her bedroom. She seemed to be awake. But he was there. He sat on the edge of her bed, with its pink fluffy bedspread, wearing the same clothes he'd had on at the club. Worn out blue jeans with a faded navy blue T-shirt that fit him just right. He wasn't saying the words to her out loud, but she could still hear them in her head. Telling her she won't remember or wake up. His eyes were looking intently and warmly at her. And, frankly, he looked a bit surprised. Her vision was hazy, but she could have sworn that objects were floating. A pink tissue box from her nightstand. A jar of moisturizer from her dresser across the room. Some antique candle holders from the other dresser. And a few other things.

  She couldn't fully wake up. Was she hallucinating or dreaming? This obviously couldn't be real. Why would he be here in her bedroom, and... He was still looking at her with surprise, and now worry. He suddenly, faster than a human could possibly move, zipped across her bedroom to her open window and jumped out. Her gauzy pink curtains fluttered in the breeze.

  She woke more fully now. Nothing was floating. Though one candlestick and the jar of moisturizer were now lying on the faded brown carpet. And her window was wide open. She never left it open.

  She felt calm. Why did she feel calm? She climbed out of bed and walked to the window to look out. Her apartment was on the third floor. She looked down to the street far below. No ladder, no rope, no fire escape. The fire escape was next to her kitchen window. How could he get down? If he was real.

  She picked the candlestick and moisturizer up and set them back where they belonged. She must have been doing things in her sleep again. The window too, she supposed. She hadn't done things like that for years. The man must have shaken her up. Hence the dream. Because it must have been a dream.

  It was an old building. With windows you pushed up to open. She pushed it down now and locked it. She didn't usually lock it. She was on the third floor after all. But just to be safe. Then she wandered her apartment, making sure the front door was locked, and the kitchen window next to the fire escape. Everything seemed fine. And she still didn't feel alarmed. She felt hazy. Drugged. Like at the club with the man. Very strange. She went back to her bed then and curled up to sleep. She fell asleep quickly.

  ***

  Luke hurried down the street, away from the girl's apartment. He didn't use his full speed, in case a human saw him. He was deep in thought. His bright blue eyes stared at the sidewalk as he walked. The night air had a chill, but it didn't bother him.

  Why had she woken up? No one ever woke up. Not when he tried to mesmerize them. They always obeyed. But she was different. From the moment he saw her, he knew she was different. She had mesmerized him in a way.

  He had been searching the crowd at the club, looking for a suitable subject. His eyes had settled on her. Pretty, but young and innocent looking. He couldn't take his eyes away from her. He didn't even know why he had kissed her. That hadn't been his objective. The plan was to groom her to be his... verae. His source.

  But she was immune to him. And he couldn't stop thinking about her. Her lips, her eyes. How it felt to kiss her. Even the sweet smell of her. So uniquely hers. What was wrong with him? He usually didn't get emotionally entangled this much with his prey. That made it harder. Especially for someone like him.

  Either way, he couldn't proceed if he couldn't make her not remember it. He would have to find another solution. He quickly glanced around himself, seeing no one else on the street. Then he sped, with superhuman speed, down the street and into the woods at the edge of town.

  Chapter 3

  Karina woke to the morning light streaming in through her window, feeling well rested. In the light of day, it seemed even less likely that the blue-eyed man could have been in her room last night. What a crazy thought. She got up and wandered to the kitchen for food. She saw the light flashing on her answering machine as she walked by it. Already her friends were calling her to talk. At this hour? She glanced at the clock. Holy shit. It was almost four in the afternoon! What on Earth had happened to her last night? It's like she really was under a spell that made her relaxed and uninhibited or whatever else she had been. Wow. She wasn't even one of the ones who'd been drinking. Her friends probably thought she was avoiding them.

  She listened to the messages, and sure enough, it was Nina and Leanne calling repeatedly. Sounding more and more annoyed, alternating with worried. She would call them back. And afterwards eat a ginormous breakfast/dinner. She sighed and picked up the phone.

  ***

  Karina had convinced her friends that the man was just a player, a really smooth operator, and she'd fallen prey to that. She played up the fact that she had just broken up with Brad a month ago. They bought it. She told them she must be coming down with something. She didn't know why she'd slept all day. This seemed to appease them. Even though she believed none of it. She knew she couldn't explain what really happened. That she was pulled along by feelings she couldn't make sense of. Drawn to the man like a magnet.

  She'd agreed to go with them to the street festival downtown. She would meet them in the park. It was three blocks away from her apartment, so she walked. She wore jeans and sandals and a pink T-shirt. She tried not to wear pink too often, she was so obsessed with it. She didn't want to be teased. But it had been long enough since she'd last worn it. It amused her that she was so self-conscious that she actually rationed out the wearing of pink.

  She ambled over to a bench, and sat to wait for them. She had a big tan canvas purse with her today, strap slung over her shoulder. She checked inside to make sure she had her bottled water and sunscreen. Check. She leaned back and stretched her feet, wiggling them around as she waited. Then she saw him.

  Her breath caught in her throat as she watched him walk right over to her from across the park. She reminded herself to breathe. Breathe, breathe, breathe... she thought. His eyes were just as blue in the daylight. This time he wore jeans and a light gray T-shirt. Which, of course, made his eyes look more blue, and his black hair more... richly dark somehow. He walked right up to her and stopped a few feet from her.

  She caught her breath again.

  He looked uncomfortable, but spoke anyway, "Mind if I sit?" he asked.

  She shook her head 'no', unable to speak.

  He sat at practically the other end of the bench. They sat awkwardly for a moment, and finally he said, "I never do that," and turned to look at her sheepishly.

  She breathed a sigh of relief. "Me neither," she said, then blushed.

  "I'm so sorry, I'm usually... more polite," he said, barely able to look at her. "Forgive me?"

  "There's nothing to forgive," she said, waving her hand. "Don't worry about it."

  He shook his head and chuckled at himself. He said, "I think I meant to introduce myself. It just somehow turned into a kiss. Sorry."

  "It's okay." She smiled.

  "Maybe a handshake would be a better idea," he said, holding his hand out to her. "My name is Luke."

  "Karina," she said, shaking his hand. It made her pulse speed up. His hand was warm and inviting again, just like it had been on her arm at the club. Enveloping. He held her hand for a moment after the handshake should have ended, then released it. She could feel herself blus
hing.

  She glanced up then and noticed her friends standing thirty feet away or so, chatting excitedly and glancing at her. Nina smiled and gave her a little wave. Then she laughed as she and Leanne took off to head for the festival. They were leaving her alone with her mystery man.

  "Were you headed to the festival?" he asked, looking down the street at the tables that were set up for the vendors, piled high with homemade clothing, jewelry, and crafts.

  "I was," Karina said, sighing. "I think my friends just ditched me. How embarrassing. Were you headed to the festival?"

  "I was," he said. "Shall we?" He got up, and offered her a hand to help her get up. Then looked embarrassed about it, but she took it briefly anyway, then let it go.

  ***

  Luke had decided he needed to get to know her. If nothing else, to find out why she was immune to him. It was disturbing. But he also felt drawn to her. He wanted to get to know her. It was like she was his soulmate or something. A concept he hadn't really thought much about, or believed in, until now. It was a human idea. His kind didn't think that way. And the implications of soulmates were much more intense for his kind. Where "till death do us part" did not apply. For his kind forever really meant forever. Eternity.

  Still, as he got to know her at the festival, he really couldn't rule out the idea of soulmates. Everything she said and was appealed to him. He was waiting for himself to snap out of it, to be done with her, but that moment never happened.

  Chapter 4

  Karina became more relaxed as the day went on, walking with him, looking at tables full of unique crafts, learning about him. He was a construction worker. He traveled a lot. Drifting. From town to town, taking jobs for a few weeks or months, then moving on. Strange.